By Steven Suskin
02 May 2004
This week's column discusses Rosemary Clooney's "Clooney Tunes" (incorporating material from Dinah Shore and Victor Borge) and two British cast albums on "Julie Wilson in London."
DRG, which has favored us with first-time-on-CD reissues of a fair number of original cast albums from the Columbia archives, has also rescued numerous soundtracks and personality albums from oblivion. Recent releases include juvenile albums for "the child in all of us." While these albums might seem somewhat out of our province, Clooney Tunes is far too enjoyable to file away after a perfunctory listening.
The 12 Clooney tracks, which make up about half of the 74-minute CD, were issued as singles in the early fifties (and compiled as an LP in 1957). The songs are mostly kid's stuff, with Clooney singing about teddy bears, whistling giraffes, little red monkeys, kitty cats and even ice-cream men. (This was the fifties, with not a beluga in sight). There is also a veritable paean to Betsy McCall, a paper doll (apparently) snipped from mom's McCall's Magazine. Talk about product placement.
The "Clooney Tunes" are of the exceedingly friendly variety, with catchy melodies and cheery arrangements. Clooney does a top-notch job, displaying a sunny personality that no doubt connected directly with her audience. While Rosemary went on to bigger and better and more distinguished things, her "Clooney Tunes" should not be overlooked.
The disc is filled out with two other kid-friendly and highly listenable personality albums. "Bongo," a four-side set from 1947, is sung and narrated by Dinah Shore. This was an episode from the Walt Disney animated feature "Fun and Fancy Free." According to the credits, this story of a juggling circus bear, who finds freedom (and a little girl bear named Lulubelle), is based on a story by Sinclair Lewis! At any rate, Shore demonstrates an extremely friendly, honey-dipped persona with a bit of julep. "Bongo" can be recommended, despite a song that tells us that when bears are in love, they "Say it with a Slap."
The disc is rounded out with something different; very different. Victor Borge narrates "Piccolo, Saxie and Company," which falls somewhere between Peter and the Wolf and Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts. This 25-minute story-with-music is no less than a kid's-ear tour of the symphony orchestra, with each instrument encircled in its own little spotlight. (The music is by Andre Popp, the French composer who favored us with those flavorful orchestrations for Irma la Douce.)
Given the lack of music education in today's public schools, "Piccolo, Saxie and Company"is positively instructive, making the collection called "Clooney Tunes" a treat. Continued...
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