Search - Jackie Gleason :: Lonesome Echo

Gleason meets Dr. Zhivago

06/20/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for the classic Gleason sound a la For Lovers Only, you won't find it here. I gave it three stars because while it is not what I expected, it was, never the less, good listening. Bobby Hacket's String of Pearls, Soft Lights or In a Mellow Mood are more like the old Gleason Sound....get them instead. This one has the Balalaika flavor of Dr. Zhivago. But,"good listening" music is hard to come by. Enjoy!
Lormat"

Softer and less brass

Dr R. J. Lofaro | AL | 04/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is,as usual for the Great One, a superb album. As opposed to other of his albums, he leans more heavily on --I think--strummed mandolins. violins and maybe even a harp. But, I think Hackett is still there for some melody lines..Soft, lush and dynamite!"

Gleason makes musical mandolin magic!

Robert Badgley | London,Ontario,Canada | 09/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This top charting /55 album is re-released by those good folks at Collector's Choice music who seem to have as good a taste in music as we do!

This is certainly an album to cherish.Jackie's musical sensibilities were all well grounded in the great Amercian Songbook.Who could go wrong there?

He would often get "unusual" ideas for his next albums.One such was the 25 flutes he added for the "Night Winds" albums(also available from Collector's Choice).Another was the addition of 40 mandolins for THIS album.All 16 tracks of the original album have those lush and vibrant instruments strumming away in a romantic mood only Gleason and his musical cohorts could conjure.Each players was told to dip their picks into water before playing to get a further effect.The mandolins,like the flutes,came strictly from Gleasons' furtive imagination.He was always striving to give the public not only the expected but something unexpected,all set within his musical parameters.He succeeded even beyond his own dreams.He touched us then and these tracks still reverberate with us today.That has to tell you something of the man that was Jackie Gleason,musically and otherwise.

This CD also contains three bonus tracks of unreleased material,and these are more in the vein of his lush strings sound he was so famous for;"After my Laughter came Tears","Can this be Love?" and "Down among the Sheltering Palms".Wonderful additions.

And to make the package complete Collector's Choice includes the original Salvador Dali artwork and liner notes.The CD's sound had been transferred wonderfully and is excellent.What more could you ask for?"