Perfect.

Review Score: (10/10)
Frank, Bing, Dean, Sam, and Perry-- by the 1970s all the great singers were dealing with a very different world of popular song. Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart had been replaced by George Harrison, John Denver, Burt Bacharach, and rock had replaced swing as the rhythmic foundation for pop arrangements. Of all the singers, Perry Como made the smoothest transition. He always was a real pro, tackling novelty numbers like "Papa Loves Mambo" and "Hot Diggity" with good taste, being tongue-in-cheek but not condescending. Actually, "It's Impossible" and "And I Love You So" the title songs are finely crafted pieces, and so are many of the other nine songs on each album, depending on your tastes. But I love Perry's approach mainly because he's so straight-forward with these songs, delivering them in his rich, mellow manner and showing no signs of wear and tear (unlike Sinatra in the '70s). Bing was actually doing some fine contemporary things in Britain at the time, with similarly excellent arrangements, but I'll still take Perry's "We've Only Just Begun" over his or anybody else's version. I'll also take Perry's "Something" over Frank's, although Blue Eyes was the one who said this was the greatest love song ever written. The arrangement with Perry keeps enough of the original Beatles rock sound (unlike Riddle's later violin-heavy version with Frank). And Perry has more fun with "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" than Frank. It's great to hear this craftsman of song handling "For the Good Times" and "Snowbird" and "Sing" even if I find the lyrics to be a bit beneath him. But we really start to have fun with "I Thought About You," featuring Mr. C in amazingly hip form, with a very cool metal guitar grinding behind him. Who'd have thought! Then he gets down and groovy on "I Think I Love You" (from the Partridge Family of course). Yes-- Perry could sing it all, and with beautiful, crisp arrangements like these, and two hit title songs, this is one disc I'll be playing over and over again.

More Reviews:

• Smooth, cool and relaxed
• really weak at times and boring
• And I Love You so
• Perry Como's 1970s Classics!
• Quality at last
• Finally!!!