Music, Moonlight and Memories

Music, Moonlight and Memories
3 CD set released by Reader's Digest Music containing 60 songs from Jackie Gleason and His Orchestra. Song listing: 1. I Only Have Eyes For You 2. Im In The Mood For Love 3. Body And Soul 4. Ive Got A Crush On You 5. Dream A Little Dream Of Me 6. Hello Dolly 7. Hey There 8. Ive Grown Accustomed To Her Face 9. Who Can I Turn To 10. People 11. Somebody Loves Me 12. I Left My Heart In San Francisco 13. Time On My Hands (Youin My Arms) 14. Yesterdays 15. Once In A While 16. Tenderly 17. My Funny Valentine 18. Misty 19. (It Willhave Todo) Until The Real Thing Comes Along 20. Softly As I Leave You 21. Love Theme From Romeoand Juliet 22. Call Me Irresponsible 23. Moon River 24. Terrys Theme 25. More 26. Melancholy Serenade 27. Strangers In The Night 28. Serenade In Blue 29. Ill Be Seeing You 30. Autumn Leaves 31. Maria Elena 32. Dansero 33. Brazil 34. Desafinado 35. The Girl From Ipanema 36. Dancing In The Dark 37. Dancing On The Ceiling 38. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes 39. Lets Face The Music And Dance 40. The Last Dance 41. Shangri-La 42. I Love Paris 43. On A Slow Boat To China 44. April In Portugal 45. Arrivederci Roma 46. Ruby 47. Marie 48. Stella By Starlight 49. Laura 50. Tangerine 51. For Once In My Life 52. Goin Out Of My Head 53. Cant Take My Eyes Off You 54. This Guys In Love With You 55. Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head 56. Because Of You 57. Too Close For Comfort 58. On The Street Where You Live 59. It Had To Be You 60. Breezin Along With The Breeze
Customer Review: HOW SWEET IT IS...
This 3 disc set is a nostalgic treasure for anyone fascinated by the musical side of Jackie Gleason. Record buyers of the 1950's must have been baffled when picking up albums with sleek eleagant ladies and gleason himself looking dapper on the front cover. How could such a clown(of Ralph Kramden fame)inspire LPs of lush romantic seduction. Jackie was a hopeless romantic and he used his fame to pull off selling millions of such records. Despite his love for jazz, he never learned to read music or play an instrument. This did not stop Gleason as he figured like the romantic leads in Hollywood, ordinary slobs needed music to seduce women. His first vision was a large string orchestra with a single trumpet playing melody, later expanding this idea with other instruments and even a wordless chorus. Capitol records with a $1000 advance to Gleason was the only label to offer him a chance. It paid off in spades, with his first 1953 album "Music for Lovers Only" selling 500,000 coppies. Gleason's involvement was sketchy. It was he who selected the songs, but he revealed it was Bobby Hackett who was the chief arranger and conductor. The orchestras consisted of some of the jazz greats of the day as well as moonlighting session men and various classical players from noted symphonies. The program is arranged in themed segments on each particular disc. Each features a cluster of songs with headings like "Bright and Brassy", "Soft and Tender Moments","That Girl" etc. Gleason's own "Melancholy Serenade"(theme to the Jackie Gleason's "Honeymooners")is lushly orchestrated. This is a great place to start for any serious Gleason collector. There is hardly a hint of age in the remastered sound and the set comes with a informative biography. Grab this and see how Jackie Gleason beat Mantovanni and Andre Kostelanetz at their own game!