Love Walked In

Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
Betty Johnson's first career in music coincided with the music career of her family, the Johnson Family Singers. Starting in 1938 and throughout the 1940s, the young soprano sang hymns with her parents and three brothers. The family had a daily broadcast on the powerful WBT radio in Charlotte, North Carolina and appeared at churches, military bases, and all-night sings throughout the South. Singing in the vein of the Carter Family and Speer Family, the Johnsons garnered enough attention to appear on the Grand Ole Opry and record for RCA-Victor and Columbia records.

As the 1950s dawned, Betty charted a course that would take her away from the Johnson Family Singers and toward popular music stylings. In New York City, Johnson shared the top prize on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and also found a regular Sunday evening radio job singing with the CBS orchestra as well as a Saturday morning spot on the Galen Drake Show.

Betty Johnson's career took a decided turn upward in 1954 when she joined the Csida-Grean management company which handled the careers of Eddy Arnold and Bobby Darin. Charles Grean of Csida-Grean would produce much of her music over the next few years.

The organization helped her find her first hit in November of 1954, "I Want Eddie Fisher For Christmas." Betty then recorded for RCA and then Bell Records. But Johnson would have better luck at her next stop, Bally Records, in Chicago. Bally, a young label in 1956, was owned by the famous pinball and slot machine, and would release the biggest hit of Johnson's career, "I Dreamed." At the time, Johnson also appeared regularly on Don McNeil's Breakfast Club and Eddy Arnold Time.

Johnson posted other hits in 1956 -- "I'll Wait" and "Clay Idol" -- and she frequently appeared on programs hosted by Bob Newhart, Jack Benny and Perry Como. Television viewers could also often catch her on The Ed Sullivan Show and Jack Paar's Tonight Show where she was featured as the regular girl singer.

Johnson kept a breathless pace. In addition to her recordings and television, she was the spokeswoman for Borden dairy products and starred in summer stock performances of Brigadoon, The King And I and South Pacific. She met live dates at the Copacabana in New York, the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, the Drake Hotel in Chicago, the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, the Sands in Las Vegas, the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, and other clubs around the nation.

Betty scored two more hits in 1957, "Little White Lies" and "1492." In 1958, Betty Johnson joined Atlantic Records and hit the pop charts with "The Little Blue Man." It camped on the charts for four months. Later in the year, she racked up two more hits -- "Dream" and "Hoopa Hoola."

Betty Johnson continued to make regular appearances on television and the club circuit, and longed to more pop standards. "I wanted to do more of the standards, and I would do standards in my personal appearances," explains Johnson. "But recording-wise, your A&R people really were in charge. You could sneak a few [in]." In 1958, Johnson did just that. Atlantic released the LP Songs You Heard When You Fell In Love which included "Red Sails In The Sunset," "Dancing In The Dark" and "Always." In the late 50s, Johnson entered Gotham Studios in New York City to record a series of radio shows for the U.S. Marine Corps to be aired on Armed Forces Radio and U.S. commercial radio stations. The shows featured pop standards such as "You Go To My Head" and "Just In Time."

Throughout the late 1950s and early '60s, Betty concentrated on personal appearances where she found steady employment. It was a personal appearance in 1962 that would bring the end of her second career and, in effect, pave the way for her third. Johnson met her future husband, Arthur Gray, after a nightclub show.

The two married in 1964 and settled into a life of familial normalcy, a new experience for Betty. Betty avoided public life and set about raising her and Arthur's two daughters.

By 1993, family raised, she returned, debuting at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City to approving reviews. An interview she gave to National Public Radio's Fresh Air program opened a floodgate of requests for her music, and she has since continued to record music, perform, and act (she had small roles in the films Reversal Of Fortune and Good Fellas).

Betty Johnson works hard on her third career in music, a career that's defined by pop standards and cabaret performances. Betty draws from the Johnson Family Singers who groomed her voice and a 1950s solo tenure that proved her ability to sell whimsical pop records in the midst of the rock revolution. She presses on in the 1990s. "I feel like I'm about 23 years old. I feel very young because this is all so challenging for me and a little scary and very rewarding."

-- Adapted from Discoveries Magazine

Album Description
In Love Walked In, the third album of Betty's work in the 1960's with Metropolitan Jazz Quartet, she strides through the best of American popular song, leaving her own stamp on them and beckoning us to see that every corner of these songs had been explored.

Tracks:

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Credidi
Versa Est In Luctum
Jefferson - Chanticleer
David's Lamentation
Soar Away
Whispers
Voices Of Autumn
The Un-Covered Wagon
Fuggi, Fuggi, Dolor
Labbra Vermigile E Belle
Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair
Camptown Races
Love Walked In
Willow Weep For Me
Calling My Children Home
Wayfarin' Stranger
I'm A Pilgrim

Amazon.com

This is Chanticleer's 25th recording and also marks its 25th anniversary season. The title refers to the group's wide-ranging repertoire; this disc includes Mexican baroque, traditional American songs in various styles and music commissioned by Chanticleer itself. A program that tries to please everybody is bound to disappoint somebody; however, no one could be disappointed by the singing. The sound of these 12 unaccompanied male voices has an unearthly, celestial beauty and purity; their blend is perfect. Though the singers rarely use vibrato, their intonation is impeccable both together and in solos. Their expressive range and stylistic versatility are incredible: they can project tenderness, pleading, and bitter protest and are equally at home in plainchant, Latin hymns, blues, spirituals, shouts and crooning. Among the highlights are the three opening hymns, settings of two poems of Torquato Tasso by William Hawley, commissioned by Chanticleer, which combine 16th- and 20th-century styles, and the two final folksongs, the last with a stride-style piano accompaniment, making a rousing, exuberant ending. The booklet, in three languages, is well laid-out and informative. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Amazing, ecclectic album.......2007-07-11

This CD is a great example of Chanticleer's phenomenal versatility, and it has something for everyone to appreciate. The Appalacian twang on the two Billings pieces is a bit much, but otherwise Chanticleer is in top form here and really shows what they are made of. As for the recording itself, something about the micing or acoustics in the recording process causes the countertenors to be just a tad too strong on a few tracks, but it's not a major problem.

To me, the most extraordinary tracks are: The Un-Covered Wagon with it's surreal effects and incredible array of vocal techniques, Willow Weep For Me, Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair (Michael Lichtenauer's solo floats so effortlessly in a mixed vocal register, I have never heard anything like it!), and Whispers.

Warning: This CD Is Addictive.......2006-12-10

I purchased this CD after hearing this magnificent choral group sing "Calling My Children Home" in a recent concert. Written by Doyle Lawson (from the group "Quicksilver"), Charlie Waller and Robert Yates, the song is a standard bluegrass number I had known for years (Emmy Lou Harris for one has recorded it); but I had no idea it had found its way to San Francisco. Chanticleer has made this song their own. I cannot imagine anyone else's version coming close to theirs.

The group sings 17 other songs on this CD, most of them arranged by Joseph Jennings, Chanticleer's music director. Their version of William Billings' "David's Lamentation," a Sacred Harp work, will blow you away. Another favorite of mine is "Wayfaring' Stranger." There are also two Stephen Foster songs included, "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" and "Camptown Races" as well as Gershwin and other American composers.

There seems to be no kind of music that this group cannot sing better than most other groups. They remind us that there is no musical instrument more beautiful than the human voice.

This CD should be one for the time capsule.

Well worth buying.......2005-08-16

Chanticleer fans know what to expect in terms of vocal quality, and won't be disappointed. I agree with another reviewer that the Appalachian accent is a little over the top, but I thought the shape-note style was perfect: brilliant sound, but not that nasal.

I enjoyed the many styles of music in this CD, but since I tend to listen to CDs straight through as albums, I found it a little disconcerting to go so suddenly from one style to the next (e.g., Mexican Baroque to shape note).

That being said, everything is splendidly, sensitively performed. The renditions of "Whispers" and "The Un-Covered Wagon" are breathtaking. By all means, buy and enjoy this!

Good variety of American Choral Music.......2005-01-03

This album features a wonderful selection of "American" choral music. I'm not a big fan of the "stylized" singing of the shape-note pieces (with the nasal voices), but that is my only complaint. My favorite piece is Steven Stucky's "Whispers" which is an artfully crafted homage to Orlando Gibbons' "Drop, Drop, Slow Tears" and William Byrd's "Ave Verum Corpus." Joseph Jennings and Chanticleer effectively demonstrate that there is no "defining" American choral music and it is this rich panoply of variety which is so enchanting!

Absolutely wonderful!!.......2003-10-25

This album shows Chanticleer's great talent and it displays they're wonderful voices. I've seen them perform pieces from this album and they do it with such passion. It's wonderful. If you don't get this or any of their albums you truly are missing out!!

Average customer rating:

Brava Dame Kiri!
Who could ask for anything more?
i was made to listen..now im hooked
I love it!
Classic Gershwin

Kiri Sings Gershwin

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Musical Theater | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000002SJI
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Somebody Loves Me
Boy Wanted
Things Are Looking Up
Love Walked In
Love Is Here To Stay
Someone To Watch Over Me
But Not For Me
Summertime
The Man I Love
Soon
Meadow Serenade
Nice Work If You Can Get It
By Strauss
Embraceable You
I Got Rhythm

Customer Reviews:

Brava Dame Kiri!.......2007-03-11

This is a delightful CD. Esteemed soprano Kiri Te Kanawa sings Gershwin. One hook making this CD interesting is the use of the original scores and choral arrangements. It adds a most pleasant element to this recording. In essence, this is simply a lot of fun to listen to. Kiri Te Kanawa takes the music for what it is, sings it with gusto, and produces a very satisfying CD.

Some examples. . . . "Somebody loves me" demonstrates her lush voice. This is a nice version of a fine Gershwin tune. The orchestral backing is solid and enjoyable. All in all, very satisfying. "Summertime," from "Porgy and Bess," is well known. This is well sung; her operatic voice handles the song most satisfactorily. A very fine version. . . .

"Nice work if you can get it" is a clever bob-bon. Dame Kiri sings this in a most sprightly fashion. She sings in the proper spirit for the song and seems to be enjoying herself in the process! There is a nice high note at the end which does not seem simply for effect (compare with Mario Lanza's efforts at ending almost any song with a high C).

"Embraceable you" is charming and well done. "I got rhythm" closes this CD. Again, very nicely done with lush orchestration and choral singing. The song is taken at a quick pace and the result is delightful. Her rich voice works well on this cut. The chorus is energetic and the orchestra sparkles.

This is a most enjoyable album. Great music sung in a charming style by a great singer

Who could ask for anything more?.......2005-12-29

That says it

i was made to listen..now im hooked.......2003-04-21

i was made to listen to this album as a requirement for my A Level course into perfrming gershwin songs...its amazing..the way kiri sings each one in a different style and makes it her own..go and buy it..u wont take it out of your CD player

I love it!.......2002-05-14

If you like Gershin and Kiri Te Kanawa you'll probably enjoy this album as much as I do!

I can imagine Nick and Nora Charles listening to this at one of Nick's favorite dives! It will transport you to a sophisticated time and place that may have never existed except in literature and debutante coming out parties.

Gatsby would have loved it, and surely would have invited Kiri to all his parties!

Classic Gershwin.......2002-04-05

Original arrangements of Gershwin tunes are rare these days, but that's what you'll hear in this album by Kiri Te Kanawa. Granted, the arrangements sound somewhat dated according to 21st century tastes, but that's what makes them fascinating. These were like nothing anyone else was writing when the George and Ira first brought them to life. Kiri uses a different, somewhat breathier voice than you might be used to on her classical albums, probably not the type of voice Gershwin had in mind, but I think it generally works pretty well.

Average customer rating:

Handel: The Masterworks (Box Set)

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ASIN: B00062FLI8
Release Date: 2004-11-30

Average customer rating:

Mormon Tabernacle and Vocal Majority
Great Music
two excellent choral ensembles strut their stuff

Voices in Harmony
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Manufacturer: Sony
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Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000026G5
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

How Great Thou Art
Ode To Music
The Vocal Majority: Sweet Hour Of Prayer
The Long Day Closes
I'll Walk With God
Suddenly You're Older
Love At Home
I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked
The Windows Of The World
One Voice
The Lost Chord
Danny Boy
Home On The Range
Nearer My God To Thee

Customer Reviews:

Mormon Tabernacle and Vocal Majority.......2006-11-10

This has got to be one of the most incredible musical presentations that I've ever experienced. These two groups together in concert effect more joy, sorrow, remorse, nostalgia, victory, hope and power in 30 minutes that most of us experience in years. Amazing!

Great Music.......2001-01-19

With the incredible proliferation of rock, and now rap music, this album is a great example of what music can me - simply beautiful. The MTC is, as always, splendid, and the Vocal Majority is truly wonderful. This a great album of sacred and secular songs, beautifully performed, and a genuine pleasure to hear.

two excellent choral ensembles strut their stuff.......1999-02-16

This CD features two renowned groups in some of their best work. The MTC, of course [of chorus], is known around the world. Vocal Majority is less global in its familiarity but equal in its skill. For my part, I prefer the sound of an all-male ensemble. This is not to gainsay the MTC, however: only a preference. If you want to hear two great groups performing a popular array of songs, this choice will not disappoint.

Average customer rating:

Trio of Any Year

Love Walked In
Steve Kuhn
Manufacturer: Sunny Side
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Release Date: 2003-04-22

Tracks:

No Problem
Land Of The Living Dead
Sunny
Love Walked In
Saharan
Prelude To A Kiss
All Alone
Autumn Leaves
Lines
You've Changed

Customer Reviews:

Trio of Any Year.......2003-12-14

This album is worthy of the title Cd of the Year, no matter what year of the last thirty or so it was released. A wonderful emphatic masterclass demonstration by Kuhn, Williams & Stewart. This is how a piano trio should sound, youngbloods take note. A swinging combination of originals and standards, inventive, surprising and IN THE POCKET. A Class Act.

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Piano/Dreams

Piano Dreams

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
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Release Date: 2003-01-07

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Erik Satie: Gymnopidie No.1 - Lent et douloureux
Franz Liszt: Rjve D'Amour No. 3 in A-flat major
Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky: Octobre - Chant D'Automne
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in A minor, Ks. 310 - II. Andante catabile con espressione
Ludwig van Beethoven: : Sonata No.14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 Moonlight - I. Adagio sestenuto
Robert Schumann: : Fantaisie in C major, Op. 17 III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten
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George Gershwin: Love Walked In