Connick Jr.: Not Your Average Crooner

(CBS)  Grammy- and Emmy-award-winning crooner Harry Connick Jr. eases us into the holiday season with the release of his 25th album, "Your Songs."

Connick, a singer, pianist and an actor, lends his style and personal touch to some of the greatest pop classics of all-time, like Frank Sinatra's "All the Way" and Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are."

He took The Early Show back to 1970 with The Carpenter's classic "Close to You" and spoke to Early Show co-anchors Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith about what it was like to team up with legendary record producer Clive Davis.

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Connick admits that he was "blown away" when he heard that Davis wanted to do a CD featuring his voice.

"To have Clive Davis request the opportunity to work with you is a pretty amazing thing," he said. "So, I said it would be an honor and then we started working on it and now we have a CD and I'm really proud of it. And I'm proud to have had the chance to work with Clive."

"Did you write all of these charts?" Smith asked. "Because it's gorgeous. Each one has its own sort of flavor."

"Not a lot of people notice that part of it, the chart writing and stuff. But that's part of what I do and I love writing the charts. And I'm just glad I have incredible musicians to work with that can play so beautifully," Connick said.

Over the past two decades Connick has proven to be among the world's most successful and multi-talented artists. He's sold more than 25 million records, starred in 19 films and a hit TV sitcom ("Will and Grace") as well as a Broadway show ("The Pajama Game"). The New Orleans native has recorded almost every genre of music, from jazz, funk and blues to big band.

Connick and Smith - the two Harrys - appeared on The Early Show back in 1988. A clip was shown of that interview and they both agreed they look better today!