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Judy Garland In Hollywood: Her Greatest Movie Hits - Original Soundtrack Performances 1936-1963

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I cannot imagine a better compilation of Judy Garland's movie musical numbers on one CD; aside from a hideous cover image I find inexplicable, this is a thoroughly professional job all the way around. The album mixes the best-known of Judy's musical numbers with an impressive number of overlooked, little-known tracks (some of them all but unavailable for years) that reinforce the majesty of Garland's onscreen performances. Reaching all the way back to 1936 and extending through 1963, you can hardly tell a difference in the sound quality of these tracks. Drawing on the original master tracks, the sound engineers at M-G-M did an incredible job of remastering these songs, particularly with the Warner Brothers source material of The Man That Got Away and Gotta Have Me Go With You (which had extraneous movie-related elements to be removed).

The first track is a song I had never heard before: The Texas Tornado from Pigskin Parade (1936); you really can't go back much further than this in Judy's movie musical career. Broadway Melody of 1938 gives us the well-known Dear Mr. Gable/You Made Me Love You, which is followed by Judy's signature song Over the Rainbow. I was thrilled with the inclusion of I'm Nobody's Baby from Andy Hardy Meets Debutante, for this version includes the first minute of the song (which is omitted often enough on other collections to almost be forgotten). F.D.R. Jones is an infectious treat from Babes On Broadway (and should be appreciated for its own sake rather than the context in which it is featured in the film).

For Me and My Gal, Judy's duet with Gene Kelly, marks the beginning of Judy's most prolific and successful years in Hollywood. Meet Me in St. Louis, my favorite Judy Garland film, is represented here by the title track, the unforgettable The Trolley Song, and Judy's wistful classic The Boy Next Door. The Harvey Girls supplies us with On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe (although the version featured here is an outtake that falls far short of the original movie version). Look For the Silver Lining, one of two memorable Judy cameos in Till the Clouds Roll By, makes a nice addition to this collection (although I am still trying to find an album featuring Judy's other song, Who, from that film). Judy's collaboration with Gene Kelly in The Pirate in 1948 is little remembered today, but the track Mack the Black more than earns its spot in this collection. Easter Parade, by contrast, is a perennial favorite, capped off by Judy's wonderful duet with Fred Astaire.

The late 1940s represent a somewhat forgotten era in Garland's musical career, and the next series of tracks have never received much attention. Johnny One Note is rather forgettable, but it is nice to see this rarely heard track included here. It is even more delightful to hear the song Last Night When We Were Young, an outtake from the memorable film Summer Stock, the very movie which supplied the next three tracks in this collection: Happy Harvest, Friendly Star, and Get Happy. I can't say enough about the version of Get Happy you will find on this CD; a quality audio version of this vintage Judy classic has been surprisingly hard to find over the years. You would expect to find The Man That Got Away from Judy's legendary performance in A Star Is Born on this collection, but the inclusion of a cleaned-up copy of the overlooked Gotta Have Me Go With You is a special treat indeed. After Little Drops of Rain from the animated film Gay Purr-ee, the album closes with three strong performances from Judy's last musical: Hello Bluebird, the incredibly passionate By Myself, and the unforgettable title track from I Could Go on Singing.

This impressive, remastered collection of 23 vintage musical numbers stretching the entire length of Judy's movie musical career is accompanied by a wonderfully informed, picture-laden booklet on Garland's career and a beautifully packaged CD case (aside, of course, from the hideous image on the cover). For those who have indulged more in Judy's later concert career, this album makes for an eye-opening reintroduction to Judy's incredible movie musical discography, while those who grew up with or know Judy best by the songs she sang in her movies will marvel at this remarkable trip down movie musical memory lane. Thanks to modern technology and some truly dedicated technicians, Judy's vintage musical numbers sound better today than they ever have before.

The recent ABC bio of Judy Garland was so powerful, it made me re-examine her as an artist. Like many casual listeners, I associated her with "Oz", the Andy Hardy movies, and her last years, when she appeared to be pretty much washed up. The ABC film showed how valiantly she dealt with a series of problems, many of which were not of her own making. It also highlighted her incredible talent as a singer and performer. This CD contains an outstanding collection of songs from the original soundtracks of her films. Many of them were recorded by MGM with multiple audio tracks, so they have been remastered in stereo (and not the fake kind). The sound quality overall is excellent, given the age of the originals. I still prefer her voice as it was when she was younger, but "The Man That Got Away" is a classic from her later years. This CD will provide hours of listening pleasure, even to those who don't consider themselves to be Judy Garland "fans". Buy this, listen to it, and you may find you've become one after all.

Every die-hard Judy Garland fan has some fondly treasured memory of her in film. Many will say the sepia-toned picture of Judy against a haystack singing "Over the Rainbow". Some may say the vibrant, glowing Judy on that clanging trolley signing "The Trolley Song." And still others may say the dramatically darkened nightclub sequence from 'A Star Is Born' with Judy belting out "The Man That Got Away". Here is every Garland fan's chance to recapture their own special memories with this perfectly compiled compilation of songs included in many of Judy's most beloved movies of all time. From upbeat tunes like "The Texas Tornado" ('Pigskin Parade') "F.D.R. Jones" ('Babes On Broadway'), "For Me and My Gal" ('For Me and My Gal'), "On The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe",('The Harvey Girls')"Mack the Black", ('The Pirate') "Easter Parade"('Easter Parade') "Johnny One Note" ('Words and Music') and "Gotta Have Me Go With You" ('A Star Is Born'), to the more dramatic standards like "I Could Go On Singing" ('I Could Go On Singing'), "By Myself" ('I Could Go On Singing'), "Hello, Bluebird" ('I Could Go On Singing'), and "Little Drops of Rain" ('Gay Purr-ee'), to heart-wrenchingly poignant "Over the Rainbow" ('The Wizard of Oz'), "Dear Mr. Gable" ('Broadway Melody of 1938'), and "The Boy Next Door" ('Meet Me In St. Louis'). Any and every Judy fan should be stisfied. Judy hits all the right emotions in every song heard on the CD, and the memories are forever wonderful. A must-have for any Judy fan!

Judy Garland was America's finest entertainer ever; and I doubt we'll ever see another one quite like her. She could dance; she could act; but oh, how she could sing! This CD offers people an excellent retrospective of both Judy's best known hits as well as her lesser known songs from her movies.

The CD starts off strong with "The Texas Tornado" recorded in 1936 when Judy was just 14 years old. You'd never know she was an adolescent when she recorded this. Judy's voice at 14 was already extremely powerful and rather mature as well.

The next track is one of my favorites because it is so romantic and sweet: "Dear Mr. Gable/You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do It.)" The sound is excellent; and the musical arrangement is perfect. The MGM musicians make excellent use of the violins as Judy sings and even speaks a little about her crush on Clark Gable. This track is followed by her infamous ballad, "Over The Rainbow." Judy's voice here is flawless; she sings so beautifully and she emotes so well. Harold Arlen wrote an excellent musical arrangement for "Over The Rainbow" which combined with Judy's voice makes me swear that a magical place located beyond a rainbow is real and not imaginary.

Other classics on this CD include "The Trolley Song" from Meet Me In Saint Louis; "On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe" from The Harvey Girls; "Easter Parade" from the movie of the same name; "Get Happy" from the movie Summer Stock and "The Man That Got Away" from A Star Is Born. Nobody but Judy could sing these songs so flawlessly. When Judy sang these songs she just didn't sing the way another singer would. Judy would sing so passionately in such a singularly beautiful, sensitive way that somehow you could instantly identify with her character's joy, her character's wanting to fit in, her character's heartache over a lost love.

The CD boasts some terrific songs that are less well known but just as wonderful. "I'm Nobody's Baby" from Andy Hardy Meets Debutante is a sad song about how she doesn't "fit into" any social scene because she isn't just a kid anymore but she isn't quite an adult yet either. There is also the hauntingly beautiful "Last Night When We Were Young" which is an outtake from the movie In The Good Old Summertime. "Happy Harvest" is a joyful song that Judy performs in the movie Summer Stock; and "By Myself" is a gut-wrenching number from her last film entitled I Could Go On Singing.

Will Friedwald contributes an extensive essay which sticks mostly to Garland's professional career; and there are wonderful photos of Judy as well. There's even a lovely black and white photo of Judy and her two sisters taken in 1942 when Judy was working on the movie entitled Presenting Lily Mars. The songs credits are provided and the recording dates for each song are there as well. Moreover, the sound quality is excellent; the remastering of these tracks to digital form is excellent.

There will never be another Judy. This CD proves it. As you listen to Judy's performances on this CD, you become increasingly impressed and enchanted as you listen to each song. By the time the CD ends you want more just as Judy's audiences always wanted more whenever she gave a live performance. If you like this CD, I highly recommend the two CD set of Judy at Carnegie Hall from 2001 (the fortieth anniversary edition); the CD entitled Classic Garland: Capitol Years 1955-1965 and the CD entitled That Old Feeling: Classic Ballads from the Judy Garland Show. Of course, if you also like those, you'll be well on your way to discovering even more CDs and movies that feature this singularly talented artist, the incomparable Judy Garland.

Judy Garland epitomizes the very best of Hollywoods "Golden Age" of the movie musical. She was MGM's top female musical performer for at least ten of the fifteen years she spent there.

Garland's daughter would narrate five years after Judy's death (in "That's Entertainment) 'Thank God for film! It can capture a performance and hold it right there forever. And, if anyone say's to you "well, who was he? or who was she? or what made them so good? Well, I think a piece of film can answer that better than any words that I know of'. So too for every one of these timeless magical recordings. They, like the films they come from, can answer just what it was about Judy Garland that made her so good that the years cannot diminish that magic!

*note- my one disappointment was that "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" from "Meet Me In St Louis" was not included in this treasury. It was especially written for Judy for this film. Her rendition of it is the most beautiful of all who have (there's been tons)come to sing it over the Christmas season on recordings and or holiday programs.

Judy Garland is a legend. I recommend this CD for any Judy Garland fan. I highly recommend it to all the young people out there who are not familiar with her especially if you love to sing!

If you were to only buy one Judy Garland CD, THIS IS IT! Starting with one of her earliest film recordings in 1936 and climaxing with one of her last in 1963, this single disc runs the gamut of Garland greatness.

The essentials are all here, in their richly-textured original versions: OVER THE RAINBOW, THE TROLLEY SONG, THE MAN THAT GOT AWAY, YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU, THE BOY NEXT DOOR, GET HAPPY...each one more thrilling than the next.

The sound quality is exceptional, especially given the age of some of the earlier tracks. It's especially meaningful that Rhino and Turner have not just limited this CD to the music they own, but they went to the trouble to license tracks from the other studios, so that this collection is comprehensive in its
reflection on Garland's entire screen career. A truly stunning achievement.

I've always wondered if MGM, which was known for its musicals, would have been the industry leader in that category if little Miss Gum hadn't come along in the late '30's. This is a great compilation of Judy's best from nearly 20 years of MGM movies... and nearly every song will make you remember the film and specific scene it came from. You'll "see" Judy at the mirror as she expresses her love for Clark Gable with "You Made Me Love You," you'll "see" her bouncing on the trolley as it hurtles down a street in old St. Louis, you'll "see" her leading that wonderful gang of Harvey Girls as she salutes the "Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe." They say that music is "emotional shorthand;" this CD is a time machine to the 1930's and '40s... when Culver City was the entertainment capitol of the universe.

My brother gave me this CD for Christmas in 1998. It's definitely one of my favorites. I play it almost every day! Among the highlights: Judy goes wild with Rodgers & Hart's "Johnny One Note" and Cole Porter's "Mack The Black" from THE PIRATE. The tracks from A STAR IS BORN are outstanding. To get "that all time thrill" listen to Judy's high-voltage "The Man That Got Away"-- you'll be haunted for days! Judy just blows me away! But that's not all; the CD wraps up with three fantastic tracks from Judy's final film I COULD GO ON SINGING. "Little Drops Of Rain" (from GAY PURREE) is another beautiful performance from Judy. Get this JUDY CD and you'll definitely "Get Happy! "

This is a wonderful compilation -- the sound quality is very good considering the aural gymnastics required to pull it together. I loved hearing Judy's voice mature, age and weather over the years -- and the selections included on the disc are quintessential Judy Garland. This is the one to buy.