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Editorial Reviews

Herein is the reason why Wayne Newton is such a popular entertainer. Wayne Newton in Person! is a fun, energetic, old-time romp through classic songs, in which Newton hams it up and generally puts on a tremendous show. He gets serious at times ("What Kind of Fool Am I," "I Wish You Love"), but most of his performance is a hoot, combining his assured vocals and over the top lounge-lizard mannerisms with frantically strummed banjos, big band pizzazz, and fabulous background vocal arrangements (particularly on "Bill Bailey," which is genuinely exciting). It isn't weird enough to alienate the old-timers, but it has enough daring and smirky moments to disarm the most skeptical hipsters. The album followed hot on the heels of "Danke Schöen" and its accompanying long-player, and includes a live version of that hit. Unaccountably, Wayne Newton in Person! was not a big seller, which is unfortunate since it contains the most entertaining recordings he made in his big band style. The album was later reissued by the Pickwick budget label with the title Live Hollywood Concert. In 2004, DRG Records reissued it on CD for the first time, adding three previously unreleased bonus tracks. There was no indication whether these live recordings came from the same 1964 show at the Crescendo nightclub in Hollywood. But they fit in stylistically with the rest of the album. There was a version of "Love Makes the World Go Round" from the 1961 Broadway musical Carnival, "My Melancholy Baby," and what Newton facetiously described as a set of rock & roll songs "written within the last three years" before singing a medley of "Sweet Sixteen" (aka the 1898 song "When You Were Sweet Sixteen"), "Young at Heart" from 1954, and Irving Berlin's 1924 song "All Alone," accompanied only by piano. ~ Greg Adams & William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide All Music Guide

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