With the death of Frank Sinatra, it now can be made official: Rosemary Clooney assumes the mantle as our greatest interpreter of popular music. To anyone who wants to argue with that designation, just listen to Clooney's new album. All disputes should be quickly brought to rest.
"Rosemary Clooney 70: A Seventieth Birthday Celebration" contains 70 minutes of music culled from her 21-year association with Concord Records. In addition, the CD opens and closes with new recordings that demonstrate that Clooney continues to be simply the best in the business.
The new album, her 23rd for Concord--thankfully all remain available--contains 19 brilliant renditions of some of the great pop tunes of the 20th century. Although this recording shows a slight diminution in Clooney's vocal strength, there's no question that her powers of interpretation, her ability to find the essence in every lyric, remain intact. With Sinatra now singing elsewhere, there can be no question that Rosemary deserves to stand at the head of the class.
"70" opens with a spectacular and moving rendition of James Taylor's lovely song about enduring, no matter the trials and travails; "Secret of Life" caused goosebumps for this avid fan and proud friend of the incredible Miss Clooney.
I've been a fan since her days under the tutelage of Mitch Miller at Columbia Records, which produced such hits as "Tenderly," "Come Ona My House," and "Mambo Italiano."
I had the privilege of interviewing Rosemary by phone in 1981, prior to her appearance in Columbus with the touring show, "4 Girls 4." That quartet included the 40s singing sensation Helen 0'Connell, the magnificent Margaret Whiting, and the hilarious comedian Rosemarie, best known from the old Dick Van Dyke [television] Show.
When Rosemary arrived in Columbus for a week's engagement at Veterans Memorial Auditorium that summer, my wife and I attended every performance during the six-night run. Rosemary proved friendly and cordial in welcoming us backstage, even inviting us for a backstage catered dinner one evening.
As the years [have] wandered on, we've seen Rosemary perform perhaps a dozen times. She always welcomes us as old friends, although our total contact probably doesn't stretch to more than a couple of hours across 17 years.
I've interviewed the singer a couple of times since, and she's never less than the consummate professional, a warm and wondrous performer, a proud mother and doting grandmother.
The new album winds up with a new version of a Gershwin composition which her longtime manager Allen Sviridoff calls her "signature song." It was the last song that Ira and George Gershwin wrote together. And it was written in the Beverly Hills, Calif., house that Rosemary has lived in since 1953. Ira Gershwin, who for many years was Rosie's next door neighbor, said that no one sang "(Our) Love is Here to Stay" better.
Other songs in the collection, chosen from her Concord catalog, include such gems as "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," "I Got Lost in His Arms," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "One for My Baby," "But Beautiful," "I'm Beginning to See the Light," "and "Just One of Those Things." She does old friend Bob Hope's theme, "Thanks for the Memory," a poignant version of "Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair," and one of her greatest hits from the early years, "Hey There."
Perhaps the most interesting number on the CD is her amazing reading of the Hammerstein-Kern classic, "Ol' Man River," of which Earl Brown said, "For Rosemary, this song says it all."
Whether you're a veteran fan of the Clooney voice or a newcomer to this magnificent artist, "70" should provide many hours of satisfaction. And as Mick Jagger once pointed out, satisfaction can be hard to come by.
Bob Powers helped pay for college by playing drums (poorly) in a trio--sometimes a quartet--called The Hotshots. As a journalist, he has published hundreds of music reviews and interviews for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, The Columbus Dispatch, The Athens (Ohio) Messenger, and The Huntington (W.Va.) Advertiser.
He also writes about current literature for G21 in his weekly column, "Powersbooks."
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