A last-minute shopping list

Christmas Day has come and gone. By this time, you would have already found out if Santa Claus has found you naughty or nice. For all you music lovers, here are some goodies that the deserving among you should have found waiting under the tree on Christmas morning. These I believe are some of the most enjoyable and must-have releases to emerge these past few weeks. If you were unfortunate, not the recipient of any of these CDs, then I suggest you buy them and give them to yourself.

Standing Ovation, The Greatest Songs From The Stage by Susan Boyle. The British TV contest discovery has a great set of pipes and the album is the proof. She gives whoever it was who said that the voice goes downhill with age another think with this album. The clarity of her singing, the range of her voice and her expressive tones show that great artists are born and not fashioned out of media hype and intensive makeovers. I shudder to think of what a loss to the world it might have been had Susan lost the guts to leave her small village in Scotland to sing I Dreamed A Dream before the intimidating Simon Cowell.

Standing Ovation is Boyle’s fourth album. She released Susan Boyle, The Gift and Someone To Watch Over Me earlier. This is her first real standard CD. Remember that she experimented with classical readings of hits by the likes of Depeche Mode and the Rolling Stones in her early albums. For this one though, it is straight singing throughout and I cannot help but imagine how she would have stopped the show every night had she had the chance to do these songs on Broadway or the West End.

Best of the batch is her soulful take on the torchy As Long As He Needs Me from Oliver. I say best not only in this collection but from among all the versions I have heard of this song. I also like it that she sings The Music Of The Night from Phantom Of The Opera with Michael Crawford, who originated the Phantom role in London. And then there is All I Ask Of You, another song from the same musical done here with Donny Osmond. He was Susan’s favorite singing idol and I do love how he remade himself into a star of musicals after his teeny-bopper success.

Donny, who I presume is now also a fan of Susan’s, has another duet with her in This Is The Moment from Jekyll And Hyde. Also included are Somewhere Over The Rainbow, The Winner Takes It All, Send In The Clowns, Bring Him Home, Memory, Out Here On My Own and You’ll Never Walk Alone.

The Best Of Celine Dion And David Foster. From Scotland, we now go to Canada north of the US from whence comes the incredible tandem of singer Celine Dion and David Foster, composer, producer, arranger and a lot of other things musical. I believe that Celine’s best recordings are those she made with David. That includes her superb Christmas CD, These Are Special Times. Now for the first time ever, 17 of the songs they did together have been compiled in a single album.

Here are all the big favorites, starting with the song that introduced Celine to the world, the duet of When I Fall In Love with Clive Griffin that was used in the movie Sleepless In Seattle down to the incredible The Prayer with Andrea Boccelli. Also her other powerhouse duets are Tell Him with Barbra Streisand; All The Way with Frank Sinatra; I Hate You Then I Love You with Luciano Pavarotti; and If I Can Dream with Elvis Presley. Then there are All By Myself, The Power Of Love, What A Wonderful World, Because You Loved Me, To Love You More, etc.

I Will Always Love You, The Best Of Whitney Houston. Because she left so suddenly last February, I think her fans and all those who appreciate good music should have this in their holiday list. All the big hits are here, Saving All My Love For You, One Moment In Time, I’m Every Woman, I Have Nothing, several of them, including the title track, I Will Always Love You, coincidentally, also produced by Foster.

Then there are also two previously unreleased songs, Never Give Up, one of her last recordings and a fantastic laidback version of I Look To You with composer R. Kelly. These two were made to sing together and what a joy hearing that inspiring message of this beautiful song at this time of year. Kelly says “Good Night Whitney” at the end and the effect is quite touching.