Very impressive debut from my a 18 year old girl, but than again this wasn't just ordinary next door girl.
It can be said that "Capitol records" had a safe bet with this release because Minelli's family background almost guaranteed she would inherit at least some of her parents talent (thought nobody expected it would later blossom so much) and Barbra Streisand's recent success on her "Columbia" debut also intrigued "Capitol" enough to try and give kid a chance, why not putting her together with Streisand's arranger Peter Matz and see what will came out of it? If Streisand in her way broke the ice on the market for a "ugly duckling with golden voice", Minelli in her way was a safe bet - she had famous parents, well known name and already a successful single behind her.
All this business decisions would mean nothing if Minelli did not had great voice and personality - not surprisingly she sounds very much like her mother, singing with same passion and abandon that Garland was known for. She was still very young but this combination of bravado and vulnerability served her well on collection of standards and occasional comic number. Of course this was far from any current pop trends in 1964. and firmly put Minelli in category of "traditional pop" where she would more or less stay firmly during her career. The most surprising thing about this early album is her collaboration with John Kander and Fred Ebb who gave her "Maybe This Time" (recorded here) that would became her trademark and perfectly describe her stage persona of hopeful loser. The debut album sold over half a million copies and established Minelli as a huge potential who of course just started - "Cabaret" was still to come.
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