When Nelson Eddy died suddenly on March 6, 1967, Columbia Records, the label for which he had recorded from 1939 to 1952, hastily assembled this best-of, adorning it with an album cover on which the title and the photograph of the artist emerged from a black background in mourning. Despite the rush, it was a reasonable selection for its time, that is, a collection of a mere 11 tracks with a running time of less than 34 minutes. Eddy hadn't had any "hits" in the sense of records that had gone up the charts, but he had a ...
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When Nelson Eddy died suddenly on March 6, 1967, Columbia Records, the label for which he had recorded from 1939 to 1952, hastily assembled this best-of, adorning it with an album cover on which the title and the photograph of the artist emerged from a black background in mourning. Despite the rush, it was a reasonable selection for its time, that is, a collection of a mere 11 tracks with a running time of less than 34 minutes. Eddy hadn't had any "hits" in the sense of records that had gone up the charts, but he had a repertoire of songs drawn from the operettas in which he had appeared on film that was associated with him. He had been an established movie star already when he joined Columbia, and had been recording for RCA Victor prior to moving, so some of his earlier work had been committed to disc before. During his Columbia tenure, the label had him re-cut some of this material, so that we have here versions of "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" (from Naughty Marietta), "Rose-Marie," and "The Mounties" (both from Rose-Marie) recorded in the late '40s and early '50s, long after his mid-'30s versions for the movies and RCA. The rest of the selections, however, are studio recordings of songs he was singing in his movies in the late '30s and early '40s, with the exception of "Short'nin' Bread," a song he sang on his radio show for years. Such songs as "Stout-Hearted Men" and "Lover Come Back to Me" were signature tunes for him, and his performances here are typically stirring. The chief objection to the album simply must be that it isn't long enough. One would expect an album called Nelson Eddy's Greatest Hits to include such songs as "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life," "I'm Falling in Love with Someone," and "Indian Love Call," all of which he re-recorded for Columbia after having recorded them earlier for RCA. One might also hope for duets with Jeanette MacDonald (although the two only recorded together for RCA). As it is, this album is a good sampler of a major artist with far more to offer. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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