Sophisticated Lady  (Liberty: LRP-3203/LST-7203)

Released: 1962

Producer: Si Waronker.

CD Availability: 1998 EMI two-fer, with "For the Night People."

Liner Notes:

    Ever since "Cry Me a River," the career of Julie London the singer has paralelled [sic] the rise to stardom of Julie London the actress. Her albums, like her movies, are hits the world over.

    Now, with this album, a new kind of excitement--new even to dyed-in-the-wool Julie London fans--comes into the picture. Here, Julie inveigles and disarms, invites and enchants--and above all, entertains in true Julie London style.

All Music Guide review by Nick Dedina:

"Sophisticated" is the right word to describe Julie London's cool vocal approach; it can be shoved into the background, but if you listen closely there's a lot of turmoil going on under its seemingly calm surface. Similar to Chet Baker's unruffled way with a lyric, London's self-described "thimble full of a voice" ends up describing how pain hasn't quite iced over all her emotions rather than proving how unfeeling she is. Also like Baker, so many of her best recordings are steeped in the style and mood of laid-back West Coast jazz. "Sophisticated Lady" is one of a string of records London cut in the early '60s with less of a jazz feel than most of her sessions from the '50s, but it's still a worthy album. If it's not exactly an essential session, it is a good one, and the backing orchestra is to blame for the album's shortcomings -- not the vocalist. The charts balance a mellow -- very mellow -- kind of 1940s-era swing feeling (think of Tommy Dorsey or Glenn Miller doing a slow-dance number) with heavy string statements and semi-classical passages. They aren't particularly obtrusive or bad charts, but they are undistinguished, and the arranger for the date doesn't even get a credit on the album sleeve. It's these arrangements, not London's vocal performance, that make this a mediocre, but still worthy, album. (To hear how this approach is done correctly, just listen to Nelson Riddle's beautiful and more jazz-flavored work on Frank Sinatra's exquisite "Nice 'N' Easy" album.) That's not to say it's not a good disc, though, and standout tracks include Cole Porter's witty "booze as a cure for heartache" number "Make It Another Old-Fashioned Please" and three songs by writers associated with cool jazz. The Wolf/Landesman cut "Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most" has deservedly earned its status as a standard, but the neglected "Absent Minded Me" by Bob Merrill and Bobby Troup's "Where Am I to Go" deserve to be rediscovered and more widely recorded.

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Tracks

Love Letters  (Liberty: LRP-3231/LST-7231)

Released: 1962

CD Availability:  2004 EMI two-fer, with "Feeling Good."

Liner Notes:

    This being Julie's fifteenth LP [sic--it was her sixteenth], liner notes seem superfluous. What more could be said about this sensational personality? Let's just say that this album sustains Julie's inimitable performances of twelve superb songs, each of which was recently a big hit.

    Now, let's get down to some fine listening.

All Music Guide review by Nick Dedina:

Every Julie London album before "Love Letters" has something to recommend it for fans of vocal pop and jazz or lounge music, but this 1962 release is for London completists only. "Love Letters" isn't a bad album, but it is a dull one, with boring orchestral charts and a track listing that seems thrown together. The only interesting item may be London transforming the Rosemary Clooney ethnic dialect joke and novelty hit "Come on-a My House" into a sensual invitation. Liberty Records even dropped the ball on the cover by using a pencil drawing of the sexy singer rather than the usual racy cover photo -- no wonder most London albums are pricey collectors' items while this one remains in the dollar bins. Thankfully, London's next release [sic], "Sophisticated Lady," contained a better selection of songs and proved that she could do a worthy orchestral album.

Our Reviews

If you'd like to share your own review of Love Letters here, please e-mail me.

Tracks