Customer Reviews

Annie Get Your Gun (Original 1946 Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Plain and simple, any true lover of Annie Get Your Gun needs to have the following in their libary: 1.) This 1946 original version with Ethel Merman in her prime (sure her voice is gritty, but perfectly suited to the character); 2.) the 1966 Lincoln Center revival with Ethel Merman again (Old Fashioned Wedding alone is worth the purchase); 3.) the Kim Criswell studio recording on EMI (sadly out of print right now); 4.) the movie soundtrack with Betty Hutton and Howard Keel who are simply fabulous (the recording quality is a letdown, however) 5.) THE MOVIE!..... buy it on video or DVD, but just buy it! These are your essential AGYG purchases. A lot of people also like the new Broadway recording starring Bernadette Peters. Although she does a fine job, I cannot give this version my recommendation as for numerous reasons that I have pointed out in a previous review.

Although this was conceived for 12 78 rpm sides, it is still the best of the 8 (so far) recordings of the work due to the classic Merman performance, surprisingly good sound (for Decca) and the warm spirit that infuses this medley of hits. There are a few songs missing as well as the overture but those can be made up for by buying the next best CD - the Merman Lincoln Center revival. She's still in fabulous voice here and the excellent stereo sound, complete score and marvelous supporting cast bring this very close to the original - it also boasts a new Berlin song written for the revival. Other recordings made are/were: Judy Garland soundtrack released on disc and tape but now out of print; Betty Hutton soundtrack released in many forms on disc and tape but now out of print; Mary Martin/John Raitt touring company and tv version - available on CD; Doris Day/Robert Goulet studio recording now out of print; Kim Criswell/Thomas Hampson studio recording now out of print; Bernadette Peters recent revival. The comparison of the Garland and Hutton versions are amazing. Garland's performance is fine but the songs are paced lethargically slow; the re-recordings for Hutton when Garland was fired from the film and the MGM lot are a lot brisker, livelier and "present." Someone needs to put both the Garland and Hutton tracks on a single CD with the rest of the film tracks for a fun release. FLASH - for those that mourn the film's unavailability on video due to Berlin estate legal restrictions should check out the video release of the black and white kinescope of the Mary Martin/John Raitt live tv performance - fabulous. Now out of print on Hen's Teeth Video but a copy rests with REAL TO REEL VIDEO in Walpole, N.H. for rental.

This recording sounds as delightful as it always has with Ethel Merman belting out the Irving Berlin Score. Nice remastering. Note: The MGM movie soundtrack is due soon with both the Betty Hutton version as well as the Judy Garland pre-recordings. (Hutton replaced Garland, who was fired by MGM for not showing up on time). In addition the DVD is arriving next month with 3 of the filmed Garland segments as a bonus

The original is still the best, far superior to the 1999 remake. Ethel Merman's voice is the true instrument; no need for a big loud orchestra and a lot of background singers. A refreshing clarity to her singing, a presence simply not heard anymore. More than 50 years later, she still seems to be jumping out of the speakers into my living room. A beautiful simplicity to the songs, as Irving Berlin no doubt meant them to be.

I had seen AGYG on Broadway with Bernadette Peters, and I thought that it was the best thing since chocolate. Well, maybe the second-best, but right up there with Gameboy color. I got the CD and listened to it about a million times. But then I borrowed this one from a friend, and I was amazed! I thought that Bernadette Peters was amazing at being Annie, but Ethel Merman is phenomenal! Now I don't know which one I like!! It's an amazing CD!

Annie Get Your Gun has always been one of my favorite Broadway musicals. Ethel Merman definitely brings it to its best. All (or at least most) of the songs have enough bounce in them to interest me and my little sisters and to cause my dad to start singing like Ethel Merman. Even the slow songs are good, especially "I Got Lost In His Arms". My favorite is "I Got The Sun In The Morning" because the lyrics are original and the tune 9is catchy, but among the other good ones are 'Doin' What Comes Natur'lly", "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun", "Colonel Buffalo Bill", "I'm An Indian Too' and "Moonshine Lullaby".

Another good thing about this CD is that it left in all the songs that the 1950 movie cut like "I Got Lost in His Arms", "Moonshine Lullaby", "I'm A Bad, Bad Man", "An Old Fashioned Wedding", and part of "There's No Business Like Show Business". ALso cut and changed in the movie was "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" and "I'm An Indian Too", which was much better in it's full version.

If you want a good original Broadway musical you should definitely get this CD. Ethel Merman rules, and she really put everything she had into the songs. Well done!

This is how Annie Get Your Gun sounded when it first debuted on Broadway in 1946. Sound quality here is extremely good, considering it is a Decca album of the '40s. Ethel Merman appears here in what is probably her most famous role. No other leading lady has become more synonymous with Annie Oakley than Ethel; she is the best.

On the main body of the album, there is no Overture, "I'm A Bad Bad Man," and "Colonel Buffalo Bill." Those three are tacked onto the end as bonus tracks, along with "An Old-Fashioned Wedding," which was written for the 1966 Lincoln Center Revival (which also starred Ethel Merman). Most of the albums of AGYG on the market are great, but this is the one you'll want to start with. These bonus tracks are taken from Decca's London studio cast album recorded in 1973 or 74 (yes, that album starred Ethel Merman as well)

Great songs including the all time best seller "there's no business like show business" Others song in it, in fact all of them are top quality and fun

For Broadway aficianados, this CD is a must-have. Berlin and Merman together. What could be better? Well, to be honest, the 1966 revival CD is better. Stereo sound, lusher orchestrations, a better playmate for Ethel (Bruce Yarnell), and Merman in what might be the best recordings she ever made. But for historical purposes, put this one in your library as well.

My comments appeared elsewhere here a while ago. Here are some more observations. This is an odd cast album in that rather than place the songs in the order they appear in in the original show, Decca jumbled them all up. So if you take the sequential numbering of the songs as they appear in the original 78 rpm release and the LP version that followed, the order as they appeared in the original is thus: 1,9,3,12,2,5,19,4,7,8,11,6. This is a further oddity in that Merman as the star participates in nine out of the original 15 songs - six solos, two duets and one ensemble. All of her songs are in a row for the first 8 selections on the original cast album with the remaining 4 in which she does not participate trailing along like poor relations. One would have thought Decca would have broken up the potential monotony of hearing Merman in eight cuts in a row with the interspersed original show order. Also odd is that the big number THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS is not sung by Middleton and Merman with the two other players (the names escape me) who played Buffalo Bill and the manager as a quartet as in the original but by chorus and selected male soloists. Very very odd. It all adds up to an even 37 minutes and is still quite fine. Best performances are those in MY DEFENSES ARE DOWN and ANYTHING YOU CAN DO.