Best of the Song Books: The Collection (1956)

About this title: For those who cannot afford to slurge on the entire epic 16-CD box of the complete Songbooks -- and I suspect that means most of us -- here's a formidable alternate, up to a point. This three-CD box in effect wraps a slipcase around the compilations The Best of the Song Books, Love Songs: Best of the Verve Song Books, and The Ballads: The Best of the Song Books, so it looks smart and impressive on the shelf without draining the budget too seriously. The problem is that this generous brace of 48 selections is thoroughly scrambled within each album, out of chronological order and with all of ... read more

Tracks:

1. Something's Gotta Give [Mercer]
2. Love Is Here to Stay [Gershwin/Gershwin]
3. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered [Rodgers/Hart]
4. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm [Berlin]
5. The Lady Is a Tramp [Rodgers/Hart]
6. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) [Ellington/Webster]
7. Miss Otis Regrets [Porter]
8. 'S Wonderful [Gershwin/Gershwin]
9. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea [Arlen/Koehler]
10. Love for Sale [Porter]
11. They Can't Take That Away from Me [Gershwin/Gershwin]
12. Midnight Sun [Burke/Hampton/Merce]
13. Hooray for Love [Arlen/Robin]
14. Why Was I Born? [Kern/Hammerstein]
15. Cotton Tail [Ellington]
16. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye [Porter]
17. Oh, Lady Be Good [Gershwin/Gershwin]
18. I'm Old Fashioned [Kern/Mercer]
19. Laura [Raksin/Mercer]
20. Day Dream [Ellington/Strayhorn]
21. Easy to Love [Porter]
22. It Was Written in the Stars [Arlen/Robin]
23. How Long Has This Been Going On? [Gershwin/Gershwin]
24. Let's Begin [Kern/Harbach]
25. Now It Can Be Told [Berlin]
26. There's a Small Hotel [Rodgers/Hart]
27. Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me [Ellington/Russell]
28. Ill Wind [Arlen/Koehler]
29. You're Laughing at Me [Berlin]
30. A Ship Without a Sail [Rodgers/Hart]
31. Trav'lin' Light [Mercer/Mundy/Young]
32. This Time the Dream's on Me [Arlen/Mercer]
33. From This Moment On [Porter]
34. Solitude [DeLange/Ellington]
35. Love You Madly [Ellington]
36. All the Things You Are [Kern/Hammerstein]
37. I Concentrate on You [Porter]
38. Out of This World [Arlen/Mercer]
39. How About Me? [Berlin]
40. I'm Beginning to See the Light [Ellington/George/Ho]
41. The Man I Love [Gershwin/Gershwin]
42. I Remember You [Schertzinger/Mercer]
43. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart [Ellington/Mills/Nem]
44. Always [Berlin]
45. Just One of Those Things [Porter]
46. Prelude to a Kiss [Ellington/Gordon/Mi]
47. All Too Soon [Ellington/Sigman]
48. Lover [Rodgers/Hart]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.