If There Was a Way

1. Distance Between You and Me

2. Heart That You Own

3. Takes a Lot to Rock You

4. Nothing's Changed Here

5. Sad, Sad Music

6. Since I Started Drinkin' Again

7. If There Was a Way

8. Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose

9. It Only Hurts When I Cry

10. Send a Message to My Heart

11. I Don't Need It Done

12. You're the One

13. Dangerous Man

14. Let's Work Together

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Dwight Yoakam's fourth studio album was his most muscular yet. Alongside the overtly rocking cuts, his honky-tonkers also kicked harder than anywhere in his catalog; on top of all this, he gave his loosest, most assured-sounding vocal performances to date. That he cowrote one of the disc's biggest singles, "It Only Hurts When I Cry," with Roger Miller makes perfect sense; Yoakam and Miller shared an ambivalently loving attitude toward the country-music establishment. Yoakam's insistence on going his own way would lead to even more indelible long-players, but If There Was a Way remains among his most impressive. --Rickey Wright

Tracks:

Distance Between You And Me
The Heart That You Own
Takes A Lot To Rock You
Nothing's Changed Here
Sad, Sad Music
Since I Started Drinkin' Again
If There Was A Way
Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose
It Only Hurts When I Cry
Send A Message To My Heart
I Don't Need It Done
You're The One
Dangerous Man
Let's Work Together

Amazon.com essential recording

Dwight Yoakam's fourth studio album was his most muscular yet. Alongside the overtly rocking cuts, his honky-tonkers also kicked harder than anywhere in his catalog; on top of all this, he gave his loosest, most assured-sounding vocal performances to date. That he cowrote one of the disc's biggest singles, "It Only Hurts When I Cry," with Roger Miller makes perfect sense; Yoakam and Miller shared an ambivalently loving attitude toward the country-music establishment. Yoakam's insistence on going his own way would lead to even more indelible long-players, but If There Was a Way remains among his most impressive. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

There IS a Way . . . ........2006-12-11

"If There Was A Way" to hear and experience an audio electric kaleidoscope of musical emotions, this album by one of "counrty's" most interstingly edgy artists will provide it.

Turn up the volume and become engulphed with the rush of "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose"! . . .

Then the "happy sadness" masked by the clown in the lyrical lament co-written by Dwight and the late Roger Miller in "It Only Hurts When I Cry".

That bitter/sweet song is perhaps equalled by the flat-out melancholy of "You're The One".

And for reason i can't quite seem to explain, nor do I try, my favorite track on this album is the electric amped-up buzz of "Dangerous Man". (I first heard this track played on the then TNN television show, "Club Dance" and something about its "sound" just drew me into it and simply swamped me with its magic.

Dwight Yoakam is not just a performer of country music . . . he is an artist who puts his laughter and tears into his lyrics and music . . . he reality of that comes through in each note that you listen to. Dwight's music and recordings transcend the fads of the times and are timeless . . . they will be listened to and enjoyed and appreciated decades and decades from now . . . but is Dwight a "Dangerous Man"? :)

Review of Dwight Yoakam's cd "If There Was a Way".......2006-11-06

It's an excellent cd. I just love it.

Goose Bumps in 2006.......2006-10-25

I ordered this Dwight Yoakam 1990 release in October of 2006 and received it yesterday. I've played in five times now over and over (in my office) and the goose bumps most of it gives me just won't go away. The Kostas songs, in particular, kick it up to a near frenzy. This is timeless consistent brilliance! And it was you Amazon reviewers who convinced me I needed this CD... Thank you all!!!!!

My all time favorite album of all.......2006-10-06

Like some of the other reviewers I did not at first appreciate this ablum. However, the more I have played it the more I liked it. Never before have I replayed an album so much. This is an album for me, most of the songs really speak to me. Give this album a chance if at first you don't like it, because it is one to grow on you.

More great Dwight sounds.......2006-04-14

Another fine release from Dwight Yoakam, this one released after his first Greatest Hits collection. While you'd expect nothing short of perfection from Dwight, this one throws a few surprises and you can see a slight movement away from the sounds of his first three albums. This one includes a duet with Patty Loveless "Send a Message to My Heart" that showcases the talent of both artists. And while this CD contains a little more rowdy sound with numbers such as "Takes a Lot to Rock You" and "Dangerous Man", it also throws in the usual bluegrass number with "Since I Started Drinking Again". There's the usual ballads with, "You're the One' and "Sad, Sad Music", and the brilliant guitar of Pete Anderson showcased in "......Turn Me Loose". This is the stepping stone between "Hillbilly Deluxe/Buenos Noches..." and "This Time", so it is a must-have album for the Dwight Yoakam fan. Well, actually, it's a must have album for any fan of true country music. A+

Bea Arthur on Broadway - Just Between Friends

Average customer rating:

And Then There's BEA!
Golden Girl Shines Brightly
Alive and Unforgettable
A trip down memory lane...
A Truly Remarkable Accomplishment

Bea Arthur on Broadway - Just Between Friends
Bea Arthur
Manufacturer: Drg
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Golden Girls: A Lifetime Intimate Portrait Series
Maude - The Complete First Season
The Golden Girls - The Complete Fourth Season
The Golden Girls - The Complete Sixth Season
Mame

ASIN: B00005YTRL
Release Date: 2002-02-12

Tracks:

Lamb Recipe
Fun To Be Fooled
Introduction
What Can You Get A Nudist For Her Birthday?
Auditions
Isn't He Adorable
Fiddler on the Roof
Let's Face The Music And Dance
Bosom Buddies
Angela Lansbury
Threepenny Opera/ Pirate Jenny
It Never Was YOu
And Then There's Maude
Some People
The Soup Ladle
Where Do You Start
Bernie Schwartz
If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' On It!
Personal Hygiene
Who Cares
Fifty Percent
The Nun's Story
You're Gonna Hear From Me
The Chance To Sing
The Man in the Moon is a Lady

Amazon.com

More comedy monologue than musical performance, Bea Arthur's one-woman show Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends collects memories from the silver-haired star's life on Broadway (Fiddler on the Roof, Mame, The Threepenny Opera) and television (Maude, The Golden Girls).

"I wanted to see if I had the guts to just come and be myself," Arthur says in this performance recorded in front of a live audience in December 2001. Alongside co-creator and pianist Billy Goldenberg, she offers wry and often funny anecdotes about her career and the people she's worked with (Angela Lansbury, Pia Zadora). When she does sing ... well, even decades ago Arthur didn't have a beautiful voice, but she's well-suited to the comedy songs. And her versions of Kurt Weill's "Pirate Jenny" and Goldenberg's own "Fifty Percent"--while they won't make anyone forget Lotte Lenya or Dorothy Loudon--are effective in their own right. Bea Arthur on Broadway is definitely more Bea than Broadway, but it's a career well worth remembering. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

And Then There's BEA!.......2007-01-20

Thank goodness this is available on CD. I saw the show twice in Manhattan and once in P-town MA. She is an American treasure. What's nice is that you don't need to have had seen the live performance to enjoy this CD. (Though I'd love to have it on DVD.) Just Bea, Billy, a piano and yet so much more!!!!!

Golden Girl Shines Brightly.......2005-10-21

For anyone who has ever laughed as Bea Arthur deftly put people in their place with her lightning quick wit as Dorothy on the "Golden Girls", they will not be disappointed with this CD. Arthur, some 9 years after leaving the small screen, returns triumphantly to her professional roots, the stage, and does not disappoint. Mixing antedotal stories with classic songs, all to the accompianment of Billy Goldenburg, Arthur weaves her life in a brillant 90 minute tapestry so that the listener regrets ever reaching the end. Anyone who has ever seen Arthur perform on stage, or as Maude or Dorothy, they will not regret purchasing this CD. For that rare minority of people who have not have the privilage of seeing Arthur previously should find out what they have been missing of this American icon.

Alive and Unforgettable.......2004-11-21

Bea Arthur. Nearing 80. And yet, her continuing vitality is blatantly obvious in this live recording. I will tell you this--I bought this disc with no expectations whatsoever. I like Golden Girls as much as the next chap, and I was slightly curious about what Bea had become.

The simple truth was that I was stunned. Completely stunned. Again, this sounds as the same, alive, malicious woman who portrayed those "affirmative women" on TV (per her own words). She mocks her own voice, recalling the humiliation of being mistaken for the man of the house through the phone ... and some--who buy this disk with the intent of getting a faultless musical performance--might agree (and according to some reviews her, HAVE agreed) that her voice is perhaps too deep, too cutting, not pure enough. But this is NOT (and I stress it) a musical performance per se, it is not a perfectly rounded voice singing perfect standards.

What this disc is? A drama performance. The songs are intermissed with speech interludes, during which Bea narrates anecdotes from her past experience as an actress--and that's is PRECISELY what is MAGIC. You feel as though she's inviting you to witness the high points of her life, and it's a very nice place. The songs, seem alive as rarely before, because they are performed. She renders them with life, and make the most of her abilities.

I really appreciated some of the smaller things. You get to recognize her trademark, slightly embarassed, `You know' ... She'll make you laugh with good natured reminiscence ("A Mother's Ingenuity"!); some of the songs are delightfully imperfect, (I learned to love the half-sung/half-spoken "What Do You Start" ...), some others are wonderfully dynamic ("What Can You Get a Nudist For Her Birthday?", "Threepenny Opera/Pirate Jenny" ...), but all are very enjoyable ...

Be it "Isn't He Adorable?" or "If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' on It" ... every track on this disc will have you fondly reminisce or curiously discover the career of one helluva woman.

You really can't be disappointed. I promise.

If only we could have a visual as well!

A trip down memory lane..........2003-10-19

Bea Arthur, one of the finest performers of her time.
Bea is most known for her role on the sitcoms Golden Girls and Maude, but she's done so much theater work as well.
She was in the cast of the original U.S production of "Threepenny Opera" starring Lotta Lenya, and in the original cast of "Fiddler On The Roof" and "Mame". But Bea started her theater career in a show called "The Shoestring Revue".
Bea stoled the scene every night when she performed as yente the Matcmaker on "Fiddler On The Roof" and she also got a hole lot of response as Vera Charles on "Mame", starring Angela Lansbury. In this live performence Bea performs a collection of songs chosen by herself, such as, "Let's Face The Music And Dance", "Isn't He Adorable", "Fifty Percent" and her theme song from Mame "The Man In The Moon". Bea is absolutely one of our time finest performers, with her witty sence of knowledge and her indefiable voice she has establised herself as a broadway legend, alongside Judy Garland, Elaine Stritch, Mary Martin. She is one of the last broadway female legends alive. And still going strong, Bea is rounding 80, but you wouldn't notice.
Do yourself a favour and take a trip down down memory lane, it's your chance to hang out with the last female broadway legend around.

A Truly Remarkable Accomplishment.......2003-06-16

As a huge fan of Bea Arthur's, I was very excited when I heard she would return to Broadway to do a one-woman show. Not since winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for "Mame" has Bea Arthur been on stage. Well, what a way to follow up! This cd (which was recorded during a live performance) Bea gives fans an intimate look into her show business life. The stories are very funny and touching, and the songs (which Bea picked out herself) are fun, beautiful, and magical. A favorite part of this cd for me, is when Bea talks about her days on TV. She was the star of two very successful and groundbreaking sitcoms, "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" I am a huge fan of "The Golden Girls" and Bea's character Dorothy was always my favorite. This cd is a must for any Bea Arthur fan, but the appeal of this amazing show goes beyond her hardcore fans. Any fan of classic Broadway and cabaret songs will love this cd. This is one of the favorite cds I own, and should be treasured by more people. And finally, as a sidenote, Bea's one-woman show was nominated for a Tony Award in 2001 in the category of Best Special Theatrical Event.

Rodgers & Hammerstein: Songbook for Orchestra (Orchestral Suites)

Average customer rating:

Irresistible
"Some Enchanted Evening" with Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops
Excellent!
Great Arrangments

Rodgers & Hammerstein: Songbook for Orchestra (Orchestral Suites)

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Lerner & Loewe Songbook for Orchestra
Rodgers & Hammerstein - The Complete Overtures ~ Opening Night / Hollywood Bowl Orchestra · Mauceri
Puttin' on the Ritz: The Great Hollywood Musicals
The Sound Of Music (1987 Studio Cast)
Classics of the Silver Screen

ASIN: B000003CXQ
Release Date: 1992-01-28

Tracks:

Oklahoma!
Carousel
State Fair
South Pacific
The King And I
Cinderella Waltz
Flower Drum Song
The Sound Of Music

Customer Reviews:

Irresistible.......2005-07-29

From beginning to end this CD is pure delight. A great recording has great music, a great performance, and great sound; this one scores on all three counts.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's musicals dominated Broadway in the 1940s and 1950s, and American musical theater has produced no more consistently eloquent and durable voice than Richard Rodgers. From his fertile genius flowed a surprising number of memorable songs, many of which have passed into and become an accepted and beloved part of modern American culture.

This well-filled CD (77:36) features symphonic arrangements (all but two by Robert Russell Bennett) of the music from Oklahoma (1943), Carousel (1945), State Fair (1945), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), Flower Drum Song (1958), and The Sound of Music (1959). All the great tunes are here in suites from each musical that average 10-12 minutes in length. The arrangements are expert: rich, varied, and colorful. The performances are polished, idiomatic, and irresistible; Kunzel and this orchestra are thorough masters of this kind of material. And Telarc's sound (recorded 1991) is state-of-the-art (engineer Michael Bishop deserves to take a bow).

In short, there's nothing here to cloud your listening pleasure (the only quibble I can imagine is that some of your favorites may not last long enough), so it's hard for me to envision anyone with ears and a taste for music who wouldn't enjoy this CD. Warmly recommended. Finally, if you like this one as much as I do, you might want to know that the same team has produced a companion volume, the Lerner & Lowe Songbook for Orchestra.

"Some Enchanted Evening" with Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops.......2003-12-26

Erich Kunzel's Rodgers and Hammerstein anthology with the Cincinatti Pops Orchestra is one of the best and most ravishing instrumental Rodgers and Hammerstein albums of all time. With sumptuous arrangements and warm, natural Telarc recording, this glorious 77-minute CD presents sweeping, melodic arrangements of over 60 Rodgers and Hammerstein selections, spanning eight scores, and Kunzel allows the Pops to play with a characterful and polished understanding of the Rodgers and Hammerstein idiom. The disc is enough to cheer you up on a dull day and make you smile, and it might even want to make you feel like a convert to Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals.

This CD has all the scores arranged chronologically. The OKLAHOMA! suite that opens this disc promises a feast for the senses, Kunzel ably evokes the territory's "bright, golden haze" in the way he conducts the various excerpts, until you feel the atmosphere of the country charm of the show, and the love-affair between Curly and Laurey. Then, in CAROUSEL, he ably evokes the pathos of this tragic R&H masterwork, especially in the truncated Waltz, but he leads a wonderfully melodic "June is Bustin' Out All Over" and a devotional "You'll Never Walk Alone." Although this suite does not include Billy's pivotal Soliloquy, it includes "If I Loved You" as an expression of his love for Julie, and within minutes you could be soaked in the ups and downs of the show's mood.

After a brief STATE FAIR suite, with sweeping renditions of "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing", we are brought into the disc's showstopping highlights. These highlights are the excerpts from SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING AND I, and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. But yet Kunzel conducts the rest of the disc until the various suites amount to a series of showstoppers. These three suites present wonderfully-arranged versions of their many familiar classic songs, with well-played solos. The SOUTH PACIFIC suite presents the songs in chronological order, yet preserves the atmosphere of the show at the same time. Kunzel ably brings out the romance in "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Younger than Springtime," and contrasts it with the exotic and dreamlike "Bali Hai'i" and the comic "There is Nothing like a Dame" and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair". Although the suite ends quietly with a reprise of "Dites-Moi" rather than the reprise of "Some Enchanted Evening," within minutes we are swept into the KING AND I suite. Kunzel ably brings out the Oriental pathos in this score, and he captures the warmth of Anna's rapport with the King's Siamese children in "Getting to Know You", and with the King himself in "Shall We Dance." There is also romance in the love ballads "I Have Dreamed" and "We Kiss in a Shadow." Similarly, in the selection from THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Kunzel conducts this until the orchestra soaks itself in the atmosphere of this Austrian R&H score. This SOUND OF MUSIC suite has more of a feel of the score compared to the bonus track on Sony's reissued version of the Broadway recording. You can almost feel as if you are following the progress of the Trapp family and how it lifts its spirits with the joy of music. Kunzel gives us a soaring version of the title song, and spirited versions of "Do-Re-Mi" and "My Favourite Things." He balances it with the open-air quality of "Edelweiss" and "The Lonely Goatherd." Although this suite could have included "Something Good," the love ballad written for the film, the three recollections of the songs that were cut from the movie only last for a while. And, the towering version of "Climb Every Mountain" crowns this portion of the disc, and this sumptuously-produced recording. But, I should also mention the infectuous FLOWER DRUM SONG medley, where Kunzel turns this underrated score into a work of art, until it convinces you to buy the cast recording. And, don't forget about the brief CINDERELLA WALTZ, too, when Kunzel conducts it magically, until you feel like you are in the company of Cinderella and the Prince. He is able to show how this R&H score marked a comeback for R&H after the failiures of Me and Juliet, and Pipe Dream.

Overall, this glorious Rodgers and Hammerstein recording is guarunteed to make you want to pucker your lips out for a whistle or sing along (to paraphrase another revew for Kunzel's Disney Spectacular disc) - even if this recording is music only, and as long as you know the words to the songs (and you might know a large handful of them already.) There is always a certain magic in this fine CD that makes you feel like you're sitting in the theatre watching these musicals, until it makes you feel like it is truly, to borrow two R&H song titles, "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Something Wonderful" to be in Kunzel's company for this R&H offering. It would certainly be one recording that could make you feel willing to buy the complete cast recordings of the shows. And I guaruntee that it will make you feel willing to pull out your existing copies of the cast recordings to listen to them again. I also guaruntee that it will be a cornerstone in any Rodgers and Hammerstein collection, just as it is in mine. Recommended heartily to any Rodgers and Hammerstein enthusiast and to fans of Erich Kunzel's work. And, you can play it while reading the Richard Rodgers biography, Musical Stages, until Rodgers himself would count this as his favourite disc in the afterlife.

By the way, most of the arrangements for the suites on this CD were done by the veteran R&H orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett, and it surely adds to the appeal of this recording. This itself is enough to amount to the icing on the cake, since Kunzel conducts them well on here, and since this recording still allows the suites to have the original theatrical atmosphere. And, although this recording is like the Mauceri collection of the Rodgers & Hammerstein overtures in compiling orchestral suites of Rodgers & Hammerstein, I think that I like the Kunzel recording even more because Kunzel has more magic in his conducting of these suites.

Excellent!.......2003-04-08

This is one of the best Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops collections we own! A must for Rodgers and Hammerstein fans, too.

Great Arrangments.......2001-09-02

This is a first rate album with great arrangments and orchestrations. If you're a Rodgers and Hammerstein fan, you can't afford to miss this specatacular album

Elaine Stritch - At Liberty (2002 Original Broadway Production)

Average customer rating:

A National Treasure
Stritch is superb
Entertaining but grating on the ears
Great Broadway Review
Elaine Stritch at Liberty

Elaine Stritch - At Liberty (2002 Original Broadway Production)
Elaine Stritch , Irving Berlin , John/ Stritch, Elaine Lohr , Porter P. Grainger , Albert Hague , Stephen Sondheim , Carl Sigman , Richard Rodgers , Sir Noel Coward , George Gershwin , Jule Styne , John Campo , and Billy Miller
Manufacturer: Drg
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Elaine Stritch at Liberty
Bea Arthur on Broadway - Just Between Friends
Stritch
Company - A Musical Comedy (1970 Original Broadway Cast)
Company (2006 Broadway Revival Cast)

ASIN: B000060P33
Release Date: 2002-04-02

Tracks:

There's No Business Like Show Business (Berlin)
Caca
I Want a Long Time Daddy (Grainger)
A Piece of Mahler
This Is All Very New to Me (Hague/Horwitt)
Going to New York
Marlon Brando
Broadway Baby (Sondheim)
My First Broadway Show
Civilization (Hilliard/Sigman)
Ethel Merman
Can You Use Any Money Today? (Berlin)
Pal Joey
Zip (Hart/Rodgers)
Ben Gazzara
Nokl Coward
Why Do the Wrong People Travel (Coward)
Richard Burton
But Not for Me/If Love Were All (Gershwin/Gershwin)
I'm Still Here (Sondheim)
Booze
Little Things You Do Together (Sondheim)
The Ladies Who Lunch (Sondheim)
John Bay
There Was Never a Baby Like My Baby (Comden/Green/Styne)
I've Been to a Marvelous Party (Coward)
God So Quickly
The Party's Over (Comden/Green/Styne)
Absent Almost Always
Something Good (Rodgers)

Tracks:

I'm Still Here (Sondheim)
Booze
Little Things You Do Together (Sondheim)
The Ladies Who Lunch (Sondheim)
John Bay
There Was Never a Baby Like My Baby (Comden/Green/Styne)
I've Been to a Marvelous Party (Coward)
God So Quickly
The Party's Over (Comden/Green/Styne)
Absent Almost Always
Something Good (Rodgers)

Amazon.com

Elaine Stritch is a legend and she knows it. And so she came up with a whole one-woman show about the best topic she could think of: her life in the theater. And what a trip it's been. From Ethel Merman to Noel Coward, Stritch has worked with some of the greatest names to grace the American stage, and she has anecdotes about all of them (most are included on this recording). In this show, she hits all the marks with the acuity of a seasoned pro who's seen it all and whose love for the theater remains undiluted. Stritch is not a traditionally pretty singer (those gravelly pipes!), but she absolutely knows how to give life to a song, extracting the last drop of meaning, dropping pauses for effect with deadly accuracy. Sondheim's "Ladies Who Lunch" and "Broadway Baby" will be hers forever, and a case could be made for the hilarious "Zip" (from Pal Joey) and the obscure, spectacularly politically incorrect "Civilization" (from the revue Angel in the Wings) as well. Fittingly, this two-CD set includes "I'm Still Here," which may well be Stritch's motto. If you're looking for a concise yet bewitching history of the musical, this is it. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

A National Treasure.......2007-07-05

This double CD is stuffed full of great songs and amazing stories. My favorite stories are of Elaine's date with Marlon Brando, what she thought some lyric are/meant, and her time in Compant. The total honesty that she brings it all together is touching and inspiring.

Very few people have the length or variety of a career that Elaine Stritch has had. I am sure that she has enough stories to do ten more shows.

If you love Broadway then you must buy this CD.

Stritch is superb.......2007-06-27

The only disappointment is that I missed the show live. This is a terrific honest performance by an actor who has a deep well of experience from which to draw. From her early childhood memories, through acting school, her loves, her struggles and more, Ms Stritch weaves a fascinating and completely enthralling story. Ultimately, she lives the songs, rather than just performs and this is what really marks her out.
I am so glad, she's still here!

Entertaining but grating on the ears.......2007-05-11

I've never been able to understand what is so great about Elaine Stritch's singing. It's simple: she can't sing. I've tried and tried to like her, and I do, as an actress, but NOT as a singer. Listening to these CDs, all I hear is a grouchy old lady voice with no vibrato, no range, and no ability to hold notes. If she were to try out for American Idol she would get cringes! I love her humor and honesty, and that's why I bought this, but the voice...ugh.

Great Broadway Review.......2007-04-11

I thoroughly enjoy this collection of stories from her experiences from a teenage girl in Michigan through her career, very funny, some sad and great entertainment.

Elaine Stritch at Liberty.......2007-01-19

Completely entertaining---a bit maudilin in places, but a must have for any Elaine Stritch fan.

Certainly worth the money!

Two on the Aisle (1951 Original Broadway Cast)

Average customer rating:

There's No Show & No Play: Just Bert Lahr & Dolores Grey
average score, average recording
A FORGOTTEN MUSICAL THAT DESERVES TO BE REDISCOVERED
Yawn
A worthy addition to your collection

Two on the Aisle (1951 Original Broadway Cast)
Jule Styne , Betty Comden , and Adolph Green
Manufacturer: Decca Broadway
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Make a Wish (1951 Original Broadway Cast)
The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Original Broadway Cast)
Baker Street, A Musical Adventure of Sherlock Holmes (1965 Original Broadway Cast)
Company (2006 Broadway Revival Cast)
Grey Gardens - A New Musical (2006 Original Broadway Cast)

ASIN: B00005O6KR
Release Date: 2001-09-25

Tracks:

Overture
Show Train
Hold Me, Hold Me, Hold Me (Hold Me Tight)
Here She Comes Now
There Never Was a Baby Like My Baby
Vaudeville Ain't Dead
Catch Our Act at the Met (Finale, Act I)
Give a Little -- Get a Little
Everlasting
If You Hadn't but You Did
The Clown
How Will He Know?
Finale

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A mix of songs and sketches, 1951's Two on the Aisle belongs to the much maligned revue genre. Aficionados of integrated musicals often turn up their noses at this kind of show, but when the songs are composed by Jule Styne, written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and sung by Dolores Gray, you'd be a fool to be a snob. Gray may be half-forgotten by all but hardcore fans these days, but she was one of Broadway's most compelling leading ladies in the 1950s and 1960s (you can get a glimpse of her fabulousness in Vincente Minnelli's film Designing Woman.) Here, she gets five solos, and she shines on all of them. This recording may be the best introduction to her singular genius. Gray also teams up with Bert Lahr, not much of a singer but a comedian with deadly timing, which is good enough for hilarious numbers like "Catch Our Act at the Met," in which Donizetti follows Don Ameche and Met rhymes with Rigolett'. This is a most welcome reissue. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

There's No Show & No Play: Just Bert Lahr & Dolores Grey.......2004-10-20

A forgotten revue that played a half-season on Broadway. Even at the time it was pleasant though unsensational entertainment. The recording has long been out-of-print and has never generated the same demand as other forgotten flops. Without the comic sketches which were the show's high points, the album is curiously flat, and contains a great deal of filler. "Everlasting" has to be one of the most boring love songs ever written for the Broadway stage. Grey shines in her big number "If You hadn't But You Did" and shares the spotlight with Lahr for "Vaudeville ain't dead/Catch our act at the Met."

It should be said that the music is far from jule Styne's best and Comden and Green's lyrics are nothing special.

average score, average recording.......2003-07-09

Decca Broadway have brought back into the light another of those fabulous musical rareties, TWO ON THE AISLE. Grab this recording if only for the sublime performance of Dolores Gray.

Yes, Dolores Gray is the only real reason you should buy this cast-album. Her songs are fantastic, with her wit and high-wattage talent easily evident in numbers like "There Was Never a Baby Like My Baby", "Hold Me, Hold Me, Hold Me (Hold Me Tight)", and her 2 show-stoppers "How Will He Know?" and "If".

Bert Lahr STILL sounds like the Cowardly Lion from THE WIZARD OF OZ, and his numbers are comical if nothing else. I particularly enjoyed his "The Clown", but, like another reviewer has said, he just doesn't come off well in recordings.

The score, by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne, is average if anything. Decca Broadway's remastering of this album is quite patchy, with quite a bit of hiss and excessive surface-noise. During Gray's "How Will He Know?" there is quite a bit of hiss in evidence.

However, die-hard Broadway fans will get a kick out of listening to Dolores Gray's 'summer-of-1951 hit.

A FORGOTTEN MUSICAL THAT DESERVES TO BE REDISCOVERED.......2003-02-09

"Two on the Aisle" was the first show Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne wrote together, and it is a humdinger! The show, first presented in 1951, is actually a revue with some of the most memorable songs the trio ever wrote. Starring Bert Lahr and Dolores Grey, it has forgotten gems that will make you laugh out loud. This was the last of the star-powered extravaganzas such as Ziegfeld used to produce with lavish spectacle, enormous choruses and sets that went for for days, if not weeks. Still, the quality of the music and lyrics cannot be overlooked. The show has pretty much fallen into complete obscurity, but anyone with a love for musicals and respect for the revue form will greatly enjoy listening to it over and over again. (Submitted by staff member Stephen J. Finn)

Yawn.......2003-02-01

Absolutely tedious. Hardly any songs of even passing merit--this is Styne at his most generic. Worse, Bert Lahr hardly appears; this is very much the Dolores Gray show, and who wants that? Lahr's one number is indeed entertaining, but not worth the cost of the disc.

A worthy addition to your collection.......2002-02-23

One of the last and best revues. Bert Lahr and Delores Grey are in fine form. Comden and Green's lyrics (especially their reviews of the other shows on Bway) are particularly sharp. Not my favorite CD, but a worthy addition to my collection.

Average customer rating:

Janet Baker Sings
Haydn , Beethoven , Baker , Menuhin , and Malcom
Manufacturer: Testament UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Very Best of Janet Baker

ASIN: B000063WAR
Release Date: 2002-09-10

Average customer rating:

Excellent ... but ...

Vintage Gilbert & Sullivan

Manufacturer: Sanctuary
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Gilbert & Sullivan Favourites
Gilbert & Sullivan - Highlights from The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Yeomen of the Guard, Trial of Jury

ASIN: B000AA5XFW
Release Date: 2005-10-03

Tracks:

A Wand'ring Minstrel 1
Behold The Lord High Executioner
Three Litttle Maids From School
Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze
A More Humane Mikado
Flowers That Bloom In The Spring
On A Tree By A River A Little Tom-Tit
There Is Beauty In The Bellow Of The Blast
When U Good Friends Was Called To The Bar
We Sail The Ocean Blue
I'm Called Little Buttercup
I Am The Captain Of The Pinafore
When I Was A Lad I Served A Term
Never Mind The Why And Wherefore
Carefully On Tiptoe Stealing
He Is An Englishman
Oh Better Far To Live And Die
Poor Wand'ring One
I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General
Then Fred'ric Let Your Escort, Lion Hearted When The Foeman Bares His Steel
When A Felon's Not Engaged
With Cat-Like Tread
I Cannot Tell What This Love May Be
If You Want A Receipt For That Popular Mystery
So Go To Him And Say To Him
Loudly Let The Trumper Bray... Bow Ye Lower Middle Classes
Love Unrequited Robs Me Of My Rest.... When You're Lying Awake With A Dismal
If You Go In You're Sure To Win
My Boy You May Take It From Me
When The Night Wind Howls
When Maiden Loves She Sits And Sighs
When Our Gallant Norman Foes
I Have A Song To Sing, Oh!
Were I Thy Bride
List And Learn
In Enterprise Of Martial Kind
There Was A Time
Do Not Give Way... Then One Of Us
Take A Pair Of Sparkling Eyes
Dance A Cachucha

Customer Reviews:

Excellent ... but ..........2007-02-07

As a vintage G&S listener, I appreciated this collection but I think it would mostly appeal to the specialist-completeist. A newcomer to the genre would do well to get a full operetta DVD. (I prefer the OK BBC performances to the tarted up & modernised Australian ones.)

Old-comers probably already have all these tracks as part of their collection of vintage full operetta recordings.

But don't let my idiosynchratic views deter you if you really like G&S... but not to the extent of buying all the vintage full operetta versions.

Average customer rating:

Good bargain.

56 Favorites

Manufacturer: Prism Leisure
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Gilbert & Sullivan - Highlights from The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Yeomen of the Guard, Trial of Jury

ASIN: B000068ZTB
Release Date: 2002-05-31

Tracks:

Hark the Hour of Ten Is Sounding [From Trial by Jury]
Judge's Song [From Trial by Jury]
We Sail the Ocean Blue..... Buttercup's Song [From H. M. S. Pinafore]
My Gallant Crew... I Am the Captin of the Pinafore [From H. M. S. ...]
When I Was a Lad [From H. M. S. Pinafore]
Never Mind the Why and Wherefore [From H. M. S. Pinafore]
He Is an Englishman [From H. M. S. Pinafore]
Pirate King's Song [From the Pirates of Penzance]
Oh Is There Not One Maiden Breast? ...Poor Wandering One [From the ...]
How Beautifully Blue the Sky [From the Pirates of Penzance]
I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General [From the Pirates of ...]
When the Foeman Bears His Steel [From the Pirates of Penzance]
When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold [From the Pirates of Penzance]
Ah! Leave Me Not to Pine Alone [From the Pirates of Penzance]
Policeman's Lot Is Not a Happy One [From the Pirates of Penzance]
With Catlike Tread [From the Pirates of Penzance]
March and Entry of the Peers [From Iolanthe]
Law Is the True Embodiment [From Iolanthe]
When I Went to the Bar [From Iolanthe]
When All Night Long [From Iolanthe]
When Britain Really Ruled the Waves [From Iolanthe]
Oh Foolish Fay [From "Iolanthe"]
Nightmare Song [From Iolanthe]
If You Go In [From Iolanthe]
Finale: Soon as We May [From Iolanthe]

Tracks:

If You Want to Know Who We Are.... a Wandering Minstrel I [From ...]
Our Great Mikado [From the Mikado]
Behold the Lord High Executioner [From the Mikado]
I've Got a Little List [From the Mikado]
Three Little Maids from School [From the Mikado]
Braid the Raven Hair [From the Mikado]
Sun Whose Rays [From the Mikado]
Here's a How-De-Do [From the Mikado]
More Humane Mikado [From the Mikado]
Flowers That Bloom in the Spring [From the Mikado]
Tit Willow [From the Mikado]
There Is Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast [From the Mikado]
Is Life a Boon? [From the Yeomen of the Guard]
Where I Thy Bride [From the Yeomen of the Guard]
Hereupon We're Both Agreed [From the Yeomen of the Guard]
Strange Adventure [From the Yeomen of the Guard]
Man Who Would Woo a Fair Maid [From the Yeomen of the Guard]
When a Wooer Goes a Wooing [From the Yeomen of the Guard]
For the Merriest Fellows Are We [From the Gondoliers]
We're Called Gondolieri [From the Gondoliers]
From the Sunny Spanish Shore [From the Gondoliers]
In Enterprise of Martial Kind [From the Gondoliers]
I Stole the Prince [From the Gondoliers]
When a Merry Maiden Marries [From the Gondoliers]
Regular, Royal Queen [From the Gondoliers]
Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes [From the Gondoliers]
There Lived a King [From the Gondoliers]
In a Contemplative Fashion [From the Gondoliers]
Small Titles and Orders [From the Gondoliers]
I Am a Courtier Grave and Serious [From the Gondoliers]
Finale: Once More Gondolieri [From the Gondoliers]

Customer Reviews:

Good bargain........2004-08-25

The performances are good--this is the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, after all--and you get 2 full CDs, with 2 selections from "Trial by Jury", 5 from "HMS Pinafore", 9 from "The Pirates of Penzance", 9 from "Iolanthe", 12 from "The Mikado", 6 from "The Yeomen of the Guard", and 13 from "The Gondoliers". The booklet is a bit skimpy, and only lists recording dates for the first CD (1929-1949). But the sound is good, and the music is great, and at this price it's a great "greatest hits" collection.

Average customer rating:

A bargain collection of showtunes

Golden Greats: Greatest Broadway Hits

Manufacturer: Golden Greats
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00005USEJ
Release Date: 2002-02-26

Tracks:

Ouverture - Orchestra
Something Wonderfull - Dorothy Sarnoff
Doin' What Comes Natur'lly - Ethel Merman
Life Upon the Wicked Stage - Colette Lyons
So in Love - Patricia Morison
You'll Never Walk Alone - Jan Clayton, Christine Johnson
Bill - Carol Bruce
Hello, Young Lovers - Gertrude Lawrence
Bloody Mary - Male Chorus
I Can't Say No - Celeste Holm
This Was a Real Nice Clambake - Jan Clayton,
Oklahoma! - Alfred Drake
Sue Me - Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene
Woman Is a Sometime Thing - Edward Matthews
Some Enchanted Evening - Ezio Pinza,
I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' - Todd Duncan, Todd Duncan
Guys and Dolls - Douglas Deane, Stubby Kaye, Johnny Silver
It Ain't Necessarily So - Lawrence Tibbett
Make Believe - Jan Clayton
Wonderful Guy - Mary Martin
They Say It's Wonderful - Ethel Merman
When the Children Are Asleep - Jean Darling, Eric Mattson
More I Cannot Wish You - Pat Rooney, Sr., Pat Rooney, Sr.
Puzzlement - Yul Brynner
I Got Lost in His Arms - Ethel Merman

Tracks:

Overture...Summertime - Anne Brown
Why Can't You Behave? - Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man - Carol Bruce
There's No Business Like Show Business - Chorus
If I Were a Bell - Isabel Bigley
People Will Say That We're in Love - Alfred Drake, Joan Roberts
Bess, You Is My Woman Now - Anne Brown
Luck Be a Lady Tonight - Robert Alda
Shall I Tell You What I Think of You? - Gertrude Lawrence
Girl That I Marry - Ray Middleton
Nobody Else But Me - Jan Clayton
Carousel Waltz - Orchestra
Dites-Moi - Barbara Luna
Ol' Man River - Kenneth Spencer
Summertime
Many a New Day - Joan Roberts
Blow High, Blow Low - Murvyn Vye
It Takes a Long Pull to Get There - Edward Matthews
You've Got to Be Carefully Taught - Billy Tabbert
We Open in Venice - Alfred Drake
I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair - Mary Martin
Who Do You Love, I Hope? - Kathleen Carnes, Robert Lenn
I've Never Been in Love Before - Robert Alda
Tom, Dick or Harry - Lisa Kirk
I Whistle a Happy Tune - Gertrude Lawrence

Tracks:

New York, New York - Lynn Murray, Lynn Murray
Almost Like Being in Love - Marion Bell, Dave Brooks, David Brooks
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - Vivienne Segal
Beat out Dat Rhythm on a Drum - June Hawkins
How Are Things in Glocca Morra? - Ella Logan
Old Devil Moon - Ella Logan
South American Way - Carmen Miranda
September Song - Walter Huston
This Is the Army, Mister Jones - Irving Berlin
Takin' a Chance on Love - Ethel Waters
My Heart Belongs to Daddy - Mary Martin
Anything Goes - Jeanne Aubert & The Four Admirals
You're the Top - Jeanne Aubert & The Four Admirals
I Get a Kick Out of You - Ethel Merman
Night and Day - Fred Astaire
I Got Rhythm - Red Nichols & His Orchestra
Someone to Watch Over Me - Gertrude Lawrence
Fascinatin' Rhythm - Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire
Strike Up the Band - Red Nichols & His Orchestra
Makin' Whoopee - Eddie Cantor
Heatwave - Ethel Waters
Easter Parade - Clifton Webb
She Didn't Say Yes - Peggy Wood
I've Told Every Little Star - Mary Ellis
Johnny One Note - Lynn Murray, Lynn Murray

Album Description

Import exclusive, budget price compilation featuring Broadway classics like 'You'll Never Walk Alone', 'Summertime', & There's No Business Like Show Business', performed by Ethel Merman, Gertrude Lawrence, Celeste Holm, & many more. 75 tracks in all. Standard double jewel case. Disky. 2001.

Album Details

3 CD set

Customer Reviews:

A bargain collection of showtunes.......2005-08-19

This bargain collection of showtunes is highlighted by the composition of Kurt Weill and the uniquely rolling tongue of Colette Lyons. I have a complaint about this compilation. It includes "Ol' Man River", but it excludes Al Jolson's rendition of "Ol' Man River." Otherwise, this collection gives you ample bang for your buck.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful... the next best thing to watching the movies!

Classic Broadway, Vol. 2

Manufacturer: Deuce Boxed Sets
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00005YNDA
Release Date: 2001-06-18

Tracks:

Wilkoommen
Two Ladies
Maybe This Time
Sitting Pretty
Money, Money
Heiraten (Married)
If You Could See Her
Tomorrow Belongs to Me
Cabaret
Finale

Tracks:

Some Enchanted Evening
Younger Than Springtime
This Nearly Was Mine
Cockeyed Optimist
Dites-Moi
Wonderful Guy
Honey Bun
I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair
There Is Nothin' Like a Dame
Bloody Mary

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful... the next best thing to watching the movies!.......2002-08-21

This CD contains highlights from Cabaret:
1. Wilkoommen
2. Two Ladies
3. Maybe This Time
4. Sitting Pretty
5. Money, Money
6. Heiraten (Married)
7. If You Could See Her
8. Tomorrow Belongs to Me
9. Cabaret
10 Finale
and highlights from South Pacific
1. Some Enchanted Evening
2. Younger than Springtime
3. This Nearly Was Mine
4. A Cockeyed Optimist
5. Dites-Moi
6. A Wonderful Guy
7. Honey Bun
8. I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair
9. There is Nothing Like a Dame
10. Bloody Mary
This CD (and volume 1 which has highlights from My Fair Lady and Fiddler on the Roof) are great to sing a long with, listen to, or have as background music.

Music Album:

Music Album