All The Hits And More - Selected Singles 1948-61

Rosemary Clooney, well-known in recent years as the aunt of movie star George Clooney, was one of the most popular and successful pop singers of the immediate post-war decades, racking up a remarkable string of hits in the early ‘50s. She called herself “a sweet singer with a big band sensibility”, which was a fair enough description, as her musical preferences were often compromised by the novelty material she was sometimes obliged to record. This great-value 78-track 3-CD set comprises selected A & B sides from her releases on Columbia and RCA during this era, beginning with singles recorded with her sister Betty with Tony Pastor’s Orchestra in the late 1940s. It features her four hits with Tony Pastor plus all her thirty and more career hits in the pop chart, including her No. 1s with ‘Come On-a My House’, ‘Half As Much’, ‘Hey There’, ‘This Ole House’ and ‘Mambo Italiano’. As well as those with The Clooney Sisters andTony Pastor, it features recordings with Frank Sinatra, Guy Mitchell, Gene Autry, Stan Freberg, Jose Ferrer, Jimmy Boyd, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Percy Faith, Perez Prado and others. It’s a thoroughly entertaining overview of her brilliant chart career, which captures the mood of the era, and a fine showcase for her skill and versatility as an interpreter of popular song.