Sunday Songs with Stafford and MacRae

Two of the favorite artists of this blog and many of its readers are Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae, who frequently recorded together while at Capitol.

In this 10-inch LP from 1950, they present what they call "Sunday evening songs". The notes below tell us that in the early years of the 20th century members of the household would gather around the piano for a group sing of sweet, familiar songs. Stafford and MacRae, aided by Paul Weston's apposite arrangements, present eight of these songs in straightforward, but infinitely pleasing renditions.

None of this material would have been new even at the turn of the 20th century. It dates from as early as 1833. The notes tell us that such songs were enjoying a renaissance in the postwar world; would that there would be such a renaissance today. But this music is as passe as the green piano cloth on the spectacular album cover.

REMASTERED VERSION