Customer Reviews

Destry Rides Again (1959 Original Broadway Cast)

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

 

 

The incomparable Dolores Gray mesmerizes on this Broadway Cast Recording from 1959. Her recent death makes the work she displays here even more poignant. She was one of a kind who deserved more fame and accolades than she ever got, because her talent was one for the ages. There is no other Broadway voice (including Merman) to compare to hers, and she displays all of her versatility on this recording. From the ballads "I Say Hello" and "Anyone Would Love You" to the roof-raising "Fair Warning", Gray shines in her quintessential role as Frenchy. Andy Griffith makes a surprisingly good foil, and his singing, while not in the same league as Gray, suits the proceedings just fine. Harold Rome, an underrated composer, wrote his finest score for this somewhat forgotten musical, but it is really Dolores Gray who is the draw here. Also, check out the Broadway Cast Recording of "Two on the Aisle" and the MGM musicals "Kismet", "The Opposite Sex" and "It's Always Fair Weather" to experience Gray in all her splendor. Anyone would love her!

Michael Kidd's "Destry," with music and lyrics by Harold Rome, is a zesty, rousing reminder of how great even marginal musicals of the '50s were. Produced the same year as "Gypsy," "The Sound of Music" and "Fiorello," the score contains no standards, but has some lovely ensembles and ballads, as well as some wonderful whoop-it-up western tunes. Starring Andy Griffith, who had yet to discover the idyllic pleasures of Mayberry and sultry Dolores Gray and based on the Marlene Dietrich-Jimmy Stewart comedy, "Destry" would be a welcome addition to any musical buff's library ... even if you won't be too eager to let it ride again and again on your CD player. (Submitted by staff member Stephen J. Finn)

I remember seeing the whip song from DESTRY RIDES AGAIN on television on the Ed Sullivan Show. Now I was a kid on a farm in Illinois. None of my friends, or family were at all interested in Broadway shows or songs. And since this was the '50s, and I was poor, I found Ed Sullivan the only place to see and hear such great music. Later in the Army, I was rich enough, as a PFC, to buy a record player and get the album. I played the hell out of it and learned all the songs. I still have the record album but I couldn't get to it and felt a next best might be to get a CD. I knew it would not be as good, but I wanted the lyrics to "Ballad of the Gun" to be accurate.
Well, the CD is great. And with a CD player, I could replay a song over and over. I still can't believe how great Andy Griffith is as a singer. And Dolores Gray is fantastic. And the music and lyrics by Harold Rome, are charming and witty. All the songs are as delightful as I remembered and the CD was so much easier to lug around. So would I buy another CD of a Broadway Play. Yep, I sure would. Was it worth the price, yes, it was so easy to get.

Like many of the other reviewers stated, this show probably sustained its substantial run on Broadway due to the talents of Andy Griffith, and especially Dolores Gray....her vocals on several songs, including the haunting "I Say Hello" and "Fair Warning" are outstanding...I didn't realize songs like the former one and Andy Griffith's "Anyone Would Love You" existed..these are Masterpieces of the Americn Musical Theater and deserve to be heard again and again....the play is based on the film of Destry starring James Stewart so would be quite familiar to most film buffs!! I remember seeing Dolores Gray more than once at the St. Louis Muny years ago...she played Molly Tobin to the hilt in a production of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" at the Muny back in the 60's and was a regular on the "Straw Hat" Ciruit or Summer Stock Circuit, particularly during the sixties..I would highly recommend this CD as a worthy addition to any Original Cast Colletion...I'm trying to obtain most of the shows available starring major stars, who only appeared in one Broadway show, those including Jackie Gleason (Take Me Along), Vivien Leigh (Tovarich), Andy Griffith (Destry...), Walter Pidgeon (I believe he only starred in one Musical, that being, Take Me Along), Lucille Ball (Wildcat), Maureen O'Hara (Christine), and many others..Harold Rome was a very underated Composer, to my way of thinking, and not too many are probably aware of the scope of his shows and music...he wrote the music for Wish You Were Here, Fanny, Destry Rides Again, I Can Get It For You Wholesale, Call Me Mister, Pins and Needles, many of these are difficult to find or are priced quite high....Enjoy this version of Destry!!

What a great, under-sung winner this is. A rousing score by Harold Rome, great orchestrations by Lehman Engel, with stirring, personality-filled voices of the kind you don't hear on Broadway any longer, most notably, the one-of-a-kind Dolores Gray. To the general public (in America, at least) Gray may not be as famous as such legendary Broadway divas as Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Elaine Stritch, Angela Lansbury and others, but she was every bit their equal. In fact, when she did Annie Get Your Gun in London, critics praised her singing and performance as miles ahead of Merman's. She had a stunningly warm and powerful voice, sultry, sly comic chops, a spectacular figure and a tart, acerbic personality. A Tony-winner and nominee several times over, she was adored by critics right up to her final "big" performance in the London revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies," in which her biggest number, "I'm Still Here" stopped the show cold nightly. Sondheim reportedly told many people that Gray was the one brilliant thing in the whole revival. On film, in "Kismet" and "The Opposite Sex," we get hints of what dynamite she was. Here, on "Destry, " too, we can at least get a sense of what a knockout shemust have been on stage. The show sounds very much in the tradition of Whopee, Annie Get Your Gun, Oklahoma and Paint Your Wagon. I can't imagine any musical fan not finding it worthwhile.

A brilliant soundtrack! Great lyrics, great music, and great vocals! I would highly recommend this CD to any music lover!

DESTRY RIDES AGAIN is the musical version of the popular James Stewart-Marlene Dietrich film of the same name. Harold Rome's score is given a much-needed lift from the delicious Dolores Gray, who could sing out entries from the dictionary and steal your heart.

Dolores Gray (TWO ON THE AISLE) takes on the Marlene Dietrich role of saloon singer Frenchie. Andy Griffith plays the role of Destry, with a cast led by Scott Brady, Libi Staiger and Jack Prince.

Needless to say, apart from Gray's numbers, the score is very average. Gray infuses her numbers, including "Ladies", "I Know Your Kind", "I Hate Him" (not to be confused with the song from CARNIVAL!), "Fair Warning" and "I Say Hello" with more sass and fanfare than they deserve.

DESTRY RIDES AGAIN opened in the same season that saw the acclaimed long-runners FIORELLO!, THE SOUND OF MUSIC and GYPSY. Other shows that quickly sank in the same season were FIRST IMPRESSIONS and JUNO.

All-in-all, Dolores Gray is the only reason to buy this cast album.