Nancy Wilson: Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Track
Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Artist
Nancy Wilson (vocals)
CD
Nancy Wilson Anthology (Capitol 24427)
Musicians:
Nancy Wilson (vocals),
Phil Wright & His Orchestra (details unknown)
.Composed by Bob Crewe & Bob Gaudio; arranged by Phil Wright
.Recorded: Los Angeles, August 27, 1969
Rating: 92/100 (learn more)
One of Nancy Wilson’s unsung talents is taking the most overplayed pop songs and making them into her own. Her version of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” is a prime example. For most singers, this song and its famous arrangement seem to be inseparable, yet Wilson’s version jettisons the Frankie Valli setting and reinterprets it as a soulful Basie-styled ballad. The original melody doesn’t amount to much, as it mumbles along during the verse (You’re just too good to be true) and then explodes on the chorus (I love you baby). The lyrics are better, and Wilson focuses on reading the lyric and making major changes to the melody. And while the famous interlude from Valli’s recording is not here, the combination of Phil Wright’s ever-building arrangement and Wilson’s impassioned reading of the lyric makes the chorus seem a natural outgrowth of the verse, and not a sudden outburst. Wilson and Wright made one further change, cutting the line and let me love you, baby; let me love you. On Valli’s recording, that was the peak of the song, but it also stopped the song in its tracks. Wilson’s peak on the line before is quite effective, and she closes the song with a quiet return to the center of the verse.
Reviewer: Thomas Cunniffe
Tags: 1960s jazz · jazz vocals
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