ABOUT THE DISC & RECORDINGS:

April 23, 1961 - a legendary night for Judy and show business. This night, attended by the general public and the glitteratti of show business alike has endured as "the greatest night in show business history." Judy was in perfect shape both vocally and performance-wise. Even Judy's peers were "reaching out to touch Judy Garland" as Rex Reed would state years later. All who were there would talk about it as if it were more of a religious revival than a simple concert. The contemporary reviews were full of praise and awe. Having just come back from the brink of a bout with Hepatitis a few years before (she was told she'd never perform again), in 1960/61 Judy embarked on a new concert tour. This new tour gave audiences "Just Judy" for the first time - no dancers or Vaudeville acts. It was Judy and the band. And Judy was in incredible voice. This would set in motion a Garland Renaissance including several films, an Oscar nomination, and her TV series. If there was any doubt before, Judy secured her place as The World's Greatest Entertainer.

Capitol wisely decided to record this concert. The two-record set was as big a hit as the concert and spent 95 weeks on the charts, 13 at #1. The record would garner FIVE Grammy Awards (unprecedented for the era): Best Solo Vocal Performance, Female; Album of the year (the first time an album by a female artist or a concert recording won this award); Best Album Cover (Jim Silke); Best Engineering Contribution, Popular Recording (Robert Arnold); A Special Artists and Repertoire Award given to the set's production Andy Wiswell.

The album made its CD debut in 1987 when Capitol released an abridged version. The outrage from fans was such that the label released a 2-CD set in 1989 (#C2-90013), complete with most of that previously unreleased dialog. In March 2000, the complete concert (including all of Judy's stories and chatter to the audience) was released by DCC Compact Classics. This 24 karat 2-CD set presented the concert as recorded through the microphone that night, with no auditorium reverb added. All the songs were presented in the order of the concert.

Capitol released their own complete, restored and remastered version on a special 2-CD release on February 27, 2001, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the concert. The difference between this and the DCC Compact version is that this Capitol version has the added "hall" sound, whereas the DCC version presents the sound as recorded in Judy's microphone. This results in a sound that places Judy's voice front and center, with the rest of the hall in the background. It's a matter of taste as to which one a fan prefers.

To this day, "Judy At Carnegie Hall" is considered one of the greatest live performances ever caught on record. If it's possible for the electricity of a performance to come through on a record, this is it!

All images on this page from the collections of Scott Brogan & Eric Hemphill.

Album cover restoration provided by "Alex in Belgium". Thank you Alex!