Carmen McRae - The Very Thought of you

[TRACKtoU]

Carmen singing this song, only gets better over time...TRACK

[mudita2011]

Carmen is my absolute favorite. Her phrasing is impeccable. No need for background smaltz.

[pecwb]

A trip to the time when one could understand the words

[pecwb]

A trip to the time when one could understand the words

[petite0cerice]

Oooh I get the Chistmas Feeling

[thewigsterpig45]

her version is so angelic.... must admit, I'm a big fan of Etta James' more sensual interpretation, but this is just as beautiful, with a completely different tone :)

[ibwilliamsi]

Nice...

[wtfohno]

im 18 now and i have to say old people musik was good gj ms

[Chubsonu2b]

When women sang.

[dang8972]

this dreamy song came to my ears when i heard natalie cole giving it off.but hearing carmen makes the song heavenly.i am wondering where is this woman now?thanks 4 such fine music

[spotti42]

@dang8972 as of 11/10/94, Ms. McRae is headlining in heaven, making beautiful music with Billie, 'Sassy' Sarah, Nat, and other great jazz musicians who had already left this earthly plane.

[Higbby]

thank you Carmen..

[Listen1395]

オハイオ州の神は、彼女があまりにも良いです。

[irishsetterarchie]

So Lovely!! Such Talent!!

[Tuugii14]

i love you bbe

[jazzblowin]

@Matt3740 i agree.. we need to kill the producers :-) unfortunately they thought this type of sweetening would sell more records...and hey it may have worked. Some songs these back ground singer kill it and some they make it live. it really depends on the song and how it's presented.

[IdaGno]

if anyone could post Winter In May, it would be wmost appreciated

[honeybee7700]

wow this is bloody gorgeous

[zerblis]

Good, but not Nancy Wilson. Not worse, just different. I prefer Miss Wilson.

[shanna1950]

yesssss absolutely beautiful!

[shanna1950]

yesssss absolutely beautiful!

[ballroomproject]

Yes, please: kill the back voices and let Carmen Mc Rae wonderful voice to sing alone...:)

[zerblis]

@ballroomproject

Kill the orchestra too. Just add Joe Pass.

[Jennings03]

Superb!

[TheBerlinMicha]

Yes: McRae, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter- they all have this sovereignty that`s based on their outstandig musical sense. And we`re allowed to listen to it: Tank you!

[Milayinyang]

I absolutely agree with the disturbing background. It's a pity such a wonderful singer had/wanted to do such offers. The song's nice, but the arrangement - OMG, the sugar is flowing down the walls. But still amazing, Carmen liftes up the quality of this song.

[americangalbasseyfan]

I adore the lyrics to the song. "I see your face in every flower." Right away I picture colorful pansies. Expertly sung by Carmen.

[americangalbasseyfan]

Wonderful. (I could do without the background singers)

[paxandrews]

always my favourite ever! no one delivers a lyric like this.....

[joserobertodealmeida]

Guys, take a look at Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald versions, they are great!

[jor99912]

I think of DINAH, when I hear This!

But it is as I've always said!

None of them were GOOD!

They were (ALL GREAT").

[DISCOVEGASGUY]

I saw her perform in Albany New York at the Performing Arts Center in 1980. I was 19 years old and had no idea who she was at that time. I will NEVER forget that experience. Its lived with me for the past 30 years. An amazing, pure, gently powerful beautiful velvet voice. Thanks Ned !

[chelseaguy52]

IT'S 12:18 am, and we are dancing to this in our pj's, and, we remember exactly what it was that made us so perfect for each other the rest of our lives! This version with Ms. Carmen is our "flight amongst the nighttime clouds".

[paciphish]

The purity of her voice stays with you forever. I remember one Sunday at the Blackhawk jazz club in San Francisco,Carmen McRae showed for a jam session,dressed casually,she sat on a bar stool next to the piano,and just sang her heart out with these guys all afternoon. She was a great artist,and I will never forget her. Thanks for sharing the video.

[5pid3y]

mcrae had such a proper voice

[Matt3740]

Mcrae is gorgeous! Perfect phrasing. Though they need to dump the background singers and the song would be perfect.

[nachodaddy]

@Matt3740 Amen. Reminds me of some great country songs ruined by Chet Atkins production.

[LoliLoli83]

@Matt3740 Mean...lol.

[blawoopdeedop]

can anyone tell me when she released this?

[forreal1984]

This song make you really appreciate where music has come from. If people would take time to listen to real music like this (minus the background singers), then just maybe we would have better music today...You got to know where you come from to know where you going...

[OldieMusicMan]

Exactly. And thank God I'm not the only person who can't stand background singers. They bog down any performance for me.

[marcosdefranca]

the best for me!!!!! remarcable!!!!

[ruthy418]

you are right. This IS must see and also must

listen too. Absolutely delightful! Thank you for

your sharing.

[rankingtoyan]

good music taste bro ...keep it up

[priscillaofmanila]

Wonderful. My aunts attended many of Carmen's performances worldwide.

[StevesWifeCharlo]

She was so upbeat singing on this record. But I bet she hated those backgrounds...she was a stickler for things like that, and no doubt she would let them know how lame they were set against her vocals. They sound so 'white'. I know she hated it. Wish I were a fly on the wall when she recorded this!

[Corrie121]

Wonderful!

Thank you for sharing.

[merrledan]

My dad loved this lady he played it all the time a beautiful number when sung well. I've heard singers try to sing this and well what can I say .

DON'T GIVE UP THE DAY JOB!

[nes11727]

wow...this woman really knows about getting lost in a man....loving him TOO much

[Torihope]

And the photos are absolutely beautiful. Thanks so much. I had the pleasure of seeing her live at Blues Alley in DC many years ago. She was awesome. Thanks for this posting too.

[JimmieBluffdweller]

I agree with Freepresslisa, 'Bitterswee' is an incredible album...her 'When Sunny Gets Blue' is THE definitve version. It's easy to forget that the style represented here was made for radio play, and it was these recordings that put bread on the table. I'm old enough to remember these things on AM, played back to back with whatever else was popular at the moment, and I'm here to tell you, things were better then. The public was exposed to truly great artists, and people actually enjoyed them!

[leesterg]

You are absolutely right--I remember those days!

[milesmoe]

I wish I could remember those days...Sure this is cheesy compared to most of her recordings, but it still has an incredible delicacy and shows her mastery of phrasing, whether it be in a hip jazz arrangement or a ballad with strings meant for radio play.

[LuizPagan]

Its hard for me to imagine her in the same studio with that chorus! Carmen did NOT suffer fools well... talk about surly! She did sing well here, but this was too short and too crowded with non-sense that did NOT help the song a tall!

[freepresslisa]

she,s wonderfull! best with a small group,so she can be one of the instruments. the album,'bittersweet' is her best, i think.she plays some of the piano, mundell lowe on guitar, (i wasn't available,since i was only 12 and into johnny cash,at that time.) midnight sun, live at newport is worth whatever you have to pay for it! 1954? i think. it's on a cd with ella live and billie too!

[direfranchement]

Carmen was a great talent, but I hate the backing vocals on this record which plagued Pop during the 50's...many of Sarah Vaughan's records for Mercury shared the same pestilence. I appreciate you samarkaaan for posting some of her material however, as her songs here are few, because if one can isolate her voice in this recording from the less remarkable instrumentation, they may be led to some of her more characteristic material, where she had more freedom to display her gifts :)

[dirtyfrenchie]

nothing to add you're totally right

[Kbonie]

I agree this is a very poor example of her style. The woman knew how to ride out a song and make it her own. She was a true song stylist... they be hard to  find these days.

[ladykhalia]

I didn't know she was so attractive. Very sexy woman. Wow!!

[josselec]

Thanks Samarkaaaan, I love her singing - this is a very good example of her style :) and such a nice woman too!

[sugarbell99]

wow