AMG Review of Very Best of Julie London

Tim Sendra
All Music Guide

There are quite a few single-disc Julie London best-of collections on the market. This fine compilation, The Very Best of Julie London, is the only double-disc offering to date. It does a wonderful job of providing an expanded but still easily digestible look at the career of the sultry singer. Of course it includes her signature song, "Cry Me a River," as well as a great many other songs she made her own like "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," "Girl Talk," "Sway," and "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To." The sequencing of the tracks flows nicely and the focus on London's delicate treatment of standards gives the set a touch of class that some collections lack due to their inclusion of many of the novelty-style numbers that she recorded. The only track here that would fall into that category is London's cute but corny take on the Doors' "Light My Fire." London neophytes would be better served by a solid single-disc best-of; those who want more of her sweet pillow talk will find this to be a nice addition to their collection.