C&W – Carol Channing

The liner notes to this album twice refer to the principals as "this unlikely duo," and it's hard to argue that a pairing of Broadway star Carol Channing and country star Webb Pierce is exactly that. It becomes no less unlikely as you listen to the album, which finds Channing on Music Row, but not Pierce on the Great White Way. Pierce country hits "I Ain't Never," "Back Street Affair," and "Fool, Fool, Fool" are reprised with Channing chiming in, but Pierce never attempts "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" or "Hello, Dolly!," which hardly seems fair. Channing's exuberant, cracked alto turns out to be a reasonable-enough vehicle for country music, especially because she throws herself into it with her customary enthusiasm. If the experiment must be judged a failure, it's more because of the mediocrity of the material and the complete lack of chemistry between the two singers than because Channing can't make the transition to country. She's willing, but Pierce is phoning in his part, and the songs don't really exploit the possibilities of the pairing. Chalk the partnership up to being a strange idea executed without as much zaniness as it deserved. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide