Recorded live in Las Vegas in the early 1970’s, this CD faithfully records for posterity some of the worst recordings in Paul Anka’s otherwise illustrious long career. A superstar from the 1950’s and early 1960’s and a noted writer of more than 300 hundred songs (including his own hits, “My Way” and “She’s a Lady”), Paul Anka has enjoyed a 40-year recording career. With the exception of two fleeting moments (discussed below), the tracks on this CD add nothing to his achievements and if anything serve to tarnish his reputation.

The opening number on the collection is the Woody Guthrie folk classic “This Land is Your Land”. The number is speeded up and given the full Las Vegas treatment including an orchestra working at break neck pace. The lyrics are completely stripped of any significance and the only hint that anyone even cared about what the song was about is the inclusion of two brilliantly sung lines in Gospel style by one of the back up singers. The sole saving grace of the performance is the well done segue into a couple of lines of “Blowing in the Wind” at the end.

A medley of “For Once in My Life”/ “Come Rain Come Shine” is next off the rank. Fans of the well-known Frank Sinatra versions will be suitable mortified by the interpretations given here to these standards. Both are given rushed treatments and every attempt is made to strip the songs of their individuality. In fact by the end of the track both numbers are almost indistinguishable from one another and for that matter “This Land is Your Land”.

Not just content to ruin songs written by others, Mr. Anka then turns his attentions in this regard to compositions he had (then) recently written for Frank Sinatra, Englebert, and Tom Jones namely “We Made it happen”, “My Way” and “She’s a Lady”, respectively. All three are pale imitations of the well-known recordings. “She’s a Lady” is by far the worst of the three and is the musical equivalent of water torture. To make matters worse, Mr. Anka’s comments between the songs reveal a disturbing obsession with the supposed virility of the three artists who recorded the hit versions.

Just when the urge comes to rip the CD out of the player and take a blowtorch to it, a brilliant rendition of the ballad “Good Night My Love” kicks in. The performance of this single release from the early seventies is magnificent. It successfully captures the feel of Paul’s 50’s classic recordings like “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”, and “You are My Destiny” but with a contemporary injection. It is impossible to over praise this song or Paul Anka’s performance of it.

A medley of Paul’s 50’s hits follows. It starts off brilliantly with “Diana”. The orchestra is really kicking and Paul is in fine voice. Unfortunately, disappointment quickly sets in when it becomes apparent that all we are going to hear is the smallest snippet of each hit tune. Scratchings of “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”, “Lonely Boy” and “You are my Destiny” follow. All are done to perfection but in the smallest possible time frame. The entire medley is just over two minutes. One can only feel sorry for the audience that night. The very evident excitement when they first realized that the old hits were about to be performed must have quickly turned to disappointment when the realization kicked in that that each song would be over in little more than a blink.

Paul next attacks the Beatles “Something” and his own composition “God Planned it that way”. Both are excruciatingly bad and the less said about them the better.

The final track is the surprisingly powerful ballad “Heading Home”. It is about a guy who suddenly gives up a life of wild living when he realizes that the things he most cares about are his family (hence the reason he is “heading home”). The lyrics and almost bluesy tune are excellent. In addition, Paul Anka’s performance rings with sincerity. The orchestra does not play on this performance and it is the better for it.

This CD does not do justice to the talent that is Paul Anka. The concern is that it will put off those who buy it from purchasing his other recording (many of which are outstanding). It also has the potential to discourage them from attending his live performances of which I am reliably informed are of the highest standard. In short, the quicker the CD is deleted the better for all concerned.







Recommended: No

Great Music to Play While: Cleaning the House