Only You - Connick, Harry, Jr. (CD 2004)

Harry Connick is one of my favorite singers/performers. He is talented not only as a writer and musician, but also has a good voice. His voice is not quite as good as Sinatra in his prime, but nonetheless he is very talented. Compared to much of the stuff passing off as music nowadays without any melody or with constantly repetitive lyrics (nothing like hearing your body is a wonderland sung with about 12 other words in the song is not musicianship), his work soars above the competition.

Sometimes Mr. Connick can get too exuberant in his performances. This happened in his holiday album from 2003 wherein he was more than just over the top with his singing and orchestrations. His arrangements with his trio can be better than with an orchestra. Sometimes the orchestra gets too brassy and overpowering to the vocals. With the trio (which is on this album), he has much more success. However, in some cases, he is under exuberant such as in Save the Last Dance for Me, which is the weakest song in the album. I ve put some individual comments on the more memorable songs of this album below.

Admiration has to be given to Mr. Connick to do covers of some very significant songs from the 50 s and 60 s. Many of these songs are strongly associated with a many do-wop groups such as The Drifters, The Flamingoes, and The Platters. Whenever one covers a song that is significantly attached to one singer or group, it is hard to surpass the original. In only one or two cases am I doing a comparison. Several decades of memory of airplay of a song by one performer dims future comparisons. The only time I ve seen this succeed is when it is done by a singer of the opposite sex. As many interpretations vary significantly from the original, it affects one s judgment.

1. MORE
This song was originally from a movie called Mondo Cane (about freaks of the world, more or less) that came out in the early 60 s. It was a bizarre film, how such a beautiful love ballad came out of this film is incomprehensible, but it is a beautiful song that has been sung by many singers. However, it has not been recorded much in the past decade and is a welcome treat to open the album. It is performed just right, with a bluesy yet jazzy tempo that does justice to the original.

2. I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU
The performance is sensual..a tad too slow for my taste but he pulls this song off quite well.

3. SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME
The slow orchestrations are good in this song, but it is a poor cover for the classic performed by The Drifters. This is a dance song where you want to not only move with your partner, but to swing and sway with the melody. Tina Turner even did a version of it that was incredible. This performance doesn t do it .it s just too languid. I must say I m highly prejudicial to The Drifters version as it is one of my all time favorites. I d have to say this is the weakest song in the entire album.

4. MY BLUE HEAVEN
A remake of the Fats Domino song, this is done with a decided Latin beat. A complete re-interpretation of this song, it is quite unique. However, it works and is an unexpected delight.

5. YOU DON'T KNOW ME
A cover of Ray Charles, he does more than a workman imitation, he does a good styling of the song. Mr. Charles performance of this song is nothing less than outstanding in providing the blues in this song. Although I prefer Mr. Charles version, this rendition is still very good.

6. ALL THESE THINGS
Again, this song seems to sound a bit too lethargic in the vocal sections to me. The tempo could be picked up a notch. Instrumental sections in this song work better as.

7. FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE
This was originally performed by Stevie Wonder in the 60 s. This song is slower and soulful, but it comes across beautifully. I ve never been a Wonder fan but this is one of the 2 or 3 songs that he did that I truly enjoyed. He didn t write this song. The song is slowed down a bit in his performance but it works it comes across as a ballad. Sometimes he is stretching his vocal talents and depending more on the distinct musical arrangement to compensate.

8. ONLY YOU
A cover of the Platters, he does a slow ballad-like rendition of the song. Not great, not bad in the middle. The musical intro is nice and bluesy.

9. MY PRAYER
Another cover of the Platters song from the 50 s, this comes through reverentially which is the right way to describe this performance. He is praying for his lover just as it says and it has t he right tone to it.

10. OTHER HOURS
This is the one original piece that he wrote. His writing talents are a mixed bag in this case he succeeds. If you want to hear a lot of his original compositions, get either album, Thou Shalt Not (a failed Broadway show from 2002, but is definitely worthwhile to listen to it s hard to locate but worthwhile) or After Hours which has jazz instrumental versions from this show. Although I didn t see the show, I think it was mercilessly panned. Anyhow, he has written many songs for other albums.

11. I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU
I believe this was originally sung by James Stewart in a mid-30 s movie I don t remember the film. Believe it or not, Mr. Stewart did a nice job on the song. However, Harry does a very good job. The pacing is good on this song, and it doesn t drag nor does it get too uptempo. This was also done by the Flamingos in the 50 s -another do-wop classic of that era.

12. GOOD NIGHT MY LOVE
This comes across more as a big band number than the song that was created in the 50 s a bit before my time but I ve heard it on oldies stations a lot. Orchestrations play a significant part in this song, as well as every cut on his albums.

Bottom line: a very good album. I just wish he d get in the right groove and keep things a bit more uptempo. He is an exuberant performer that sometimes is a bit too hyper. This album tends to go the other way. However, it is a nice album to have as background music at a dinner party or while snuggling with someone on a chilly Valentine s evening while sitting by the fire.