Spotlight On

by Keely Smith

Product Description:

Personnel includes: Keely Smith (vocals); Nelson Riddle, Billy May (arranger, conductor).

Recorded between November 1957 and December 1958. Includes liner notes from Joseph F. Laredo.

Digitally remastered by Bob Norberg.

This is part of Capitol Records Spotlight Series.

Most listeners know of Keely Smith as Louis Prima's deadpan partner in crime on such Prima Vegas workouts as "Just a Gigolo" and "Jump, Jive & Wail." But Keely proved to have an appealing style all her own aside from the Prima show. Basically an unpretentious belter, she consistently demonstrated a winning, stick-to-the-melody approach to singing that was surprisingly musical. Currently, the only Keely Smith available on Capitol is this welcome entry in that label's SPOTLIGHT ON... series. This lack of available recorded material is indeed a shame, because sessions like these, with Nelson Riddle and Billy May, helped produce some of the best vocal albums of the '50s. The hits "I Wish You Love" and "It's Magic" are included here but it is Smith's exhilarating takes on "When Your Lover Has Gone" and "Don't Take Your Love From Me" that unleash her power as a vocalist.