Search - Perry Como :: Ultimate Collection

Great music -- terrible fidelity

Futch | NC, USA | 03/01/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The people at BMG who assembled this cd clearly have extreme contempt for the cd buying public. The sound on this two cd set is terrible! Do you remember those old "electronically re-channelled for stereo effect" LPs? They were made by taking original mono recordings and taking all the treble off one channel and all the bass out of the other channel and throwing in some electronic reverb for additional irritation. About half of the songs on this cd used THOSE awful versions instead of the original mono recordings. BMG, if you are going to release a $30+ two cd set please do a vault search for the original tapes.Yes, the songs on this cd are excellent, and Como is in fine voice on most of these recordings, but take my advice and save yourself some money. Trying to listen to this set will hurt your ears, give you a headache, and make you angry that BMG doesn't care about your satisfaction, nor do they have any respect for the legacy of Mr. Como. I could make a better sounding cd from my Como record collection."

Among The Most Durable Of Crooners

Futch | 09/11/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Very few male crooners from the 1940s lasted as long as Perry, especially after the advent of R&R in 1954/55. Offhand, I can count them on one hand: Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat "King" Cole - and Perry.



Between his first charted pop single in 1943 {Goodbye Sue] and his last in 1974 [Christmas Dream], he racked up no less than 132 hits [not counting his only C&W hit, Just Out Of Reach, which made it to # 100 in 1976].



And in this neat 2-CD set from Australia you get many of them in the 48 selections included. A few, like Beyond Tomorrow, were non-charters, but these discs do contain the following hardest to find of Perry's hits [without going to ultra-expensive multi-disc box sets]: Mi Casa Su Casa [the flipside of Round And Round in 1957 and a # 50 on its own]; Moon Talk [# 28 in 1958]; Kewpie Doll [# 6 in 1958]; Ivy Rose [# 18 in 1957 as the B-side of Just Born; The Girl With The Golden Braids [# 13 in 1957]; Glendora [# 8 in 1956 as the B-side of More]; and Tomboy [# 29 in 1959].



All are delivered in Perry's inimitable laid-back style that so endeared him to millions of fans around the world, with the mellow orchestrations of Mitchell Ayres and, on many of the sides, the backing of The Ray Charles Singers. Inside are some nice liner notes by Peter Harding and two pages of candid photos. There is, however, no discography, merely a repeat of the contents.



As for the sound quality, as one reviewer points out it's not exactly best in the west, but I wouldn't go so far as to award 1 star. That's to be reserved for re-recorded, false-advertising junk. An audiophile will certainly not like it, but for those of us who grew up enduring the Rice Crispie-like snap, crackle and pop of the 78 rpm and then, to a lesser degree, the 45 rpm, it's not bad.



You are sorely missed. Pierino"