Catch A Rising Star – JOHN GARY***

This Is All I Ask/Till The Birds Sing In The Morning/Your Cheatin’ Heart/Yellow Bird/Unchained Melody/Half As Much/More/The Possum Song/Somewhere Along The Way/Ebb Tide

This cleverly titled début album from the popular American MOR vocalist is filled with many familiar standards. His kind of music would become very unfashionable within a few years, which might explain why he is not better known today. (US:19)

"Catch A Rising Star seemed designed to showcase Gary's multi-octave voice, with its soaring tenor that crossed over into falsetto without any break."

"He displayed considerable versatility going from country tunes like Your Cheatin' Heart to the Caribbean style Yellow Bird."

"His individual approach was best appreciated on Unchained Melody, which he began with only an acoustic guitar for accompaniment and deliberately under sang, in contrast to the many over-the-top versions of the well-known song."

"His performances set Gary apart from his competitors on the supper club circuit and seemed to bode an important new figure in sophisticated pop singing."

"John's voice is as beautiful as the day he sang them, without echo chambers and 'manipulation' that is so common with the 'singers' of today."

"Catch A Rising Star was the first of John Gary's albums which, I think, still represents some of his finest work."

"In John Gary's hands a song becomes an experience and you find yourself getting caught up in the lyrics even if you've heard them dozens of times before. And he negotiates that three-octave range with such ease - rising from a warm bronzed baritone to a pure, natural tenor."