Gloria Lynne deserved better.
Mary Whipple | New England | 05/06/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"With a voice that has the range, timbre, and richness of Sarah Vaughan, and a passion for her music that makes her one of the earliest soul singers, Gloria Lynne does not deserve to be an asterisk among the greatest female singers of the 1950s through 1980s. With this album, and especially with the title song, her potential to be a huge star is obvious, and it is too bad that she is not included among the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Carmen McRae when one thinks of this era.
Lynne seems to have fallen through the cracks. As one listens to this CD, one hears a gigantic voice and the ability to burst through the confines of any standard and make it her own, not by improvising in a jazzy way, a la Vaughan and Fitzgerald, but in a more soulful way, a la Aretha Franklin. As a singer during the big band age, however, she is often competing here against a big band accompaniment, and, frankly, her voice needs to be showcased--alone, with little else in the background. Those tracks on which she has primarily percussion and bass and little else to accompany her are much better than the big extravaganzas.
This Everest "Certified Stereo-Master Recording" is, unfortunately, often screechy--not in regard to Lynne's voice, but in the mastering of the orchestra. The violins, especially, are so harsh that I found myself having to turn down the volume significantly to avoid the fingernails-on-a-blackboard reaction. The lower volume, of course, affected my ability to appreciate Gloria Lynne's magnificent voice. I look forward to hearing another Gloria Lynne recording--she's a terrific singer with a unique approach for that era--and I'm crossing my fingers that whoever has produced the CD I've just ordered ("Starry Eyes: The Collection") has just let this singer SING! n Mary Whipple
The Greatest Hits
From My Heart to Yours
At Basin Street East/At Las Vegas Thunderbird
This One's on Me
"
STUNNING!
William Carpenter | Washington, D.C. | 09/04/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Absolutely stunning. I used to read that Patti LaBelle was weaned on Lynne's music as a teenager and I couldn't figure out the influence she had on LaBelle because I had only heard a couple of subdued Lynne ballads. This album shows - not the historionics that Patti has become known for - but the vocal power that Lynne possessed and it is that power which probably influenced Patti to use that same strength in her own unique way later onway. All that aside, this is Gloria Lynne at her vocal apex, performing many classic songs with aplomb. Every track is a revelation to the sheer talent of one of America's most underrated songbook vocalists."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1