Love Songs
click the image to get it in cd-cover size
| Release Date: |
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| Label: |
Sony |
| Rating: |
5.0 |
Description: A
Love Songs compilation of Louis Armstrong strikes a curious theme for the great one, who was always more of a sly flirt than an amorous romantic. With Satchmo's 100th birthday looming--by
his calculation--on July 4 of this year, surely there are other similarly creative ways for Legacy to re-reissue his extensive catalog. Yet this hodgepodge of dates from the '20s to the '60s once again proves that you can never go wrong with Armstrong. His unrasping vocals on this collection's Okeh label sessions that Armstrong recorded in his youth are not as notable as the seminal trumpet licks he bounced off supergroups that included Lionel Hampton, J.C. Higginbotham and Eddie Condon, but who's complaining? The five tracks culled from the 1955 Satch Plays Fats album find him taking full advantage of Fats Waller's buoyant melodies, trading vocals with Velma Middleton on the mock-bawdy "Squeeze Me," plus an especially sprightly "Honeysuckle Rose." There is also a tender, relatively serious duet with Carmen McRae, backed by the Dave Brubeck Trio, on "One Moment Worth Years." But the best songs here are two concert recordings, "All of Me" and "Ko Ko Mo, I Love You So," the latter previously unreleased on CD, from the '50s, when Armstrong's vocal performances had achieved a near-perfect synergy between shameless mugging and rhythmic acumen.
--Britt Robson
Tracklist of Love Songs
Reviews:
Maybe the perfect starter set for Satchmo exposure...
This is an excellent Columbia/Sony compilation. Six of the 15 tracks are recordings from 1929/30, so one gets to hear Louis sing before his voice became gravelly and unique. The quality of these tunes is pretty high, given the limitations of equipment 70 years ago. Five of the remaining nine songs are from one of Armstrong's most respected LP's: "Satchmo Plays Fats." These are just about the best numbers on that fine disc, laid down in 1955, so the sound quality is wonderful. The remaining four are split between various performances from the late '50's and early 60's. So one gets the Great Man at the beginning of his fame, and at the end of it. Most of the tunes are moderately swinging, rather than morosely mellow...these are songs about being in love, not losing it. Louis was probably the most famous black man in the world in the 50's, a title he lost to Muhammad Ali by the late 60's. But unlike Ali, Armstrong became a celebrity by making people feel good, rather than by challenging them politically, religiously and physically. It is hard to imagine listening to this CD for 53 minutes and not being happier than when one started.
THIS IS GREAT! &sentimental
it's to bad that mine is probebly the last generation that will remember seeing louie armstrong "live"! this album has all his "greatest hits" on it! and it is well worth haveing i find that if i put this in my player with other cd's and push the"random button it becomes a pleasent surprise when one of his cuts comes on! and i find myself listening for them!
