Name: Personality
Duration: P00H03M27S
Description: Written by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen for the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope/Dorothy Lamour film "The Road To Utopia" (Paramount, 1946), and sung by Lamour in the film. The song was a No. 1 Billboard hit for Johnny Mercer And The Pied Pipers the same year.

Personality

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

Written by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen for the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope/Dorothy Lamour film "The Road To Utopia" (Paramount, 1946), and sung by Lamour in the film. The song was a No. 1 Billboard hit for Johnny Mercer And The Pied Pipers the same year.

lyrics

Mary Smith had a college education
Sally Jones had a scientific streak
Susie Brown used to lecture on ancient architecture
Josie Green spoke Latin and Greek
Just forgotten girls with forgotten brains
While history explains…

When Madame Pompadour was on the ballroom floor
Said all the gentlemen, “Obviously,
The Madame has the cutest personality”
And think of all the books about DuBarry’s looks
What was it made her the toast of Paris?
She has a well-developed personality

What did Romeo see in Juliet
Or Figaro in Figarette
Or Jupiter in Juno?
You know…

And when Salome danced and had the boys entranced
No doubt it must have been easy to see
That she knew how to use her personality

A girl can learn to spell and take dictation well
And never sit on the boss’s settee
Unless she’s got a perfect personality
A girl can get somewhere in spite of stringy hair
Or even just a bit bowed at the knee
If she can show a faultless personality

Why are certain girls offered certain things
Like sable coats and wedding rings
By men who wear their spats right?
That’s right…

So don’t you say I’m smart and have the kindest heart
Or what a wonderful sister I’d be
Just tell me how you like my personality

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:

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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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