Hollywood's Best
Hollywood's Best is a studio album by American singer Rosemary Clooney and American instrumentalist Harry James. The original album was released by Columbia Records in October 1952 as an eight-song collection which all first won accolades from the Academy Awards. It was expanded into a 12-track collection in 1954 that featured solo recordings by Clooney and James respectively. It received positive reviews from music critics and publications following its release. Its only single was the US top 20 song, "You'll Never Know".
Background
Rosemary Clooney had recently broken into mainstream success with a series of popular singles like "Come On-a My House", "Half as Much" and Tenderly". Meanwhile, Harry James had been a consistent presence since the big band era, finding popularity during the 1940s with singles like "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)". As Clooney's popularity continued rising and James's continually slipped, Columbia Records decided to arrange a collaborative studio album for them.
Recording and content
Billboard announced in April 1951 that Mitch Miller would serve as the album's sole producer. The album was a collection of tracks that won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. The original 1952 released featured eight songs, consisting of Clooney on vocals and James on trumpet. Among the recordings were The Gay Divorcees "The Continental" and Here Comes the Grooms "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening". The 1954 expanded release featured four additional songs, totaling the collection to 12 tracks. The newer version included Clooney's "Come On-a My House" and the James's instrumental "Stella by Starlight".
Critical reception
Hollywood's Best received positive reviews from both music critics and writers since its original release. DownBeat magazine named it among their "Best Bets" in a 1953 publication, while Billboard magazine found it to be "loaded with showmanship and musical talent" along with believing it would appeal to film fans. AllMusic's William Ruhlmann rated it four out five stars, finding that it showcased "the singer's clearly enunciated matter-of-fact phrasing and the instrumentalist's characteristically broad tone on some well-loved material." Will Friedwald of the book, A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, called it "an impressive entry" in Clooney's repertoire when compared to the novelty songs she was recording during the period.
Release and singles
Hollywood's Best was originally released in October 1952 by Columbia Records as a ten-inch vinyl LP, featuring four songs on each side of the disc. In July 1954, DownBeat announced that the album would among several LP's that would be expanded to feature a more extensive track listing. The expanded version was officially released in August 1954 and was released an in LP format as well. Six tracks were now offered on each side of the disc. One single was spawned from the original album in October 1952: "You'll Never Know". It reached the top 20 of the US Billboard Best Sellers in Stores, peaking at number 18 position there. An international single release featured "The Continental" on the B-side, which reached the number ten position in Australia in 1952.