Vic Damone

I can't believe it but I like Vic Damone. I've heard of him most of my life but have never listened to him. I've never been that much into that whole genre of music, Jerry Vale, Al Martino, Matt Monro, even Frank Sinatra. I do have a few Sinatra CDs and like them, but it's not like I get them out and go wild.

The other day I got an old Vic Damone LP at Goodwill. I'd seen it there two or three times and didn't get it. I must have laid it on top and nobody moved it -- I don't know -- because I went in and there it was again laying on top. So it wasn't in terrible condition, a nice VG+, and at only 50 cents I thought I'd buy it. I've been doing some work and I thought it'd be cool to have it playing in the background, which it turned out to be. Even though it didn't look pristine by any stretch, I said a nice VG+, it plays really really well. (Of course I'm not listening to it with headphones when I say that or I'm sure I would notice more surface noise than I'm hearing over the speakers!)

The LP is "Tenderly," Mercury Wing MGW 12157. It's mono and I see on eBay that there was a stereo version too. The original owner's name and a date is written on the front cover, July 1963. So maybe it came out then, or if not, that would probably be when she purchased it. I thought the liner notes read funny in places, like this statement, Vic's voice "projects a hypnotic quality that lulls the listener into dreamy romantic reverie." Well, that's not too far off. I've been working while listening to it, but he definitely has a nice tone, nice control, nothing too wild, nothing too sedate. Just pretty and great.

"The Four Winds and The Seven Seas" is the most atmospheric song. It sounds like they have an echo effect on it. Very lovely. There are 10 songs, and they're all lovely to listen to. I've heard the LP maybe four times and definitely recommend it if you see it at Goodwill, Salvation Army, or an old record store. I'd love to hear the stereo disc, but I'm not paying $50 to get one. It makes you wonder why people do that at eBay. Unless it's just the assumption that someone will buy an overpriced disc once in a while and that'll make it pay off for all the others that you don't sell. When I was selling I didn't want to sit on them forever, and as great as this LP is, I know it's not a $50 record.

As for selling on eBay there are especially some foreign buyers for whom price isn't an object, and they will indeed pay a higher price than most of us in the United States would.

Anyway, this is a very nice LP. And if I ever see any other Vic Damone records at Goodwill, which has happened many times, I'll be sure to pick them up. I see at Wikipedia that Vic is 80 years old now.