There are further lessons in the vibrant variety of "That Certain Feeling"; in the treatment of "Exactly Like You" as a romantic ballad; in the subtle difference - in "I Never Knew About You" - between the deadpan "sincerity" of the first chorus and the perfectly controlled pulsating lift of the second; in the melodic and harmonic inventiveness of Larry's arrangement that restores life to "I Cover the Waterfront." And listen to the way Larry takes command of his accompaniment, instead of just riding on it, in "True Blue Lou"; the incredible smoothness of "Don't Ever Leave Me": the instrumentally-derived phrasing on "I Was Doing All Right" and the way Larry kicks the last eight bars; the subtle inflections within the rhy1hmic swing of "Isn't This a Lovely Day."

My only regret is that on this record there is none of Larry's own marvelous piano.

On the other hand, there is the marvelous piano of that superb instrumentalist, orchestrator, and leader Dick Hyman, just beginning to make his mark in 1954 and now one of the most admired and sought- after musicians in the country. Dick solos here and there and his supporting presence is felt throughout, along with that of guitarist Mundell Lowe (who is also responsible for the "bongo" sounds on "Island in the West Indies"), bassist Eddie Safranski, and drummer Don Lamond. Most of the instrumental solos belong to the warm, lyrical tone and off: beat imagination of trumpeter Rusty Dedrick.

Last but far from least, Larry is joined by the hauntingly lovely voice of Bethe Douglas in two duets: "That Certain Feeling" and "Girls Were Made to Take Care of Boys." Bethe's pure soprano is given solo status on "I See Your Face Before Me," where she moves effortlessly from the utter simplicity of the verse and chorus to a rather startling but still simple ending. Her dramatic gifts are highlighted on "Ten Cents a Dance," where she negotiates the shifting moods with surefooted ease. And she can swing, too!

All in all, it's quite an album. The more - and the more closely - I listen to it, the better I like it. I think you'll feel the same.

So where has Larry Carr been all your life? Well, if you lived in Houston in the 1930s you may have caught teen-aged Larry singing to his own piano accompaniment on his own daily sponsored half-hour radio show.

Arriving in Hollywood at 18, Larry quickly sang his way into clubs, movies, and his own CBS radio show. He had been singled out to be the next young romantic leading man for MGM musicals when America entered World War II. Uncle Sam pointed his finger and Larry was off to the army, traveling through North Africa, Italy, Burma and India with a Special Services show for three years.

Returning to the United States after the war, Larry was quickly tapped for radio (Larry Carr: Songs to Remember" on CBS network, "The Larry Carr Show" on CBS, NBC-west coast and WINS-New York), for the fledgling TV industry ("The Larry Carr Show" on NBC-New York, "Just for You - Larry Carr' on WOR-New York, "Larry Carr Sings" on KLAC-Los Angeles, "Flight to Rhythm" on Channel 5-New York). He also performed in Hollywood films, Broadway musicals and night clubs literally fror., Maine to California (including the legendary Blue Angel).

But the calculated lowering of the common denominator of American musical taste was underway, and the relentless tide of doo-wop led many artists (myself among them) to adopt various individual mechanisms for survival. Larry's solution was simple: he retired from performing and concentrated on some of his other talents. How many realized that the Larry Carr who sang and played so wonderfully is the same Larry Carr who wrote those stunning classics of movie memorabilia, Four Fabulous Faces and its sequel, More Fabulous Faces? And that this is the same Larry Carr who conceived and produced a number of notable albums for Columbia and Epic Records.

But there were some music-lovers who refused to accept this diversion of an extraordinary musical talent. In 1976 we maneuvered Larry into performing the re-creations of the Bing Crosby vocals in the "Paul Whiteman Revisited" concerts at Carnegie Hall and at Symphony Hall in Philadelphia (in a heroic feat of woodshedding, he raised his voice half an octave to duplicate the young Crosby's near-tenor range). It took six more years of constant nudging, combined with some trickery, before Larry was finally lured into semi-unretirement. Appearances in tributes to Ethel Waters and Lee Wiley at St. Peter's Church ("the jazz church") led to bookings at the Kool Jazz Festival in New York and to a few selected night club engagements.

With any luck, we may be able to hear a lot of Larry Carr in years to come… maybe next lime with his own piano.

Barbara Lea