This was Gordon MacRae’s last album for Capitol Records after a 22 year association. It was, except for a special edition "Christmas In Boys Town" (which is almost impossible to find), the last "fresh" album he ever recorded.

Part of the reason was because of course his style of singing and genre had gone out of style, swamped by the British Pop invasion and then the Hippie-influenced psychodelia of the 60’s. Only major artists such as Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis and Frank Sinatra were maintained by their record companies. People with similar genres as Gordon, such as Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme and Jack Jones were either to create their own record production companies or were to be jettisoned entirely by their record companies by the mid 70s.

The other reason was, sadly, because Gordon’s voice had deteriorated to the point of heaviness that the genres the public associated with his previous outstanding vocal qualities seemed no longer well served by him.

It can be argued that Gordon started to battle elements of laryngitis since his 1960 single of "If Ever I Would Leave You" (see the CD "Best of Gordon MacRae" RELEASED: 1995 EMI 7243 8 35432 29 - Compact Disc). His voice recovered then. However his voice began to grow increasingly "heavier" through his 1963-64 "operetta" albums with Dorothy Kirsten - particularly the last, "Kismet". It was most evident in his next "ballads" album (1965) "If She Walked Into My Life" - showing a voice that "catches" attractively but which had trouble with high sustained notes. His voice "leveled off" at that point and over the next 4 years remained at the status it appeared in "Only Love".

However, "If She Walked Into My Life" and "Only Love" both revealed what the record-buying public hadn’t heard since the 1959 "Seasons Of Love" - That Gordon was a superb "saloon singer". He was the interpreter of lyrics par excellence in the vein that Frank Sinatra was in the late 50s and 60s.

"Only Love" is a collection of songs from Broadway shows of the 1960s. The durability of the songs is of a varying quality (being fairly embedded in the musicals from which they came) with some that are seldom heard in the repertoire of present-day singers.

Gordon triumphs in the "reflective" songs - Only Love; Kiss Her Now; Did I Ever Really Live; And She Was Beautiful, In Vino Veritas (perhaps not the best of songs to choose considering Gordon’s ongoing battle with alcohol - but he sings it with a delightful waltz lilt) ; Why Can't I Speak?; What Does She Think;? Whoever You Are, I Love You; Why Can't I Walk Away? - where he follows and exposes the intent of the lyric (usually philosophical and reminiscent) masterfully whilst dealing with some difficult tunes.

The melodies range from tuneful to not-very-hummable "soliloquy / exposition / internal dialogue" songs in which an artist can "lose" the melody and be in danger of sounding off-key. However it is with these "difficult" songs - especially "Why Can’t I Speak?" and "Whoever You Are, I Love You" (a murderous song with a melody that is "all over the place") - that Gordon shines. His phrasing and intonation are quite exquisite, particularly when he uses his lower notes in "Kiss Her Now", "What Does She Think , "And She Was Beautiful" and "Why Can’t I Walk Away?". He never sounds artistically uncertain and in all cases he conveys the "story". One quibble I have is in his use of a strained high note at the end of "Kiss Her Now" - only because one is reminded how effortlessly and clarion-clearly Gordon could have executed such a note 10 years ago.

There are two "upbeat" songs - "Dear World" which is an undemanding song which Gordon executes cheerfully; and "Knowing When To Leave" which is one of my least favourite songs by Burt Bacharach, yet Gordon sings it playfully and with panache - showing that Gordon could "swing" if he wanted to (his best most recent example was "Springtime in the Rockies" in the 1959 "Seasons of Love" album.

The arrangements and the recording techniques that Capitol supplies for Gordon are inventive and lush with a welcome spaciousness and ambience that sympathetically supports Gordon’s voice.

This is a love album for a person who has come to the end of a relationship. It requires the listeners to turn down the lights, put their heads back in armchairs and close their eyes and let the voice and the "stories" wash over them. It conveys bitter-sweet feelings and I suppose that is appropriate as Gordon’s last album with Capitol.