My favorite Marilyn Monroe CD

Few people really think of Marilyn Monroe as a singer, yet she had a unique, engaging voice that was showcased in a number of her films. She was by no means a trained singer, and the quality of her voice varied at times, seemingly dependent upon how comfortable she felt, but all of her magic and spirit was encapsulated in her wholly unique voice. I have a number of Marilyn CDs, but this one, Never Before and Never Again, is by far my favorite. With over seventy minutes of music, this CD covers the spectrum of her entire career, from her incredibly sultry rendition of Kiss from the film Niagara (there is no other song, according to her character in the film) to her delicious recording of Cole Porter's My Heart Belongs To Daddy from Let's Make Love (although this is a studio recording and not the extended version of the song) to her unforgettable May 1962 performance of Happy Birthday for John F. Kennedy in Madison Square Garden. Best of all, this album includes basically the whole soundtrack from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: Little Girl From Little Rock (with Jane Russell); Bye Bye Baby; When Love Goes Wrong; Nothing Goes Right (with Jane Russell), and of course the immortal classic Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend.

Less familiar Marilyn movies also supply some wonderful tracks. River of No Return was not a movie Marilyn particularly wanted to make, but her rendition of the theme song is touchingly mournful, and the song I'm Gonna File My Claim stands among my favorites, representing Marilyn's voice at its most vibrant. Anyone who enjoyed Marilyn's performances of the songs Heat Wave, Lazy, and You'd Be Surprised from There's No Business Like Show Business will welcome their inclusion here. Of course, Some Like It Hot is not forgotten; not only do you get the Marilyn staple I Wanna Be Loved By You and the poignant I'm Through With Love, you also get the short and sometimes forgotten energetic ditty Running Wild. Gershwin's Do It Again is classic Marilyn, a song combining sultriness and innocence in the way only Marilyn could. Two studio recordings from 1954 are particularly impressive, as well; Do It Again and She Acts Like a Woman Should, both featuring brass band accompaniment, make the album complete. Marilyn Monroe Never Before and Never Again, originally released in 1978, made available several of these tracks for the very first time, and it still stands among the best of a growing number of Marilyn collections.