Really cheering to find so many other Longet recommendations on the site. This festive gift seems only to be available on the Japanese "Best of" but repays handsomely the effort in seeking it out. Highly melodic and atmospheric it begs you to curl up in front of a real fire with a loved one in a cottage miles from anywhere...
Claudine recorded a number of Margo Guryan songs which are all impossibly fey, seductive and bewitching and I couldn't get through a week without them. (BTW I would also recommend all of the tracks (not one duffer) on Margo Guryan's album Take a Picture)
available on CD - A & M Digitally Remastered Best (A & M Japan)
Regular visitors to this site will know I'm partial to this song and to the era of this recording. But nothing could have prepared me for the mind-blowing grooviness this Petula Clark version from 1968. It has a 'slightly too slow to dance to' funkiness, kind of like the tastiest version of 'Watermelon man' you ever heard. The arrangement has piano, bouncy drums, peppy brass, flutes, and to top it all, some beautiful strings adding some complexity to what is basically a simple bluesy composition.
Isn't it great when you come across a track and just think 'this is the best thing ever'?
The entire CD is great - 28 of Petula's grooviest tracks. I recommend it!
from The Other Man's Grass (Is Always Greener) (Pye NSPL 18211) available on CD - Feelin' Groovy (Sanctuary)
22 Mar 06 ·FlyingDutchman1971: Ah, Ms. Pet! She is one of my favorites too. I've managed to get my hands on most of her 60's catalog, including the original album this song comes from. Thanks for mentioning her!
k.d. Lang also does a beautiful rendition of this great torch song on her album "Shadowland".
Quirky but beautiful nonsense with an infectious Brazilian beach party beat. The song "So Nice (Summer Samba)" from the same CD shows the range and class of the performer.
from Samba 68 (Verve) available on CD - yes (Verve)
02 Apr 06 ·lilly747: This song screams summer - even on the coldest wettest London day.
Take of your shoes and mix yourself a caiparina!