Sometimes great art can result from less than noble motives. Irving Berlin wrote numerous popular song masterpieces and reportedly did so strictly for one reason, to earn money. Berlin turned out timeless, brilliant material throughout his lengthy career, and 20 of his greatest tracks are included on the fourth volume of Rhino's Great American Songwriter series. As with its predecessors, the variety of approaches are as much a hook to the set as the quality of selections. Whether it is Ethel Waters in her red-hot blues stage or Bobby Darin sounding alternately jazzy and show business-like, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, and Billy Eckstine stretching songs out, and Tony Martin or Fred Astaire putting an introspective spin on them, these songs are uniformly gems. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide