Classic Album Collection

As of January 1, 2008, all recordings made up through 1957 were in the public domain in Europe, and European reissue label Golden Stars takes advantage of that to issue this unlicensed Tony Bennett box set (a box set in the sense that three CD jewel boxes are packaged together in a light cardboard sleeve), which presents his first three 12" LPs to be recorded and released as such, 1955's Cloud 7 and 1957's Tony, and The Beat of My Heart, each augmented with several bonus tracks in the form of singles that were contemporary with the albums. (While the division into three CDs to represent the three original LPs is reasonable, it should be noted that the total running time of less than 117 minutes could have fit easily on two CDs.) Cloud 7 is a small band session with Bennett fronting a jazz rhythm section plus a few horns, and his vocals are interspersed with jazz solos by guitarist Chuck Wayne, trumpeter Charles Panely, and saxophonists Al Cohn, Caesar DiNovi, and Dave Schildkraut. Tony is a more conventional '50s vocal pop album in the Frank Sinatra manner, with Bennett alternately accompanied by a swing-style big band led by Ray Conniff and a string orchestra conducted by Percy Faith. The Beat of My Heart is an experimental collection heavily featuring percussionists including Art Blakey, Candido, William Exiner, Chico Hamilton, Jo Jones, and Sabu Martinez. On all three albums, Bennett sings standards from the Great American Songbook penned by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and the Gershwins, among others. The appended bonus tracks stand in stark contrast to the LP material with their pop novelty arrangements, as Mitch Miller, Bennett's A&R man at Columbia, searched for more hit singles. Bennett's enthusiasm, it is clear, lay with the albums, not the singles. ~ William Ruhlmann