Liberace - "Liberace At Home" Vinyl, LP, 1956 (Columbia)

Liberace without orchestration or (I presume) costumes.  At home, with his grand piano, and a set of excellent songs.   Liberace without the presentation is very much like Liberace Unplugged.   What seems to be a kitsch type of record is actually a beautiful album.  "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is splendid, as well as "How Deep Is The Ocean."  One would think he may throw in a Chopin here in this set, but it's very much the Great American Songbook, done by the flamboyant pianist.  He's a good musician, and here he just turns off the visuals and showbiz galore, and it's just music for him and you, the listener. 

Dirk Bogarde - "Lyrics for Lovers" Vinyl, LP, Album (Decca)

I'm such a Dirk Bogarde fan that I have this album on CD, and the original vinyl mono disc as well.   I remember going to The Last Bookstore's vinyl department, and finding this in the "B" section.  It was a great moment because I have been looking for this specific album on vinyl for years. The right price and of course the right Dirk Bogarde album.  Recorded and released in 1960, this was made between heartthrob teen idol Dirk and dark, decadent Dirk.  One of the great British actors - there is not one bad film with him in it.  That, I know is saying a lot concerning one's filmography - and one I'm sure Dirk had a lot of misgivings about their quality.  Overall he can turn something mediocre into a gem.   And his later films with Visconti and Losey are, of course, complete masterpieces.  Now, this album is... not a masterpiece.  More of an afterthought on Bogarde's career.   I'm imagining that the powers to be insisted on him doing this album of classic pop songs.  He doesn't sing, which is a disappoint, but what he does do is recite the lyrics in a very cinematic manner. 

"Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" starts off Dirk lighting a match and off he goes.  Low volume orchestration backs the recital on all songs.  Dirk does the lyrics in a very hammy conversational tone as if he is talking to you the listener.  For me, it is just a remarkable document of a time when stars had to reach beyond their abilities.  Still, this is very much in all, a Dirk Bogarde performance.  Which is a very good thing indeed. 

Bryan Ferry - "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"/"Another Time, Another Place" (Island) 45 rpm 7" single, 1974

I bought this single in 1974, sold or lost it through the ages, and recently purchased again, in Tokyo.  1974, and especially anything dealing with Island Records, was an exciting time for a record fan or listener.   I discovered Sparks that year, and that is a gift that keeps on giving.  Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music is another cultural importance for me.  Ferry went on to have this duo-career of being the head thinker for Roxy Music while doing solo recordings.  I don't fully understand his need to do solo work, where he clearly wrote or co-wrote all the Roxy Music songs.  If he strictly just did covers, I can understand that for being a solo artist, but the fact he started to add original songs under "Bryan Ferry" is a mystery to me.   

"Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is a classic American pop tune from the early 1930s.  Depression era, and to Ferry a romantic time.   At this time, Ferry was mining the past, but he was making it into a Roxy re-make, where it seems at times he wrote the song himself.  It's love, but a love that is damaged and leaves the after-effects of smoke after the burning heart.  It's a beautiful bitter-sweet melody with lyrics that sting.  A perfect cocktail for someone like Bryan Ferry.

The b-side is a great Ferry composition "Another Time, Another Place."  Why this wasn't recorded for Roxy Music is a mystery.  It's a hypnotic piece of aural delight.  The importance of sound to take one to another place - that is basically the motif of the Bryan Ferry method of making art.