Margaret Whiting, who died in January 2011 at the age of 85, probably never achieved as exalted a place in the pantheon of jazz and easy listening vocalists as she deserved. Quite why that was is hard to say ' maybe the fact that, as the daughter of successful songwriter Richard Whiting, she got her start in the business via his relationship with Johnny Mercer, who had just founded Capitol Records, rather than paying her dues slogging round sleazy clubs, played against her. Maybe, also, her flirtation with country music in the '50s muddied the perception of her artistic integrity. Whatever the case, suffice to say that she was nevertheless a singer who has had a solid following of loyal fans who appreciate her versatility and effortless ability to interpret the classic repertoire of the day. In her many hits of the '40s with Capitol, her voice is uncannily reminiscent of both Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee, which can hardly be a bad thing, while her country outings for the Dot label are equally evocative of the great performers of that genre. This collection, which was well in preparation at the time of her demise, is designed not as a definitive anthology of her work, but primarily to make available some of the many excellent recordings she made which have not been released or widely distributed on CD, and in the process trace the best and most important of her work during her most active years. It includes, on CD1 and the start of CD2, the majority of her hits for Capitol through to the early '50s, including some fairly rare material, and on the rest of CD2 and CD3, includes the entirety of her Dot albums from the '50s, 'Goin' Places', an excellent big band-based collection, 'Just A Dream', her country-oriented escapade, and 'Great Hits', re-recordings of her early material, which make an interesting comparison. In addition, there are selected tracks from her 1960 LP 'Margaret Whiting Sings The Jerome Kern Songbook'. We hope it is a collection that aficionados will welcome for a variety of reasons, and with nearly 90 tracks it should satisfy the most avid of fans.

Track Listing

• My Ideal
• That Old Black Magic
• Moonlight In Vermont
• It Might as Well Be Spring
• In Love In Vain
• All Through the Day
• Come Rain or Come Shine
• Alone With me
• Passe
• Guilty
• Oh, But I Do
• Little Girl Blue
• Ask Anyone Who Knows
• Old Devil Moon
• You Do
• Lazy Countryside
• Let's Be Sweethearts Again
• Pass That Peace Pipe
• What's Good About Goodbye
• Now is the Hour
• Please Don't Kiss Me
• St. Louis Blues
• The Gypsy In My Soul
• A Tree in the Meadow
• Far Away Places
• Forever and Ever

• Comme Ci Comme Ca
• A Wonderful Guy
• Baby, It's Cold Outside
• Slippin' Around
• The Gods Were Angry With Me
• My Foolish Heart
• Let's Go To Church (Next Sunday Morning)
• Blind Date
• I've Never Been In Love Before
• The Moon Was Yellow (And The Night Was Young)
• A Bushel And A Peck
• Good Morning Mister Echo
• Outside Of Heaven
• Come Back To Me, Johnny
• Where Did He Go''
• Waltz To the Blues
• An Affair Of The Heart
• My Own True Love
• The Money Tree
• The Party's Over
• That's why I Was Born
• Kill Me with Kisses
• The Waiting Game
• There Are Such Things
• I'm Alone Because I Love You
• Top Of The Moon
• Just A Dream
• Speak For Yourself
• Pretty Eyed Baby
• I Cried For You
• Hot Spell
• You'll Never Know

• The Gypsy In My soul
• Sentimental Journey
• Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home
• I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town
• Gone With The Wind
• Runnin' Wild
• Between the Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
• Over The Rainbow
• Hit The Road To Dreamland
• East Of The Sun
• Song Of The Wanderer
• Home
• It Might As Well Be Spring
• A Tree In A Meadow
• A Wonderful Guy
• My Ideal
• Come Rain Or Come Shine
• Baby,It's Cold Outside
• That Old Black Magic
• Moonlight In Vermont
• Now Is The hour
• Slippin' Around
• Faraway Places
• My Foolish Heart
• Guilty
• Let's Go To Church (Next Sunday Morning)
• Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
• Dearly Beloved
• Long Ago And Far Away

Additional Details

Label: Acrobat

Genre: Adult Contemporary/MOR

Release Date: 11/08/11

UPC: 824046903121