Perfect.

Frank, Bing, Dean, Sam, and Perry-- by the 1970s all the great singers were dealing with a very different world of popular song. Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart had been replaced by George Harrison, John Denver, Burt Bacharach, and rock had replaced swing as the rhythmic foundation for pop arrangements. Of all the singers, Perry Como made the smoothest transition. He always was a real pro, tackling novelty numbers like "Papa Loves Mambo" and "Hot Diggity" with good taste, being tongue-in-cheek but not condescending. Actually, "It's Impossible" and "And I Love You So" the title songs are finely crafted pieces, and so are many of the other nine songs on each album, depending on your tastes. But I love Perry's approach mainly because he's so straight-forward with these songs, delivering them in his rich, mellow manner and showing no signs of wear and tear (unlike Sinatra in the '70s). Bing was actually doing some fine contemporary things in Britain at the time, with similarly excellent arrangements, but I'll still take Perry's "We've Only Just Begun" over his or anybody else's version. I'll also take Perry's "Something" over Frank's, although Blue Eyes was the one who said this was the greatest love song ever written. The arrangement with Perry keeps enough of the original Beatles rock sound (unlike Riddle's later violin-heavy version with Frank). And Perry has more fun with "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" than Frank. It's great to hear this craftsman of song handling "For the Good Times" and "Snowbird" and "Sing" even if I find the lyrics to be a bit beneath him. But we really start to have fun with "I Thought About You," featuring Mr. C in amazingly hip form, with a very cool metal guitar grinding behind him. Who'd have thought! Then he gets down and groovy on "I Think I Love You" (from the Partridge Family of course). Yes-- Perry could sing it all, and with beautiful, crisp arrangements like these, and two hit title songs, this is one disc I'll be playing over and over again.

really weak at times and boring

perrys recordings of and i love you so and its impossible are of course great but all the other songs are weak and utterly boring the two songs something, for the good times are good though but they can be replaced with frank sinatras versons any day.If como had taken nelson riddles aranegments on the recording of for the good times and used that along with his voice it probably could have been a heck of a lot better than franks but who knows.

Smooth, cool and relaxed

Though purists would argue that Perry's voice was at its apex in the 40's and 50's, I've always prefered his style and his voice in the later years. This is the reason I love this album, because it showcases the more mature Como sound, with more contemporary arrangements and an easier listening style than some of his novelity songs of the 50's. Perry's voice became more of a pure baritone as he aged and I defy anyone to think he was in his 60's when most of these songs were recorded. Like fine wine, Como aged impecably. You will put into a mellow modd by listening to him effortlessly breeze through these songs.

I'll admit to some trepidation when I saw the play list, because I was certain Perry would butcher a song like "I Think I Love You," which belongs lock, stock and barrel to David Cassidy. But amazingly, Perry does a decent job here, and turns in a performance that isn't campy or silly. The same feelings of unease came over me when I first listened to Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with Her Song." Amazingly, Como delivers the goods on this 1971 classic and his cover version is perfectly acceptable, even good. The rest of the songs are are excellent and Perry continues to surprise through the album by putting his own calm, unique stamp on each song. A beautiful record, sung by the amazing Mr. C.