ABOUT
THE DISC & RECORDINGS:
To
date, this is probably the best overall single
disc compilation representing Judy Garland's
career. It's certainly the best single
disc compilation of her movie work. All of the tracks are classic
Garland. Placed in chronological order, the tracks give the listener
a chance to hear Judy go from "little miss leather lungs" to
a vocalist beyond peer.
The disc starts with Judy's first feature length
film, Pigskin Parade made on loan from MGM to 20th
Century-Fox and ends with her last feature film I Could
Go On Singing (MGM/UA). In between we get the "best
of the best" in terms of not just Judy Garland but also
the film musical.
If anyone asks "what made Judy so great" or "I
haven't heard much of her stuff" - then THIS is the
disc to have them listen to. Whether the track is Judy pouring
her heart out to "Dear Mr. Gable," expressing boundless
happiness in "The Trolley Song," or singing the
ultimate torch song "The Man That Got Away," this
disc proves that Judy Garland was the greatest film musical
leading lady of the 20th Century.
The version of "For Me And My Gal" heard here is
the best sounding version put on disc to date. On the For
Me And My Gal soundtrack released by Rhino in 1996, the song
has been remixed to stereo, but the quality is such that the
music during the vocals and the dance break sound "faint." This
is rectified here - the number has been remixed into a crisp
and clean sounding mono track. A definite improvement.
The version of "You Made Me Love You" heard
here is the song as it's performed in the film. The previous
CD release of the song on the That's Entertainment! (box
set) used an alternate ending that differed from the version
heard in the film.
Originally, this CD was to end with Judy's
final pre-recording for a film, "I'll Plant My Own Tree," recorded
for her aborted role in Valley Of The Dolls (20th
Century Fox), in 1967. But the producers of the CD decided
that the number wasn't up to her usual standard and would
not make a good coda for the CD. Besides, Judy only completed
the song and a few costume tests before walking off the picture
- rumors abound about the studio firing her because of unreliability
and drugs, but the general feeling is that she realized that
the film was basically pulp trash and not something she'd
want to be involved with.
 The pre-recording of "The Texas Tornado" heard
here, as well as the pre-recording for one of Judy's other
songs from the film "It's Love I'm After" first
appeared in the Smithsonian 4 CD boxed set "Star Spangled
Rhythm - Voices of Broadway and Hollywood" (
1997 BMG Special Products/The Smithsonian Collection of
Recordings
RD 111/ RD 111R/RP 0044/DMC 4-1450). According to the liner
notes for that release, the recordings were taken from
the
original studio playback discs "recently discovered
in New York." Also in the set are several tracks from
MGM soundtracks courtesy of Rhino/Turner Entertainment,
including "The
Trolley Song" from Meet
Me In St. Louis.
Songs making their Rhino CD debut here: "The
Texas Tornado," "F.D.R. Jones," "Look
For The Silver Lining," "Mack The Black," "Johnny
One Note," "Last Night When We Were Young," "Happy
Harvest," "Friendly Star," "Gotta Have
Me Go With You," "Little Drops Of Rain," "Hello
Bluebird," "By Myself," and "I Could
Go On Singing."
"Over The Rainbow," "For Me
And My Gal," "Look For The Silver Lining," "Mack
The Black," "Johnny One Note," "Happy
Harvest," "Friendly Star," & "Get
Happy" were previously released by Sony Music Special
Products in the late 1980's and early 1990's as a part
of their MGM Soundtracks series - but these were inferior
quality
recordings taken directly from the sound tracks of the
films, not from the prerecordings.
This disc is a sort of companion disc to
the previously released Judy
Garland - Collector's Gems from The MGM Films (Rhino
R2 72543). "Gems" is a two disc compilation of
mostly previously unreleased-on-CD MGM pre-recordings.
It contains mostly rare and little known Garland songs
- including
her first real assignment for the studio - the short Every
Sunday with Deanna Durbin. What's interesting is that "Gems" was
released a full two years before "Judy Garland In
Hollywood".
Usually, the demand for an artist's "greatest hits" is
higher than that for the rare stuff - especially when,
as in the case of Judy Garland at MGM, most of the songs
hadn't
yet been released. But the folks at Rhino really knew what
they were doing - especially producers George Feltenstein
and Bradeley Flanagan - when they released "Gems" with
collectors in mind.
CLICK HERE to read this CD's Producer's Notes.
All images on this page from the collection of Scott Brogan. |
TRACK
LISTING
Tracks
in Stereo noted with asterisk (*) - All
tracks from MGM films except where noted.
|
Title |
Performed
with… |
From
the film… |
Recording
Date |
| The
Texas Tornado |
20th
Century Fox Studio Orchestra |
|
Fall
1936 |
| Dear
Mr. Gable/You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do
It) |
The
MGM Studio Orchestra |
|
05-07-1937 |
| Over
The Rainbow |
The
MGM Studio Orchestra |
|
04-13-1939 |
| I'm
Nobody's Baby* |
The
MGM Studio Orchestra |
|
03-14-1940 |
| F.D.R.
Jones |
The
MGM Studio Chorus |
|
09-23-1941
09-24-1941
10-24-1941 |
| For
Me And My Gal |
Gene
Kelly |
|
03-21-1942 |
| The
Trolley Song* |
The
MGM Studio Chorus |
Meet
Me In St. Louis (1944) |
12-02-1943 |
| The
Boy Next Door* |
The
MGM Studio Orchestra |
Meet
Me In St. Louis (1944) |
12-04-1943 |
| On
The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe* |
Cast
and MGM Studio Chorus |
|
01-05-1945
01-06-1945
01-08-1945
04-18-1945
06-30-1945 |
| Look
For The Silver Lining |
The
MGM Studio Orchestra |
|
10-02-1945 |
| Mack
The Black* |
The
MGM Studio Chorus |
|
12-15-1947 |
| Easter
Parade |
Fred
Astaire & The MGM Studio Chorus |
|
01-26-1948 |
| Johnny
One Note |
The
MGM Studio Orchestra |
|
09-30-1948 |
| Last
Night When We Were Young (outtake) |
The
MGM Studio Orchestra |
|
11-16-1948 |
| Happy
Harvest |
The
MGM Studio Orchestra |
Summer
Stock (1950) |
10-13-1949 |
| Friendly
Star |
The
MGM Studio Orchestra |
Summer
Stock (1950) |
10-27-1949 |
| Get
Happy |
The
MGM Studio Chorus |
Summer
Stock (1950) |
03-15-1950 |
| Gotta
Have Me Go With You* |
Don
McKabe & Jack Harmon |
|
08-22-1953 |
| The
Man That Got Away* |
The
Warner Bros. Studio Orchestra |
|
09-04-1953 |
| Little
Drops Of Rain* |
The
Warner Bros. Studio Orchestra |
|
August
1962 |
| Hello
Bluebird* |
... |
|
11-01-1962 |
| By
Myself* |
... |
|
1962 |
| I
Could Go On Singing* |
... |
|
11-01-1962 |
Top of page
|
From
the PRODUCERS' NOTES in the CD Booklet:
"This collection represents nearly 30 years in the motion picture career
of Judy Garland, beginning with her rousing "The Texas Tornado" from
1936's Pigskin Parade, her first feature film, and ending with her ultimate
semi autobiographical performance in 1963's I Could Go On Singing. In
between, the listener travels through her varied and splendid career at MGM
to the triumphant A
Star Is Born at Warner Bros. Although countless Garland albums and compilations
have been prepared and issued in the years since her death, perhaps no one
single album presents such a comprehensive overview of her film work. It contains
most
of her famous film musical performances, along with a few choice rarities,
many of which have not been commercially available for years. In all cases,
the highest
quality elements were sought to provide the best-possible listening experience.
All selections were derived
from original prerecording source elements, with the exception
of the two tracks from A
Star Is Born. Both were transferred from Warner
Bros.' 4 track magnetic stereo studio print, the only surviving
stereo recording source. In the case of "The Man That
Got Away," this presented no problem, in that there
were no extraneous effect to get in the way of the music. "Gotta
Have Me Go With You" posed its own problems, as there
are several plot-related screams and noises during the
song as it is presented in the film. In order to maintain
the aural integrity of the performance, a portion of that
track was derived from the original mono soundtrack album
master recording."
|
CREDITS
Produced by George Feltenstein
Project Supervisor Julie D'Angelo
Art Direction by Hugh Brown and Tornado
Design
Design by Darrin Kagele
Creative Services Direction by Lori
Carfora
Liner Notes by Will Friedwald
Engineering by Doug Schwartz, Audio
Mechanics, Los Angeles, CA
Cover Paper Sculpture by Jacques Kapralik
Photographs Courtesy of Turner Entertainment,
Co., George Feltenstein, MGM Clip+Still, and Warner Bros.
Editorial Supervision Vanessa Atkins
Licensing Michael Nieves
Project Assistance Alexander Alvy
Special Thanks to: Bruce Baggot,
Nick Corsello, Michael Feinstein, Allan Fisch, Roger Mayer,
Gregory
Meyer, Stephen Peeples, Robin Schwartz, Charles Shultz,
and Thane Tierney |
|
