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The Best of Julie

I own not one but two '80s-vintage Julie London 'best-of' compilation LPs. For me, the other one (The Best Of The Liberty Years) has the edge as regards song-selection; whereas this one has the better-designed cover. Luckily, the two intersect only slightly, with just a pair of songs in common: 'Cry Me a River'; and 'Daddy', the latter written by Bobby Troup (also responsible for '(Get Your Kicks) on Route 66' and 'The Girl Can't Help It'), who was London's second husband.

The Best of Julie was apparently first issued in 1961: its re-issue date isn't given, but the sleevenotes mention that Mari Wilson's cover of 'Cry Me a River' sparked a resurgence of interest in London's music, so '83 seems a reasonable guess. London's voice wasn't the strongest of instruments, often deployed in a huskily conspiratorial near-whisper, but she could certainly hold a tune, and had a knack for persuasively delivering a lyric.

With thirteen performances drawn from as many different albums, there's plenty of variety in the arrangements: from sparse guitar & bass accompaniments, such as on the beguilingly wordless 'Hot Toddy', to lush orchestral ones, as on 'They Can't Take That Away From Me'. Other favourite tracks of mine include her takes on 'Don't Smoke in Bed' and 'The Nearness of You'. Collectively, the songs only just run to thirty minutes in total (the longest is 3:06), so it's a relatively brief affair, but no less a pleasure for that.

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