Frances Faye - Frances Faye Sings Folk Songs

Frances Faye Sings Folk Songs

By Frances Faye

Good Condition

A Review:

Famous - or notorious - Frances Faye was husky-voiced cabaret performer from 1950s who recorded some really good albums for "Betlehem",the company that also had some first-rate jazz talents under its roof (Mel Tormé,Chris Connor,Johnny Hartman,Bobby Troup and Carmen McRae amongst others) in fact for me "Betlehem" was right up there with "Verve" so everything with "Betlehem" sticker immediately gets my attention and is usualy high-class guaranteed good listening.

Since this was recorded in 1957. it preceeds folk-boom of 1960s and have not much with music of Joan Baez or say Bob Dylan,we are talking about ultra-cool "Betlehem" after all. The idea was to collect traditional folk songs and than give them sassy Frances Faye stamp with big brassy orchestra behind already bold vocalist.Nobody could acuse Faye of being shrinking violet,she was commanding performer not far removed from kind of attitude Carmen McRae would have decades later. Russell García arrangements are old-fashioned fun,some really good jazz cats are in the studio as well and only occasional vocal choir spoils impression but that gives this album stamp of its time and its not bad in itself. Faye can be over-powering sometimes - she does sound like somebody who smoked and drank and lived the life - but suprises with unexpected vulnerability on balllads ("Go 'way from my window", "Greensleves" or the best of all "Oif'n Pripitchik") and the whole effect is very good althought slightly off-beat album. If you expect folk troubadour album or Jo Stafford gently crooning traditional folk songs,look further,this is big bad mama swinging her way through folk standards.

Tracklist