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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Love Me Or Leave Me |
| 2. Lazy River |
| 3. I've Got You Under My Skin |
| 4. I Just Want To Make Love To You |
| 5. They Can't Take That Away From Me |
| 6. Let's Fall In Love |
| 7. I Didn't Know What Time It Was |
| 8. Accentuate The Positive |
| 9. Teach Me Tonight |
| 10. Don't Get Around Much Any More |
| 11. Night And Day |
| 12. Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered |
Product Description
Review
Bold as Brass realises Cliff Richard’s lifelong ambition to record a selection of timeless classics from the Great American Songbook with a band of Nashville’s best swing musicians, a crew of collaborators that the Rat Pack themselves would have loved.
As an opener, Love Me or Love Me is an ambitious, vocally tricky choice. It’s a demanding song, with its descending octave in the second bar; arguably, it sounds better as an instrumental. And under the microscope Richard’s limitations are revealed: a catch of the breath here, a clipped phrase there. These tend to make for a somewhat jumpy delivery. Sometimes at the end of a number, Night and Day for instance, he strives too hard to sell the song.
But Richard’s vocal timbre, so identifiable from songs like The Young Ones, still shines on in this collection; one can imagine that it’s been something of a learning curve to acquire the knack of performing these numbers. It’s good to hear him reviving the likes of Teach Me Tonight, a hit for the DeCastro Sisters back in 1954 but seldom sung today.
Let’s Fall in Love, with a genuinely poetic verse, is a carefree interpretation with a light accompaniment that goes very well. Sinatra previously sang Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered but it was written originally for a woman to sing and, in translation, the lyric loses some of its impact. Also susceptible to criticism is the running order of this collection. Duke Ellington’s Don’t Get Around Much Anymore has been programmed at track 10, though it’s one of Richard’s most stylish interpretations. He’s excellent too in catching the mood of the bluesy I Just Want to Make Love to You.
The band shines throughout, leaving their mark on I Didn’t Know What Time It Was, where the arrangement, with cabaret piano introduction, switches from Latin to swing. There’s a welcome change of pace for They Can’t Take That Away From Me, which arrives after four swing numbers, and an all-male vocal group joins Richard for the gospel-intoned Accentuate the Positive, where one can envisage them as southern Baptist preachers. On Lazy River, another song rooted in the American south, Richard’s vocal recalls Bobby Darin’s much-loved interpretation.
In retrospect it seems a shame that Sir Cliff has waited so long to record this. He clearly loves these songs and his interpretations, endearing if not enduring, will pleasantly surprise those who might not have expected him to take up the challenge.
--Adrian EdwardsFind more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
1-Love Me Or Leave Me 2-Lazy River 3-I've Got you Under My Skin 4-I Just Want To Make Love To You 5-They Can't Take That Away From Me 6-Let's Fall In Love 7-I Didn't Know What Time It Was 8-Accentuate The Positive 9-Teach Me Tonight 10-Don't Get Around Much Any More 11-Night And Day 12-Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered Dip In To A Songbook Of Jazz And Swing Classics Given Fresh Magic By The Unique Cliff Touch To Celebrate His 70th Birthday. As Great As Ever. As Bold As Brass.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Firstly, Cliff still sounds in good voice. You may notice here and there that it's lost a little something as age is catching up a little, but nothing to worry about really.
It seems strange that Cliff should go to Tennessee to record an album with brass instruments; after all, Britain is the spiritual home of brass bands and any of the leading British brass bands could have provided stellar support for Cliff. Nevertheless, the Americans who contributed to this album have also done a stellar job. The only brass instruments used are trumpets, trombones, clarinets, flutes and various saxophones, although these are augmented by guitars, piano, bass, drums and percussion.
All but one of the songs date back originally to the first half of the twentieth century, when jazz and swing dominated popular music. Three of the songs (I've got you under my skin, Let's fall in love, Night and day) are Cole Porter compositions, while two others (I didn't know what time it was, Bewitched bothered and bewildered) are by Rodgers and Hart. Other classics from the era include Lazy river (a Hoagy Carmichael co-composition), Accentuate the positive (made famous by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters), Love me or leave me (originally an American hit for Ruth Etting in the twenties, but later revived by Doris Day when the song was used as the title track of Ruth's biopic in which Doris starred), Don't get around much anymore (Duke Ellington) and They can't take that away from me (the only Gershwin song featured), which are all famous songs that have stood the test of time well. Of more recent vintage is Teach me tonight, which was a number two American hit for the DeCastro sisters in 1954, when a competing version by Jo Stafford also made the American top twenty.
This is a fine album that will please Cliff's fans, of whom I am one. I doubt that it will win him any new fans, but he has plenty already. If you are among them, I expect you will enjoy this one.
It seems strange that Cliff should go to Tennessee to record an album with brass instruments; after all, Britain is the spiritual home of brass bands and any of the leading British brass bands could have provided stellar support for Cliff. Nevertheless, the Americans who contributed to this album have also done a stellar job. The only brass instruments used are trumpets, trombones, clarinets, flutes and various saxophones, although these are augmented by guitars, piano, bass, drums and percussion.
All but one of the songs date back originally to the first half of the twentieth century, when jazz and swing dominated popular music. Three of the songs (I've got you under my skin, Let's fall in love, Night and day) are Cole Porter compositions, while two others (I didn't know what time it was, Bewitched bothered and bewildered) are by Rodgers and Hart. Other classics from the era include Lazy river (a Hoagy Carmichael co-composition), Accentuate the positive (made famous by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters), Love me or leave me (originally an American hit for Ruth Etting in the twenties, but later revived by Doris Day when the song was used as the title track of Ruth's biopic in which Doris starred), Don't get around much anymore (Duke Ellington) and They can't take that away from me (the only Gershwin song featured), which are all famous songs that have stood the test of time well. Of more recent vintage is Teach me tonight, which was a number two American hit for the DeCastro sisters in 1954, when a competing version by Jo Stafford also made the American top twenty.
This is a fine album that will please Cliff's fans, of whom I am one. I doubt that it will win him any new fans, but he has plenty already. If you are among them, I expect you will enjoy this one.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
As an American Cliff Richard fan and long-time aficionado of Frank Sinatra, I eagerly anticipated this CD. I was not disappointed. He is wonderful and the arrangements are stellar and equal the 'Bold' in the title. Unlike the Rod Stewart CD's (who has admittedly found a niche in the genre), the Bold As Brass songs are not the same strumming guitar tempo of every single Steward American Songbook recording. Michael Omartian and the arrangers brought something new to the table with Sir Cliff and these songs sparkle with his still pristine voice.
Stand outs on the recording include:
'They Can't Take That Away From Me:' Love this one because of the very sensitive vocal interpretation and bit of a latin beat. Lovely!
'Accentuate the Positive': I worried about this one because of years of hearing it badly done on sixties TV and due to how folks typecast Sir Cliff. He is great on this song, and makes it his own. I turn it up to blast it in the car.
'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered:' An incredible performance dripping with a yearning, aching love.
'Teach Me Tonight:' Always a favorite in the US and viewed as an R&B song really.
'I Just Wanna Make Love to You:' Folks, he growls this song, like the Rock n'Roller he is and makes it sexy and bluesy and fantastic!
No, it's not Rock n' Roll, but it is GREAT! Worth your time and money! Better than other contemporary artists in the genre and on a par with Standard Favs like Torme, Cole, Sinatra and Fitzgerald. The man is a professional.
Stand outs on the recording include:
'They Can't Take That Away From Me:' Love this one because of the very sensitive vocal interpretation and bit of a latin beat. Lovely!
'Accentuate the Positive': I worried about this one because of years of hearing it badly done on sixties TV and due to how folks typecast Sir Cliff. He is great on this song, and makes it his own. I turn it up to blast it in the car.
'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered:' An incredible performance dripping with a yearning, aching love.
'Teach Me Tonight:' Always a favorite in the US and viewed as an R&B song really.
'I Just Wanna Make Love to You:' Folks, he growls this song, like the Rock n'Roller he is and makes it sexy and bluesy and fantastic!
No, it's not Rock n' Roll, but it is GREAT! Worth your time and money! Better than other contemporary artists in the genre and on a par with Standard Favs like Torme, Cole, Sinatra and Fitzgerald. The man is a professional.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Here is Cliff at 70, making a dramatic turn in his 52-year career, by producing an album composed entirely of standards. This seems like a huge departure from the norm, but in fact he has recorded standards several times before in the fifties and sixties. The first was in 1959, when he stepped into EMI's Abbey Road studios to record a range of standards that, with a few rock-n-roll tracks, became the album "Cliff Sings". In 1961 he recorded more standards for the album "Listen To Cliff", and yet more in 1962 for "32 Minutes and 17 Seconds with Cliff". Since then, there have been no further substantial forays into the standards until now.
The album was recorded at Sound House in Tennessee and mastered in Nashville - not obvious places for this kind of sound, but Cliff has recorded other genres there many times before. Cliff has always had a keen eye for musical talent, and for this project he assembled a tidy little orchestra composed of musical luminaries from the American jazz world. What they have produced there is a rich, infectious, swinging sound that lilts effortlessly behind and around Cliff's voice.
The songs themselves are a mixture of the obvious and the interestingly different. The orchestration of each is consistent and balanced across all twelve tracks, but all of this is swept into the background by what is arguably Cliff's best vocal work in twenty years. He sounds fantastic.
Cliff had a fabulous voice in the fifties and sixties but, fifty years later it has developed into something altogether more sophisticated and fuller in the lower registers, while retaining much of its characteristic clarity at the top end. The very top notes were bound to become illusive with age, but this is where Cliff has been clever, because these songs have a deeper, more resonant sound that is distinctly un-pop-like, and which suits his voice wonderfully as it is now. Just to be clear, his voice has not deteriorated in any way; rather it has mellowed and matured, been polished to a shine over the years, and shine it does right through this album.
There isn't a bad track on the entire album, but for me the diamonds among the pearls are I Just Wanna Make Love To You, and I've Got You Under My Skin. Both are superlative renditions. The bonus CD is great, too, especially When I Take My Sugar To Tea. That doesn't sound like a hot title, but believe me, Cliff makes it boil.
We dance, my partner and I, so from the moment we put this album on for a first listen, we got together and danced the whole thing though. It was great fun. It's that kind of toe-tapping stuff that is not for sitting down.
Don't make the mistake of writing off Cliff. This is a serious piece of work on which Cliff and co have spent several years. It is so smooth, it's almost whisky!
The album was recorded at Sound House in Tennessee and mastered in Nashville - not obvious places for this kind of sound, but Cliff has recorded other genres there many times before. Cliff has always had a keen eye for musical talent, and for this project he assembled a tidy little orchestra composed of musical luminaries from the American jazz world. What they have produced there is a rich, infectious, swinging sound that lilts effortlessly behind and around Cliff's voice.
The songs themselves are a mixture of the obvious and the interestingly different. The orchestration of each is consistent and balanced across all twelve tracks, but all of this is swept into the background by what is arguably Cliff's best vocal work in twenty years. He sounds fantastic.
Cliff had a fabulous voice in the fifties and sixties but, fifty years later it has developed into something altogether more sophisticated and fuller in the lower registers, while retaining much of its characteristic clarity at the top end. The very top notes were bound to become illusive with age, but this is where Cliff has been clever, because these songs have a deeper, more resonant sound that is distinctly un-pop-like, and which suits his voice wonderfully as it is now. Just to be clear, his voice has not deteriorated in any way; rather it has mellowed and matured, been polished to a shine over the years, and shine it does right through this album.
There isn't a bad track on the entire album, but for me the diamonds among the pearls are I Just Wanna Make Love To You, and I've Got You Under My Skin. Both are superlative renditions. The bonus CD is great, too, especially When I Take My Sugar To Tea. That doesn't sound like a hot title, but believe me, Cliff makes it boil.
We dance, my partner and I, so from the moment we put this album on for a first listen, we got together and danced the whole thing though. It was great fun. It's that kind of toe-tapping stuff that is not for sitting down.
Don't make the mistake of writing off Cliff. This is a serious piece of work on which Cliff and co have spent several years. It is so smooth, it's almost whisky!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cliff Bold as Brass
Not as good as some but it still is Cliff Good at swing.
Will still buy his CDs as he was the one whos music brought me and my wife together. Read more
Will still buy his CDs as he was the one whos music brought me and my wife together. Read more
Published 5 months ago by bob01
Not good for Cliff...he obviously lacks the necessary judgement
I think Cliff can sing any type of song and he has done over the years, especially the really early years, however what's lacking here is the right type of musical... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. M. Kostyrka
Gives me the (French) Horn!
This is my first review and what a Compact Disc to start with! I've been a rather eager Cliff follower since I first heard Mistletoe & Wine at a Young Conservative's Ball back in... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Alexander Hodgkinson-Wheatley
Bold As Brass CD
What can I say. I'm a Cliff Richard fan and I like to listen to his voice whether he is singing all the old favorites or new songs. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ann
surprizing me cliff
This album I came across by accident, someone elses music but i like it so much i have to buy it for my friend and he is in fine voice
Published 12 months ago by Ms. J. I. Smith
cliff is back with brass
Being a big fan of Sir Cliff (went to his concert in Ahoy november 2009)I figured this cd was a bit like his concert, but this is quite a different cd,but never the less beautiful,... Read more
Published 14 months ago by mariska
Cliff Richard - Bold as Brass
Bought this CD because it was Cliff's latest & I buy all his CD's. Only listened once and this style of music is not my cup of tea. Read more
Published 16 months ago by golden girl
Bold as Brass - Cliff Richard
Very good collection of old songs with a new take - if you like Cliff and these particular songs its a good combination - highly recommended
Published 16 months ago by J. H. Earp
Bold As Brass + Bonce CD
love the CD and wood send to all my friends, he still has it, looks, humor,grafull, and only 70, love the songs, he can make a bad song sound GREAT.. thank you..... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Margaret White
Cliff - Bold as Brass
This was bought as a Christmas present. I have not myself heard the recording. Delivery was prompt and well in time for Christmas.
Published 16 months ago by Rodney John Budge
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