Take that! Ricky Martin - Robbie can SWING!!!! (Swing When You're Winning - Robbie Williams - Soundtrack)

Member Name: indychick_uk

Product:	Swing When You're Winning - Robbie Williams - Soundtrack
Date:	23/11/01 (532 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Jam packed with wonderful songs, Brilliantly arranged and produced throughout

Disadvantages: It's not a double album

Swing When You’re Winning

I first became aware of the existence of this album a couple of weeks ago. I was in my car, driving to work, when the old Nat King Cole track “Straighten Up and Fly Right” came on the radio. It obviously wasn’t Nat King Cole singing but I couldn’t work out who it was. At the end of the song I was amazed to hear the presenter, possibly Ken Bruce I can’t remember, announce that it was a track from the new Robbie Williams album.

Later that week I heard, on a couple of occasions, the duet with Nicole Kidman, which has been released as a single, “Somethin’ Stupid”. On hearing both these songs I remember thinking “Well, Robbie’s finally done it, he’s turned into the showman we all knew he could be.

Having heard these tracks I saw the CD when I was ordering some others at CD-Wow (only £8.99!!) and immediately pre-ordered it “Well” I thought “I’ll give it a go, see whether it’s any good”. On Saturday night I then saw the concert from the Albert Hall and was completely knocked out of my seat. I couldn’t wait for my CD to be delivered!

I won’t talk much about the concert here as this is a review of the CD, maybe I’ll write a review of the concert if Father Christmas brings me the DVD (I’ve been dropping hints!) but suffice to say Robbie showed great maturity on stage. He has finally grown up and left Take That and the teenage, trouble maker Robbie behind him.

I remember, when Robbie first went solo, my boyfriend at the time said “He’s going to be bigger than anyone, he’s a real performer. He’ll end up acting in movies” At the time I couldn’t help agreeing. There was always something about Robbie that was larger than life, he was always much more than “just a singer”. From what I’ve seen of his live shows (I’ve neve
r actually managed to get tickets to one) they are definitely a complete performance. Robbie’s style hearkened back to the old variety performers and the singers of the 50’s and 60’s such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tom Jones.

So it really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to find that he has a passion for the music that they used to sing and has now recorded an album of some of their most famous songs. It’s dedicated to “Frank, Dean and Sammy” (that’s Sinatra, Martin and Davis Jnr for those who don’t know) the original “Rat Pack”. In their day they were as outrageous and wild as Robbie has been and had similarly addictive personalities. He has a lot more in common with them than with any modern day pop-stars.

The only question is “Does it work, can Robbie Swing” and the answer is a resounding “Yes, he can!”

The album features collaborations with several of today’s stars, Jane Horrocks, Nicole Kidman, Rupert Everett and Robbie’s friend Jonathan Wilkes, and also some of the musicians who worked with Frank Sinatra and the others including Frank’s pianist Bill Miller. The London Session Orchestra brilliantly accompanies Robbie throughout and the songs are some of the greatest ever written from the likes of George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Duke Ellington – let’s face it, how could anyone go wrong with that package!

The track listing is as follows –

I Will Talk and Hollywood Will Listen

This is the only track on the album that is not a classic “swing” track. It was written by Robbie and his writing partner, Guy Chambers and is a huge orchestral number, which puts you in mind of some great show tune. It has an incredibly catchy melody that you’ll instantly be humming always the sign of a good pop record. The song shows off the range and versatility of Robbie’s vo
ice to the full, from the falsetto of the verse to the strong baritone chorus.
The sleeve notes describe this song as a “meditation on the untouchable loneliness and biting ambition of stardom” personally, when I heard Robbie sing this on Saturday night, the impression I had was that this was Robbie sticking two fingers up to Hollywood and saying “Here I am! If you don’t notice me know you will soon”
The first line of the song, “I wouldn’t be so alone, if they knew my name in every home” does have a touch of loneliness about it, and some of the sweeping orchestral arrangements are very moving but the chorus, “Mr Spielberg look just what you’re missing” that sounds like arrogant Robbie to me!
Mack the Knife

Robbie performs this song absolutely perfectly and it’s much better on the CD than it was live. He gives it a truly laid back, finger snapping quality and if your toes don’t start tapping when you listen to this then you must be dead. He borrows a little from two of the most famous performers of this song, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong but also adds a little something extra – a quirky grin? – that is all Robbie. I love this song and it’s probably my favourite track on the album.

Somethin’ Stupid

This is the first single from the album, a duet with Nicole Kidman, and it’s being talked about as Christmas No 1. It’s actually my least favourite song from the album and I’m disappointed it’s the single as I feel it’s not representative of the album as a whole. Although Nicole and Robbie’s voices work well together and it’s brilliantly arranged and produced (as is the whole album) for me this track lacks the soul and energy that the other songs have. I’m afraid it’s just missing…something…

Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me

This song has a
great, syncopated rhythm and Robbie really pulls it off. This is what Swing should be, it’s cool, relaxed and smooth. It just makes you want to get out your cocktail dress, grab a handsome partner and hit the dance floor. The trumpet solo is wonderful and really fires up the middle section of the song. As a child who was weaned on jazz I know what a Duke Ellington number should sound like and, though the purists (and my Dad) will jump up and down and scream at me, this is what it should sound like.

It Was A Very Good Year

What is there to say about this song. For those who don’t know, it’s sung partly by Robbie and partly by Mr Francis Albert Sinatra himself. The story is that, during recording in America, one of the band musicians who had played with Frank Sinatra sent the tapes to Frank’s estate, without Robbie’s knowledge. The estate then contacted Robbie to ask if he’d like Frank to sing on his record, and here is the result.
At the live show in the Albert Hall you could feel the atmosphere even through the television when Robbie stopped singing, the big screen behind him came to life with a film of Frank and he started singing. It really does make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
It works very well as, for anyone who knows the song, Robbie sings the first two verses, which start “When I was 17…” and “When I was 21…” and then Frank sings the last two “When I was 35…” and “Now I’m old and grey…” This works so well because, let’s face it, Robbie isn’t old & grey so he couldn’t sing those verse with any real conviction.
Not wishing to sound trite or corny but it’s almost like Robbie saying, “When I grow up, I want to be Frank Sinatra”
My husband commented, whilst we were watching the show on Saturday, that he shouldn’t have done it as it just served to show how
much better Frank Sinatra’s voice is than his. I think it works and just shows how good Robbie’s voice is that he can actually hold his own in close proximity to one of the best singers we’ve ever known.

Straighten Up and Fly Right

This was the first track I heard from the album and it really knocked me over. It’s a Nat King Cole song and coming from Robbie it sounds like a statement of intent somehow “Straighten Up and Fly Right” – looks like he’s going the right way to do that.

Well Did You Ever?

I love the original version of this as performed by Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby so was prepared to be disappointed or to have, at best, a weak impression of those two. I wasn’t disappointed, it’s very well done by Robbie and Jon Lovitz (Saturday Night Live). They both have the comic timing needed to carry this off.

Mr Bo Jangles

This is another spine tingler, especially when it was performed on stage with a tap dancer under a single spot being Robbie under another spot on an otherwise blacked out stage. The song itself is very moving and Robbie puts in all the emotion needed. I defy anyone to listen, and I mean really listen to this, and not shed a little tear.
You’ll be humming this for ages, or whistling the intro/outro to the annoyance of your friends and family. Even the part where “Bo Jangles” is “talking” and Robbie puts on a gravely voice works and what could be corny isn’t it’s just very touching. As Robbie says in the sleeve notes “especially the part where the dog dies”

One for My Baby

To quote Mr Robbie Williams from his live show “Assume the position of a bartender”. This is just Robbie, leaning against a piano, cigarette in one hand and glass in the other. More than any of the other songs on the album it shows his voice can really hold a tune. Listening to th
is late at night with a glass of brandy was a very relaxing experience.
The piano on this track is brilliant but I guess it should be played, as it is, by Frank Sinatra’s pianist, Bill Miller, who is now 84 and still has fingers of gold. It almost feels as though it’s Robbie’s voice accompanying Bill’s piano playing.
At the end of the track there’s a pause and then Robbie says “Wow” and you can just hear Bill Miller saying “Is that the idea?” to which Robbie replies “Yeah, that’s the general idea”.
I said “wow” too.

Things

This is very different to all the other songs on the album. It’s sung as a duet with Jane Horrocks and is almost like the sort of comedy duets you used to get years ago – like Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren singing “Goodness, gracious me” It’s a quirky little song with lots of comic asides and it finishes with a “conversation” between the two singers in which they complain about how badly the other had performed

Jane “Why did you do it like that, that were rubbish”
Robbie “Well you came in wrong, and it just went downhill from there”
Jane ”Well you told me to think of Kylie while I were singing”
Robbie “You obviously weren’t thinking of Kylie were you? June Whitfield maybe but not Kylie………”

I ends with Robbie walking out and slamming the door. A truly funny record but also very well performed musically. The comedic elements don’t detract from the fact that they both have good voices and Jane’s clear crystal voice complements Robbie’s perfectly.

Aint That a Kick In The Head

This is anpther swinging, toe-tapping tune and Robbie belts it out with plenty of energy. Not quite Dean Martin but very close. You can almost hear him grinning as he sings. This is an upl
ifting tune anyway and it has a real feel good vibe.

They Can’t Take That Away From Me

Yes, Rupert Everett can sing (as well as act and generally look gorgeous) and his voice contrasts well with Robbie’s. The lad from Stoke and the ultimate public schoolboy. It works because they both have that underlying tone of arrogance and they both have a laid back manner. But then, with a song by Gershwin, who could go wrong?

Have You Met Miss Jones

When I saw Bridget Jones’ diary I didn’t realise that this was being sung by Robbie Williams, I still didn’t twig when I saw him sing it in the live show. It wasn’t till I read the sleeve notes of the album that I realised he’s recorded it for the soundtrack.
It was recording that song that inspired him to record a whole album of swing, You can hear his love for the tune in the way he sings it, and he’s really enjoying himself.

Me & My Shadow

Famously performed by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jnr this song is faithfully re-recorded by Robbis and his friend/flatmate Jonathan Wilkes. They have quite similar voices and at times it’s difficult to distinguish which is singing but Robbie’s is the stronger of the two. Again, Robbie’s comic leanings are used to the max with plenty of “ad-libs” thrown in by both singers.
It starts with Robbie shouting something in his American “swing” voice and Jonathan Wilkes asking, “Why are you talking like that, we’re both from Stoke?” and Robbie replying “I know, I just can’t help it!”
The song pulls you along with a smile on your face and then there’s another comic interlude before the encore with Jonathan trying to persuade Robbie to sing it again “I’ll make you a cup of tea” How English is that!!!
The fact that they are friends shines through in this and I can only imagine the may
hem that ensued during recording.

Beyond The Sea

This is a lovely song to finish on and it’s perfect for Robbie’s voice. It’s the track that most has the feel of an improvised jazz session of all the songs on the album. Robbie seems finally to have found his own style on this track and is no longer aping Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin as he does in some of the earlier tracks on the album. It ends with a true Jazz coda with Robbie and the band improvising to the end, you don’t want it to finish.

The Hidden Track

Isn’t there always a hidden track these days? I’m sure I’m not the only one who leaves the CD running in the machine on the first play of a new album “just in case”. On this album it’s not actually a song but a series of “out-takes” and off-mike comments in the tradition of films these days. They are actually quite funny and Robbie’s final comment that he’s enjoyed working with the band and “if we recoup I’d love to get together again” is rewarded with a huge round of applause and a sting from the drummer.

I think they’ll be recouping.

Looking back at this opinion, I’m amazed at how many times I’ve used the words “brilliant” “perfect” “wonderful” It looks like I’ve swallowed a book of superlatives. I’d apologise but I’m afraid that’s how I feel about this album. It is superlative. A collection of wonderful songs sung by a true performer.

Robbie – can we do it again ?

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