The complete
Decca recordings of Sammy Davis Jr & Carmen McRae – a duet that's not always that strongly remembered from the time, but who cut two great albums for the label! Given Sammy's great talent for personal interaction on the stage, as heard often on his key Rat Pack recordings, he's a real natural for this sort of duet mode – as he manages to talk and sing his way through the tunes beautifully, really opening up Carmen a heck of a lot, and getting her past the staid, serious mode of most of her 50s albums. The CD features the full track list from the album Boy Meets Girl, an especially nice batch of tunes that has Sammy and Carmen trading lines with ease – plus the tracks from Porgy & Bess,
Decca's entry into the market that had many late 50s labels trying to issue their own versions of Gershwin's score to cash in on the film at the time. The Porgy material is a bit straighter, but still nicely done – especially when Sammy's in the lead – and the CD includes a bonus single by the pair, never before issued on LP! The notes are great, and really go into detail on the sessions – and the CD features 23 tracks in all, including "I Go For You", "Summertime", "I Got Plenty O Nuttin", "It Ain't Necessarily So", "Tea For Two", "Happy To Make Your Acquaintance", "Cheek To Cheek", "You're The Top", "People Will Say We're In Love", and "Two Sleepy People".
(Out of print.)