The Last Concert (Rosemary Clooney album)
Encyclopedia
The Last Concert is a live album
by Rosemary Clooney
, released through Concord Jazz
in November 2002.
This was Clooney's first live album, and it bought an end to her fifty five year recording career.
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
by Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
, released through Concord Jazz
Concord Jazz
Concord Jazz is a subsidiary of Concord Records, owned by Concord Music Group.-Dozens of albums:*Charlie Byrd*Ruby Braff*Dave McKenna*Marian McPartland*Rosemary Clooney*Scott Hamilton*Tito Puente*George Shearing*Gene Harris*Mel Tormé*Monty Alexander...
in November 2002.
This was Clooney's first live album, and it bought an end to her fifty five year recording career.
Reception
The Allmusic review by William Ruhlmann awarded the album three stars and remarking on Clooney's final performance said that "Not surprisingly...there isn't anything about it to suggest finality specifically. But, as an appearance by a veteran performer with a long career to draw upon, it necessarily had a retrospective feel and, occurring only two months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, it concluded with a reverent tone, Clooney's first recording of "God Bless America." Following an instrumental overture canvassing some of her better known songs (none of which she went on to actually sing in the show), Clooney opened with "Sentimental Journey," the first of her borrowings from other "girl singers," since it is associated with".Track listing
- Overture: Medley – 4:35
- "TenderlyTenderly"Tenderly" is a popular song published in 1946 with music by Walter Gross and lyrics by Jack Lawrence.Copyright 1946 by Edwin H. Morris & Company, Inc....
" (Jack LawrenceJack LawrenceJack Lawrence was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.- Biography :...
& Walter GrossWalter Gross (musician)Walter Gross is best known for having composed the music for the popular 1946 song "Tenderly". In addition to composing dozens of other titles, he was also a pianist, arranger, orchestra leader, and record industry executive.-Biography:Born in New York City, Gross gave his first piano recital at...
) - "White ChristmasWhite Christmas (song)"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.Accounts vary as...
" (Irving BerlinIrving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
) - "Half As MuchHalf as Much"Half as Much" is an American pop standard written by Curley Williams in 1951. It was first recorded by country music singer Hank Williams in 1952 and reached #2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart. The same year, Rosemary Clooney recorded a hit version for Top 40 markets and Alma Cogan in the...
" (Curley WilliamsCurley WilliamsCurley Williams was an American country and western musician and songwriter from Georgia. His best-known song is "Half As Much". He was admitted to the in 1999.-Life & Career:...
) - "SistersSisters (song)"Sisters" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1954.The song appeared in the movie White Christmas where it was sung by Rosemary Clooney and Trudy Stevens ....
" (Berlin) - "This Ole HouseThis Ole House"This Ole House" is a popular song written by Stuart Hamblen, and published in 1954.-Background:Hamblen was supposedly out on a hunting expedition when he and his fellow hunter, actor John Wayne, came across a tumbledown hut in the mountains, many miles from civilization...
" (Stuart HamblenStuart HamblenStuart Hamblen , born Stuart Carl Hamblen, was one of American radio's first singing cowboys in 1926, and later became a Christian songwriter, temperance supporter and recurring candidate for political office....
)
- "Tenderly
- "Sentimental JourneySentimental Journey (song)"Sentimental Journey" is a popular song, published in 1944. The music was written by Les Brown and Ben Homer, and the lyrics were written by Arthur Green.-History:...
" (Les BrownLes Brown (bandleader)Les Brown, Sr. and the Band of Renown are a big band that began in the late 1930s, initially as the group Les Brown and His Blue Devils that Brown led while a student at Duke University. He was the first president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences...
, Arthur Green, Ben Homer) – 4:14 - Dialogue – 1:22
- "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)" (Don Dougherty, Al Neiburg, Ellis Reynolds) – 3:45
- "Just in TimeJust in Time (song)"Just in Time" is a popular song with the melody written by Jule Styne and the lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The song was published in 1956....
" (Betty ComdenBetty ComdenBetty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
, Adolph GreenAdolph GreenAdolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
, Jule StyneJule StyneJule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
) – 2:58 - Dialogue – 0:48
- "Happiness is a Thing Called JoeHappiness is a Thing Called Joe"Happiness is a Thing Called Joe" is a song composed by Harold Arlen, with lyrics written by Yip Harburg, it was written for the 1940 musical Cabin in the Sky, recorded by the MGM Studio Orchestra and sung by Ethel Waters.-Notable recordings:...
" (Harold ArlenHarold ArlenHarold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
, Yip HarburgYip HarburgEdgar Yipsel Harburg , known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg, was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers...
) – 4:32 - "You Go to My HeadYou Go to My Head"You Go to My Head" is a 1938 popular song composed by J. Fred Coots with lyrics by Haven Gillespie. The song is a unique conjunction of a sophisticated lyric and complex, lush harmonic structure by two songwriters who were not generally known for such elegance; nevertheless the song is highly...
" (John Frederick Coots, Haven GillespieHaven GillespieJames Lamont "Haven" Gillespie was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" as well as "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", "Breezin' Along With The Breeze", "Right or Wrong," "Beautiful Love",...
) – 4:55 - "Rockin' Chair" (Hoagy CarmichaelHoagy CarmichaelHoward Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
) – 4:08 - Dialogue – 0:55
- "Ol' Man RiverOl' Man River"Ol' Man River" is a song in the 1927 musical Show Boat that expresses the African American hardship and struggles of the time with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River; it is sung from the point-of-view of a dock worker on a showboat, and is the most famous song from the show...
" (Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
, Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
) – 2:07 - "The Singer" (Joe Cocuzzo, Vincent Falcone) – 2:29
- "They Can't Take That Away from MeThey Can't Take That Away from Me"They Can't Take That Away from Me" is a 1937 song written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film Shall We Dance....
" (George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Ira GershwinIra GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
) – 3:46 - "God Bless AmericaGod Bless America"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song ....
" (Berlin) – 4:11