Wonderful Memories of THE Mam'selle
James R. Stewar | Near Tucson, Arizona, USA | 04/28/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Already known as "Canada's First Lady of Song", while still in her teens, Gisele MacKenzie crossed the border to the US in 1951 to replace The Andrews Sisters and co-star with Bob Crosby & Jo Stafford on Campbell Soup's "Club 15," and, at the same time, with Mario Lanza on "Coke Time." Although primarily noted for her later TV successes as a star of NBC-TV's legendary Saturday night staple, "Your Hit Parade," and, later, "The Gisele MacKenzie Show," Miss MacK had an important earlier career, which is document by the 30 cuts on this CD. Upon her arrive in Hollywood from Toronto, Gisele was immediately signed by Capitol Records. This is Jasmine's second offering of Gisele MacKenzie tunes with the previous being a collection of transcription recordings titled "Getting to Know...Gisele." This new Jasmine collection includes many of versatile Gisele's Capitol recordings that have never appeared on CD...all cleaned up and sounding wonderful with unique and classy artwork. "Hard to Get" is a collection of gems that are as varied as the talents of the CD's star (singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, violinist, pianist, comic, cook...you name it). Opening the disc are two interesting duets with her "Club 15" co-star Bob Crosby (Bing's brother). There are country flavored songs like the classic "(Since You're) Gone". Novelty pieces like the amusing "Let Me Know", with its extreme use of reverberation, French language gems ("Le Gros Bill") and a couple seasonal offerings for Eastertime ("Benny the Bob-Tailed Bunny" and "Eggbert the Easter Egg.") Gisele's warm contralto voice and natural gift of perfect pitch, made her a record producder's dream! Sessons were easy with 'one take' Gisele, who could read music, and do her part without any problems and minimal studio time. Gisele also had her way with a ballad, and Capitol took advantage of that ("I Didn't Want to Love You" and "A Letter and A Ring."). As a reward for being such a gifted star, Capitol teamed Gisele with the best arrangers/ordestra leaders like Nelson Riddle, Buddy Cole, Van Alexander, and, on the 4 later RCA cuts, Sid Bass and Richard Maltby. 26 of Gisele's Capitol sides are represented here, along with her best selling classic extended play recording "Children's Songs from France," which Miss MacKenzie termed her favorite of all the sides recorded at Hollywood's legendary Capitol Tower. When Gisele left Hollywood for New York City and TV stardom, she switched labels, too. Gisele's first four sides for the RCA family of labels are represented here and include a warm and charming duet with young Billy Quinn, "The Litte Child," and her best selling single "Hard to Get," which still resides in the top 200 singles of the rock era. Assembled by Drew Blackburn, this collection of Gisele MacKenzie tunes is a fond tribute and remembrance of one of the most gifted singers that ever came out of the 1950's. Gisele's star shown for the rest of her days, as she held attendance records at the finest concert and club venues, starred in major productions of "The King and I," "Gypsy," "Mame," "Unsinkable Molly Brown," "Hello Dolly" and on and on. She guest starred on almost every major variety show in the history of TV, and became commercial spokesperson for some of the best products (Ford cars, Scott Paper, Zesta Saltines, Gillette, etc.). Although ill, Gisele continued to work in her beloved showbiz and, not long before she left us, participated in a panel discussion as a tribute to her dear friend and mentor, Jack Benny, and starred in a popular commercial for California's depart of ageing. She loved her work, and her work and public loved her...and still does."
Track Listings (30) - Disc #1
