Saturday Night with Mr. C. was Perry Como's third RCA Victor 12" long-play album, and his first recorded in stereophonic sound. Overview The album is structured as an extended version of the request section of his popular television show, beginning and ending with his theme songs "Dream Along with Me" and "You Are Never Far Away" and with his TV request theme, "We Get Letters" used twice in the album as an intro. At the time, Perry was seen on NBC's Saturday night schedule at 8 P.M. Eastern Time.
All stereo pressings of Saturday Night With Mr. C. excluded the track "Come Rain or Come Shine", despite that song having its title clearly printed on the jacket. It is assumed that this cut had something to do with space limitations within the new stereo LP format; with a playing time of nearly 50 minutes, the album was nearly twice as long as the typical pop LP of the period. "Come Rain or Come Shine" was reissued in 1967 on the RCA Camden compilation Hello, Young Lovers, but the stereo version on that album was electronically reprocessed ("fake stereo") from monophonic. In 2001, Saturday Night with Mr.C was reissued on compact disc by the Collectables Records third-party reissue label, by arrangement with RCA Records; this reissue included the first release of "Come Rain or Come Shine" in true stereo.
Since Como's television show ran on Thursday evenings in Australia, the title for the Australian pressing of this album is Thursday Night With Mr. Como.
Como is accompanied by the Mitchell Ayres orchestra and the Ray Charles Singers, with arrangements by Joe Lipman.
Reception
The initial review by the Canadian Music World magazine stated that "There is something in this album to please all Como fans, and for others I recommend it as one of the best and least harmful of all the tranquilizers." The publication noted that "With the aid of the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra, and the fabulous Ray Charles Singers, Perry Como sings in the smooth, relaxed fashion he has made his very own. Don't be misled into thinking that it is only a soporific; it is a very entertaining disk, and even introduces a medley "Letters", as on the TV show, plus many old and new numbers we all want to hear again."
The retrospective by William Ruhlmann of AllMusic said that "Jack Andrews and Joe Lipman divided up the arranging chores, regularly coming up with gimmicky, ear-catching orchestrations that made a contrast with Como's sonorous, slightly nasal baritone, which bore through each song agreeably, rendering them all equal. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music gave the album a three-star rating as well.
Chart performance
The album debuted on the US Billboard Best-Selling Pop LP's chart in the issue dated June 16, 1958, peaking at No. 18 during a two-week run on it. On the Cash Box Best-Selling Pop Albums chart it was ranked higher at No. 16. In the United Kingdom, the album was called Dear Perry and spent five weeks in the top ten of the Melody Maker album chart, entering on November 8, 1958 and peaking at number six, one of his most successful entries on the chart.British Hit Singles & Albums 18th edition, Guinness World Records 2005, page 117
Track listing
Charts +Chart performance for Saturday Night with Mr. C Chart (1958) Peakposition US Billboard Best Selling Pop LP's18 US Cash Box Best Selling Pop Albums16 UK Melody Maker Top LP's6
References
External links Perry Como Discography