| No one can reinvent the great classics of the 1950’s better than Barry Manilow. He breathes new life and vitality into these truly wonderful songs and they sound fresh and timeless. We are together on a mission to bring to a new generation the great songs of a different era, and reuniting with him makes it all the more special.
Highlighted by a guest appearance from Phyllis McGuire of the McGuire Sisters on the medley of 1954 hits, “Sincerely/ Teach Me Tonight,” The Greatest Songs of the Fifties is a veritable jukebox of favorites. Any one of them would be a treat to hear on a new Manilow album – from his remake of the Four Lads’ “Moments To Remember” (1955) and the Everly Brothers’ “All I Have To Do Is Dream” (1958), to Bobby Darin’s “Beyond The Sea”(1959)– but to hear them collected on one album is a dream come true. The project (just like the era it emulates) cuts across musical genres, from The Four Ace’s ”Love Is A Many Splendored Thing” (1955), to Frankie Avalon’s “Venus,” to Johnny Mathis’ ”It's Not For Me To Say”(1957), to Tommy Edwards’ “It’s All In The Game” (1958), and Dinah Washington’s signature “What A Difference A Day Makes” (1959).
Some of America’s greatest artists are evoked on songs that are forever associated with them, for example, Tony Bennett on “Rags To Riches” (1953) and the Four Aces on the motion picture title tune hit “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing” (1955). More: the spirit of Frank Sinatra imbues “Young At Heart”(1954) and Elvis Presley is remembered with “Are You Lonesome Tonight.” “Unchained Melody”(1955) remains one of the most-recorded songs in contemporary popular music. The album will be available as a CD and DualDisc release, featuring behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the record.
For Manilow, The Greatest Songs of the Fifties is a labor of love – by an artist whose career has encompassed every facet of popular music, from his own string of top 40 hits in the ’70s and ’80s to side trips into swing, jazz vocalese, Broadway show tunes, Christmas music, hits from the silver screen, even the special tribute Manilow Sings Sinatra.
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Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Mike Landau (guitar); Walter Afanasieff (keyboards, programming). | | A significant album for Barry Manilow, THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE FIFTIES finds the Brooklyn-born crooner taking on tunes that were popular in his youth. This 2006 outing also marks Manilow's return to his former label, Arista, with the company's founder, Clive Davis, setting the singer up with 1950s pop classics much in the way that the savvy businessman steered Rod Stewart in the direction of jazzy standards. | | The result is a light, breezy affair that showcases Manilow's easy-going charm, as revealed on his gentle versions of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" and the Everly Brothers' "All I Have to Do Is Dream." Wisely avoiding over-the-top arrangements, this record presents a lush, restrained sound that allows Manilow's velvety voice to shine, making it one of the performer's finest studio albums in decades. | | A companion piece to the similarly self-explanatory GREATEST SONGS OF THE FIFTIES, GREATEST SONGS OF THE SIXTIES finds Barry Manilow tackling the pop songbook of the decade just prior to the one he helped define. Smartly relying on the Bacharach/David songbook, Manilow picked a solid set of familiar adult-contemporary tunes that fit his own increasingly jazzy and ballad-oriented style. Although a medley of the Association's big hits "Cherish" and "Windy" features the surviving members harmonizing behind Manilow's lead, it's an otherwise solo show, and Manilow is in fine voice throughout. |
Producer: Barry Manilow |
Musical Guests | | The Association |
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CD
