Susannah McCorkle
Just as it behooves older fogies to listen to Asia or the Police or Stevie Wonder on occasion, so it would not hurt even the most constantly palpitating of rock fans to appreciate some of the best pop music from earlier eras. There's no better company to do it in than these two ladies. Clooney, 54, in her maturing years has become a wonderfully low-keyed, sensitive interpreter of standard tunes. These are all very familiar Porter songs, but Clooney includes some rarely heard verses: "We're on the crest/We have no cares/ We're just a couple of honey bears" from It's De-Lovely, for instance. On You're the Top ("You're an angel—simply too-too-too divine/You're a Botticelli /You're Keats/You're Shelley/You're Ovaltine"), she is backed by a superb jazz group that includes young saxophonist Scott Hamilton and the lyrical cornet player Warren Vaché. McCorkle, 36, best known as an East Coast cabaret singer, recorded this set of Warren songs in 1976, but it's just being released. It highlights McCorkle's deft way with deft lyrics, as in The Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish: "Every night in the mellow moonlight/When he's out dervishing with all his might/She gives him the runaround." The set also includes such standards as Lullaby of Broadway, I Had the Craziest Dream, There Will Never Be Another You and Chattanooga Choo-Choo. McCorkle's backup group, including ex-husband Keith Ingham and reed man Bruce Turner, is exemplary.
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