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- Will Friedwald, The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums. Pantheon Books, 2019
The book therefore serves me well as a detailed buying guide to records I otherwise would likely never hear. It prompted me to order some of them, including Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife, Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria, Every Grain of Sand: Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan, Annie Ross Sings a Song with Mulligan!, Peggy Lee's Black Coffee, and Anita O'Day Sings the Winners.
I have enlarged my collection from advice of this book. There have been no outright disappointments, so far.
In his preface Friedwald describes his way of determining his "playlist." Along with his editor, Robert Gottlieb, the author outlines a rather odd methodology:
[M]ost of these albums just jumped out at us without our having to give the question a lot of soul-searching thought. We began by listing the albums that absolutely had to be in here, most of which immediately leapt to mind. What we didn't need to do was study lists of artists and proceed from there; in other words, we thought at once of Lullabies of Birdland and Mack the Knife, rather than ask ourselves, "What are the essential albums by Ella Fitzgerald?"
Such a method is bound to become restrictive and exclusive in many ways. Judging from the albums listed, a large majority of Friedwald's choices date from the 1950s and early '60s, with a smattering from the years following, all the way up to two albums from 2002. With one only exception, Friedwald's choices are designed to play as albums, rather than compilations. Almost all his selections consist of music from the "Great American Songbook," the music of our parents' generation. (My quibbles can't be a matter of generations, because Friedwald is thirteen years younger than I.) Likewise, all the artists he chooses sing in the English language: hence no Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, or any other foreign-language pop. Friedwald lists no Broadway or Hollywood cast albums. Such restriction leads one to challenge his nominees, but perhaps that is part of his intention.
One huge problem in this book is its lack of definitions fo "jazz" and "pop." My list is also subjective, but among pop singers, I couldn't fail to include albums from the 1970s through the 1990s. More puzzling still is Friedman's chapter on the aforementioned album by Barb Jungr, Every Grain of Sand, a Bob Dylan tribute from twenty years ago (Friedman begins the chapter comparing Jungr's version of "It Ain't Me Babe"to Dylan's original, but this particular song is not included on the album.) A more pertinent question is why Friedman chose to spotlight an English cabaret singer of whom most Americans have never heard, instead of an album by Bob Dylan himself.
However, I believe this book's main flaw is the sin of omission. Here, therefore, are a few albums and artists, from my own "playlist," that Friedman either ignored or overlooked, presented via Youtube:
- Judy Collins, In My Life (1966)
This album was one of the best of the 1960s. Her next album, Wildflowers would be a gigantic step up in Collins's career (helping launch Joni Mitchell's career as well). But previously with In My Life, she brought to my attention for the first time Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and Leonard Cohen's lovely"Suzanne." Collins's eclectic tastes also admit Bob Dylan, Donovan, and Brecht and Weill, with "Pirate Jenny"from the Threepenny Opera. The album properly ends with a remarkable reading the Beatles' "In My Life," after which the album itself is titled. I prefer Collins's rendition, framed by a single acoustic guitar, to that of the Fab Four.
- Sam Cooke, Night Beat (1963)
Sam Cooke, "the man who invented soul," was famous mainly as a singer of hit singles, nearly all of which he wrote himself. Before his tragic death the following year, he recorded a bona fide album, Night Beat, an album with a strong after-hours ambience. Here all songs are by other songwriters. The performances, which included a young Billy Preston at the organ, are very informal and laid back. Best are the final two tracks, "Fool's Paradise" (one of my favorite songs) and Joe Turner's rollicking "Shake, Rattle and Roll."
- Harry Nilsson, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973)
Nilsson's voice was one of the most admired in the late '60s and early '70s. Although he was a prolific songwriter, I chose this album of standards, one of the first ever by a rock-era singer, with lush string accompaniment by Gordon Jenkins and His Orchestra. These are the songs Harry loved from childhood, on an album that must have perplexed the money men at RCA Victor. Of all the vocal albums I've heard, this one stands out. The CD reissue adds many great tracks not found on the original LP.
- Bette Midler (1973)
The same year of Nilsson's brilliant look into the American Songbook another immense talent mines the same ore. Here are ten tracks, each a home run, from an eclectic group of songwriters, from Hoagy Carmichael to Bob Dylan on the first side alone. A classic, I think better than her first release, The Divine Miss M.
- Joni Mitchell, Blue (1971)
Blue is one of the most-heard albums of its time and one to which millions still listen. For a very personal songwriter, this is one of Joni Mitchell's most intimate, with more memorable music and lyrics than many of her later releases.
- Bobby Darin, The Legendary Bobby Darin (2004)
It would be unthinkable not to include Bobby Darin among any roster of best performers. This album is an anthology of his Capitol recordings.
- Willie Nelson, Red Headed Stranger (1975)
I admit to being a late convert to so-called outlaw country music, but this album is the sub-genre's progenitor. Nelson knows how to put emotions into a song, without emoting. I could have chosen many other album's, including his own forays into the Great American Songbook, but this song cycle of murder and its aftermath serves well as a primer.
- Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (1994)Betty Carter was a firecracker for more than forty years, a jazz singer among jazz singers. How could any great albums list omit her? She was at her best with an enthusiastic live audience, and my choice is one of her best, released just a few years before her untimely death.
- Laura Nyro and LaBelle, Gonna Take a Miracle (1971)
As is the case with A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, this album features a prolific, hugely talented songwriter singing songs from the Great American Soul repertoire. As with Nilsson's inspiration, these are the songs Nyro most treasured from her childhood, classics that propelled her own music. She could not have found better background singers than Patti LaBelle & co. Production by Gamble & Huff is also top-notch.
- Carole King, Tapestry (1970)
A superior songwriter for many years previously, Carole King finally found her own voice with this album, a great spark for the late-'60s singer-songwriter trend and a hugely popular album in its own right. It's certainly her most popular album of the past fifty-odd years. Many of the tracks feature King's take on songs that already had been big hits for other artists.
- Ray Charles, The Genius Sings the Blues (1961)
When I want to listen to Ray Charles, almost any of his '50s albums for Atlantic are ahead of his '60s ABC-Paramount/ Tangerine productions, including his Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Friedman's choice. In other words, I choose Charles the songwriter over Charles the interpreter.
- Bob Dylan, John Wesley Harding (1967)
As I've already asked, why choose a Dylan tribute recording over any of Dylan's own, especially from the 1960s, when his influence on popular music was at its greatest. John Wesley Harding is usually my go-to Dylan album, for all its puzzling lyrics. I prefer Dylan's version of "All Along the Watchtower" to Jimi Hendrix's more widely known recording.
- Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Sing Along with Basie (1958)
I prefer this L, H & R album to their earlier Sing a Song of Basie, Friedman's pick, because it offers much more: the actual Basie band with Joe Williams and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. My favorite track is the last, "Li'l Darlin'." Despite its extremely slow tempo, performance is for me the album's climactic track.
- Elis Regina, Saudade do Brasil (1980)
Elis is not only my favorite Brazilian singer but also (maybe) my favorite vocalist, period. I chose this particular album, a studio version of her live show, mostly because it spreads the music over two discs, doubling the content of any other of her many fine recordings. As usual, the very best of Elis's contemporary songwriters are featured Her performance of Jobim's "Sabia" is breathtaking in itself and probably my favorite track.
- Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Orange Crate Art (1995)
This Wilson-Parks collaboration, the only one since the Beach Boys' aborted SMiLE album in 1967, was my favorite recording of any genre in 1995, despite its poor sales. I was most happy to receive a new 2022 edition, with three recently recorded tracks and a separate disc presenting a backing-track only rendition, on the Omnivore label.
Brian Wilson, by his own admission, wrote none of the arrangements for this album. Still, it is uncanny how Parks's vocal arrangements, performed and overdubbed perfectly, resemble what Wilson might have done himself. The orchestral arrangements, including Parks's version of Gershwin's "Lullaby," are outstanding. No one but Parks could have produced this recording.
The two-disc, edition is worth hearing also for its three added tracks: a stacked, a cappella version of the theme from Rhapsody in Blue, a Four Freshman-styled of "Our Love Is Here to Stay,"and a touching "What a Wonderful World." Brian's voice here isn't what it was on the original tracks, but effective nonetheless.
- Johnny Cash, At_San_Quentin (1969)
I can't fathom how Johnny Cash could be omitted from any great-albums playlist. The San Quentin performance, a huge seller among '60s recordings, also boasts Shel Silverstein's wry "A Boy Named Sue." Shame on Friedman for ignoring this album!
- Sinatra at the Sands (1966)
I am not knocking Friedman's Sinatra chapter, but Sinatra at the Sands, with its appreciative live audience, Count Basie's band, and Quincy Jones's arrangements, is my go-to.
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