Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)OMG! What a wonderful way to start off the new year! Thirteen Bee-YOU-tee-full songs, sung just for you, by Barry. About 45 minutes of listening pleasure. He sings so pretty. He always sounds like he's singing right to you. I can feel every one of these songs right inside my heart. If you've been around long enough to remember these songs from before, you will certainly find yourself singing along. (Well, you might not have been around for #13 in 1898. I missed that one myself. But I bet you heard it sung before somewhere.) No kidding--the more I listen to this album, the more I love it!
1) (Our) Love is Here To Stay--I loved this song, and still do. It opens with a big orchestra sound, then eases into more of a night club sound with the background sax.. This is a song that has always felt so comfortable to me.
2) The Look of Love - soft cha cha
3) Where Do I Begin? (Theme From "Love Story")--another song that was very very popular and often played at weddings in the 1970s. B really gets into this one, too--so much feeling.
4) I Only Have Eyes For You--another song that I have always felt very comfortable with. It was also one we played often in the dance band.
5) I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Baby)--easy "Bop" or, I guess you could do a "hand dance" to it. Sung so "clean".
6) The Twelfth of Never--so beautiful--the words are so pretty.
7) We've Only Just Begun--another "wedding song"--played at almost every wedding in the 1970s as the first dance for the bride and groom. This one and "Close To You" had to be the most played wedding songs of that era.
8) Nevertheless--I would not have recognized it by its name but I did know it when I heard it. "Maybe I'm right, and maybe I'm wrong. . .but nevertheless I'm in love with you." Babababooooooom. Real nice group harmonizing in this one. Might have been done by the Mills Brothers before--not sure.
9) Love Me Tender--Elvis' big hit, among many. Yes, Barry does most certainly do it justice. Very simple. Very soft. Very pretty. I might get beat up for this BUT I like Barry's version better than Elvis'. It's sung with so much feeling.
10) You Made Me Love You--OMG! How many of us remember this song when Judy Garland sang it in that movie? I have been singing the heck out of it since I heard Barry promo it on QVC for this album. I remember Judy Garland singing it to Clark Gable in the movie where she was a teenager and had a crush on him.
11) It Could Happen To You--This is the big band style, like Sinatra type.
12) How Deep Is The Ocean?--My mother used to walk around the house singing this one. (sniff sniff).
13) When You Were Sweet Sixteen (1898)--Ohhh, this is just so pretty. I remember my mother singing this one too. OMG! Time for a good cry. BTW, I remember Barber Shop Quartets doing this on TV many years ago, too.
As I have said before, Barry is my absolutely FAVORITE singer and one of the few who can sing the songs just as good as or better than the original hit-maker. He not only keeps the integrity of the original version, but many times he enhances it when he puts his special spin on it. If you recently heard Barry perform some of these songs on QVC, this album is better than that performance.
The little booklet inside was a wash, but we won't hold that against him. It just gave the names of the songs, well spaced out. Might have been nice to provide a little background on each (period it was originally from and some verbiage about it).
This is a gorgeous album and it is full of many of the very special songs that we played in my days with the dance band. Most of them got an immediate "ohhhhh" when I first heard them on the album. For many of them, you can just immerse your heart into the music and the words. As in the Twelfth of Never, if you just listen to the words, they transport you into such a feeling of beauty and love. I heard Barry say he wanted to make sure these wonderful songs were never forgotten. I will always love these songs and I'm so very happy that Barry is re-circulating them. This is the type of music that lives in my soul. This is also a collection that transports me back in time, to a happy place where life at least seemed less complicated. Memories. Ahhhhhhhh. It's a great album to put on in the car, surrounded by speakers, in your own private sound box, where you can really get the most out of it.
Another wonderful collection of songs, made available by the Magic of Manilow!
(Side Note: You know, sometimes stress is intense for many of us, especially with so much going on around us. It is especially during those times of intensity that I reach down deep inside and touch the music in my soul, no matter where I am, and use it to keep going. This is the type of music collection that I have buried deep inside.)
Update: Jan 29, 2010--I had to run to McLean, VA for a meeting and I took this CD with me. The ride south down the Capital Beltway and around the Rockville area is the pits! With intermittent traffic backups and Kamakazi drivers down and back, this CD kept me at peace while playing dodge-em on the interstates. I sang along with "The Greatest Love Songs of All Time," arriving unscathed and at peace.
BTW: If you are in the area of International Drive and Chain Bridge Road, check out the Silver Diner. They have a "Summer Citrus Salad" to die for. It has fresh strawberries and mangos, dried cranberries, and walnuts on a bed of fresh spinach with a citrus vinaigrette dressing. Add grilled shrimp, chicken or salmon. Whenever I go to McLean, I stop by for it. Say hi to Roza at the counter.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Greatest Love Songs of All Time (Deluxe Edition with Bonus CD)
Deluxe edition includes exclusive bonus CD Songs From The Vault!
Track listing:
1. Love Is Here To Stay
2. The Look Of Love
3. Where Do I Begin? (Theme From "Love Story")
4. I Only Have Eyes For You
5. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
6. The Twelfth of Never
7. We've Only Just Begun
8. Nevertheless
9. Love Me Tender
10. You Made Me Love You
11. It Could Happen To You
12. How Deep Is The Ocean?
13. When You Were Sixteen (1898)
Bonus CD - Songs From The Vault
1. Nature Boy (Brooklyn, New York - 1948)
2. Golddigger (Outtake from "Barry" - 1980)
3. Biggest Part Of Me - featuring Dave Koz (Outtake from "The Greatest Songs Of The Eighties" - 2008)
4. Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Outtake from "The Greatest Songs Of The Eighties" - 2008)
5. Every Breath You Take (Outtake from "The Greatest Songs Of The Eighties" - 2008)
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