Friday, September 4, 2009

Della Reese


Della Reese and I have barely crossed paths. In all my travels I’ve never picked up a copy of her biggest record, which was Don’t You Know, from 1959. All I’ve got are these two singles, the first on Jubilee, the second on RCA. And I see, looking at Amazon, that collections by said artist are not to be had, apart from a collection of her Jubilee sides, only 2 of which were actual hits.


She strikes me, Della Reese does, as a couldhavebeen. She was better known as a live performer and as an actress than as a recording artist. She somehow got overshadowed by singers like Dionne Warwick, Aretha of course, even Nina Simone. Of course she has a legion of fans who will take me task...







Della Reese:



And That Reminds Me – A hit in the fall of 1957.Very Vegas. A song that sounds more like an MOR standard than it really was, but it still got covered a lot. The Four Seasons put it back on the chart in 1969, and, sacrilege though it may be, I prefer their version. Della herself re-recorded it for RCA. The original is on Jubilee. Don’t be fooled.
Not One Minute More – This song of undying love highlights the strange juxtaposition of Reese’s very R&B delivery sung against a total MOR arrangement. From the winter of 1960.

1 comment:

Daddy Squeeze Me! said...

OH NO YOU DID NOT! ITS ON NOW!

I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW DELLA REESE IS TERRIFIC AND LOVED BY MANY! MANY!


BUT WHAT YOU SAID DOES HAVE SOME TRUTH TO IT. BUT SHE HAS DONE SOME GREAT...GREAT ...GREAT WORK ANDI HAVE PICTURES TO PROVE DELLA REESE WAS A FOX!

 
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