Rosemary Clooney › Making Whoopee: Love Songs of Rosemary Clooney

The phrase "love songs," when featured in the title of a compilation album, usually connotes a collection of romantic ballads. So, it should be noted that when it comes to SMG's budget retrospective Making Whoopee: The Love Songs of Rosemary Clooney, the main part of the title actually rules. Of course, all ten of the tracks (at a running time under 24 minutes) are love songs, as are most popular songs. But this album is about making whoopee, not love (even if that might seem a semantic distinction), in the sense that the material consists entirely of rhythm numbers. SMG is an imprint of Sony BMG, the conglomerate that controls the catalogs of Columbia Records, for which Clooney recorded in the '50s, and RCA Victor, for which she recorded in the '60s, and these tracks come out of those vaults. Tunes like "Bye Bye Blackbird" (which isn't much of a love song, come to think of it) and "Hooray for Love" are usually done in uptempo arrangements, but even songs that tend to be presented in ballad style, like "April in Paris" and "I Only Have Eyes for You," are treated as barnburners here; in fact, "I Only Have Eyes for You" and "You Do Something to Me" are given syncopated Latin treatments. Clooney, of course, swims through all of this with no trouble at all, hitting the beats when she needs to. Just don't buy this one for an intimate Valentine's Day dinner, unless you expect to do some exotic dancing before dessert. ~ William Ruhlmann

Genre:

• Vocals

Music Categories:

• Pop Vocal: Classic

Product Series:

• Bargain Audio CDs & Priceless Collection