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Savvy Sammy Davis Jr. (vocals) enthusiasts are encouraged to find this two-fer title containing both of his mid-'50s Decca Records long-players -- the chart-topping Starring Sammy Davis Jr. (1955) and Top Five follow-up Just for Lovers (1955). The bulk of both successive projects was the result of sessions recorded between June of 1954 and August of the following year with arrangers Sy Oliver and Morty Stevens absorbing the lions' share of the orchestral chores. Taking the contents chronologically, the June 7 Oliver-directed confab yielded outstanding, if not definitive remakes of several pop standards and show tunes. Primary among them are the breezy "Hey There," from the Broadway smash The Pajama Game, a powerful nod to the Kismet ballad "And This Is My Beloved," as well as the sublime, bluesyKurt Weill-co-penned "September Song," that had been a key entry from the otherwise less than memorable Knickerbocker Holiday. While not as prolific, a mid-September 1954 meeting between the artist and Stevens' Orchestra would produce one nugget that Davis would call his own for the remainder of his lengthy career, the personality driven and unapologetically swinging interpretation of "Birth of the Blues." Davis concluded the year with a one-off get together under the direction of Joseph Gershenson and one of the sleeper classics to have emerged was Mickey Rooney's (Yes, that one) lush love song "Spoken For." Early in 1955 Davis would cut "Stan' Up an' Fight" -- extracted from Carmen Jones -- as the vocalist unleashes his soul in a way few of Davis' contemporaries were capable of. Just for Lovers resumed in July of 1955 as Sy Oliver and his Orchestra got down to the task of providing sumptuous support on "When Your Lover Has Gone," "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)," "You Do Something to Me," "You're My Girl," and an appropriately swoon-filled reading of "Tenderly." Morty Stevens resumes his collaborations with Davis on the brassy and attitude-filled "Happy Ending" and the comparatively intimate -- yet no less profound "The Thrill Is Gone,"" It's All Right with Me," and "Come Rain or Come Shine." The last number to make its way onto Starring Sammy Davis Jr. or Just for Lovers (1955) is the refined reworking of Cole Porter's seminal road trip anthem "Get Out of Town." While the fidelity may not be quite on par with Collectors' Choice Music single-CD versions, for those who have been searching for either (or both) of these LPs on CD in one place, this Hallmark label compile is worth seeking out. ~ Lindsay Planer
