Doris Day - The Essential Doris Day (2014)

Although she is chiefly known for her movie career, which took off in the late '50s, and pop songs like "Secret Love" and "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" she recorded concurrently with her screen success, Doris Day was a consummate big-band vocalist in the '40s, and her musical legacy as a singer ultimately begins with those recordings, which will startle and amaze those who are only familiar with her later pop fare. But it is those subsequent pop hits, many of which came from the soundtracks of movies, that gave her career such an amazingly productive (and graceful) longevity. Make no mistake, she could sing, and she came from the first generation of singers to truly understand the nuance of singing on studio microphones, which gives her vocals depth, clarity, and an uncommon presence. This two-disc set, released to honor Day's 90th birthday, collects key and essential tracks she recorded for Columbia Records during her long association with the label, which means it deftly bridges her early big-band work with the later pop sides, beginning in the 1940s when she was lead vocalist for Les Brown's band and running through to 1965 and the release of the sultry solo album Latin for Lovers. The hits are here, and so much more, making this both a nice introduction to a gently innovative singer and a high-points summary of her early and middle years as a recording artist. ~ Steve Leggett