The Hi-Lo's - This Time It's Love (Expanded Edition) (1962)

The last solid Hi-Lo's LP before the quartet folded in 1964, This Time It's Love was a ballads-only album, and thus much less snappy and swinging than previous records like the Marty Paich extravaganza And All That Jazz or the Rosemary Clooney collaboration Ring Around Rosie. The gauzy harmonies of the Hi-Lo's were perfectly suited to slow-dance material, though, and the selections are perfect, arranged by Hi-Lo's associate Clare Fischer (who often played piano with the quartet). The performances are uniformly solid, great examples of close harmony abounding on "The Second Time Around," "My Foolish Heart," and "Catch a Falling Star." The liner notes make reference to one of "the unique characteristics of the Hi-Lo's [is], the fact that every word they sing can be understood." Hardly a ringing endorsement for music fans, but the Hi-Lo's were vocal masters with much more talent than artifice. Ironically, just as the Hi-Lo's were about to call it quits, a style of song they'd helped usher in was about to hit big on the pop charts (courtesy of the Sandpipers as well as myriad others), and not just with older audiences.