Capitol U.K. released this mid-price two-fer containing two thematically and musically similar Nat "King" Cole albums from the early '60s. Both LPs found the singer tackling lovelorn subjects, but employing midtempos to keep contemporary. Both title tracks were hits, but there were relatively few memorable songs (exceptions were the near-standards "Near You" and "You're My Everything"), and arranger/conductors Belford Hendricks ("Dear Lonely Hearts") and Ralph Carmichael ("I Don't Want to Be Hurt Anymore") were not the most ...
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Capitol U.K. released this mid-price two-fer containing two thematically and musically similar Nat "King" Cole albums from the early '60s. Both LPs found the singer tackling lovelorn subjects, but employing midtempos to keep contemporary. Both title tracks were hits, but there were relatively few memorable songs (exceptions were the near-standards "Near You" and "You're My Everything"), and arranger/conductors Belford Hendricks ("Dear Lonely Hearts") and Ralph Carmichael ("I Don't Want to Be Hurt Anymore") were not the most inspired. While these albums were a cut above Cole's overtly pop recordings of the period, they did not rank with his jazz excursions or his sessions with better arrangers such as Gordon Jenkins. But the two-fer is economical and the match-up of the two albums appropriate (and it still runs less than an hour). ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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