Alfie (Carmen McRae album)

Alfie is a studio album by American singer Carmen McRae, released in 1966 by Mainstream Records. Arrangements by Don Sebesky and Peter Matz.

Alfie
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 1966 (1966-08)
RecordedAugust 4 and September 1964; February 2 and 3, 1965[1]
GenreVocal jazz
Length28:43
LabelMainstream
Carmen McRae chronology
Woman Talk
(1966)
Alfie
(1966)
For Once in My Life
(1967)

Overview

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Some of the songs had previously been released on the album Second to None (1964) and Haven't We Met? (1965). The new song on the album was "Alfie", it was recorded in 1965. It was also released as a single with the non-album song "Modesty" (written by Benny Green and John Dankworth) from the movie Modesty Blaise on the b-side.[2] The single was able to enter the Billboard magazine Top 40 Easy Listening chart at the 29th position.[3]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [4]
Billboard    [5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [6]

The review of Cash Box magazine noted that "the warm, tender highly pleasing song stylings of sweet voiced Carmen McRae make this set of top recent tunes an apt item for inclusion in a good music collection."[7] A reviewer for Record World magazine stated that When Carmen does sing something, "it becomes the definitive version more likely than not."[8]

Track listing

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  1. "Alfie" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 2:43
  2. "Who Can I Turn To?" (Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley) – 3:00
  3. "The Shadow of Your Smile" (Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster) — 2:50
  4. "The Music That Makes Me Dance" (The Music That Makes Me Dance, Jule Styne) – 2:37
  5. "Don't Ever Leave Me" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) – 2:37
  6. "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (Buddy Bernier, Jerry Brainin) – 3:09
  7. "Once Upon a Summertime" (Michel Legrand, Eddie Barclay, Eddy Marnay, Johnny Mercer) – 3:20
  8. "And I Love Him" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 2:12
  9. "He Loves Me" (Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick) – 2:07
  10. "The Sweetest Sounds" (Richard Rodgers) — 2:01

Charts

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Chart performance for Alfie
Chart (1966–1967) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[9] 150
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[10] 105
US Record World Top 100 LP's[11] 89

References

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  1. ^ "Carmen McRae - The 1960's". Jazz Discography. August 22, 2006. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  2. ^ "Cash Box Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. June 2, 1966. ISSN 0008-7289.
  3. ^ "Easy Listening". Billboard. Vol. 78, no. 41. October 8, 1966. p. 19. ISSN 0006-2510.
  4. ^ "Alfie - Carmen McRae". AllMusic. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  5. ^ "Album Reviews". Billboard. Vol. 78, no. 38. September 17, 1966. p. 34. ISSN 0006-2510.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "McRae, Carmen". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1561592371.
  7. ^ "Cash Box Album Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 13, 1966. p. 46. ISSN 0008-7289.
  8. ^ "Album Reviews" (PDF). Record World. August 6, 1966. p. 10. ISSN 0034-1622.
  9. ^ "Carmen McRae Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  10. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. December 3, 1966. ISSN 0008-7289.
  11. ^ "Top 100 LP's" (PDF). Record World. November 5, 1966. ISSN 0034-1622.
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