Dick Haymes Albums (4)
What The Critics Say
After wearing out his welcome at Capitol, Dick Haymes self-financed and self-produced Look at Me Now!, a stunning return to form that captures both the dynamic energy of his earliest records and the thoughtful maturity of his later efforts. Teamed with pianist Cy Coleman and the Maury Laws Orchestra, Haymes channels the tumult of his personal life into material like "This Time the Dream's on Me" and "Oh! Look at Me Now," but also responds to lighter, swinging tunes like the Coleman original "The Riviera" with a boyish joie de vivre -- a most welcome change of pace. [The SSJ label's CD reissue adds a pair of unreleased cuts from the original studio sessions as well as two more from a concurrent radio broadcast.] ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
'The Dick Haymes Show: 1947-1948'
Release Date 7/30/2002
Tracks 58
Label Ballad
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
A darkly beautiful collection of ballads, Moondreams has been prized by collectors of vocal jazz and standards for decades. Like Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes was a great romantic balladeer with a sunny image in the 1940s, who found his career in steep decline when that image turned out to hide a darker side. Like Sinatra, Haymes became an even greater vocalist in the 1950s, but they didn't share the same second round of success. Moondreams is the second of two superb albums that Haymes cut for Capitol Records in the mid-'50s and it's the single finest work in his vast catalog. A collection of dark torch songs and gently swinging ballads, the album features Haymes' beautiful, relaxed, but deeply nuanced vocals and richly atmospheric small-group jazz, with string arrangements by Johnny Mandel and Ian Bernard, both of whom were associated with the West Coast cool jazz scene of the time. Moondreams is equal to the best LPs that Sinatra, Nat King Cole, June Christy, and Peggy Lee were cutting for Capitol Records at the same time, and the album deserves to be discovered by a new generation. ~ Nick Dedina, All Music Guide
