GORDON MACRAE SINGS
RELEASED: March 13, 2001 by Vocalion (CDUS 3014) exclusively in England on Compact Disc
An album review by Enda Bracken

1. STEPPIN' OUT WITH MY BABY
   
2. EVELYN
   
3. AT A CANDLELIGHT CAFE' (to No 20 on the charts - charted for 4 weeks)
   
4. I SURRENDER DEAR
   
5. THOUGHTLESS (to No 28 on the charts - charted for 2 weeks)
   
6. YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME
   
7. THAT FEATHERY FEELIN' (to No 27 on the charts - charted for 1 week)
   
8. MATINEE
   
9. IT'S MAGIC (to No 9 on the charts - charted for 17 weeks)
   
10. SPRING IN DECEMBER
    
11. HANKERIN' (to No 23 on the charts charted for 1 week)
    
12. I WENT DOWN TO VIRGINIA
    
13. AT YOUR COMMAND
    
14. MY DARLING, MY DARLING with Jo Stafford (to No 1 on the charts - charted for 17 weeks)
    
15. THE PUSSYCAT SONG with Jo Stafford (to No 26 on the charts - charted for 1 week)
    
16. I'LL STRING ALONG WITH YOU with Jo Stafford
    
17. SO IN LOVE (to No 20 on the charts - charted for 9 weeks)
    
18. A ROSEWOOD SPINET
    
19. THE MELANCHOLY MINSTREL
    
20. YOU'RE STILL THE BELLE OF THE BALL
    
21. THE ALPHABET SONG with Jo Stafford (to No 4 on the charts - charted for 15 weeks)
    
22. NEED YOU with Jo Stafford (to No 7 on the charts - charted for 12 weeks)
    
23. TING-A-LING
    
24. LOVER'S GOLD
    
25. WHISPERING HOPE with Jo Stafford (to No 4 on the charts - charted for 23 weeks - became a GOLD disc)
    
26. A THOUGHT IN MY HEART with Jo Stafford

What a treasure trove this album is. Worshipers of Gordon MacRae (at least in Australia) have had to spend the last 30 - 40 years rifling through second-hand shops and flea markets in order to find 78s, 10" or 12" LPs or anything that demonstrated Mr. MacRae’s early vocal efforts.

This album - along with the "It’s Magic" CD (25 September 2001) and the "Gordon MacRae - The Early Years" (1998) - fills this vacuum. This selection covers the period from November 1947 when Gordon first signed with the fledgling Capitol label until March 1949.

The tracks have been retrieved and "cleaned up" by the famous Dutton Laboratories who have developed an international reputation for their "rescuing" process. Dutton Laboratories have done an excellent job reducing distortions and surface noise eradicated. It was a common complaint in the 50s that when the major record companies transferred their 78 masters to 33rpm masters they bluntly "shaved" the frequency responses in order to remove the surface noise of the older format. In the process some useful sonic information was also shaved with the result that the frequency response and the dynamic range of the 33rpm LPs were inferior to that of the originals.

Companies such as Dutton Laboratories have made it a mission to use the retail 78rpms to retrieve this lost information While it is not stated whether they have used the 78 masters from Capitol or have used retail 78s, with Gordon’s work but the results are admirable. Regardless of the process we are offered a smorgasbord of the various attempts by Capitol to "sell" their new artist.

In some ways the search for a hit in the early years seem to involve using romantic ballads / torch songs ("At Your Command" "At A Candlelight Café"), sentimental "memento" songs ("A Rosewood Spinet") cowboy rhythmic songs ("Feathery Feelin’") and novelty songs ("I Went Down To Virginia" "Pussycat Song").

However one of the most pleasing aspects of this collection is the selection of his collaborations with Jo Stafford with orchestra conducted by her husband Paul Weston accompanied occasionally by the Starlighters vocal group (sounding like Jo’s old group with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra - the Pied Pipers). This was fortunate as Paul Weston was Capitol’s sometime Musical Director / A. & R. man who was known for his willingness to showcase Jo’s considerable talents.

Jo Stafford is constitutionally incapable of singing off-pitch. Her voice has a silken purity, phrasing and breath control that defies comparison and - one would think - matching in duets. Yet Gordon MacRae excels at this both in the novelty songs "Pussycat Song; Alphabet Song" , the love song "My Darling, My Darling" and the hymn "Whispering Hope". In all cases he takes the harmony part blending beautifully with Jo’s gorgeous voice, coming forward occasionally to sing the straight melody. Of the duets I find the "My Darling My Darling" effort the most yearning and the most affecting but really all are beyond approach. I am unable to think of another instance where two strong artists with their own individual following have collaborated so extensively and so effectively subordinating themselves to the requirements of songs in duets on "singles". Pure artistry.

Their effort in the million-seller "Whispering Hope" - I feel - is more telling than their 1962 stereo effort simply because the purity of their voices seems greater and the harmony seems sonically "closer" . It is wonderful that it should be resurrected here with its flipside (in Australia) of "A Thought In My Heart".

Once again in his solo efforts, one is struck by Gordon’s vocal versatility. He is able to croon ballads without descending into caricatured stereotype with phrasing and intonation that are exquisite. He is able to give class to the most mundane of lyrics and melodies. His torch songs are stirring. His rendition of "It’s Magic" outstrips Doris Day’s efforts (the recording technique is one of the most sympathetic Capitol ever gave Gordon in his early years). His "So In Love" sounds suitably passionate (though I prefer the ending in his 1958 "Gordon MacRae In Concert" stereo album where he finishes in a beautiful falsetto).

All in all you have to pinch yourself and ask is it really the one man singing in all 26 of these songs on this generous collection. What a voice. What class. What an artist.