Keely Smith - Keely Smith - The Best of The Capitol Years

1990 remastered collection gathering 20 tracks originally recorded in 1958 when Keely was teamed with two of Capitol's top arrangers, Nelson Riddle & Billy May. Capitol. Album Description

now THIS is wonderful words and music !!!

Keely Smith - The Best of The Capitol Years is a strong single CD compilation that demonstrates so well the fine artistry of Keely Smith. Keely could take just about any song--or even the phone book--and make it sound like the most beautiful piece of music you ever heard. The sound quality is excellent and the artwork is very nicely done as well. The arrangements by Billy May and Nelson Riddle just couldn't be better, either!

The CD starts with Keely Smith singing "Sweet And Lovely" with panache, heart and soul. This is a wonderful opening track that draws you in and it easily makes you want more right from the start. "Sweet And Lovely" showcases Keely's vocal talents well and the musical arrangement that accompanies her is excellent. "Cocktails For Two" shines just as brightly; Keely Smith sings this with all her might and just one listen proves it. The strings are used to great advantage, too. Listen also for a lovely interpretation of the famous tune, "I'll Get By." "I'll Get By" is a classic love song that moves me whenever I hear it; and Keely's rendition is definitely one of the better ones I've heard.

"Lullaby Of The Leaves" features Keely front and center--and that's OK by me! There's also the marvelously upbeat "On The Sunny Side Of The Street." I first heard this tune when Louis Armstrong performed it; but even Louis would be proud of how well Keely sings this without a superfluous note! "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" is one of my very favorite songs of all the classic pop vocal tunes out there. "I'll Never Smile Again" is a very pretty tune that Keely sings beautifully; and "All The Way" gets the royal treatment from Keely Smith as she sings this romantically with lots of heart and soul.

"I Wish You Love" has a wonderful chorus to backup and bolster Keely's performance; this number is very sweet and it works well when Keely breaks into the main lyrics of the song. "I Wish You Love" is a fantastic number. "You Go To My Head" also impresses me and I think that you'll enjoy "You Go To My Head" very much.

"Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread)" places Keely Smith squarely in the spotlight--right where she belongs! Keely delivers this ballad with all her heart; and there's another fine performance when Keely sings "Imagination." "Imagination" is a very fine tune that doesn't get enough recognition these days--and that's a shame. The CD ends nicely with Keely Smith performing "When Day Is Done." "When Day Is Done" has another very pretty arrangement and it makes a great ending for this album.

Keely Smith fans will want this for their collections; it truly is chock full of great ballads by Keely! This is also a fine CD for fans of classic pop vocals.
May 27, 2008

Blew me away

I remember Keely Smith from her days with Louis Prima, where they tended to sing novelty arrangements. I never realized how great she was until I began to hear some of her solo recordings on the "Singers and Standards" music channel on my cable TV service. Based on what I heard, I decided to buy this CD, which arrived the other day.

I have about 500 CDs in my collection, and I can't put the darn thing away! It absolutely blew my mind. Billie, Sarah, and Ella are still my favorites, but based on this CD alone, I would now rank Keely Smith above any of the other jazz and popular singers of the 1950s, including even Anita O'Day.

Whether it be a ballad, a torch song, or an uptempo jump tune, Keely carries it off with aplomp. She even ventures successfully into Sinatra territory (I'll Never Smile Again, All the Way, and S'posin'). Every song in the set was already a standard, and none of them have lost their lustre.

The title of the CD is a little misleading. It's essentially a reissue of two albums that Keely made in 1958, one with Billy May and the other with Nelson Riddle. May and Riddle were two of the best arrangers of the period, and did superb work for Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and other Capitol stars of the time. In other words, the arrangements here are as good as it gets.

This CD has 20 tracks. Because albums of that period normally had 12 tracks, I will assume that two tracks were dropped from each of the original albums. The liner notes by Alan Dell, who compiled the reissue, are of no real value and do not even give the recording dates, let alone the venues and personnel.

None of this matters in the long run, however. If you love great singing of great songs, you'll love this CD. March 23, 2008

Best single-disc collection

If you're looking for a disc representing the unparalleled singing of Keely Smith, this one is probably the best bet. The new "Essential Keely" is watered down with tracks from the night club act and a couple of duets with Sinatra (pick up the Chairman's "Come Dance with Me" instead). The "Spotlight" album is almost as focused and desirable as this one (especially at a "nice price"), but it excludes the sublime "When Day Is Done" (the studio version, from the first solo album, "I Wish You Love"). Of the tunes on this British import the only one I could do without is "Mr. Wonderful," a nostalgic '50s period piece that, like much of the material Keely did, is unworthy of her talents. On second thought, forget the single-disc solution. With a singer this consistently good, a bankable talent at any point in her career, you'll want to pick up at least one of her albums between the Capitols and the Concords as well as one of the albums from the present millennium. October 5, 2007

The Quintessential Female Jazz Vocalist

Superb vocals, together with excellent big band arrangements and excellent song selections (I can't get enough of S'posin').

The more I listen to Keely's voice, the more I can hear almost every other notable female jazz vocalist's voice resident in hers (Keely's). Her vocals convey a purity and simplicity that's really hard to beat, together with intimate nuances that make each listen fresh and vibrant.

This album was actually my introduction to this great jazz/pop lady of Cherokee heritage. She's unseated Anita O'Day--a feat I had deemed impossible until now--as my favorite female jazz vocalist.

I think modern jazz/pop has lapsed into novelty, or vocal virtuosity, in lieu of the voice as an instrument serving musical beauty. Keely should be a lodestone and standard for today's jazz/pop meandering. September 14, 2006

Amazing

This cd is the one cream of the crops of her list of cd's. Ms. Smith's voice is without a doubt smooth as velvet and her phrasing is impeccable. Anyone who is a fan of Ms. Smith should add this to their collection. July 25, 2006

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