Search - Ann Richards :: Ann, Man!

Not her best record

NJ Dad | East Coast | 05/28/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

""Two Much", her first record with Stan Kenton and his Big Band, is a much better piece of work. This record, her first release on Atco, is with a small combo. Barney Kessel's guitar work is excellent. Jack Sheldon's trumpet is very good, too. Red Callender's bass is solid. Ann shows off the "sexier" side of her voice, and a couple of the songs are very suggestive for 1960. The liner notes, referencing Ann's ill-advised appearance in Playboy magazine, is an indication of what they were trying to sell. They even give her weight and height in the liner notes. The tunes are largely standards. Her performance is competent but not spectacular. The recording is very left-right in almost an annoying way. Tons of reverb on her voice for most of the cuts. A nice curiousity, but far from the really exciting effort of "Two Much". Wouldn't buy it again."

So much talent...Ann Richards

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 02/09/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"With her movie-star good looks, and an effervescent singing voice, you would have expected Ann Richard's career to have gone far. Her early albums with Capitol Records ("I'm Shooting High", 1958, "The Many Moods of Ann Richards", 1959); capped off with the disappointing reception of "Too Much" in 1960, served only as a reminder that she had never really achieved her potential as a solo singing star. In 1961, in an effort to kickstart her flagging popularity, she posed for Playboy Magazine, a stunt that would forever seal her fate, and ruin her image as a serious artist. She subsequently lost her contract with Capitol Records.



Under a new contract with Atco Records, Ms Richards recorded the album "Ann, Man!", which has now been happily reissued on the Collectables label. The album cover photo was cheekily one from her infamous Playboy shoot (and the liner notes made no apologies for her appearance in the magazine). While Atco was one of the minor jazz labels of the period, her overall performance on this album is one of great enjoyment. Just listen to her seemingly-endless belt on "The Masquerade is Over", or the singular way she tackles Rodgers & Hart's "Bewitched".



The release of the album was overshadowed by the Playboy pictures, which created a scandal that Richards never really recovered from. She was barred from the big performance venues and her appearances on television were few and far-between. She ultimately committed suicide in 1982.



The remastering of this album is fine; there is minor analogue distortion with Ann's vocals and the back-up band, but having this long-forgotten album on CD is what is really important.



We'll never know if Ann Richards could have become one of the leading female jazz singers of her generation. But with "Ann, Man!", we can admire her gorgeous voice, and wonder what might have been...



[Collectables 6321]"

She was a Star After the Glory of the Big Bands had ended...

toddman2001 | Cayman Islands | 03/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own many autographs,rare records and personal items of Miss Richards. Shooting High is probably own of her best LP's. J. Todd"