You can’t get any more popular in American entertainment
than Keely Smith was in the early ‘60s. Having blown the doors out in Las
Vegas, winning a Grammy, having hit after hit and lighting up television
screens playing straight “man” to husband Louis Prima, she’d navigated the
tricky waters of a professional and personal divorce, striking out on her own and
starting her own record label, Keely Records, in partnership with close friend
and mentor Frank Sinatra, under the auspices of his Reprise label.
A
groundbreaking businesswoman, as well as recording artist, Keely recorded 5
classic albums for Reprise. Because she’d seen enough show business shenanigans
to last a lifetime, a generation before it became standard practice to do so,
she retained the rights to her masters. Those albums have NEVER come out
legitimately on CD anywhere in the world.
Now, Real Gone Music, in concert with
Keely & her family, is very proud to announce that the label is going to
answer the pleas of pop fans worldwide and release ALL of Keely’s Reprise
albums on CD for the first time in deluxe packages featuring bonus tracks, rare
photos, and new liner notes. Little Girl Blue, Little Girl New was Keely’s
first release for her new label Reprise, and she celebrated her newfound
freedom in grand style by putting out a concept album jointly supervised by
Keely with Frank Sinatra. Reassembling the topnotch, high flying creative team
of their Capitol years, the entire package was fashioned as two distinct
records, from the song choices to the album artwork itself. It featured two
different front covers, one lachrymose, one cheery.
The first side, “Little
Girl Blue,” offered such lovelorn fare as “Here’s That Rainy Day,” “Willow Weep
for Me, and the title tune, while the second side, “Little Girl New,” was
epitomized by the spirit of its closing track, “Blue Skies.” Taken as a whole,
Little Girl Blue, Little Girl New is a uniquely powerful listening experience
and stands as one of the first concept albums ever recorded by a female artist.
We’ve added Keely’s first Reprise single (produced by Don Costa), “When You
Cry” and “Going Through the Motions,” (mixed to stereo for the first time
ever!) to the original stereo album for this Expanded Edition, which is
remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision from original tape sources and also
features fresh liner notes and rare photos. Oh, and one more thing…the whole
thing is arranged and conducted by the great Nelson Riddle!
1. Little Girl Blue
2. Here's That Rainy Day
3. Gone with the Wind
4. Willow Weep for Me
5. It'll Never Be the Same
6. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry
7. I'm Gonna Live Till I Die
8. It's Good to Be Alive
9. A Lot of Livin' to Do
10. Once in a Lifetime
11. New Sun in the Sky
12. Blue Skies
13. When You Cry
14. Going Through the Motions
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