The Andrews Sisters - Fresh And Fancy Free (1957/2020)

The Andrews Sisters' second Capitol LP covers new territory rather than rehashing old hits, and has them working with conductor/arranger Billy May. It's also perhaps the most musically successful album of their careers (and it should be understood that the trio, whose heyday was the early/middle '40s, did precious few "albums" and even fewer original LPs). They're in superb voice, and the material suits them so well that hearing numbers like "The Song Is You," "You Do Something to Me," "With Every Breath I Take," and others wipes out (for a moment) memories of their early-'40s history essentially, in place of the sassy, brassy "girl-women" persona by which they presented themselves in their classic songs, this album presents Patti Andrews, LaVern Andrews, and Maxene Andrews as mature, adult women, in a playful romantic mode, and engaged in a more subtle brand of harmonizing; maybe they're still arranged like three trumpets, but now they've got mutes attached that make them sound all the more intriguing. The conducting and arrangements by May help them immeasurably in remaking their sound in a more mature mode, and it's only a pity that they were never able to sell that new sound as successfully as the old. The album is essential listening for any real fan of the trio's work, and was very conveniently reissued on CD in 2002 as a European EMI import, paired with their 1958 album (Sing the Dancing 20's).