The Warm Singing Style of Jeri Southern: The Complete Decca Years 1951-1957 (5-CD Box Set) Digipack
  • Vol.1 1951-1955
    Vol.1 1951-1955
  • Vol.2 1955-1957
    Vol.2 1955-1957
  • Vol.3 1957
    Vol.3 1957
  • Jeri Southern
    Jeri Southern

Jeri Southern

The Warm Singing Style of Jeri Southern: The Complete Decca Years 1951-1957 (5-CD Box Set) Digipack

Fresh Sound Records

Personnel:
Jeri Southern (vcl), Sy Oliver, Toots Camarata, Victor Young, Sonny Burke, Jerry Fielding, Ralph Burns, Billy May, Pete Rugolo, Gus Levene (dir), Dave Barbour (g)

Reference: FSRCD 795

Bar code: 8427328607957

 THIS PRODUCT IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN THE U.S. 

40-page booklet including biography, rare photos, and complete discography (matrix & catalog numbers, personnel, location and recording date). All tracks in this 5-CD set appear in chronological order of recording. This collection contains 112 songs. 72 of them from the Decca albums, and 40 were issued only as singles which, for the most part, had been previously unissued on CD.

Jeri has everything looks, personality, and her choice of material is great. She doesnt play or sing the ordinary overworked things. Man, she sells! Not since I first heard Sarah Vaughan have I been so impressed by a new singer.
Miles Davis (1949)

In the midst of the Terrible Tempest of Tortured Sounds that are being heard on records these days, Jeris soft, searching style can be considered a welcome haven in the storm.
Mel Mandel, Down Beat (July 2, 1952)

The voice of Jeri Southern is a sound thats hard to forget. As former Times arts editor Charles Champlin recalled: That smoky sound and that special way with lyrics made her just perfect for intimate clubs. She was one of the true originals.
Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times
(August 8, 1991)

Tracklist

Sample this album
Disc 1
Disc 2
Disc 3
Disc 4
Disc 5
Total time: 340:03 min.


CD 1

Orchestra Conducted by Camarata
01. You Better Go Now 2:59
02. Baby Did You Hear? 3:17

Orchestra Conducted by Sy Oliver
03. Give Me Time 3:09
04. I Thought of You Last Night 3:11
05. What Good Am I Without You? 3:04
06. Something I Dreamed Last Night 3:40

Orchestra Conducted by Victor Young
07. A Mighty Pretty Waltz 2:59
08. When I Fall In Love 3:03
09. Call Me Tonight 2:17

Orchestra Conducted by Norman Leyden
10. Forgive and Forget 2:50
11. The Ruby and the Pearl 3:10
12. Dancing on the Ceiling 3:07
13. Querida 2:20

Orchestra Conducted by Lew Douglas
14. I Saw You Again 2:49
15. Just Got to Have Him Around 2:52
16. Weep for the Boy 2:42

Orchestra Conducted by Camarata
17. You Said 2:34
18. Autumn in My Heart 3:02
19. Speak Softly to Me 2:36
20. That Ole Devil Called Love 3:16

Dave Barbour Trio
21. Miss Johnson Phoned Again Today 2:43
22. The Very Thought of You 3:03
23. Cabin 3:03
24. I'm In Love with the Honorable Mr. So-and-So 3:07

CD 2

Dave Barbour Trio
01. Who Can I Turn To 3:16
02. All in Fun 2:33
03. Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye 3:15
04. Mad About the Boy 2:46

Orchestra Conducted by Sonny Burke
05. Joey 2:50
06. The Man That Got Away 3:08
07. Little Boy Grown Tall 2:27
08. Remind Me 3:10

Jeri Southern Trio
09. The Gypsy in My Soul 2:15
10. One Day I Wrote His Name Upon the Sand 3:37
11. It's De-Lovely 2:06
12. I'll Wear the Green Willow 2:57
13. I'll Take Romance 2:59

Jeri Southern
14. Scarlett Ribbons 3:02

Jeri Southern Trio
15. Debonair 2:37
16. My Letters 2:50
17. I Don't Know Where to Turn 3:07
18. Too Marvelous for Words 4:15
19. Let's Fall In Love 2:49
20. I Hadn't Anyone Till You 2:49

Orchestra Conducted by Jerry Fielding
21. Nothing at All 3:01
22. Come by Sunday 2:50
23. What to Do 2:28

CD 3

Orchestra Conducted by Frank Merriweather (aka. Billy May)
01. (You Gotta Get) A Lot of Livin' Out-A Life 2:36
02. I Wo'nt Be Around Anymore 3:17
03. What Do You See in Her? 3:01
04. An Occasional Man 2:30

Orchestra Conducted by Camarata
05. Kiss and Run 2:40
06. Where Walks My True Love? 2:58
07. Don't Explain 3:09
08. Who Am I to Say? 2:58

Orchestra Conducted by Sonny Burke
09. I'm Gonna Try Me Some Love 2:47
10. Stop Me (If Youve Heard This One Before) 2:09
11. Would I 2:31
12. There's Something in My Eye 2:33

Orchestra Conducted by Frank Merriweather (aka. Billy May) with Jud Conlon Rhythmaires
13. Bells Are Ringing 2:34
14. Married I Can Always Get 3:07
15. Candlelight Conversation 2:55
16. Just in Time 2:39

Orchestra Conducted by Camarata
17. Can I Forget You? 2:45
18. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 3:47
19. No More 3:30
20. He was Too Good to Me 3:41
21. I Remember You 3:25

CD 4

Orchestra Conducted by Camarata
01. Little Girl Blue 3:47
02. My Ship 3:52
03. You're Driving Me Crazy (What Did I Do) 2:18
04. Autumn in New York 2:29
05. Let Me Love You 2:07
06. You Make Me Feel So Young 2:36
07. Someone to Watch Over You 3:48

Orchestra Conducted by Ralph Burns
08. You Forgot Your Gloves 2:34
09. My Ideal 3:22
10. I've Got Five Dollars 2:11
11. My Old Flame 4:29
12. No Moon at All 2:32
13. Am I Blue? 3:18
14. If I Had You 2:28
15. All Too Soon 3:20

Orchestra Conducted by Ralph Burns
16. It Must Be True 2:46
17. Romance in the Dark 4:23
18. Everything But You 2:55
19. Whats My Name? 2:14

Orchestra Conducted by Sy Oliver
20. If You Kiss Me 3:08
21. The Mystery of Love 3:12
22. Fire Down Below 2:37
23. Do I Love You Because Youre Beautiful? 3:01
24. How Did He Look? 3:15

CD 5

Orchestra Conducted by Pete Rugolo
01. You Walked Out 2:32
02. You're Gonna Flip Mom 2:35

Orchestra Conducted by Gus Levene
03. Hold Me 3:11
04. Please Be Kind 3:23
05. Trust in Me 3:21
06. Try a Little Tenderness 2:52
07. I Waited So Long 2:34

Orchestra Conducted by Gus Levene
08. Close as Pages in a Book 3:01
09. Cross My Heart 3:09
10. Prelude to a Kiss 3:33
11. Speak Low 3:00
12. The Touch of Love 2:42

Orchestra and Chorus Conducted by Gus Levene
13. You're Mine, You 3:29
14. Close to You 3:19
15. I Don't Want to Walk Without You 2:32
16. The Touch of Your Lips 3:15

Dave Barbour Trio
17. Nobody's Heart 3:25
18. You're Nearer 4:06
19. It Never Entered My Mind 4:21
20. Let's Stay Young Forever 2:39

Album details

Jeri Southern vocals in all tracks, with orchestral or rhythm accompaniment

All tracks recorded in New York or Los Angeles and originally issued in Decca albums & 45rpm singles

Decca albums:
-Warm, Intimate Songs in the Jeri Southern Style (10" album DL-5531)
-You Better Go Now (12" album DL-8214)
-The Southern Style (12" album DL-8055)
-When Your Hearts on Fire (12" album DL-8394)
-Jeri Gently Jumps (12" album DL-8472)
-A Prelude to a Kiss (12" album DL-8745)
-Southern Hospitality (12" album DL-8761)

Decca singles:
27840, 27950, 27989, 28224, 28426, 28464, 28622, 28715, 28892, 29042, 29184, 29261, 29502, 29647, 29768, 29856, 29937, 30021, 30065, 30106, 30114, 30254, 30343, 30445, 30457, 30556, 91253

The Decca recordings were originally produced by Milt Gabler, Morty Palitz, Sonny Burke, Tom Mack, George Cates and Charles Bud Dant

Compiled and produced for CD release by Jordi Pujol
24-Bit Digitally Remastered

Press reviews

"Heres a vocalist that made a big hit in the scene for a short while, and then got out while the gettin was good. Jeri Southern, Nebraska-bred, started as a pianist but once people heard her hauntingly melancholy voice, her path was set. This essential 5 cd collection puts together all of her material from her key years, before moving to Roulette, Capitol and then finally leaving the music scene in 1961 in disgust.

While just about everything here has been available before, never have you been able to have everything during this period in recorded chronological order. Besides the music, you get a sumptuous 40 page booklet that includes her intriguing biography, an exhaustive discography (of her albums and singles-complete with matrix and catalogue numbers) a list of musicians and a collection of rare photographs of Ms Southern during various stages of her life and career. This collection puts all of the music and information together like no other project for this under-appreciated artist. During her short career, nobody except maybe Billie Holiday could come close to consistently sounding as marvelously desultory and lonely as she.

Just to give you an idea, you dont get to until half way through the second disc here until you finally get to a song that is halfway upbeat, a handful of ditties with her own trio on The Gypsy in My Soul and Its De-Lovely. The collection starts off with her most famous piece, the inforgettable You Better Go Now and it also includes the hits Someone To Watch Over Me, and Joey. Besides singing with her own trio some of the time she teams of with guitarist Dave Barbour's sensitive trio for material such as an inspiring Evrytime We Say Goodbye. Mostly, however, shes with orchestras conducted by the likes of Sy Oliver, Sonny Burke, Victor Young, Pete Rugulo and Ralph Burns. The songs? Well, 95% of the time its about Love Lost, Love Wanted, Love REALLY Lost, Love NEVER GONNA GET, Love BEING LOST, and Love WANTING TO LOSE.

The Big Bands include some real all stars, such as Hymie Schertzer/as (who is heartbreaking on his solos), George Barnes/g, George Duvivier/b, Harry Klee/as, Alvin Stoller/dr, Buddy Collete/as, Jimmy Rowles/p and Nick Fatool/dr, so youve got some guys with punch. Shes quite lyrical on the piano herself, but what youre going to take away from this collection is her ability to breath out emotion in an understated yet poignant way that few could rival. Tunes like My Ideal and Am I Blue sound utterly convincing, and when she goes to obscure pieces like Candlelight Conversation Youre Gonna Flip, Mom or Whats My Name she makes them work like a brand new recipe. Her treatment of standards are all taken down a few hues, even making Just In Time sound almost regretful. She makes Janis Ian sound insouciant in comparison. If youre ready to be taken where few people dare, Jeri Southerns voice, style and attitude will make you remember why artists are called artists. This is Blue Period singing at its apotheosis. Misery never sounded so good."

George W. Harris -October 7, 2013
http://www.jazzweekly.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Southern was a piano player who added singing to her act and wound up recording steadily just as the LP blossomed and the demand for female vocalists spiked. In her earliest vocals for Decca in 1951 and '52, you can almost hear the basis for Chet Baker's casual, sighing singing style.

The retrospectives by Fresh Sound provide a well-rounded sense of why each singer was special. In The Warm Singing Style of Jeri Southern: The Complete Decca Years 1951-1957, a five-CD set, we not only hear Southern's voice mature over time but she's also backed by a range of orchestras and ensembles of varying sizes. You Better Go Nowher first recording in 1951remains breathtaking and was never really topped by Southern. Arranged by Tutti Camarata, the song set the stage for an entire generation of jazz vocalists who sounded like they were singing from their beds. Other set gems include When I Fall in Love, Call Me Tonight, Just Got to Have Him Around, The Man That Got Away, An Occasional Man and I'm Gonna Try Me Some Love.

Southern was best when she was committed to a lyric and put her back into it. Too often she was placed in treacly settings by Decca that made her sound like she was singing Silent Night over and over again. By far, the set's best tracks feature Southern accompanying herself on piano. On songs like It's De-Lovely, I'll Take Romance and Let's Fall in Love, you hear Southern's lush piano introductions and smart chord voicings. Also special are her tracks on piano with the Dave Barbour Trio including Miss Johnson Phoned Again Today, That Old Devil Called Love and The Very Thought of You. Listening to them now, you realize that a small group was all Southern needed to put her charm across."

Marc Myers -October 1, 2013
www.jazzwax.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"This boxset is absolutely superb, and should help Jeri Southern get more recognition as one of the greatest singers of all time. Her voice immediately grabs you...she has perhaps the most sensitive phrasing of all the singers of her time. Jeri accompanies herself on piano on many tracks, and even plays guitar on at least one track! That is rare among jazz singers.

This five CD set, as stated, includes 40 songs from singles that were not previously issued on CD or LP. But, unlike many singers of her time, whose singles were pop throw-away novelties, most of Jeri's singles were works of art worthy of being "album tracks". Now, finally they are available! Even the albums are hard to get on CD at a reasonable price. This is a great way to get it all.

The graphic presentation here is superb. A slipcase with three "triple fold" digipacks holding five CDs (on plastic holders). The 40 page book is also superb, with many rare photos and a detailed chronology/discography [...]

If you are new to the great singers, jump right in and buy this! Don't miss this one!"

Kevin J. Roberts (August 6, 2013)
-Amazon.com

Price:

34,95 €  (tax incl.)

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