Moonlight Serenade

My Romance	Into White For a CD with a lot of soft songs on it--"Scarborough Fair," "Over the Rainbow," "You Are My Sunshine"--Into White sends a loud message, that being: when you're as important an artist as Carly Simon, you can pretty much sing what you want, which accounts for this disc's genre con...	Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits This is the first career-spanning, multi-label single disc compilation of her career, including hits from Elektra, Arista, etc. 20 songs- every one of Carly's top Billboard charting hits Digitally Remastered directly from the master tapes. First single disc multi-label compil...	Moonlight Serenade Carly Simon could spin vintage Black Sabbath into the musical equivalent of buttery, well warmed comfort food. Not surprisingly, much like her earlier trio of classics from the Great American Songbook (1981's Torch, 1990's My Romance, and 1997's Film Noir), Carly positively nail...	Torch
Film Noir Given its title and tone, this record is apparently an attempt to reflect the mood and feel of classic film noir through a musical medium, which it succeeds at admirably. It helps that Simon's coproducer for the project was renowned songwriter and arranger Jimmy Webb, whose own m...	Have You Seen Me Lately?	Letters Never Sent In the liner notes of Letters Never Sent, Carly Simon reveals that during her '93 spring cleaning she discovered a box of old, unmailed letters in her closet. "I set a handful of them to music," she explains, "adding a rhyme here, deleting a noun or verb there, and allowing the e...	The Bedroom Tapes Not unlike Joni Mitchell's recent work, The Bedroom Tapes finds Carly Simon facing the modern world with a certain bemusement. She's not as cranky as Mitchell about the things she sees; in fact, she doesn't quite seem to know what to think about such phenomena as the Internet ("B...	Thanks For The Memory...The Great American Songbook IV Accuse Rod Stewart of what you like--through the years he's been called a philanderer, a has-been, a pageant-ish progenitor of puff rock--but as he has consistently proved with his Great American Songbook series, the concept of dignity is not lost on him. There is a time,...

"The Dearest Things I Know Are What You Are"
"Maybe I've earned the right to do these songs, maybe I haven't. Let time be the judge. I have always sung standards from the time I was a little girl mooning, as most of us were, over Frank Sinatra's great classic renditions." ~ Carly Simon ~ In my opinion, this latest offering from Carly Simon, "Moonlight Serenade" is by far one of the greatest recordings of standards along with Torch and My Romance. She's still one of the best interpreters of these timeless and fabulous songs from the Great American Songbook. This collaboration between Ms. Simon and Mr. Perry is so remarkable and according to them it's an "album full of love and romance." The selections of songs composed by the most distinguished songwriters of all-time are so impeccable and the best arrangements ever possibly could be done by Richard Perry, Michael Thompson and Lauren Wild. With Ms. Simon's outstanding and effortless renditions of these classics, each song had a new significance starting with the title track and my all-time favorite from Glenn Miller and Mitchell Parish "Moonlight Serenade." I especially loved her superb renditions of Harry Warren and Al Dublin's 1958 classic "I Only Have Eyes For You," (with it's intro - "My love must be some kind of blind love...I can't see anyone but you.") and George and Ira Gershwin's "How Long Has This Been Going On," which according to her is a song that she always loved to record. One thing I love about this recording is its repertoire. All the tracks are listed on my all-time favorite standards -- Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin and "In The Still Of The Night," Harry Warren and Mack Gordon's "The More I See You," Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "Where Or When," Eddie DeLange, Irving Mills and Will Hudson's "Moonglow" and the song that means a lot to Ms. Simon and arranged in a Bossa Nova groove "Alone Together," a beautiful composition by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz. And not to mention a charming gem from Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II "All The Things You Are." "You are the angel glow that lights a star The dearest things I know are what you are Some day my happy arms will hold you And some day I'll know that moment divine When all the things you are . . . are mine." The most remarkable and very memorable song to me is Guy Wood and Robert Mellin's "My One And Only Love," which Ms. Simon rendered so perfectly and breathtakingly beautiful with its harmonica solo by William Galison. "The very thought of you makes my heart sing Like an April breeze on the wings of spring And you appear in all your splendor My one and only love!" This CD deserves not five stars but ten! Very highly recommended for your listening pleasure!

Nobody Does It Better.................
Probably half the overage guys in the country have had a crush on Carly at some point in the past 35 years. I, at least, admit it [both the crush and being overage]. There's a reason for that; she's done various types of music, and, unlike some others, done them ALL well. And, thru it all, she's always looked like a million. This is Carly's fourth album of old standards, and, for my money, it's the best yet. All of these songs have been done by others, but Carly puts her own stamp on each. The title cut is really special, and "The More I See You" is as good as anything she's ever done. EVER. Carly, we love you. At 60, you've never looked, or sounded, better. Maybe there's hope for the rest of us. Keep it coming; were always ready for more.

I Have Always Been A MAJOR Carly Afficiando, "BUT"....
When Rod Stewart turned toward standards, I was appropriately curious, but it seemed to usher a host of ill content others unsatisfied with playing in their own backyard in seeking yet another distinguishing signature; there is sadly an excess out there today of star struck atonality and limited audio exposure which mutes appreciation of classic vocalizations. Yet, when Carly took such a turn, she- so often stunning in melodic, lyrical and vocal creativity-it rather mimics the worst of post polyps Elton: a "new" voice so often too basso- a stamplike shadow that hardly seems reminiscent of either's glorious earlier years. Not everyone can create a Tony Bennett octagenarian balance, dodging ticking ravages and the diminishing of artistic energy. A few of the GREAT selections on Moonlight Serenade are reasonably presented, without essentially dismantling the creative balance of the original work, but many covers do each of even those, so essentially better. Is it a simple truth that for most, eventually the melodies and lyrics run out, the voice loses its timbre and it's time to hit the prosperous "Legends Live Trail" where all is fairly forgiving? OR suprise everyone with a new, solid original album? When the pipes and pitch go south, JUST STAY AWAY From Porter, Gershwin, Hart, Warren retreading, please! Carly, marry me! You're a classic yourself, in your own context, of your own creation. Stay in YOUR element if you've finally gotten to feel more comfortable under the lights. P.S. If it weren't for Carly's incredible pleasuring over so many years, I would have given Moonlight Serenade but one star.

Nobody does it better than Carly
I was never a fan of Carly, when I heard 'Moonlight Serenade" for the first time it was just ok. Now I can't stop listening to it again and again. I never liked "I got you under my skin", but with that new rhythm, I love it. great arrangments, her tenor is uniqe, and beautiful, her frasing is great, great job.

Elegancia
Que se puede decir a estas alturas de una artista que tiene una carrera tan larga a sus espaldas? Si bien siempre Carly Simon ha tenido un estilo muy personal, en este trabajo demuestra una elegancia y un buen hacer, que agradará mucho a una minoría muy selecta de fans. Hace unas versiones muy bonitas de clásicos, lo recomiendo a todos. Un trabajo discográfico muy agradable, y elegante. Hasta pronto, Alberto.