Search - Frankie Laine :: One for My Baby / Mr. Rhythm

MR. RHYTHM, reviewed by Michael Pendragon

Michael Pendragon | New York, NY United States | 08/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was a little nervous about buying this album -- the campy looking album cover (combining the original 50s cover-art from the original albums) has certainly lost whatever appeal it might have once possessed. Fortunately, my fears about the quality of the music were entirely unfounded. The songs on this collection are, without exception, nothing short of superb. "Tomorrow Mountain," which kicks off the collection, is a novelty song in the manner of "Big Rock Candy Mountain," though done up in big band style -- and is just plain good old fashioned fun. Few songs have such intricate, brilliantly polished and thoroughly delightful lyrics as "Love is Such a Cheat" -- and Laine, obviously enjoying himself, sings them at a enthusiastically quick pace perfectly suited to the gypsy melody and theme. Laine's voice also displays his appreciation for the sly humor in "Necessary Evil," an unabashedly "wicked" anthem for Epicureans like myself. When I first started listening to Frankie Laine records, I was immediately struck by a strong (though it's difficult to nail down exactly "why") similarity between his delivery and that of Elvis Presley. "Song of the Islands," an appropriately beautiful Hawaiian number, demonstrates how Elvis' own Hawaiian numbers seemingly owe quite a bit to Frankie Laine as well. But the real heart of this album is RHYTHM and JAZZ, and Laine's mastery of both is excellently showcased in many of the numbers here including: "My Ohio Home," "Someday Sweetheart," "Laughing at Life," and "She Reminds Me of You." "Willow Weep for Me," is one of my all-time favorite numbers -- poetically beautiful, despair-ridden lyrics set off with a slow, jazzy beat. And, as any Frankie Laine fan can tell you, his version of "One for My Baby" beats that other Frank fellow's version hands down!"