TRACK LISTING
SIDE ONE
1. THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT
(from 'The Band Wagon')
(Dietz/ Schwartz)
2. OVER THE RAINBOW
(from 'The Wizard Of
Oz') (Harburg/ Arlen)
3. A PRETTY GIRL IS LIKE A MELODY
(from 'The Great Ziegfield')
(Irving Berlin)
4. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
(from 'Singin' In The
Rain') (Freed/ Brown)
5. THANK HEAVEN FOR LITTLE GIRLS
(from 'Gigi') (Lerner/
Lowe)
6. BE MY LOVE
(from 'The Toast Of
New Orleans') (Cahn/ Brodksy)
SIDE TWO
1. BROADWAY MELODY
(from 'Broadway Melody
of 1929') (Freed/ Brown)
2. THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME
(from 'The Barkleys
Of Broadway') (Gershwin/ Gershwin)
3. BLESS YORE BEAUTIFUL HIDE
(from 'Seven Brides
For Seven Brothers') (Mercer/ De Paul)
4. THE TROLLEY SONG
(from 'Meet Me In St.
Louis') (Martin/ Blane)
5. BEGIN THE BEGUINE
(from 'Broadway Melody
Of 1940') (Cole Porter)
6. YOU ARE MY LUCKY STAR
(from 'Broadway Melody
Of 1936) (Freed/ Brown)
Recording Engineer: John Iles
Associate Producer: Gil King
Produced by Norman Newell
P1975 A Supertunes Production
When MGM celebrated half-a-century of movie-making in that superb film 'That's Entertainment' they re-introduced not only some of the most brilliant stars ever to sing and dance their way across the screen, but music from some of the greatest shows of all time.
Like
the film, this record is a package of instant nostalgia. A split second
time switch to an era when there were artists who were STARS. When every
aspect of a show, from the performance of a single hit-number down to the
sequins on a chorus-girl's costume was presented with precision and aplomb.
In
the dozen numbers presented here so sympathetically and imaginatively by
Geoff Love and his Orchestra, all are irrevocably linked with the shows
and artists that made them great.
A
handful of years before her pathetically early death in 1969 Judy Garland
gave a sensational performance at Carnegie Hall. People who heard it will
never be able to listen to The Trolley Song or That's Entertainment
without a special tingle down the spine. Likewise anyone who was around
at the time of that wonderful children's film 'The Wizard of Oz' will find
every performance of
Over The Rainbow haunted by the soaring echoes
of her 14-year-old voice.
All
the numbers in 'Gigi', with Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier, were hits
but possibly the one which best conveyed its spring and autumn piquancy
was Thank Heaven For Little Girls. The glorious Be My Love will be associated for thousands more with that unforgettable 'discovery' scene
in 'Toast of New Orleans' with Mario Lanza and Kathryn Grayson, while A
Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody became the unofficial theme-song of all
the Ziegfield Follies shows.
It's said that George and Ira Gershwin provided the score for 'Shall We Dance' starring the inimitable Astaire-Rogers team - without knowing what the script was going to be. It was then accommodated to include six songs, all of which - like They Can't Take That Away From Me - turned out to be jewels. And while we're on the subject of dancing, you only have to hear the first few strains of Singin’ In The Rain, and out of yesterday dances the debonair Gene Kelly, who directed and choreographed the film so beautifully. The lilting title-number Broadway Melody will always be associated with his charm and finesse. Like bread with butter go Begin The Beguine and Cole Porter, and Bless Yore Beautiful Hide (with the lusty voice of Howard Keel) and 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers': music, artist and show all inextricably entwined, each sparking some magic off the other. But whether all these names are alive for you, or some just pages from the album of another person's memory, every single number - as you will hear - has a stature and magnetism on its own account, quite apart from that special gift from the performers and spectaculars that gave it birth -the quality of charisma.
CAROL SPERO
