Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. That Bad Eartha: I Want to be Evil
2. That Bad Eartha: Cest Si Bon
3. That Bad Eartha: Angelitos Negros
4. That Bad Eartha: Avril au Portugal (The Whispring Serenade)
5. That Bad Eartha: Let s Do It (Lets Fall In Love)
6. That Bad Eartha: My Heart Belongs to Daddy
7. That Bad Eartha: Uska Dara (A Turkish Tale)
8. That Bad Eartha: African Lullaby
9. That Bad Eartha: Mountain High, Valley Low
10. That Bad Eartha: Lilac Wine
11. That Bad Eartha: Under the Bridges of Paris
12. That Bad Eartha: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
13. Down To Eartha: I Wantcha Around
14. Down To Eartha: Do You Remember?
15. Down To Eartha: Looking For A Boy
16. Down To Eartha: I ve Got That Lovin Bug Itch
17. Down To Eartha: Oh John! (Please Dont Kiss Me)
18. Down To Eartha: Strangers in the Starlight
19. Down To Eartha: The Day that the Circus Left Town
20. Down To Eartha: Après Moi
21. Down To Eartha: The Heel
22. Down To Eartha: Mambo De Paree
23. Down To Eartha: My Heart s Delight
24. Down To Eartha: Hey Jacque
25. Annie Doesn t Live Here Anymore
26. Somebody Bad Stole de Wedding Bell (Whos Got de Ding Dong?)

Disc 2:

1. Santa Baby
2. Thursdays Child: Fascinating Man
3. Thursdays Child: Mademoiselle Kitt
4. Thursdays Child: Oggere
5. Thursdays Child: No Importa Si Menti
6. Thursdays Child: Lisbon Antigua (In Old Lisbon)
7. Thursdays Child: Just an Old-Fashioned Girl
8. Thursdays Child: Le Danseur de Charleston
9. Thursdays Child: Lazy Afternoon
10. Thursdays Child: Jonny
11. Thursdays Child: If I Cant Take It With Me When I Go
12. Thursdays Child: Thursdays Child
13. Thursdays Child: Lullaby of Birdland
14. St. Louis Blues: St. Louis Blues
15. St. Louis Blues: Beale Street Blues
16. St. Louis Blues: Chantez Les Bas (Sing Em Low)
17. St. Louis Blues: Hesitating Blues
18. St. Louis Blues: Steal Away
19. St. Louis Blues: Careless Love
20. St. Louis Blues: Atlanta Blues (Make Me One Pallet on Your Floor)
21. St. Louis Blues: Long Gone (from Bowling Green)
22. St. Louis Blues: Hist the Window, Noah
23. St. Louis Blues: Yellow Dog Blues
24. St. Louis Blues: Friendless Blues
25. St. Louis Blues: The Memphis Blues
26. Put More Wood on the Fire
27. This Year s Santa Baby

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3478 in Music
• Released on: 2009-02-16
• Number of discs: 2

Customer Reviews

FASCINATING WOMAN
The virtue of Avid's approach to reissues is best summed up as more for less, and this is the latest example. It contains the concept albums which she recorded for RCA between 1953 and 1957, namely That Bad Eartha, Down To Eartha, Thursday's Child, and St. Louis Blues, the last of which is in stereo and features the accompaniment of Shorty Rogers & His Giants. According to Hugh Palmer's informative liner note, she had declined other offers, from labels that wanted her to record rubbishy novelty numbers, and we can only be thankful that she waited, because the result was sensational. Eartha Kitt had a husky voice with an exquisite controlled vibrato that oozed sensuality, and this is a fitting tribute to her highly individual talent. Recording dates and personnel are meticulously annotated, sound quality is excellent, and this is a real bargain.

The omissions are dispappointing.
A superb collection of four classic albums but why miss out half of the tracks from the UK version of "That bad Eartha"? The omitted tracks are some of the best she ever made and this omission is a big minus. Otherwise a superb collection from this very talented lady.

Purr-fect music, purr-fect price
Recorded for RCA during the period 1953 to 1957, the 53 tracks featured here contain all of the famous tracks from that period. Some of the famous tracks didn't appear on any of the featured albums, but are included anyway as bonus tracks. The oldest featured album is That bad Eartha, which is here released as it was available in America. The original UK release was different, but the five UK-only tracks are not featured, as the compiler understandably preferred to include five more famous tracks instead. Not having heard the other tracks, I don't know how good they are. It is possible that they were originally released in America on the Songs LP, which isn't one of the featured albums here and which pre-dates all of them, but I'm only guessing.

Here you'll find plenty of great songs such as Just an old-fashioned girl, I want to be evil, Under the bridges of Paris, Somebody bad stole de wedding bell, Annie doesn't live here anymore and Put more wood on the fire, as well as Eartha's interpretations of classic songs such as Let's do it let's fall in love, Lilac wine (subsequently a UK hit in the seventies for Elkie Brooks), My heart belongs to Daddy, Smoke gets in your eyes, Lullaby of Birdland and St Louis blues. Those who enjoy listening to long-forgotten obscurities that may be new to them will find some of those too. I found plenty of wonderful songs that I don't remember hearing before including Oh John!

Eartha's first two American hits were both recorded in different foreign languages, these being Uska Dara (sung mostly in Turkish) and C'est si bon (recorded in French), both of which are included here. Although there are a few other foreign language tracks here, most of the songs are recorded in English.

Perhaps Eartha's most famous song is Santa baby, which I only used to come across rarely on Christmas albums, but which now seems to turn up more frequently. A sequel, This year's Santa baby, closes the compilation, but you have to listen to the words to appreciate it. Playing in the background, it just sounds like the original.

Since these early recordings, Eartha has continued to record great music and has occasionally been controversial. Her comments about Vietnam caused a backlash in America, so she focused on Europe for a decade before returning to her homeland in triumph. Eartha continued performing until a couple of months before her death on Christmas Day 2008.

This would be a great compilation anyway, but the tempting price should convince the doubters.