On the South Side of Chicago

Last updated
On the South Side of Chicago
On the South Side of Chicago.JPG
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 1967
Genre
Length24:44
Label RCA
Producer
  • Neely Plumb
  • Nick Perito
Vic Damone chronology
Stay with Me
(1966)
On the South Side of Chicago
(1967)
The Damone Type of Thing
(1967)
Singles from On the South Side of Chicago
  1. ""On The South Side Of Chicago" b/w "A Quiet Tear""
    Released: March 1967
  2. ""It Makes No Difference" b/w "I'll Sleep Tonight""
    Released: August 1967

On The South Side of Chicago is the twenty-second studio album by American singer Vic Damone released in May 1967, by RCA Records. [1] It was produced by Neely Plumb and Nick Perito and arranged and conducted by Don Costa, Perry Botkin Jr., and Ernie Freeman.

Contents

The album features the singles "On the South Side of Chicago" and "It Makes No Difference". It also contains some foreign songs, British spy movies songs, [2] and a mix of covers of old and recent hits that included one song that also had chart success in 1966 via Dusty Springfield: "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me".

Chart performance

The single, "On The South Side of Chicago", debuted in the issue dated April 1, 1967 on the magazine's Easy Listening chart peaked at number 22 during a seven-week stay. [3]

"It Makes No Difference" debuted on the Billboard Easy Listening chart in the issue dated August 12, 1967, did even better eventually reaching number 12 during a seven-week stay on the chart. [3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Billboard mentions that "Most of the material from musicals too well known, selected for Damone's Effortless style". [5]

Cash Box praised Damone for his "clarity and precision of phrasing ...[and] rich, versatile baritone". [6]

In A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, Will Friedwald called it "mostly junk". [2]

Arizona Daily Star noted that Damone "does everything from the current swingers to the blues". [7]

The Daily Oklahoman describes the album as "top performers in the business as one of the finest vocalists extant". [8]

Fort Worth Star-Telegram stated that "Damone does everything from 'A Quiet Tear' a song with a Latin feel to 'You've Never Kissed Her' and 'Ciao Compare"." [9]

Journal & Courier describes the album as "some of his finest work" and notes that "Not only is Damone in excellent voice but the musical backing is some of the finest ever had One or the best items". [10]

Track listing

Side one

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It Makes No Difference" Bert Kaempfert, Herbert Rehbein, Milt Gabler 2:25
2."A Quiet Tear" Ben Raleigh, Herb Alpert 2:46
3."Ciao Compare" Bob Merrill 1:56
4."I'll Sleep Tonight" Fred Tobias, Stanley Lebowsky 1:50
5."You've Never Kissed Her" Robert Merrill 3:07

Side two

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."On The South Side Of Chicago"Phil Zeller2:16
2."What Is a Woman?" Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones 2:41
3."Love Me Longer Love Me Longer (Francesca's Theme)"Earl Shuman, Dennis Farnon 2:31
4."Stay (Reste)" Charles Aznavour, Ruth Batchelor2:12
5."You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" Vicki Wickham, Simon Napier-Bell, Pino Donaggio, Vito Pallavicini 2:53

Charts

Singles [11] [12]
YearSingleChartPeak positions
1967"On The South Side of Chicago"US Easy Listening (Billboard)22
"It Makes No Difference"12

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References

  1. 1 2 ""On the South Side of Chicago" - Album Ratings". Allmusic. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
  2. 1 2 Friedwald, Will (2010). A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers. Pantheon Books. p. 132. ISBN   9780375421495.
  3. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (2007). Joel Whitburn presents Billboard top adult songs, 1961-2006. Menomonee Falls, Wis. : Record Research Inc. p. 68. ISBN   978-0-89820-169-7.
  4. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 392. ISBN   9781846098567 . Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  5. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1967-06-17. p. 38.
  6. "Cashbox Album Pop Picks Reviews: On the South Side of Chicago". Cash Box . Vol. 48, no. 28. July 8, 1967. p. 27.
  7. "Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona". Newspapers.com. 1967-07-16. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  8. "Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio". Newspapers.com. 1967-06-11. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  9. "Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas". Newspapers.com. 1967-06-09. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  10. "Journal and Courier from Lafayette, Indiana". Newspapers.com. 1967-06-03. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  11. Vic Damone Single Releases. Retrieved May 8, 2024
  12. Vic Damone Charting Singles. Retrieved May 8, 2024.