In 1971, Matt Monro left Capitol Records as he was unhappy with decisions being made out in the USA. He re-signed with EMI Records and stayed with them for the rest of his career. This set pulls together every single recording made for EMI during that time including both previously released and unreleased out-takes and alternate versions.

As a bonus there are also jingles and a pair of previously unheard live recordings from Australia in 1981 featuring songs that Matt never recorded in the studio. When Matt’s second EMI LP (released on their Columbia imprint) ‘The Other Side Of The Stars’ was issued after two years sitting on the shelf, the tapes had, in the most part, only received a rough mix and it was this that made its way into print.

This release sees the whole album (and two other songs from the same sessions) remixed from the 16 track session reels. Previous issues of the albums ‘For The Present’ and ‘The Other Side Of The Stars’ have featured tracks taken from vinyl dubs. For this edition they are taken from the original first generation mixdown masters.

Remastered from the original master tapes by Richard Moore at Mint Audio, this glorious 4CD set is also officially authorized by Michele Monro and the Matt Monro Estate.

CD 1:
1. Singin’ In The Rain
2. First Of May
3. Michelle
4. Didn’t We
5. Speak Softly Love
6. Bridge Over Troubled Water
7. I Am
8. Curiouser And Curiouser
9. Ethel Baby (Mr Wonderful)
10. Till Then My Love
11. The Me I Never Knew
12. Sarah’s Coming Home
13. Time to Go
14. O My Child
15. Only Friends
16. Mama Packed A Picnic Tea
17. Isn’t It A Pity
18. Love Story – (NEW MIX)
19. This Way Mary
20. Wish Now Was Then
21. Didn’t We (Alt Arrangement)
22. How Can I Live Without Your Love
23. Historia De Amor (Love Story) – (NEW MIX)
24. Let The Train Take The Strain (Jingle)
Tracks 1 – 12 From the album For The Present

Matt Monro was a regular feature of the British singles charts between 1960 and 1965, after which he had only one other UK hit (And You Smiled, a top thirty entry in 1973, not released on an original album, only on compilations).

Despite the lack of hits, Matt’s music remained popular with adult audiences. So there are none of Matt’s own hits on this opening album of the quartet, For The Present, but you’ll find plenty of familiar (and not-so-familiar) songs via Matt’s covers of pop songs from the sixties and early seventies (as well as older songs from the Great American Songbook).

The album dates from 1973 and includes First of May (one of my favorite Bee Gees songs), Michelle (the Beatles classic that provided the Overlanders with their only hit) and Singing in the Rain, an old movie song that provided Cliff Edwards with an American number one hit in 1929.

Elsewhere on the album, the songs are not so familiar, but they are equally interesting. Among them are Didn’t We (written by Jimmy Webb, who achieved fame via hits he provided for Glen Campbell and others), I Am (written by prolific songwriter’s Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway - who wrote many famous sixties hits, but this wasn’t one of them) and other songs that suit Matt ideally (such as Till Then My Love and Sarah’s Coming Home).

Included now are some rather fun listens, such as an alternative arrangement of Didn’t We, the lush How Can I Live Without Your Love, and one of the definitive tunes, a Spanish version of Historia De Amor (Love Story).

CD 2:
1. Let There Be Love – (NEW MIX)
2. What A Wonderful World – (NEW MIX)
3. When You Wish Upon A Star – (NEW MIX)
4. Over The Rainbow – (NEW MIX)
5. For All We Know – (NEW MIX)
6. Let Me Sing And I’m Happy – (NEW MIX)
7. Be My Love – (NEW MIX)
8. Chattanooga Choo Choo – (NEW MIX)
9. I Love You Because – (NEW MIX)
10. No Regrets – (NEW MIX)
11. You’re Sensational – (NEW MIX)
12. I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore – (NEW MIX)
13. Yesterday When I Was Young – (NEW MIX)
14. It’s That Time Again – (NEW MIX)
15. I Am In Life
16. There Ya Go
17. What A Wonderful World (Take 2)
18. Let There Be Love (Take 2)
19. Let Me Sing And I’m Happy (Take 1)
20. Yesterday When I Was Young (Alternate Vocal)
21. I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore (Take 4)
22. Amor, háblame dulcemente
Tracks 1 – 12 From the album The Other Side of the Stars

The second album (Other Side of The Stars) is actually Matt’s tribute to other stars, all be they here new mixes, these being Nat King Cole (Let There Be Love), Louis Armstrong (What A Wonderful World), Cliff Edwards and Al Bowlly (When You Wish Upon A Star, which Cliff sang as Jimmy Cricket in Disney’s Pinocchio movie, but Al had the American hit version), Judy Garland (Over The Rainbow), Billie Holiday (For All We Know - this is NOT the identically-titled song that the Carpenters recorded), Al Jolson (Let Me Sing And I’m Happy), Mario Lanzo (Be My Love), Glenn Miller (Chattanooga Choo-Choo), Jim Reeves (I Love You Because - Jim had the British hit and it’s his version that inspired Matt), Edith Piaf (No Regrets), Frank Sinatra (You’re Sensational), and Maurice Chevalier’s I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore.

Now also included are delightful items such as second takes of both What A Wonderful World and Let There Be Love, a most lovely alternative vocal on Yesterday When I Was Young, and the lesser-heard Amor, háblame dulcemente (written by Cholo Baltasar and Nino Rota and first released by Andy Williams).

CD 3:
1. Happy
2. You And Me Against The World
3. Only Once
4. Did It Happen
5. Sunday Kind Of Woman
6. I Can’t Stop Loving You
7. I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten
8. All The Wishing In The World
9. The Auction
10. Ready Steady Go
11. Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife
12. The Long And Winding Road
13. I’ve So Much To Be Thankful For
14. Did It Happen (Early Version)
15. And You Smiled
16. How Could I Ever Leave You
17. Darling Come Home Soon
18. So Little Time
19. The Little Things
20. One Last Try
21. Darling Come Home Soon (Early Mix) *
22. And You Smiled (Spanish) *
23. The Wonder Of Woolworths (Jingle)
24. Zal (Jingle)
Tracks 1 – 12 From the album The Long And Winding Road

The third album in this set is The Long And Winding Road, which if you’re a true Matt Monro fan, and why would you even be looking if you’re not, then this is a very nice add also.

A justifiable must-have for anyone who enjoys the finest the world of music has to offer, assembled brilliantly with love by daughter Michele Monro, stand out tracks here (for us Monro fans) include the luxurious You And Me Against The World, the ambient Only Once, the beautiful balladry found within I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten, the ornate nature of All The Wishing In The World, and now added, an early mix of Darling Come Home Soon, a Spanish version of And You Smiled, and even a delightful The Wonder Of Woolworths jingle.

CD 4:
1. With These Hands
2. You Light Up My Life
3. Answer Me
4. I Think I’m Getting Over You
5. When A Child Is Born
6. If I Never Sing Another Song
7. May Each Day
8. Morning Has Broken
9. By Her Side
10. Mary’s Boy Child
11. The Last Farewell
12. The Touch Of Your Love
13. Alone Am I
14. The Precious Moments
15. Diana
16. Be My Lady
17. Memory
18. You Bring Out The Best In Me
19. I Don’t Want To Run Your Life
20. If They Could See Me Now (Live) *
21. You Are My Sunshine / You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (Live) *
Tracks 1 – 11 From the album If I Never Sing Another Song

Matt may have been past his commercial peak by the time these albums were originally released, but they contain a lot of great music. Indeed, a singer once said His pitch was right on the nose: his word enunciation letter perfect: his understanding of a song thorough, and I couldn’t agree more.

Here on the fourth, and final album of this 4CD set, If I Never Sing Another Song, tracks such as When A Child Is Born (Johnny Mathis), the titular original If I Never Sing Another Song, and the always stirring Cat Stevens gem Morning Has Broken, lead the way early on, but others include Jester Hairston’s Mary’s Boy Child (later popularized by Boney M), the beautiful Diana, and now the inclusive You Are My Sunshine / You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (Live), ensure that this is also one of those albums that no Matt Monro completist’s can ever be without.

Official Purchase Link