For Sentimental Reasons

They Say...

Review by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

In 1952, already an established hitmaker, Patti Page took on television as a regular on the summer show Music Hall, which was broadcast live for 15 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays right after the news on CBS. This led to a berth on the weekly half-hour series Scott Music Hall, which ran during the 1952-1953 season (Page shared screen time with Frank Fontaine during the fall, but took over as sole host in February 1953). She describes the music on this album as "recorded...from my TV show circa 1953," which seems reasonable, except perhaps for her version of "Young at Heart," a song Frank Sinatra introduced in a recording made in December 1953 that was released in early 1954. (But who knows? Maybe some song publisher slipped it to her and she sang it on TV before going off the air in late August 1953. Probably not, though. More likely, it dates from her 1955 syndicated series The Patti Page Show.) Page sings plenty of her big hits -- "Change Partners," "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming," "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?," "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine," "Mister and Mississippi," "Detour," "Tennessee Waltz," and the show's theme, "This Is My Song" -- and fans will be happy to hear live performances of these songs, minus the usual overdubbing. She also essays a number of pop standards, singing with her usual assurance. After each performance, there is a crash of applause from the studio audience. The tracks are monophonic, and the sound quality varies, with surface noise often audible. This album is a minor addition to Page's discography, but the recordings come from her prime and will be welcomed by her followers.