Sings for Adults Only

Despite the title, this is just a program of R&B and jazz songs and the sexual content is not above the norm for songs of that ilk. What passed for raunchy in 1958 and the rap music from the close of that millennium may be worlds apart, but it is hard to imagine that this record would have been considered risqué even in the '50s. That aside, there is no faulting Pearl Bailey as a singer of sassy material and this is one catchy, rocking record. It kicks off with the hilarious "Westport," a lyrical capture of the swinging commuter cocktails and swapping scene of that era. Other material is downright classy, such as three Cole Porter tunes. Clean-living types trying to avoid a '50s Rusty Warren type scene have nothing to fear here, as Bailey's fare is for the general toe-tapping audience.