"I am extremely pleased to see that some of Mabel Mercer's finest work on vinyl is finally being reissued on compact disc. Her recording of "Isn't It A Pity" included in this set makes a great song even greater for no one was able to interpret a lyric like the incomparable Mabel Mercer. Her singing of "Once in A Blue Moon" accompanied by an extraordinarily beautiful arrangement is worth the price alone and I cannot recommend highly enough this collection for any true Mercer fan. "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore", "Blame It On My Youth" and Noel Coward's "Sail Away" are particular standouts among the gems included here. A great big thank you to the producer of this superlative set--an absolute must buy! A true artist sadly missed!"
Two discs of Mercer magic
BDormuth | 07/20/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There's an abundance of Mercer riches to be savored on this generous two disc set. "Once in a Blue Moon," on which Mercer is accompanied by piano and a small string section, is a sentimental favorite of many, and for good reason: Mercer has rarely been more affecting than in the title track and her famous version of "My Shining Hour," and the string arrangements are admirably restrained, accentuating Mercer's message rather than imposing false sentiment on top of her interpretations. But it's "Midnight at Mabel Mercer's" that is the real gem here: it offers an opportunity to hear Mercer much as she must have sounded in her legendary New York appearances in the 40's and 50's, accompanied only by piano (two in this recording) and singing uninhibitedly full-out, going for the climaxes of the songs whether the notes are in her voice or not (and quite often they aren't). A word must be said about "the voice" to those unfamiliar with Mercer--there isn't, by the fifties, when these recordings were made, much of it left, though it sounds as though it must have been a perfectly good mezzo in its prime. Just the same it's hard to think of a more eloquent singer of popular song. As skilled at tossing off a frothy number like "Wouldn't it be Loverly" with just the right light touch as she is in revealing all the genuine sadness and regret in potentially maudlin ballads like "Poor Pierrot" or "Young and Foolish," Mercer has that ability to communicate that no amount of stunning vocal chops can compensate for. Sure, there's a lot of creakiness here and there, flubbed top notes and odd rolled r's, but give her a chance and you'll find the tattered velvet of Mercer's voice enormously appealing."
Simply Elegant
BDormuth | Lafayette Hill, Pa United States | 04/16/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It is impossible to describe Mabel Mercer. She is as unique as Blossom Dearie, Tammy Grimes, Elaine Stritch, Bea Lilly, or Edith Piaf, but not nearly as unusual as any of them. Fred Astaire's style might be closest to hers, although Mercer had a better voice with a greater range. Both were songwriter's singers - interpreters who put the song before the personality, who presented the work paying complete attention to the nuances of the music and the exposition of the lyrics. The song spoke for itself. Among current mainstream performers, perhaps most reminiscent of Mabel Mercer is Rosemary Clooney, although Clooney's direction - and she is superb - is not to distill the songs to quite so pure an essence as did Astaire and Mercer.If elegance is restraint of ornament allied with purity of form and richness of substance, then Mabel Mercer is simply elegant.Among this rich substance there are some evergreens like "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore," '"Loverly," "Young and Foolish," and, perhaps, "Blame It On My Youth". But most of these songs were obscure even when the albums were recorded in 1956 and 1958, and the passing of more than 40 years has not shed any more light on them. Some are minor works of major composers and lyricists: Romberg, Hammerstein, Kern, Rodgers, Hart, Lerner, Lowe, Coward, the Gershwins, Arlen, Mercer, Bernstein, Comden and Green. Others are works of a group of less known talent: Howard, Wilder, Levant, Coleman, and Grant. But all tell simple stories or present poignant images, and after a night at the theater Mercer's 11:30 PM audience was ready for gentle songs of quiet reflection made, perhaps, even more evocative by their very unfamiliarity.Almost all of the songs are about love at some stage: anticipation ("Wait Til You See Her"), yearning ("Lonely Little Boy"), despair ("Blue Moon," "If Love Were All'), fulfillment ("Some Other Time"), loss ("He Was Too Good To Me," "Guess I'll Go Back Home"), lost youth ("Isn't It a Pity," "Young and Foolish"), and gained wisdom ("Once Around the Clock," "Sail Away").Most of the lyrics are of the Seine/champagne variety, although of course there is Noel Coward with this rhyming full-house ("though I never really grumble life's a jumble indeed, and in my efforts to succeed I've had to formulate a creed"), and Ira Gershwin shows his usual virtuosity in "Isn't it a Pity":
Think of all the lonely nights we've wasted: I with the neighbors, you at silly labors,
What joys untasted: I reading Heine, you somewhere in China
. . .
Think of all the lonely years we've wasted: fishing for salmon, loosing at backgammon,
What joys untasted: my nights were sour spent with SchopenhauerMercer adds only the most subtle trace of distaste to the word "Schopenhauer." In "Guess I'll go Back Home" she adds just the slightest emphasis to the first "he": "I'll walk by the house where he used to live, I hope he married well." It's the verbal equivalent of a slightly raised eyebrow or an up-turned palm.On "Midnight at Mabel Mercer's" the accompaniment is provided by two pianos. The pianos are particularly well arranged on "Sonnet," " Wait Til you See Her," and especially "Young and Foolish." On "Once in a Blue Moon" strings are added. Even at this point in her career, Mercer had the ability to overpower the accompaniment. She chose not to, and the strings are distracting."
At last!
Terry L. Sneed | Chattanooga, TN USA | 04/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Mabel Mercer's recordings on CD are hard to find, and, indeed, some exquisite sets have never been released on CD, to my knowledge. ("The Art of Mabel Mercer" is particularly to-be-hoped-for.) This 2-CD set includes perhaps the sweetest of Mercer's collections, "Once in a Blue Moon". I was unfamiliar with "Midnight at Mabel Mercer's", but its bill of fare is so varied and so velvetly sung that I was immediately captivated. Mabel Mercer is, I know, an acquired taste, but, for those in the process of acquiring the taste, this selection is a splendid introduction."
Two Fine Albums for the Price of One
Stephanie DePue | Carolina Beach, NC USA | 03/23/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Once in a Blue Moon," and "Midnight at Mabel Mercer's," both by Mabel Mercer, of course, and originally released by Atlantic Records in 1956 and 1958, are now offered together by Collectables Jazz Classics, and they offer an unusual opportunity to get two fine albums by the woman often called "the singers' singer," together, for the price of one.
Mercer, a widely influential singer most active in the mid-twentieth century, was not as well-known as she might have been to the general public: but singers as varied as Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole and Peggy Lee worshiped at her feet. She was a classic cabaret singer, with a following that was deep, if not wide, and was a beloved icon in several cities: New York, London, San Francisco, Paris (where she sang for ten years at the café owned by the famed American performer Bricktop: part of the intimacy she was always able to convey when she performed surely dated from her French decade.)Mercer was born in Burton-On-Stoke, Staffordshire, England, the daughter of an Englishwoman descended from generations of chorus boys and girls, and a visiting African-American jazz man that she never knew - some sources say he died prior to her birth. She dropped out of school at the age of fourteen to go into vaudeville, and never looked back.
She had the knack, well-known, of singing intimately, in an almost conversational tone, that a lot of singers learned from her. Her intonation and phrasing were superb, her soprano was remarkably flexible, and she could always locate and deliver the heart of a song.
Her repertoire included Broadway songs, the great standards, from the most outstanding composers and lyricists, plus little known items she and her musicians found. On "Midnight," we find "Wait `Til You See Her," and "He Was Too Good to Me," by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Also an absolutely loverly take of the well-known "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, from "My Fair Lady." Also memorable takes of "Mandy, Make up Your Mind," and "Lonely Little Boy." And two by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
On "Once in a Blue Moon," the title song is superb. "In the Spring of the Year," is lovely, as is "Look at `Im." She's brave enough to tackle the famous "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore," from "Gigi," by Lerner and Loewe, deservedly Maurice Chevalier's signature song, and she makes sweet work of it. "My Shining Hour," by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, is a treat, as is Cy Coleman's "Isn't He Adorable." I've always heard that she and her pianist/arranger/producer George Cory found and rescued "The Twelve Days of Christmas," from obscurity, hard as that is to believe in its current ubiquity, but, at any rate, here it is. Finally, she gives us two of Noel Coward's most beautiful, heartfelt tunes, "If Love Were All," and "Sail Away;" and he could hardly have wished for a better interpreter.
Two for the price of one is hard to beat, and, when it's these two fine albums...