(Review
by Lance)
Cy Coleman ranks alongside the big hitters
such as Kern, Porter, the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hammerstein/Hart. and, of course, Irving
Berlin, However, whereas the aristocracy of the GASbook's great compositions
needed some redefining for the jazz world, Coleman's music needed no tweaking
they were there for the taking by any musician or singer who had the chops to
handle them. Ronnie Whyte is just such a singer, not least because he was a
buddy and often got the songs first hand.
With words, in the main, by Caroline Leigh
the material is first rate and with a belter of a big band behind him this must
surely rate as one of the all-time classic vocal records.
File it alongside your albums by Sinatra, Bennett, Tormé and Ella albums and, not necessarily in that order.
Too Good to Talk About: The voice swings - ring-a-ding-ding -
with a Daniel Claude alto solo and a John Eckert trumpet blast to boot it
along.
It Amazes Me; Listen to the verse - My height....
just average, my weight.... just average, and my IQ is what you'd estimate,
just average. But evidently she does not agree, consequentially, if I seem at
sea .... It amazes me.
The Best is yet to Come: Most of the saloon/cabaret singers have
done this one and Whyte's version stands proudly alongside them with the bonus
of some vocalese by Eddie Monteiro.
I'm Watching You: Another bouncy ballad with some Whyte
piano thrown into the mix.
Sometime When You're Lonely: One of those romantic ballads that you
wonder why you haven't heard it more often. Justin Wood slots in a few bars of
tasty flute.
Witchcraft: Sinatra put his stamp on this one - or
did he? Frank forgot to sing the verse and it's a cracker!
Shades of Old Lucretia Borgia, There's a
devil in you tonight
And although my heart says I adore you, my
head says this ain't right
Right to have you make advances, oh no
Under normal circumstances I'd go - but oh...
No, I guess Frank didn't forget, more
likely some morality group stepped in. It's rather like the fuss they're making
- after all of these years - over Baby its Cold Outside!
Sweet Talk: Floyd Huddleston wrote the lyric on this
trio number.
On Second Thought: Regrets on breaking up - more nice
piano.
Why Try to Change me Now?: Lyric by Joseph A. McCarthy. Sinatra
owns this one although Whyte makes a decent fist of it. Surprisingly, after Old
Blue Eyes, the best version I've heard of this tune which will probably never
be recorded is by local lass Lindsay Hannon and pianist Alan Law! Request it on
a gig.
I've Got Your Number: I'm Not in Love Again; Rules of
the Road; I Walk a Little Faster; You Fascinate Me So; Don't Ask a Lady; Here I
Go Again; All Right, I Love You. These finish up the album. I haven't
detailed them individually as the superlatives would make War and Peace seem
like Mills & Boon.
To sum up - I like it! - not least, with
all due respect to Ronny, because it helps to remind the world that
Coleman/Leigh were a team to rate alongside any of the Broadway hotshots.
Lance
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