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The UK magazine The Gramophone reviewed the album saying: "Sadness inevitably surrounds “Beautiful Memories” by the late Bing Crosby, which must be one of the last LPs we will enjoy by this splendid gentleman with fifty years of consummate artistry to his credit, although we are advised of at least one more in the pipeline from Polydor. It is not his best album by any means, but Crosby never made a bad one to my knowledge, and there is much of value and interest in his versions of mostly recent pop ballads such as “A Little Love and Understanding,” “My Resistance Is Low,” “When a Child Is Born,” and “The Woman on Your Arm.” It is certainly a very adequate valedictory souvenir from a singer who has left beautiful memories for a multitude around the world.
Track listing:
SIDE ONE:
1. "Beautiful Memories" Roger Cook, Herbie Flowers 3:46
2. "A Little Love and Understanding" Gilbert Bécaud, Marcel Stellman 3:17
3. "My Resistance Is Low" Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Adamson 2:18
4. "Children" Cyril Ornadel, Hal Shaper 3:52
5. "Déjà Vu (As Tho’ You Never Went Away)" Pete Moore, Ken Barnes 3:12
6. "When a Child Is Born" Ciro Dammicco, Fred Jay 3:22
SIDE TWO:
7. "The More I See You" Harry Warren, Mack Gordon 2:26
8. "What I Did for Love" Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban 3:22
9. "Yours Sincerely" Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart 2:43
10. "We've Only Just Begun" Roger Nichols, Paul Williams 3:55
11. "The Woman on Your Arm" Randy Edelman 3:53
12. "The Only Way to Go" Marvin Hamlisch, Tim Rice 2:56
1. "Beautiful Memories" Roger Cook, Herbie Flowers 3:46
2. "A Little Love and Understanding" Gilbert Bécaud, Marcel Stellman 3:17
3. "My Resistance Is Low" Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Adamson 2:18
4. "Children" Cyril Ornadel, Hal Shaper 3:52
5. "Déjà Vu (As Tho’ You Never Went Away)" Pete Moore, Ken Barnes 3:12
6. "When a Child Is Born" Ciro Dammicco, Fred Jay 3:22
SIDE TWO:
7. "The More I See You" Harry Warren, Mack Gordon 2:26
8. "What I Did for Love" Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban 3:22
9. "Yours Sincerely" Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart 2:43
10. "We've Only Just Begun" Roger Nichols, Paul Williams 3:55
11. "The Woman on Your Arm" Randy Edelman 3:53
12. "The Only Way to Go" Marvin Hamlisch, Tim Rice 2:56
I have “Bing Crosby – The Complete United Artists Sessions” and so while familiar with all the songs have never listened to them "as an album".
ReplyDeleteBut, "re-creating" the album by building out a playlist, not only is this a very nice selection of songs, it probably has more of my favorite songs from his United Artists sessions than any other album!
"Beautiful Memories", "A Little Love & Understanding", "The More I See You", "What I Did For Love", and "We've Only Just Begun", I think are all some of his best UA recordings.
So, although I don't think everyone would agree with me, I might rank this as his strongest UA album!
I have these songs on "The Complete United Artists Sessions" and have never really put together a playlist to hear them on how they would have been grouped as an album.
ReplyDeleteBut the track listing on the album contains a lot of my favorite songs that Bing recorded for UA.
I don't think everyone would agree with me but with songs like "Beautiful Memories", "A Little Love & Understanding", "The More I See You", "What I Did for Love", and "It's Only Just Begun", this might be, at least in my opinion, the best album of his UA output.