Patti Page Sings The Hits
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: D Main Program: B-
Patti Page took Jazz and Pop sensibilities and melded them
with a finesse that allowed her career to survive the Rock Era. The personality born Clara Ann Fowler had already
established herself when she found herself on a hits streak, and when Rock came
in, she had her own television series. Patti
Page Sings The Hits captures moments form that show and elsewhere, showing
the dynamic performer at her best. The
songs here include:
1) This Is
My Song
2) On A
Wonderful Day Like Today
3) With You
On My Mind
4) Who’s
Gonna Shoe?
5) Lover
Come Back To Me
6) Born To
Lose
7) Unchained
Melody
8) What Now
My Love?
9)
Lazy River (with Rocky Cole)
10)
Oh Lady Be
Good (with Lionel Hampton)
11)
MEDLEY: With
My Eyes Wide Open, Changing Partners, Doggie In The Window, I Was Born To
Wander, Allegheny Moon, Mockingbird Hill, I Went To Your Wedding, Cross Over
The Bridge
12)
The First
Time We Went Waltzing
13)
DUET MEDLEY WITH
LIBERACE: For Me & My Gal, You Were Meant For Me, Tea For Two
14)
Ballin’ The
Jack (with Liberace, followed by surprise guests that include Jimmy Dean,
Lionel Hampton and Della Reese)
Page was a great vocalist, even when straying into R&B
territory did not necessarily always click.
Otherwise, she was a national treasure and one of the top female
vocalists of her time. This is a
surprisingly good collection, of her work, though far from complete and missing
many hits. Either way, the kind of
talent she attracted to work with her speaks volumes about the respect she had
in the industry.
The full frame black & White images are average and
about as good as they are going to look for their age here, with Dolby Digital
2.0 Mono to match. There are no
extras. Obviously, her original Mercury
Records recordings would have far better fidelity, but this is a collection
that will please fans and repaint a portrait of one of the key vocalists of the
20th Century. Patti Page
Sings The Hits offers a class act in her prime and reminds us why she was
so good.
- Nicholas Sheffo
