Julie London - Julie Is Her Name, Volume Two (1958/2014/2017) [DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC]

Famous for her sultry voice, actor Julie London parlayed her movie fame into a successful career as a prolific recording artist, releasing some 30 albums between 1955 and 1969. "Julie Is Her Name, Volume 2" from 1958 was produced by her husband-to-be Bobby Troup and is packed with standards by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Johnny Mercer and others.

"Julie Is Her Name — Volume Two", has all the sincerity and warmth of her professional album debut, the best-selling Julie Is Her Name, from Liberty. An untested singer with uncompromising musical faith, an unknown record company, sophisticated, tastefully presented standards presented simply backed by just a bass and guitar — Julie Is Her Name faced long odds of success. Yet it soared to become a best-selling hit. Julie London rose to the Top 10 of every list of female vocalists.

Three years after her debut, Julie Is Her Name, Julie London returned to the intimate jazz guitar and bass backing that resulted in a Top Ten album and single (the still-popular "Cry Me a River"). You can almost see the cigar-smoking executives at Liberty Records planning this one out – "Hey, if the public loved it the first time, they're bound to love it again, right?" Well, to give the cigar-chompers some credit, Julie London favored this backing for her live performances and she originally had to fight to be able to record with this intimate jazz backing. Plus, every uptown singer – from Johnny Mathis to Chet Baker to Sarah Vaughan – was recording with a guitar/bass duo after Julie Is Her Name hit big, so why not the lady who started it all? For once, pandering to the public equaled taking the artistic high road, because while Julie Is Her Name, Vol. 2 may not be as fresh or unexpected as its predecessor, it actually stands up as a slightly stronger album. London's breathy vocals aren't that different, but she seems more confident and she swings more, even on the ballads. Howard Roberts may not have been a "name guitarist" like Barney Kessel, who played on the debut, but his work here is strong and bassist Red Mitchell lays an entire rhythm section worth of foundation for London to stretch out on. This album was also better recorded than London's debut and the release has a fuller, richer sound to it. Since the plunging-neckline album cover to London's debut was talked about as much as the music, Liberty Records decided to continue the concept by literally putting spotlight beams on the famed beauty's chest. Thankfully, Julie London had enough jazz credentials and focused vocal talent that such blatant cheesecake shots remain of secondary importance to the music contained on the album.

Tracklist:

01 - Blue Moon
02 - What Is This Thing Called Love?
03 - How Long Has This Been Going On?
04 - Too Good To Be True
05 - Spring Is Here
06 - Goody Goody
07 - The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else
08 - If I'm Lucky
09 - Hot Toddy
10 - Little White Lies
11 - I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan
12 - I Got Lost In His Arms

Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tapes.
DSD files created by Gus Skinas of SuperAudioCenter from the Analogue Productions SACD cutting master.


Thanks to the Original customer!