Honey/Summer (The First Time) [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Two of the singer/ songwriter/ guitarist's best LPs for the United Artists label together on one CD: 1968's top five 'Honey' & 1973's 'Summer (The First Time)'. Each features a hit title song: 'Honey' was a #1 & 'Summer (The First Time)'reached #21. A combined total of 23 tracks, all digitally remastered from the original master tapes, including 'If'n IWas God' from the motion picture 'Tom Sawyer'. Also containsthe original cover art of each, plus additional sleeve notes. 1998 BGO Records release.

Tracks:

Overture/Prologue
Honey, Honey
Money, Money, Money
Thank You For The Music
Mamma Mia
Chiquitita
Dancing Queen
Lay All Your Love On Me
Super Trouper
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
The Name Of The Game
Voulez-Vous
Entr'acte
Under Attack
One Of Us
S.O.S.
Does Your Mother Know
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Our Last Summer
Slipping Through My Fingers
The Winner Takes It All
Take A Chance On Me
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
I Have A Dream

Amazon.com

Put together by Abba's own Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, Mamma Mia! manages to cram over 20 of the Swedish supergroup's songs into a threadbare plot. It goes a little like this: Young Sophie is getting married and she's trying to identify which of three men is her father. That's about it. Wisely, the musical doesn't mess around with the songs, save for the insertion of some dialogue or for having some of them performed by a man (it works amazingly well). Abba fans will jump on this import of the London production, but traditional fans of musical theater should consider it as well. After all, Andersson and Ulvaeus's songs have always felt as if they were more than isolated pop gems and actually belonged to a longer narrative. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

Mamma Mia.......2007-03-22

I have not stopped playing this cd. It is just great! It makes any trip in my car most enjoyable Happy I bought it!

Mamma Mia Musical CD.......2007-03-21

This is a grand list of songs from the original musical when it was first introduced in England. The songs from ABBA are very recognizable even if you haven't seen the show. But, making a trip to NY to see the Broadway production is a plus. ENJOY!

JUST GREAT MUSIC.......2007-03-08

I RECENTLY SAW THE SHOW MAMMA MIA IN LAS VEGAS. ALWAYS LIKES THE MUSIC OF ABBA, AND THOUGH THE PLOT WAS THIN, THE MUSIC WAS WELL PERFORMED. IN THIS PARTICULAR ALBUM, THE ENGLISH ACCENTS WERE A BIT MUCH, BUT THE SONGS WERE GREAT. ALL I CAN SAY IS THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC, ABBA.

Mamma Mia.......2007-01-29

Every time I hear the music and songs it brings back memories of seeing the Broadway Show

Not good at all.......2007-01-09

This is not what we wanted. The British accents throw it was off. We just saw it in NY and this is not what we were looking for.

Average customer rating:

A Long Awaited "Gem"
Bette Davis in a musical...yes, you heard right

Two's Company

Manufacturer: Sepia Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Make a Wish (1951 Original Broadway Cast)
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Inside U.S.A./The Band Wagon

ASIN: B0007X9URY
Release Date: 2005-04-11

Tracks:

Overture - Orchestra
Theatre Is A Lady - Bill Callahan
Turn Me Loose On Broadway - Bette Davis
It Just Occurred To Me - Peter Kelley
A Man's Home - Hiram Sherman
Roundabout - Ellen Hanley
Roll Along, Sadie - Betty Davis
Out Of The Clear Blue Sky - Peter Kelley
Esther - David Burns
Haunted Hot Spot - Ellen Hanley
Purple Rose - Bette Davis
Just Like A Man - Bette Davis
Finale - Bette Davis And The Company
Bonus Track: A Like The Likes Of You/What Is There To Say/I Can't Get Started With You/Who's To Blame - Vernon Duke
Cabin In The Sky/Honey In The Honeycomb/Taking A Chance On Love/The Love I Longed For - Vernon Duke
Out Of The Clear Blue Sky/Roundabout/Autumn In New York/Island In The West Indies - Vernon Duke
Introduction/April In Paris/Rendevous Sans Addresse/Summer Is A-Comin' In/La Musique Avant Toutes Choses/April In Paris - Vernon Duke
I Can't Get Started - Vernon Duke
I'm Gonna Ring The Bell Tonight - Vernon Duke

Album Description

The 1952 original Broadway cast recording, on CD for the first time! Features Oscar winner Bette Davis in her only musical stage appearance. Bonus tracks include a song by Nancy Walker and material composed & performed by composer Vernon Duke.

Customer Reviews:

A Long Awaited "Gem".......2007-07-09

My LP of this show was totally worn out, so I'm absolutely delighted to have this on such a great sounding CD. Davis is right up there with other musical luminaries such as Hepburn in COCO and Bacall in WOMAN OF THE YEAR and APPLAUSE. All three were non-singers who acted, and their recordings are really just a joy to have to offset soprani like Cook, Chenowith, and Lukker.

This really is a must have recording for any true musical comedy lover who wants the unusual and historical. Davis's "Turn Me Loose on Broadway" is wonderful from her "Mistah conductah, iff You Pleeees" to her slightly off tempo "hey" in the dance break. Davis did try to sing several times through her career. Frank Loesser's "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" has been on a few collections, and there was that failed musical version of THE CORN IS GREEN entitled MISS MOFFAT that closed in Philadelphia. Betty Davis wasn't a good singer, but she tried!

The supporting cast is excellent, and I think it's just a joy to hear an old-school musical by one of the forgotten greats, Vernon Duke. That's why I'm really pleased to have the Duke bonus tracks on the CD as well. It's a great value with Davis, Duke, and Lawrence Welk and his orchestra as well. The album was coveted for years, and it's just wonderful to have it in better sound than it ever was.

Bette Davis in a musical...yes, you heard right.......2006-10-05

Bette Davis in a musical? In 1952, when her film career started on yet another downward spiral and she was unceremoniously labelled as "box office poison", the legendary Ms Davis decided to do the unthinkable, and made her Broadway musical debut in TWO'S COMPANY, a fluffy little revue that would have certainly folded a lot quicker if a mega-watt star like Davis was not in the starring role.

TWO'S COMPANY ran on the box office power of Davis, and the moment she became ill and started missing performances, the closing notices were posted (the show limped along for 90 performances). Nevertheless, this curious jewel of a show was recorded, and now gets it's CD premiere thanks to British boutique label Sepia.

Apparently, Davis was so embarrased by her performance, that she attempted to buy every single copy of the original LP in order to destroy them. One can just imagine Davis (in full Margo Channing mode) swaggering into a record store and slamming a pile of TWO'S COMPANY albums onto the sales counter ("don't bother to wrap `em!").

While Davis was never a singer, she croaks out her songs quite well, and what she lacks in musicality she compensates with comedy and sheer brio.

Performing the more demanding material is Ellen Hanley, known to musical fans for her Tony-winning role as Thea in "Fiorello!"; as well as Adrianna in the 1963 Off-Broadway revival of "The Boys from Syracuse", and replacing Polly Bergen in "First Impressions" (the Jane Austen/'Pride & Prejudice' musical of 1959).

Sepia's remaster of the TWO'S COMPANY album (taken from original 78's) is quite crisp and clean, with some slight hiss and sonic wobble in certain areas (like towards the end of "Haunted Hot Spot"), although we are lucky to have this title on disc in the first place.

Known for their copious bonus tracks, Sepia do not disappoint, and the TWO'S COMPANY disc is filled out with extensive supplementaries (Nancy Walker singing "I Can't Get Started" and Jack Smith with "I'm Gonna Ring the Bell Tonight"); and a whole "Vernon Duke plays Vernon Duke" section.

Now that TWO'S COMPANY has been released on compact disc, we can finally hear what all the fuss was about.

Average customer rating:

CLASSIC GOLDSBORO

Honey/Summer (The First Time)
Bobby Goldsboro
Manufacturer: Bgo - Beat Goes on
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000DHVQ
Release Date: 1998-09-21

Tracks:

Honey
Run to Me
With Pen in Hand
Pardon Me Miss
Why Don't You Believe Me?
Pledge of Love
Little Green Apples
Love Arrestor
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Beautiful People
Woman
Summer (The First Time)
Marlena
He's Part of Us
L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore
Brand New Kind of Love
Sing Me a Smile
Mississippi Delta Queen
I Can See Clearly Now
She
Killing Me Softly With Her Song
Spread My Wings and Fly
If'n I Was God [From Tom Sawyer]

Album Description

Two of the singer/ songwriter/ guitarist's best LPs for the United Artists label together on one CD: 1968's top five 'Honey' & 1973's 'Summer (The First Time)'. Each features a hit title song: 'Honey' was a #1 & 'Summer (The First Time)'reached #21. A combined total of 23 tracks, all digitally remastered from the original master tapes, including 'If'n IWas God' from the motion picture 'Tom Sawyer'. Also containsthe original cover art of each, plus additional sleeve notes. 1998 BGO Records release.

Customer Reviews:

CLASSIC GOLDSBORO.......2002-02-25

'With pen in hand','Pardon me Miss','Pledge of love',By the time
l get to Phonex, 'The things that make a woman a woman', 'Marlena','Sing me a smile','She',Spread my wings 'n fly',
'Killing me softly with her song', all of which are good songs then add 'Honey', 'He's part of us' and 'The L&N don't stop here anymore', which are three fine classics and you have his finest
CD to date bringing home the reality that Goldsboro at his best
is a fine maestro interpreter of song.

Tracks:

Honey And Rue: 1. First I'll Try Love
Honey And Rue: 2. Whose House Is This?
Honey And Rue: The Town Is Lit
Honey And Rue: 4. Do You Know Him?
Honey And Rue: 5.I Am Not Seaworthy
Honey And Rue: 6. Take My Mother Home
Knoxville: Summer Of 1915
Porgy And Bess: 'I Loves You, Porgy'
'Summertime'

Amazon.com

Back at the beginning of the 1990s, with some help from Carnegie Hall, soprano Kathleen Battle commissioned André Previn and Toni Morrison to write a song cycle for her. The result was a set of six songs called Honey and Rue, referring to "the bitter and the sweet" that comes with life and love and is part of the African American experience. One of the songs, the last to be composed, is unaccompanied. The remaining five are scored for chamber orchestra and showcase Previn's chameleon-like abilities as an arranger--here capturing echoes of such European masters as Mahler and Berg, there a hint of Americana in the Copland-Bernstein vein, and elsewhere the engaging verve of jazz and the blues. Previn conducts his score with breezy authority, drawing spirited playing from the Orchestra of Saint Luke's, particularly in the jazzy third song ("The Town Is Lit") and the spiritual-like concluding number ("Take My Mother Home"). Battle sings expressively and with obvious commitment--both here and in the selections by Barber and Gershwin that fill out the disc--though not without her lately characteristic affectations. The recording makes her voice sound oddly reverberant, as though it had been subjected to the kind of processed engineering usually reserved for pop productions. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Music, Rip-off price.......2002-06-15

I love this disc. A wonderful singer performing wonderful music. The Morrison poems are hauntingly set by Previn, and the Barber gives Dawn Upshaw a run for her money, the Gershwin as near-perfect as one could hope for. But it's a total cheek to charge this kind of money for a 40 minute disc. In keeping with the American flavour of the disc, how about some orchstrated Barber songs or his opera arias? Copland? More Gershwin? Adams? Even some of Previn's other wonderful music could have notched this into 50 minutes. I feel ripped off.

Sublime!.......2001-08-13

The poetry The music The orchestra The singer

All in perfect equal parts that gives us a recording of 20th century music that sets the standard for sublime. Wonderfully recorded, and tailored.

A brilliant recording. A must buy.

An Impressive Song Cycle.......2001-06-17

"Honey and Rue" is a song cycle with lyrics written by Toni Morrison and music composed by Andre Previn, performed by Kathleen Battle and the Orchestra of St. Lukes with the composer at the helm. The work received its premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1992.

With such an all-star team behind it, it is no surprise that "Honey and Rue" is a great success. Morrison's lyrics present "images of yearning, satisfaction, resolution" and Previn's eclectic score combines early 20th century classical ideas with jazz and blues. As for Miss Battle, well I'm afraid that I'm an adoring fan and can't be relied upon. The disc is filled out with Barber's glorious "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" and two selections from "Porgy and Bess."

A beautiful cycle for a beautiful voice.......2000-06-20

This C.D. is a real gem. It stands as a testement to the sheer beauty and artistry that is Kathleen Battle as well as the genius of Andre Previn, author Toni Morrison and the various other American Composers and librettist featured on this disc. Kathleen Battle's voice is at it's silvery best, rich with emotiveness, expression and artistic grace. A wonderful blend of neo- classic, post-romantic and twentieth century music this is any music buffs forte, and worthy of being in any singers library.