Rate These Recordings: The Thrill Is Gone/ the 1952 One Alone

[Derek McGovern]

For the fourth round of "Rate This Recording!", we're featuring Lanza renditions of two American songs written between 1926 and 1931: "The Thrill Is Gone" and "One Alone" (Coke version). These were special requests from Joe. I hope you'll get into the spirit of things by listening to these recordings, rating them, and then coming back to discuss them here. 

Here's the direct link to the poll and sound files feature for these recordings:

http://www.mariolanzatenor.com/the-thrill-is-goneone-alone.html

Cheers
Derek

[JOE]

Lanza’s so perfect description of emotions in this wonderful rendering reminds me of a scene from his Great Caruso movie : When Caruso is chided for keeping his hands in his pocket  on stage, he replies that he knows this man he is portraying and he will keep his hands in his pocket whether the diamond horseshoe likes it or not! Well, I know the subject of this song as well. A man jilted through no fault of his own. Lanza takes you through the roller coaster ride of emotions from the high of “love was grand when love was new” to the cold finality of the new reality. I can almost feel a shiver up my spine when he sings the word “cold”. His singing may not be flawless here but no other singer even comes to this wonderful vocal portrait. I may be alone on this but I have to give this work my first “masterpiece” rating.

[JOE]

ooops, I should have labeled my first reply that it was on "The Thrill Is Gone"

[JOE]

One Alone:

 

One Alone is a very tough analysis for me since I love the song itself so much. Also, it is difficult not to be moved by the Lanza enthusiasm and joy….even in face of the lack of resonance on some of the notes. Yet, if it so flawed, why do I continue to come back to it so often? I still give it a “very good” in spite of its “white notes” …and I admit to some bias here.  P.S. Has any other tenor recorded this typically baritone song?

[Anita]

Even though I don't like this song (The Thrill is Gone) I think it is sung very well, thoughtfully and with feeling.  I don't think it could be sung any better.  It could even be close to a masterpiece!

One Alone on the other hand is not sung well.  He could have done it a lot better, without the exaggerations and "he ternallies" and the last "alone" sounds "off" to me.

[Savage]

Derek,

     Mario captures the melancholy mood perfectly in The Thrill is Gone.  Something about the music itself grates on the ears. My musical expertise fails me here. Is it in a minor key?  Vocally , Mario is flawless in this performance.  I just dislike the depressing mood of the tune and the lyrics.  One Alone is upbeat and while not a masterpiece, it lifts the spirit.  No question here, my reactions are subjective as hell.  I rated the two performances excellent and very good respectively, giving the edge to The Thrill is Gone, even though it may have inspired a few listeners to jump off a bridge.

                                                                                                                                                                         David

[Derek McGovern]

Well, I'm jumping in earlier than usual here; thanks for the comments so far, Joe, Anita and David.

I can certainly understand why "The Thrill Is Gone" is a love-it or hate-it song---and it probably vies with "Thoughts Will Come to Me" as Most Downbeat Lanza Song. But while I find the latter superior melodically and lyrically, like David, I agree that Lanza's handling of "The Thrill Is Gone" is masterly. Terrific phrasing/story-telling makes it work! I gave it 5/5.

The Coke "One Alone"'s an altogether different beast, though :), and rates somewhere between poor and so-so in my book. Some nice soft touches here and there, but, as I've written on another thread, I just can't get past the fact that Mario's forcing his voice at the end of each phrase, producing some unattractive, thin white tone on "where I please," "sand and skies," "forgotten," "worshipping soul," etc. Way below his best singing, and not a patch on his 1959 version!  

A "charitable" 2/5. Sorry, Joe! 

By the way, in answer to your question, yes, quite a few tenors besides Lanza have recorded "One Alone"---Jerry Hadley, for example. It's written for a lyric baritone, but that hasn't stopped basses like Giorgio Tozzi and Cesare Siepi from singing it either. 

Cheers

Derek

[leeann]

Well, no bridge jumping here. "The Thrill is Gone" is one of those renditions where I've just closed my eyes and abdicated thought to the song. It's beautiful.

Perhaps it's one of the songs that epitomizes the bits we know from Lanza's own words about how he approached his art--including the oft-quoted phrase we've got on the website: "I sing each word as though it were my last on earth."

To me, it's one of those eternal interpretations, ever-new: magnificent in 1951, magnificent in 2051. It tears the heartstrings--the certainty and strength of Lanza's voice pushing the pathos of the lyrics. And then it just stops. No drawn out ending. No extravagant vocal gymnastics (and since it was a Coke show, I imagine the option was there). It ends. The music, too, is gone.

"One Alone." Well. It's the more routine end of the weekly-broadcast-not-intended-for-posterity Coke Show. Does it give us the Lanza who moves us to the core. No. I'd be interested in knowing how others might compare this to the 1959 version.  Here's a link to the Stoltapaura contribution on YouTube.

Derek, thank you for taking time with this feature. It's awfully nice to have people's personal reactions as well as comments from the experts. Best, Lee Ann

[Anita]

Leann,  I think the 1959 version of One Alone is much, much better than the Coke show one.  He sounds more sincere with no gross exaggerations.  I'd give it a 4/5.

[JOE]

Hi Lee Ann and Anita!

 

Lee Ann, you hit the nail on the head when you made reference to the  Lanza "singing every word as though it were his last on earth"..Great example!....This song , even with its downbeat  message , is poignanacy exemplified and warrants a  masterpiece rating (IMO).

 

I also agree with Anita that this version of One Alone is a better one. I was a little surprised that Derek did not select it for his rating target....and I will be very interested in whether Derek likes it a little bit more as well. Lanza sounds more "baritonal" and he sings this so effortlessly. I admit to my bias and subjectivity here,  I just cant help myself when it comes to One Alone, I love both versions, warts and all!....Joe

 

Yes, it is the time of year to dig out Lanza and his  Carols...even though, other than the sublime Guardian Angels, O Holy Night and Silent Night...I was very disappointed by both his Christmas albums.

[Shawn]

The thrill is gone: 4/5. Not my cup o' tea as songs go, but I can't find anything wrong with his singing of it, particularly strong middle ("This is the end, so why pretend, and let it linger on...")

One alone: I think 2/5 is fair as well., I don't think it's bad but it does pale in comparison with the 1959 version (which you could easily imagine being sung by him live in the role in similar fashion, unlike this Coke show version- (I hope!))

[Derek McGovern]

Terrific comments, everyone.

And since you all keep bringing up the 1959 "One Alone," I've gone ahead and added it to the same page:

http://www.mariolanzatenor.com/the-thrill-is-goneone-alone.html

I've uploaded the "raw" version of the recording to the link above, and it sounds so much better than any of the other reproductions I've heard (including YouTube's Stoltapaura's). Please listen to it with fresh ears and then rate! And without trying to influence anyone's vote :), could there be anything more poignant than the lines (beautifully rendered here) "Yet I keep on longing/Just to rest awhile" sung by a tired giant barely two months before his death?

Cheers
Derek

[leeann]

I appreciate Derek's juxtaposition of two Coke show tracks. It's helped me begin to grasp the profound extent of Mario Lanza's work in the short, short time he sang publicly.  And to place the Coke shows in perspective. It's been well-said that they range from the magnificent and forever-grand to the those that thrill and entertain for the moment, but which, on their own, only hint at the grandeur of Lanza's voice. And, sadly, the latter make me shake my head at an abysmal disregard for placing these releases in context, for giving a little explanation in liner notes, for noting the context of their history, for differentiating between the consummate Lanza and the casual voice and the circumstances that made each so.

That said, even the most off-handed Coke show releases (from my very limited knowledge) never seem to fail to offer profoundly beautiful notes, phrases--I am glad, however, that we have a broader repertoire than those to listen to and afficionados who show us how. Best, Lee Ann

[Savage]

Derek,

     The combination of singing and orchestration wins me over in the 1959 One Alone.  That final note is absolutely glorious!  What an improvement over the earlier version.

                                                                                                                                                 David

[Derek McGovern]

A P.S. to my previous message---Joe: you were wondering why I hadn't originally included the 1959 version of "One Alone" in the latest poll. The reason was that I was simply honouring your request for a poll on the Coke version of the song and "The Thrill Is Gone." But I was very happy to add the 1959 version of the former!

Don't forget, by the way, that we also have this discussion thread on the two "One Alone"s (though, by all means, let's continue the discussion here). Armando's comments on the 1959 version in that thread encapsulate everything that I love about that recording:

"[My partner and I] were listening to Mario's very last recording, The
Desert Song. What stood out for both of us was the sheer brilliance of
Judith Raskin's voice, the beautiful phrasing and excellent sound
(this is the RCA CD). I thought that yes, the sound on the recordings
Raskin made in New York is superior to the tracks recorded by Mario in
Rome, and yes, Callinicos' conducting is abominable, but ultimately we
are witnessing a giant struggling against his ailing body and still
managing to somehow deliver the goods.

"We were both using earphones, and halfway through listening to One
Alone we turned to look at each other, tears running down our cheeks,
and I thought: what the hell, bad recording, bad conducting, ailing
Mario; all this pales into insignificance when the artist is able to
move you to this extent.

"This, indeed, is the mark of greatness."

Cheers, Derek

[leeann]

Does this number perhaps join the extensive repertoire of recordings gloriously exploding the myth that Lanza peaked early in the 1950s?  I vote yes. (loud cheers) LeeAnn

[Derek McGovern]

I echo those cheers, Lee Ann! Mario may have been in his freshest voice in the early 1950s, with the youthful suppleness that you'd expect to hear from a tenor in his early 30s, but he was often a far greater singer both before and after his erratic 1950-52 period (his peak Hollywood years).

Cheers
Derek

[leeann]

I wonder, Derek. It seems to me that we have the opportunity now with the musically great (or maybe the great in any field, actually) to explore a developmental trajectory--maybe Placido Domingo is  musically representative?--that might include triumphs, aberrations, retrogression, experimentation--but which ultimately offers the opportunity to take a broad view, a lifetime view, of  how they grew, of their focus and progression (and backward steps): chances to acknowledge what they've done over a lifetime.

I don't think we get to do that with Mario Lanza, or at least, we do only to  a limited degree.  I think there's still a huge dichotomy, a tension, between a grand acknowledgment, a  general acknowledgement, that he was among the greatest natural voices ever who achieved sometimes unsurpassed interpretive and musical genius and simply not knowing what to do with that surety.  LeeAnn

[dori...@gmail.com]

I have yet to find any song that Mario does not perform with excellence (Someone will now jump in) and perfect

clarity.  I have admired him since the early 1950's since The Toast of New Orleans & That Midnight Kiss.  Here in

England this was the first we, or I, ever heard Mario Lanza and saw him sing ... I was hooked immediately.

 

Dreen

[Michael McAdam]

Hi Dreen,

A couple of years back Derek and I compiled a list of "Quintessential" Lanza recordings. I've thought ever since then that perhaps a list of "Un-Quintessential" pieces should have been hilighted. Believe me, a lot of what he did failed to show that excellence you speak of.

Sure, his voice would always give you a buzz but the 'cringe' factor was much in evidence in these clunkers from his Coke shows.

Listen to his bad grandma ;-) on the Coke One Alone (and his unsupported, almost squeaky notes), then listen to the superlative 1959 version recorded when, for all intents and purposes, he was a dying man.

 

BTW, Dreen...what part of England do you hail from? I was born over there (and, a hearty welcome to our Forum, mate!).

 

Mike

[Derek McGovern]

Just to let everyone know: I've replaced the YouTube version of "The Thrill Is Gone" here with a much better reproduction taken from the original radio broadcast (complete with Bill Baldwin's introduction). Lanza really is in great form on this recording!

[Armando]

The Thrill is Gone is not a great song and yet it’s one of many that I think only Lanza had the ability not only to pull off but to actually sound convincing in, such was his total identification with the lyrics. As Joe wrote, you can actually feel the chill as he sings the nights are cold, or the resignation on the line, the thrill is gone.

I have little to say about the 1952 One Alone except that the whole thing is uneven and Lanza’s voice is both back and forced.

The 1959 One Alone is an entirely different matter, but there’s no escaping the fact that regardless of the superior rendition this is a tired voice that bears the punishment that his owner had inflicted upon himself over the years.

Nevertheless, it’s a tremendously moving performance of a beautiful song.

I gave the following ratings 1) Good, 2) Poor, 3) Very good