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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Liza rarities on Columbia,
By
This review is from: All That Jazz (Audio CD)
Liza Minnelli recorded for Columbia Records from 1972-1978 and produced a number of fine albums for the label. This compilation brings together some of that material but is mainly of interest for the rarities it includes. These rarities are four songs released as singles. They are two songs from Kander and Ebb's show "Chicago" (which Liza appeared in briefly on Broadway substituting for Gwen Verdon) and two songs of no specific origin. The two "Chicago" numbers are "All That Jazz" and "My Own Best Friend" and are both songs that Liza has performed in concert. I saw her perform "All That Jazz" on stage in 1989 as part of "The Ultimate Event" tour and "My Own Best Friend" in her 1981 performances in Sydney. What a pleasure to have these two songs on CD and as performed in the studio. The other songs, "Mr Emery Won't Be Home" and "More Than I Like You", are less memorable with Liza trying for a comtemporary '70's style and more or less succeeding although the material is hardly worth the effort. However, it's good to have them on CD as they are among the most rare of Ms Minnelli's studio recordings. My advice: for the Liza-philes among us this is a must have for the rarities. For those with less than a obsession with the lady, look elsewhere for her best studio recordings.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Smattering Of 70s Liza,
This review is from: All That Jazz (Audio CD)
I've often spoken well of various budget line releases in the past--mainly because a.) they're often a good quick way of getting a feel for what a given artist is all about and b.) they're usually such a grab-bag that it's kind of fun to figure out just where and how the individual tracks might fit into (if you'll pardon the pretense) that performer's "oeuvre." On this release, the tunes date back to the early to mid 70s, and while they're not perfectly chronlogical, they do give the listener an idea of what Liza was up to at this point in her career. This was of course, the post-CABARET era--often thought to be her career high point--and you might therefore expect that these tracks would represent Liza Minnelli at her best.
You'd be half right. But Minnelli--like the Barbra Streisand of the same era--was struggling to find a way tobe true to her big brassy showbiz roots, while also attempting to adapt to a hip and "contemporary sound." In a way, Minnelli was always something of an anachronism, but CABARET and the TV special LIZA WITH A "Z" proved that she could make that trait work for her. She sounds right at home with Kander and Ebb's "All That Jazz (despite the unforunate double tracked vocals toward the end), and even if you never thought you'd ever need yet another big, bold version of "Shine On Harvest Moon," it turns out that you do, as a matter of fact. And when she takes on an understated neo-classic like Kander and Ebb's "Quiet Thing" she is just as at home and pulls it off beautifully. But the the attempts at 70s hipness are mainly duller than dishwater, even when penned by former hubby and usually interesting Peter Allen and songwriter partner Carole Bayer Sager. Their contribution "More Than I Like You" has a certain amount of wit and panache, but it never quite gets off the ground. The normally reliable Kander and Ebb offer up a weaker tune in "My Own Best Friend," which comes of as 70s pop psych at its most lackluster. Another "best friend" song "Your New Best Friend" and some uninspired "funk" a la Minnie Riperton ("When It Comes Down to It") suggest that while broadening one's musical horizons is fine in theory, you really gotta have the right stuff or find the right stuff or at least work with a musical crew that knows what it's doing. Maybe she should have taken a leaf from Streisand's book and done a few funky but "show bizzy" Laura Nyro songs. I don't know. One things for sure. The contemporary stuff sampled here does not do her talent justice. (Liza could do "hip" with good results though, as was proven more than a decade later when she recorded RESULTS with the Pet Shop guys.) About her "Mr. Emery Won't Be Home"--sort of a distaff version of "Me and Mrs Jones"--the less said the better. Suffice to say that cheesy pop songs with a bit of sexual candor are still cheesy pop songs, after all. On this record she shines only when they opt to "let Minnelli be Minnelli." She's fine on the above mentioned "Harvest Moon" and "All That Jazz," and while her version of "God Bless the Child" may not equal Billie Holiday's understated classic original, she once again manages to show her rival of the era (that would be, ahem, Miss Ross) what for. The CD closes out with Kander and Ebb's "Ring Them Bells," a highlight from LIZA WITH A "Z," and it's a reminder of just what Liza was so good at. The tune is campy fun, but Liza attacks it with verve and conviction. She pulls off something that no one else (not even Barbra)would have attempted in the 70s. And with aplomb.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Smattering of 1970s Liza,
This review is from: All That Jazz (Audio CD)
I've often spoken well of "Sony Special Products" in the past--mainly because a.) these "budget releases" are a good quick way of getting a feel for what a given artist is all about and b.) they're usually such a grab-bag that it's kind of fun to figure out just where and how the individual tracks might fit into (if you'll pardon the pretense) that performer's "oeuvre." On this release, however, Sony has at least given us the recording dates for the individual tracks, and while they're not perfectly chronlogical, they do basically all fall within a distinct timeframe (the early to mid-70s). That would be the post-CABARET era, and one might expect that these tracks would represent Liza Minnelli at her best.
You'd be half right. Like Streisand, the Liza of the early 70s was trying to balance being true to her big brassy showbiz roots and seeking to find a way to be somehow "contemporary." Minnelli was always something of an anachronism, but CABARET and the TV special LIZA WITH A "Z" proved that she could make that trait work for her. She sounds right at home with Kander and Ebb's "All That Jazz (despite the unforunate double tracked vocals toward the end), and even if you never thought you'd ever need yet another big, bold version of "Shine On Harvest Moon," it turns out that you do, as a matter of fact. And when she takes on an understated neo-classic like Kander and Ebb's "Quiet Thing" she is just as at home and pulls it off beautifully. But the the attempts at 70s hipness are mainly duller than dishwater, even when penned by former hubby and usually interesting Peter Allen and songwriter partner Carole Bayer Sager. Their contribution "More Than I Like You" has a certain amount of wit and panache, but it never quite gets off the ground. The normally reliable Kander and Ebb offer up a weaker tune in "My Own Best Friend," which comes of as 70s pop psych at its most lackluster. Another "best friend" song "Your New Best Friend" and some uninspired "funk" a la Minnie Riperton ("When It Comes Down to It") suggest that while broadening one's musical horizons is fine in theory, you really gotta have the right stuff or find the right stuff or at least work with a musical crew that knows what it's doing. Maybe she should have taken a leaf from Streisand's book and done a few funky but "show bizzy" Laura Nyro songs. I don't know. One things for sure. The contemporary stuff sampled here does not do her talent justice. (Liza could do "hip" with good results though, as was proven more than a decade later when she recorded RESULTS with the Pet Shop guys.) About her "Mr. Emery Won't Be Home"--sort of a distaff version of "Me and Mrs Jones"--the less said the better. Suffice to say that cheesy pop songs with a bit of sexual candor are still cheesy pop songs, after all. On this record she shines only when they opt to "let Minnelli be Minnelli." She's fine on the above mentioned "Harvest Moon" and "All That Jazz," and while her version of "God Bless the Child" may not equal Billie Holiday's understated classic original, she once again manages to show her rival of the era (that would be, ahem, Miss Ross) what for. The CD closes out with Kander and Ebb's "Ring Them Bells," a highlight from LIZA WITH A "Z," and it's a reminder of just what Liza was so good at. The tune is campy fun, but Liza attacks it with verve and conviction. She pulls off something that no one else (not even Barbra)would have attempted in the 70s. And with aplomb.
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