Best Of Friends (2007)

Product Summary Label: Albany Music UPC: 00081227992835 Release Date: 5/13/2008 Buy.com Sku: 207941283 Item#: M44RYN Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Tuxedo Junction - (with Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra) ~ Jools Holland 2. Where Have All the Good Guys Gone? - (with Lulu) ~ Jools Holland 3. Out of This World - (with Chrissie Hynde) ~ Jools Holland 4. Snowflake Boogie - (with Edwin Starr) ~ Jools Holland 5. In the Dark - (with Norah Jones) ~ Jools Holland 6. Horse To the Water - (with George Harrison) ~ Jools Holland 7. To Love a Child - (with Ruby Turner) ~ Jools Holland 8. Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think) - (with Prince Buster) ~ Jools Holland 9. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - (with Stereophonics) ~ Jools Holland 10. Seventh Son - (with Sting) ~ Jools Holland 11. Just To Be Home With You - (with Shane MacGowan) ~ Jools Holland 12. Darkness On the Face of the Earth - (with KT Tunstall) ~ Jools Holland 13. Return of the Blues Cowboy, The - (with Joe Strummer) ~ Jools Holland 14. I Put a Spell On You - (with David Gilmour/Mica Paris) ~ Jools Holland 15. Rock Me - (with Blind Boys Of Alabama) ~ Jools Holland 16. Georgia On My Mind - (with India.Arie) ~ Jools Holland 17. Think - (with Tom Jones) ~ Jools Holland 18. Valentine Moon - (with Sam Brown) ~ Jools Holland 19. Oranges and Lemons Again - (with Suggs) ~ Jools Holland 20. Mabel - (with Eric Clapton/Solomon Burke) ~ Jools Holland 21. If You Wear That Velvet Dress - (with Bono) ~ Jools Holland   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info As the host of the BBC's long-running music performance series LATER, former Squeeze keyboardist Jools Holland regularly shares the stage with stars from many musical genres. On the long-expected duet album BEST OF FRIENDS, Holland gets to work with such outstanding performers as Lulu, Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders), Edwin Starr, Norah Jones, George Harrison, Stereophonics, Sting, Shane McGowan (Pogues), KT Tunstall, Joe Strummer, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), the Blind Boys of Alabama, India.Arie, Tom Jones, Sam Brown, Eric Clapton, Bono, and others. By 2007, Jools Holland was a national institution, performing jazz and good-time big-band music when it was totally out of fashion. Best of Friends was yet another album in the Small World Big Band series and featured many of the highlight tracks from other albums in the series, including the original Small World Big Band, More Friends, Friends 3, and Moving Out to the Country. The album opened with one of Holland's favorites, "Tuxedo Junction," which he played alone -- well, with the help of his big-band R&B orchestra. A boogie-woogie piano and a big-band orchestra were not typical sounds heard on many albums from the mid-2000s. But then the collaborations came thick and fast, with guest stars who had appeared on his regular TV series, Later with Jools Holland, or his New Year's Eve specials, Jools Holland Hootenanny, which since 1992 had replaced the traditional Scottish Hogmanay celebrations as the only totally musical New Year's Eve show on mainstream TV. Reading like a who's who of the music business, singers old and new joined Holland playing the piano and in most cases with the big band backing them, and the album featured styles across as wide a range as could be found on any album from this time. Venerable acts included Lulu on "Where Have All the Good Guys Gone," Edwin Starr on "Snowflake Boogie," Prince Buster on the ska track (what else?) "Enjoy Yourself," and Tom Jones on "Think." Among the more contemporary artists, Norah Jones guested on the track "In the Dark," Stereophonics on a version of "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," KT Tunstall on "Darkness on the Face of the Earth," and India.Arie on "Georgia on My Mind," a track that first appeared on Holland's country album. There was a remixed and updated version of one of George Harrison's last songs before he died, "Horse to the Water," and other highlights included David Gilmour playing a distinctive guitar on Mica Paris' "I Put a Spell on You" and Eric Clapton with Solomon Burke on "Mabel." Apart from boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, and soul, the songs ranged from the pop-ska fun song "Oranges and Lemons Again" with Suggs from Madness to a 1930s-style torch song, "Out of This World," featuring Chrissie Hynde. With a running time of nearly 80 minutes, almost the maximum that could be fit onto one CD, Best of Friends also certainly provided value for the money. ~ Sharon Mawer   Compilation Appearances Bachelor Party Inspired By Genius Stardom Road Ain't No Saint   Associated Artists and Works Tom Jones & Jools Holland ~ Jones, Tom   Technical Info Release Date : 05/13/2008 Original Release Date : 2007 Catalog ID : R2 510924 Label : Rhino Records (USA) Number of Discs : 1 Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Stereo SPAR Code : n/a UPC : 00081227992835   Professional Reviews Record Collector (magazine) (p.86) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "The biggest successes are mostly when Jools vamps along with veteran names, although upstarts such as KT Turnstall more than hold their own."    Product Image