Recorded at the Persian Room of the Plaza Hotel in New York, For Once in My Life captures Vikki Carr's nightclub act of the late '60s. Carr scored a Top Five hit with the melodramatic torch song "It Must Be Him" in the fall of 1967. A year later, she showed herself to be a polished and professional show business entertainer. On record the act can seem somewhat artificial, as Carr introduces celebrities at ringside with effusive encomiums and rehearses some tired jokes. But what really matters is the singing, and she has a powerful voice and precise enunciation that accentuate the heartrending quality of her signature song and enable her to put her own stamp on covers of hits such as "For Once in My Life," "Happy Together," "Can't Take My Eyes off You," and "The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener." She is equally effective on standards like "Come Rain or Come Shine" (offered in a medley with "This Girl's in Love With You"), "Some of These Days," and "After You've Gone," and she nods at her Mexican heritage with a Spanish version of the Portuguese song "Carnival (Manha de Carnival)" (aka "A Day in the Life of a Fool"), the theme from the film Black Orpheus. As a club act should be, this one is a demonstration of the varied talents of its star and a reflection of the times, mixing her own material with contemporary hits and old favorites. It no doubt worked better in the Persian Room than it does on record, but it remains an effective showcase.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo