Although Judy Garland made the recordings heard on this discount-priced two-fer in 1960 and 1962, and she lived until 1969, they represent some of her final studio tracks. (Most of the material for the 1961 album The Garland Touch was recorded in between.) After 1962, Garland's recordings invariably consisted of live performances. The 12 tracks that made up the album called That's Entertainment!, her sixth Capitol Records studio album, are a typical selection of Broadway and Hollywood standards, plus the then-newly written ...
Read More
Although Judy Garland made the recordings heard on this discount-priced two-fer in 1960 and 1962, and she lived until 1969, they represent some of her final studio tracks. (Most of the material for the 1961 album The Garland Touch was recorded in between.) After 1962, Garland's recordings invariably consisted of live performances. The 12 tracks that made up the album called That's Entertainment!, her sixth Capitol Records studio album, are a typical selection of Broadway and Hollywood standards, plus the then-newly written André and Dory Previn song "Yes." Conductor Jack Marshall placed the singer in various settings, including full orchestral arrangements, small-band jazz groups, and even single-instrument backups such as the voice-and-piano version of "It Never Was You." The album was unjustly ignored upon release in the fall of 1960, thrown into even greater shadow when 1961's Judy at Carnegie Hall (which borrows five of its songs) became a big hit. This is a chance for fans to hear it anew. Tracks 13 through 21 are actually the original motion picture soundtrack recordings from I Could Go On Singing, a loosely autobiographical dramatic film that became Garland's final screen appearance in 1963. Three of the nine tracks contain only orchestral background material, one is an impromptu screen performance of a Gilbert & Sullivan song, and "It Never Was You" (repeated from earlier on the disc) and "By Myself" are songs that were long a part of Garland's repertoire. The only new Garland numbers are the title song, which is presented in long and short versions, and a revival of the 1926 Tin Pan Alley tune "Hello, Bluebird." But that title song, written by longtime Garland favorites Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, is a late-career show stopper for the singer. Still, the soundtrack album is just an addendum to the earlier LP. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
Read Less
