Gloria Lynne recorded many albums for Everest in her early days, slipped away into obscurity and then in the 1990's made a comeback. An excellent singer whose style falls between bop, 1950's middle-of-the-road pop and early soul, Lynne was always capable of putting on a colorful show. Her mother was a gospel singer and Lynne started out singing in church. She had five years of concert training and in 1951 won the legendary amateur competition at the Apollo Theatre. Lynne sang with some vocal groups, became a single and in 1958 was discovered by Raymond Scott, who at the time was a top A&R man at Everest.
During her busy period with Everest (at least ten records were cut between 1958-1963), Lynne had hits in "I Wish You Love" (a song she virtually made a standard) and "I'm Glad There Is You." She recorded with both orchestras and jazz combos, becoming quite popular for a period. However, with the rise of rock and the change in the public's musical tastes, Lynne was forgotten for a time. Only a commercial record in 1975 for ABC broke the silence. But starting in the early 1980's, Gloria Lynne started working regularly again, regained some of her earlier frame and in the early 1990's recorded a couple of CDs for Muse.
"From 1958-63, singer Gloria Lynne recorded nine albums for Everest, most of which have never been reissued on CD. Her ninth and final Everest project finds Lynne joined by a string section and a big band arranged by Marty Paich. Although she could be a forceful and soulful shouter, Lynne was versatile enough to sound quite comfortable performing ballads, as she shows throughout this obscure but enjoyable date. Among her better performances are "Don't Worry About Me," "Don't Take Your Love from Me," "The Folks That Live on the Hill" and "I Wish You Love." This LP is worth picking up if one is lucky enough to find this set, or any of the singer's other fine Everest dates."
Scott Yanow -All Music Guide
