The Very Best of Cleo Laine: 34 Classic Hits (1997)

About this title: This two-CD set may be titled The Very Best of Cleo Laine: 34 Classic Hits but it is actually a lesser reissue. Drawing its material from Laine's RCA recordings of 1974-1996, the set is pretty light on jazz despite cameos from Clark Terry, Gerry Mulligan, Toots Thielemans and Joe Williams. While the occasional jazz tracks give one a feeling of relief, most of the reissue finds Laine backed by an orchestra, sounding like a Broadway or cabaret singer, occasionally going over the top with sentiment. While Laine has always had a beautiful voice and a wide range, she was never much of an ... read more

Tracks:

1. He Was Beautiful [Myers/Laine]
2. I Loves You, Porgy [Gershwin/Gershwin]
3. No One Is Alone [Sondheim]
4. Birdsong (Sambalaya) [Dankworth]
5. Solitude [Ellington/DeLange]
6. Streets of London [McTell]
7. I Don't Know Why [Ahlert/Turk]
8. Send in the Clowns [Sondheim]
9. Dreamsville [Mancini/Evans/Livin]
10. Gonna Get Through [Dankworth]
11. Skylark [Carmichael/Mercer]
12. Creole Love Call [Ellington]
13. What'll I Do? [Berlin]
14. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) [Ellington/Mills]
15. You Must Believe in Spring [Bergman/Bergman/Dem]
16. Wish You Were Here (I Do Miss You) [Runswick/Crabbe]
17. Bill [Hammerstein/Kern/Wo]
18. Lies of Handsome Men [Blumenthal]
19. Play It Again Sam [Laine/Dankworth]
20. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself a Letter) [Ahlert/Young]
21. If [Gates]
22. Thieving Boy [Owen/Dankworth]
23. Won't You Tell Me Why [Thielemans]
24. I Remember [Sondheim]
25. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin' [Ellington/Strayhorn]
26. Woman Talk [Scott/Brady]
27. Sophisticated Lady [Ellington/Mills/Par]
28. Music [King/Dankworth]
29. Bess, You Is My Woman Now [Gershwin/Gershwin]
30. My Man's Gone Now [Gershwin/Gershwin]
31. I'm Beginning to See the Light [Ellington/George/Ho]
32. A Time for Farewell [Dankworth/Laine]
33. Turkish Delight [Dankworth]
34. Born on a Friday [Feather]

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