Ziegfeld Follies of 1936

1. Overture
2. Time Marches On
3. He Hasn't A Thing Except Me
4. My Red-Letter Day
5. Island In The West Indies
6. Island In The West Indies (Dance)
7. Words Without Music
8. The Economic Situation
9. Fancy, Fancy
10. Maharanee
11. The Gazooka
12. That Moment Of Moments
13. Sentimental Weather
14. 5 A.M.
15. I Can't Get Started
16. Modernistic Moe
17. Finale (Dancing To The Score)

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Customer Reviews:

Thoroughly delightful!.......2003-02-01

The Recording of the Year.......2002-01-20

GodDAMN this is good!.......2002-01-14

Revues like this were once as integral to a theatergoer's experience in this era as the book shows that we know better. But the revues are today hard to perform because the sketches were topical; they were rarely made into films; and they were already in eclipse when cast albums started being made. Thus we largely just read about them and see them illustrated with static photos; buffs know the titles as the sources of the songs that outlasted them, but that's about it.

Here at last is a reconstruction of what one of the best of these actually sounded like. The archaeological work here is absolutely stunning -- to imagine that these people turned thousands of yellowing sheets of paper into this vibrant, funny, gorgeous recording!

Sure, some of it cannot come off as electrically to us as it did to people 65 years ago. In any revue like this, much of the music was written just to illustrate pretty costumes and sets and usher in a dance number, and we can't see that part of it today. But even songs like this ("Sentimental Weather", "An Island in the West Indies", etc.) are thoroughly pleasant in themselves, and the orchestrations (and players on this recording) are luscious. I can never quite believe that orchestrators of this era bothered to put so much into accompaniments that no one was paying attention to in the theatre. Throughout this recording it's as if they were writing in preparation for people like us hearing them recorded up close on CDs.

But the comedy numbers are still pretty darned funny, and Mary Testa rises to to the tricky job of rendering numbers written specifically for Fanny Brice in ways that respect her without imitating her, right down to pronouncing "fancy" as "fency" ("Yiddish" accent) at times in "Fancy Fancy You". The other performers rise perfectly to the occasion: Howard McGillin's earnest tenor "emcee" (right down to the very slightly lavender air that such figures in this era tended to have); the dependable Christine Ebersole; Peter Scolari's solid Bob Hope substitute (he actually makes "I Can't Get Started" fresh, no mean feat for this warhorse despite Ira Gershwin's brilliant lyrics); and Stephanie Pope's solid plangency especially in "5 AM", making a potentially rather forced lyric sound urgent.

And "The Gazooka", a mockish dance number, is massively infectious; as the liner notes promise, the dance music to "Modernistic Moe" sounds like the soundtrack to a Looney Tune; "5 AM" is a deeply beautiful work in the "Broadway Baby goes home alone" genre so popular in the 30s and is followed by sumptuous ballet music. Overall, this recording just overflows with gems and marvels.

And the weirdness of Vernon Duke even helps put it over the top. Like Kurt Weill, Duke was a European immigrant writing Broadway pop style as a "second language", and as such, his melodies do not always get you on first hearing. Perhaps the only song on this recording that only a corpse could not cotton to immediately is "Red Letter Day". But then listen again and you start to realize how deft and solid the tunes are. Which only adds to the richness of the recording -- often songs that get you immediately get old fast. With this CD, like wine, you might have to let it "breathe", but once you do, you're in for a seduction.

Bravo, bravo, bravo. Buy this, savor it, and thank heaven that even though, as one of the songs says, "Time Marches On", we live in an age where we can take the occasional breather and hear things like this in our living rooms.

From when musicals depended on talent, not special effects.......2001-12-15

If the original had only been recorded: Bob Hope, Eve Arden, Fanny Brice! But here we have a game cast in what I assume is the spirit of the year of my birth giving us 17 selections from that nearly lost review. The music is by Vernon Duke, the lyrics by Ira Gershwin. (Yes, I also did a double take at that last name.) While he does not quite surpass Larry Hart, Ira comes very close with his intelligent, often extremely witty, lyrics that boast of such rhymes as "pulchritudinous/the lewd in us."

The opening number promises this Follies will be different and not depend on beautiful girls (an agenda that does not outlast the song), while the last number begs people to leave the theater singing the songs and go "dancing to the score." In between we have devastating spoofs of torch songs ("He Hasn't a Thing Except Me"), end-of-first-date songs ("I Can't Get Started"), modern topics of conversation ("Modernistic Moe"), and a very funny dance ("The Gazooka") from a sketch titled "The Broadway Gold Melody Diggers of 42nd Street"!

Even the booklet is crammed with great material. Photos from the original production and lots of facts about the show and the people concerned abound. Thank you very much, Decca, for this gem. 10 stars out of 5.

Marvelous Entertainment.......2001-11-27

The highlights of Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin's score are the standard "I Can't Get Started" (here given in its orignal context as part of a complete sketch), "Island In the West Indies" (brilliantly performed by Ebersole), and the rich, haunting "Words Without Music" (in a knockout rendition by Henshall). There are many other treasures here as well, and even the lesser numbers are valuable for their authentic '30s flavour.

The score has been restored with the original orchestrations and dance music by Broadway's best arrangers (including Don Walker and Robert Russell Bennett); the sound, by the same team that did the Nonesuch Gershwin series, is splendid; the CD has a timing of 78 minutes and comes with notes, photos and complete lyrics. Big thanks to Decca Broadway for finally releasing a recording that went unreleased for two years (the Gershwin estate paid for the recording but couldn't find a record company willing to issue it). So what are you waiting for? If you love Broadway, the '30s, great performers, or all of the above, get this CD right now!

Average customer rating: What a pity... A great Treasure!

The Great Ziegfeld (1936 Film) / Ziegfeld Follies (1946 Film): Original Scores Arthur Lange Manufacturer: Sound of the Movies ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Soundtracks | Box Sets | Stores | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music ASIN: B00004OCV0 Release Date: 2000-02-22

Tracks:

1. Won't You Come And Play With Me? (I Wish You'd Come & Play With Me) - Louise Rainer
2. It's Delightful To Be Married - Louise Rainer
3. If You Knew Susie - Budd Doyle
4. A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody - Dennis Morgan
5. You Gotta Pull Strings/She's A Follies Girl - Chorus/Ray Bolger
6. You - The Sound Of The Movies: Ziegfeld Stories - The Great Ziegfeld/Ziegfeld Follies Of 1946
7. You Never Looked So Beautiful Before - Virginia Bruce
8. Yiddle On The Fiddle/Queen Of The Jungle - Fanny Brice/Burlesque Girls
9. Dressing Room Scene - Fanny Brice/Esther Muir/William Powell
10. My Man - Fanny Brice
11. Looking For A Silver Lining - The Sound Of The Movies: Ziegfeld Stories - The Great Ziegfeld/Ziegfeld Follies Of 1946
12. Telephone Scene - Louise Rainer
13. A Circus Must Be Different In A Ziegfeld Show (Circus Ballet) - Harriet Hoctor
14. Final Curtain - The Sound Of The Movies: Ziegfeld Stories - The Great Ziegfeld/Ziegfeld Follies Of 1946

Tracks:

1. Main Title (Instrumental) - The Sound Of The Movies: Ziegfeld Stories - The Great Ziegfeld/Ziegfeld Follies Of 1946
2. Here's To The Girls - Fred Astaire/The M-G-M Studio Chorus
3. Bring On Those Wonderful Men - Virginia O'Brien
4. Libiamo (From La Traviata) - James Melton/Marion Bell
5. This Heart Of Mine - Fred Astaire
6. Love - Lena Horne/The M-G-M Studio Chorus
7. If Swing Goes, I Go Too (Outtake) - Fred Astaire/The M-G-M Studio Orchestra/Lennie Hayton
8. Limehouse Blues (Instrumental) - The Sound Of The Movies: Ziegfeld Stories - The Great Ziegfeld/Ziegfeld Follies Of 1946
9. The Interview - Judy Garland/The M-G-M Studio Chorus
10. The Babbitt And The Bromide - Fred Astaire/Gene Kelly
11. There's Beauty Everywhere (Outtake) - Kathryn Grayson/The M-G-M Studio Chorus

Customer Reviews:

What a pity..........2001-02-04

A great Treasure!.......2000-06-28

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