Customer Reviews

The Bride of Frankenstein Sings Bawdy Cockney Songs

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This album was originally released on vinyl as "Elsa Lanchester Sings Songs For A Shuttered Parlor." That album had introductions by her husband, Charles Laughton. I don't know why the Laughton intros have been deleted for this. They could have been kept as separate tracks to be included in the playback or not as the listener wished. An opportunity missed.

This album title is misleading. This is not an album of Cockney songs. There is also an annoying identifier here: "The Bride of Frankenstein" with a helpful photo for those, I suppose, unfamiliar with the name Elsa Lanchester. That and the extremely skimpy information on this cheap looking CD presentation diminish an otherwise worthy offering. I'm grateful that this was transferred to disc, but wish for more.

This is a delightful album. The songs are full or wit and puns and Miss Lanchester, who cannot sing, some how manages to do so admirably with these amusing sougs. A classic of the genre.

The title is misleading as the songs are not Cockney songs at all. Almost all of the material was written for her by Forman Brown and originally performed at the Turnabout Theatre in Los Angeles. This was the theatre that had marionette musical shows at one end of the theatre and at intermission the streetcar seats were flipped back and a live review was performed on the second stage. Miss Lancaster stared in the live reviews for a number of years using these songs.

Elsa Lanchester first recorded this album of Cockney song in 1961, and I own the recording on vinyl. There is nothing like English humor when uttered by someone who actually speaks English. Even the nuances have nuances.This album has been my personal favorite for over fifty years, because of its good humor. Laughton, the ever popular husband, was fond of his wife's efforts and gave charming narration on the recording. The songs range in affect from hilarious, to effortlessly charming. There is not a vulgar expression throughout. All the bawdiness is properly verbalised, by someone from an era when people spoke well and acted with consideration- even if they were rascals in private. This is simply delicious.

I agree with Brian Watson's review. Elsa Lancester is great. It's a shame this CD isn't. It seems to have been put together by people who didn't understand what made her special. The songs are a mixture of temperance and music hall songs researched in the British Library by Lanchester for her shows at the Cave of Harmony in London in the 19teens and songs written for/with her by Forman Brown for shows at the Turnabout Theatre in California, subsequently recorded and released as Songs for a Shuttered Parlour and Songs for a Smoky Room. They're suggestive, rather than bawdy and they're great fun. It's a shame the spoken introductions by Charles Laughton have been cut - they help explain her forte as a di-seuse. Each song tells a story and makes a different character come alive. If sometimes the character doesn't sing very sweetly or totally on-key it just makes the character funnier, the story more real. It's great to hear them all again.