Karel Gott | LP The Golden Voice of Prague (Karel Gott Sings)
- Moon River (3:08)
- Maria (2:51)
- My Funny Valentine (3:54)
- Fascinating Rhythm (2:39)
- Snow-drift-eyes (4:36)
- Be-Bop-A-Lula (1:32)
- Somewhere (3:11)
- My World (1st version) (2:53)
- That Lucky Old Sun (3:44)
- The Nearness Of You (5:22)
- Jezebel (3:16)
- Walk With Me (2:26)
LP Supraphon Artia 13643 / 53643
New, english-sung album was recorded by Karel Gott during 1964-65, though we can find one of the first songs, which Karel has included into his repertoire there, the record from 1962. It is an album composed of the former czech authors'compositions, as well as from cover versions of famous hits. The album has ranked among the completely best european records of 1966 and it has brought enthousiasm to the United States, at the company representatives of Columbia records that planned to publish it there, too. It was also issued in the re-edition CD Complete, though without the former version of song "My World" from 1965, which has only been released on LP and later on another LP re-edition from 1970 (remastered form mono to spatial stereo). On the CD, you can only find a newer, stereo recording of the song. But the sleeve has got a slap. On the old LP record (especially re-edition), it was a nice yellow one, but here it turns to disgusting orange shade...
PROMO '66: ...His vocal facility enables him to have a repertoire streching from the beat music to near concert-hall standard numbers - a versatility amply demonstrated on this record. Besides the lyrical style of such songs as "Moon River" and "My World", two almost-jazz numbers can be heard - the intimate "My Funny Valentine" and the swinging "Fascinating Rhythm" of Gershwin. In "Snow-drift-eyes" you can hear his interpretation of the the number written by the distinguished Czech composers Slitr and Suchy, while "Be Bop A Lula" gives him a chance to display his skill in the beat music. The next is a traditional tune "That Lucky Old Sun", one of the most successful numbers in his repertoire, and one which shows how close his style can come to that of Ray Charles. Finally, two songs from Bernstein's "West Side Story": "Somewhere" and "Maria". Especially in Tony's well-known love-song, Gott can demonstrate the various registers of his voice, and stand comparison with any of the singers who took the role on Broadway. This is certainly the highest honour that can be paid to Karel Gott.
From the letter of Columbia Records sent to Artia, New York, on June 30th, 1966: We would like to express our congratulations to this great Karel Gott record. For all of us, who have heard him in our company, not only his singing performance, but even a great arrangement and good job of the Krautgartner Orchestra have made a great impression. The newspaper TIME brought this week an excellent review of Gott's LP in the USA. They called him the European Sinatra. We will send you a copy of this review, where this record has been listed in the list of the best European records of this season... We suppose that a real international star is being born in your country.
2009-07-07 11:01 | Jaroslav
„Zlatý hlas z Prahy“ se ještě před vydáním svého debutu pustil do alba zpívaného anglicky. Rozhodně udělal dobře a během let 1964-65 odvedl solidní práci. Zdá se mi, že v našich krajích je album tak trochu nedoceněné nebo pozapomenuté, což je rozhodně škoda. Fakt, že časopis Time označil Gotta za evropského Sinatru, prostě z historie vymazat nelze, a Gottovi se tak dostalo možná jednoho z největších neformálních ocenění. Možná - na omluvu všeho našeho posluchačstva - že věci jako Fascinating Rhytm nebo Somewhere mohli více oslovit zahraniční publikum než to domácí. Nevím, jen hádám. Přiznám se, že i já věci z tohoto alba neposlouchám tak často jako ty jiné. K mým nejoblíbenějším z této desky patří rozhodně Moon River. Také dvě původně české písně zastihly Gotta o malinko vyzrálejšího, navíc angličtina vždy silné melodii sluší - takže Snow-Drift-Eyes řadím nad český originál a mezi ty výborné pak i Home (anglickou verzi písně Tam, kam chodí vítr spát). Šíleně zrychlenou verzi Be-Bop-A-Lula bych se pak nebál označit za přehmat. Svému předchůdci se však album přinejmenším vyrovná. Cennější je na něm fakt, že se jedná svým způsobem o koncepční dílo, i když se na něm najdou věci, které nezapadají stylově ani časově.