Long Ago and Far Away / You Stepped Out of a Dream (medley)

from Top Shelf (compilation) by Laura Ainsworth

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
2021 Mini-LP CD initially released only to Japan.

Features:

• Otherwise unreleased track "You'd Be Surprised" unavailable on the "Top Shelf" digital release
• Warm, vinyl-like mastering courtesy Grammy®-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson (Erroll Garner)
• Slip sleeve paper jacket that looks and feels like a miniature version of the original LP
• Reworked and expanded track list
• 16-page full color booklet featuring bio, song list, and rare photos of Laura
• Lyric sheet
• Full color picture CD
• Collectible Japanese obi strip
• Resealable transparent outer sleeve

Laura's very first release to Japan, "Top Shelf" received excellent reviews in "CD Journal," "Jazz Critique," "Jazz Japan," and "The Walker's" magazines. "Jazz Critique" reviewed the album twice in the same issue, declaring the album "irresistible for 1920s–1950s retro standard lovers." "CD Journal" (one of the top selling music magazines in Japan) described the album as a "modern day nostalgic story based on the jazz standards of the good old days."

In America, a review of the import CD on the "Geoff Wilbur Music Blog" by Eric Harabadian (Down Beat) exploded in popularity and became the blog's most read review of all time. This review can be read at: geoffwilburmusic.com/2021/11/04/laura-ainsworth-top-shelf/

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ABOUT MINI-LP CD'S: Mini-LP CD's are a long running format in the Japanese market that also have an international following. They are a true "best of both worlds" option for collectors because they offer authentic LP packaging along with high quality digital sound. They are also an excellent space-saving option, taking up less than half the space of a regular jewel case or Digipak CD.

Includes unlimited streaming of Top Shelf (compilation) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

ships out within 5 days

Purchasable with gift card

$24.98 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
LIMITIED QUANTITY! The original 10-song, 180g heavyweight vinyl LP, released in 2017 one week before the release of Laura's third album, "New Vintage."

"Top Shelf" was originally an LP-only release intended to present Laura's music to the emerging vinyl market. The album made its way to Japan in 2019 and was reviewed positively in "Jazz Life" magazine, which led to Japanese record store chain Disk Union picking up the album for distribution. Ratspack Records took over Japanese distribution of "Top Shelf" in 2020, and released an expanded edition on mini-LP CD in September 2021.

LP track list is below:

Side 1:
1. Love For Sale
2. An Occasional Man
3. Necessary Evil
4. Just Give Me A Man
5. Hooray For Love

Side 2:
1. That's How I Got My Start
2. Out Of This World
3. That's The Kind Of Guy I Dream Of
4. Wasting My Love On You
5. Skylark

Tracks S1 1, S2 3, 5 from "Keep It To Yourself" (2011)
Tracks S1 3, 4, 5, S2 2 from "Necessary Evil" (2013)
Tracks S1 2, S2 1, 4 from "New Vintage" (2017)

Includes unlimited streaming of Top Shelf (compilation) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

ships out within 5 days

edition of 300

Purchasable with gift card

$29.98 USD or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$1.10 USD or more
Buy the Full Digital Album

about

a. Long Ago And Far Away
Written by Ira Gershwin (lyrics) and Jerome Kern (music) for the 1944 Columbia musical film "Cover Girl," starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly. Performed by Hayworth in the film, the song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

b. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
Introduced in the 1940 MGM musical film "Ziegfeld Girl," starring James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and Lana Turner. Two key scenes feature Turner descending a staircase while the song plays, and for this reason it became theme music for Turner during the peak of her popularity.

lyrics

Long ago and far away
I dreamed a dream one day
And now that dream is here beside me
Long the skies were overcast
But now the clouds have passed
You’re here at last
Chills run up and down my spine
Aladdin’s lamp is mine
The dream I dreamed was not denied me
Just one look and then I knew
That all I longed for long ago was you

You stepped out of a dream
You were too wonderful to be what you seem
Could there be eyes like yours?
Could there be lips like yours?
Could there be smiles like yours, honest and truly?

*
You stepped out of a cloud
I want to take you away, away from the crowd
And have you all to myself, alone and apart
Out of a dream, safe in my heart

(repeat from *)

credits

from Top Shelf (compilation), released November 18, 2022

license

about

Laura Ainsworth Dallas, Texas

American retro jazz singer Laura Ainsworth breathes new life into songs from the Great American Songbook era.

Laura has released four studio albums and one compilation album to date.

She has been featured in Down Beat (USA), Broadway World (USA), Jazz Critique (Japan) and other important international jazz publications. ... more

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Laura Ainsworth recommends:

Dark Passages
by Hollywood Film Noirchestra

Stunning new recordings of 1950s/1960s FILM NOIR themes from "The Twilight Zone," "The Hustler," "Touch of Evil", and more. Laura Ainsworth
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