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|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
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 Encore? Feb 07, 2009
This CD is entertaining and amusing, if a little dated and containing some jokes only a Britisher would appreciate. Nonetheless, Anna Russell is a very funny lady.
 Brilliant and Clever Dec 12, 2008
Miss Russell reveals her brilliance as both a performer and lyricist in this album as well as in a companion CD, "The Anna Russell Album". She was quite popular in the 1950s and 1960s and I'd like to think that younger generations are discovering her talent. Listening to her clever lyrics brought me back to my student days when we'd gather to listen to her on LPs.
Bagpipes Indeed! May 13, 2008
My first exposure to Anna Russel was through that venerable old Canadian institution, CBC Radio. The program I was listening to featured, among more respectful pieces by other artists, Anna's "music appreciation" lecture on the bagpipes. I laughed to the point of tears! Rarely had I heard anything so funny. By the conclusion of the piece, I was determined to purchase a copy of the CD for my own music collection.
In Encore?, Ms. Russel satirizes a variety of different musical genres, including jazz, folk, opera and, of course, bagpipe music (which most would agree is in a class of its own). Of the five tracks on the CD, other reviewers have identified "Backwards With the Folk Song" and Verdi's imaginary opera, "Hamletto", as highlights. While I certainly enjoyed these, my personal favorites are the two music appreciation talks given by Russel, entitled "The French Horn" and "How to Enjoy Your Bagpipes". Both are truly hilarious!
The only track that didn't appeal to me was the first one, "Poetry in the Cellar", which features Anna reciting intentionally absurd poetry against a backdrop of jazz music played by Jimmy Carroll and his Miserable Five. I found this section just a little too over-the-top for my tastes.
My only other complaint with this CD is a small one: The second track, "Backwards With the Folk Song", is actually comprised of five separate songs totaling almost 18 minutes playing time. It would make the CD more user friendly if each of these songs were on separate tracks. This would allow direct access to favorites when demonstrating Ms. Russell's humor to friends who might not wish to listen to the entire section.
In spite of a few minor shortcomings, for those who appreciate musical comedy, this fine reissue of a timeless classic will surely inspire much hearty laughter. With more than seventy-six minutes of material at a bargain-basement price, Anna Russel's Encore? is a most affordable dose of good medicine for the weary soul, earning four out of five stars from this reviewer.
 Anna Russel Encore Mar 09, 2008
Miss Russel quite funny as usual, but buyers should be warned that these CDs are cheap reissues lacking the original booklet with all the texts and lyrics.
But they are not advertised as such !!!!!!
Buy it for the Hamletto, keep it for the folk songs Dec 21, 2007
Anna Russell's synopsis of Verdi's "Hamletto" rates up there with her own synopsis of Wagner's Ring Cycle. (Comparing Anna Russell to herself is, I realize, somewhat redundant, but there's no one else I can think of who has done for opera what The Daily Show does for current events.) The fact that Verdi did not even write an opera based on Shakespeare's Hamlet makes her synopsis all the more ingenious. Hamletto can be listened to over and over again, because it is humorous on so many levels.
Her folk song spiel is equally fabulous, highlights being "Ricky Ticky" and "Jolly Old Sigmund Freud."
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