Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Gary Barlow, San Remo 2021.
Do you remember Take That? Well the lead singer/songwriter from that band, Gary Barlow, has produced a series of on-line duet sessions with other well-known singer/songwriters, called The Crooner Sessions, and he’s uploaded them to YouTube.
I don’t know if they will be released as streams or downloads but look them up on YouTube, they’re a lot of fun.
When I came across them I had to remind myself who Garry Barlow was, a short search revealed his identity and a lot of information I didn’t know.
Take That were a very successful band but Garry has really made his name as a solo artist.
I didn’t know for instance that he is one of the UK’s most successful songwriters of all time having written 14 Number One singles and a further 24 Top Ten Hits.
As a solo artist he has had three Number One singles, six Top Ten singles, and three Number One albums.
When you include his Take That stats his total climbs by 17 Top Five hits, 12 Number One hits, and eight Number One albums.
He’s also racked up six Ivor Novello Awards for his songwriting and sold over 50 million records world-wide.
So he’s achieved much more than just being the lead singer of Take That.
Garry started The Crooner Sessions in 2020 when the pandemic first took hold as a way of keeping in touch with his fan base.
The reaction to the sessions was so great that word quickly spread and he uploaded them to YouTube and his other social media outlets.
He is continuing with them throughout 2021.
The sessions are recorded live via the internet and there’s a lovely warmth to the performances, all of which are very good.
I particularly loved his duet with Gilbert O’Sullivan doing Alone Again Naturally.
This is a song that I’ve always liked and their performance of it brought back memories of my parents.
If you haven’t listened carefully to the lyrics of this song I suggest you go onto YouTube and look it up. It’s a beautiful, sad, song.
