Vic Damone

The Best of Vic Damone: The Mercury Years
$10.98
Vic Damone remains one of the greatest crooners of the entire twentieth century; and this CD gives us a wonderful track set of his best numbers on Mercury Records. The quality of the sound is quite good, too.

The track set begins with Vic singing a marvelous rendition of "I Have But One Heart." Vic's voice is truly its own instrument; and he delivers "I Have But One Heart" without a superfluous note. The strings and horns carry the musical arrangement well, too. "You Do" features the violin at the very beginning of the melody; and when Vic comes in this love ballad takes flight! Vic's voice never sounded better; he could croon with the very best of them. "My Bolero" has a bit too much surface noise; but when Vic sings this you can easily overlook this minor disappointment. The Latin beat enhances the beauty of this number; I am very impressed with how well Vic delivers a song with a Latin beat.

"Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" again proves Vic Damone's versatility lets Vic as he sings a traditional Jewish melody; the tempo is rather quick but Vic never misses a beat. The hand clapping in the background adds a nice touch; and the chorus bolsters "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena," too.

"My Heart Cries For You" showcases Vic's vocals as he sings of his undying love for his woman. This traditional love song shines like gold in Vic's capable hands! Vic delivers this flawlessly; and the melody makes good use of the horns, too. Great! "Calla Calla" sports a great beat and Vic's strong pipes handle this as only a pro ever could. What a relentlessly upbeat number! Good male background chorus, too. "Sugar" reverts back to a more traditional, slow tempo love ballad perfect for romantic dancing with the lights down low. Vic's voice is as smooth as silk; and the saxophone really adds to "Sugar!" I predict that you will enjoy "Sugar" very, very much.

"Eternally" has a dramatic melody embellished by the strings; and Vic handles this with care and great sensitivity. This classic love ballad gets the royal treatment from Vic Damone with subtle tempo changes and Vic's accentuating certain syllables of the words to beautify "Eternally." The last track on this CD, "In My Own Quiet Way," begins with a smooth intro by the strings; and Vic makes "In My Own Quiet Way" memorable with his professional rendition of this classic ballad.

The liner notes give us a great, informative essay by Joseph F. Laredo; and we get a great black and white photo of a young Vic Damone. We also get the song credits and the chart high positions for each song as well.

Vic Damone will never be forgotten. As long as people love classic pop vocals, there will always be a fan base for Vic Damone. Vic's renditions of songs occasionally even topped higher on the charts than Frank Sinatra's renditions; and both men admired each other greatly. If great minds truly do think alike--and I believe that they do--any lover of classic pop vocals should do themselves a favor and get this CD.

Enjoy!

That Towering Feeling!/On the Swingin' Side
$13.98
It's no secret that Vic Damone can sing alongside the best of them even today; he has a new book coming out as well. This "twofer" CD has all of the songs from two of Vic's record albums entitled On The Swingin' Side and That Towering Feeling! Vic takes anything he wants to sing and makes it sound so special and beautiful; he never misses a note, either. His ability to delve into a ballad and convey every little nuance of the lyrics never fails to impress me greatly. In addition, the quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork reflects good taste; the artwork incorporates the original record album artwork and that's great.

"You Stepped Out Of A Dream" starts the album with a very sweet love song that Vic aces as effortlessly as if it were mere breathing. Of course, we know it really wasn't all that easy; Vic's talent always carries him through. "Wait Till You See Her" is a very sensitive ballad that Vic delivers with panache; and I really like Vic's rendition of "The Song Is You." "The Song Is You" has a fine musical arrangement that perfectly complements Vic's vocals--impressive indeed! There's another gem in "Let's Fall In Love;" "Let's Fall In Love" charms me with its natural beauty and I could never tire of hearing Vic Damone sing this gorgeous tune. "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" amazes me; Vic sings this to perfection and his excellent diction enhances his performance all the more. I love it.

"I'm Glad There Is You" is very easy on the ear, to say the least; and "All The Things You Are" has Vic squarely front and center--right where he belongs! The arrangement uses the percussion to great advantage, too. "Cheek To Cheek" is a timeless ballad that still sounds fresh and new when Vic Damone sings it; "Cheek To Cheek" is easily a major highlight of this album. "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" may not be the newest ballad; but Vic makes it sound so unique and romantic you'll want to slow dance to it all along with your sweetheart late at night in your living room. Similarly, "Cry Me A River" is an excellent tune that gets the royal treatment from Vic; I love hearing Vic singing "Cry Me A River." Wonderful!

"I Cried For You" has Vic crooning at his very best; and listen for Vic to do a smashing rendition of "It's A Wonderful World." "It's A Wonderful World" uses the percussion and strings very well; and the music fits in perfectly with Vic's singing. Moreover, "Deep Purple" just has to be a major highlight of this CD; Vic's "Deep Purple" sparkles and that's grand. "On The Street Where You Live" lets Vic show off the operatic qualities of his voice; and "Do I Love You (Because You're Beautiful)" has Vic performing this faultlessly with a lush musical arrangement. "An Affair To Remember" is nothing short of perfect when Vic does it; and the CD ends very well with Vic Damone outdoing even himself on "Gigi" from the musical of the same name.

Vic Damone is still going strong and if you can catch him in concert you should go! In the meanwhile, this CD is a must-have for his fans. People who like classic pop vocals will also want this album in their collections.

Best of Vic Damone
$11.98
Vic Damone is one of the classic line of crooners who emerged in the wake of Frank Sinatra's success in the 1950s. His success at Columbia and then at RCA endured right through to the 1970s, as this brand new collection shows. The 16 tracks take in some of his best-known material and demonstrate why he's regarded as one of the best interpreters of popular song to come out of the last 40 years and why his fanbase has remained loyal. Sony/BMG. 2007.

Singing Was the Easy Part
$25.95
Even Larry King, who introduces this memoir, says that Vic Damone never quite became a superstar or hit the top rung in the show biz ladder. (He says he was "one short rung down.") A friend of mine recommended this book to me on the strength of my review of the recent Andy Williams memoir, but the difference is, I sort of remember Andy Williams, and I have no recollection of Vic Damone at all. So it's sort of like reading a novel about someone you've never heard of, someone fictional. If you know Damone, go ahead and add a star to this review. He seems to have had a hardworking youth and became a star at 17, so his troubles you'd think would be over but they were just beginning.

The way he makes it sound, if you were an entertainer back then working the clubs, particularly if you were Italian American, you were going to get mixed up with the mob one way of another, and boy did he! He dated a top capo's daughter, and broke off an engagement to her because she was disrespectful to his mom when the mom tried to teach her how to cook Vic's favorite meals. The mob boss was enraged and tried to throw Vic out of a 14th story window. Only the strength of his calves and his grip on his fiancee's father's necktie saved his life. Sinatra became an older brother to him, saw him through some turbulent times. Once, Vic planned to kill the millionaire putz who had cuckolded him with Vic's glamorous wife Pier Angeli, and Sinatra snapped his fingers in front of his face and said, "Kill her, don't kill him." Damone had plenty of romance in his life, and married many beautiful women including Diahann Carroll of all people, but nothing ever stuck to him, even after he discovered the healing qualities of Baha'i, a religion of some sort that he turned to when Pier Angeli had disappointed him yet again.

Vic Damone knows how to tell a story that's for sure, but some highlights of the book for me personally were his accounts of working on Kismet with the great Vincente Minnelli (and a peacock and Ann Blyth) and also a dramatic accident in which he and another wife tumble down a mountain road on black ice. He is also a capable apologist for Baha'i and offers some singing tips that have helped me in my quest to made a record myself one day.