Customer Reviews

St. Louis Woman [Original Broadway Cast] / Harold Arlen and His Songs

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

 

 

Reviewing the previous Broadway Angel issue I wrote:

Capitol Records made their first original cast album of this 1946 show by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. The album was issued as a set of five 10-inch 78 RPM records and in the early 1950s was briefly released as a 10-inch Lp. In the late 1960s Capitol re-released it on a 12-inch record in "fake" stereo. None of these editions stayed in the catalogue long.

Neither did Broadway Angel's CD edition which came out in 1992.

The show had only a short run, and has never been revived. (The original orchestrations were lost. A 1998 Encore reconstruction yielded a fuller recording available from Decca.)

This CD preserves the wonderful orginal cast: Pearl Bailey, Ruby Hill and Harold Nicholas. Several songs from this show became standards: "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home" and "It's a Woman's Prerogative."

Well, 10 years later the songs are as strong as ever and the performances as definitive as we will likely ever get. The score is truncated, and the soud while very good is not modern digital stereo, but a BIG thanks to DRG for bringing this one back!

even having the moire complete Encores version of ST LOUIS WOMAN the original cast is superlative & a must have. Ruby Hill, June Hawkins & of course Bailey are beyond great as are orchestrations of this classic Arlen/Mercer score. & Arlen singing his own songs is something else again. This CD is a keeper for -oh, about forever!

ST. LOUIS WOMAN is one of those Broadway shows (opened in 1946) filled with great music but rarely if ever revived anywhere. The cast is superb, including the wonderful Pearl Bailey, and three standards resulted from the score: "Come Rain Or Come Shine," "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" (covered by Streisand early in her recording career), and the exquisite "I Had Myself a True Love." This DRG release also features HAROLD ARLEN AND HIS SONGS, with the composer singing and playing more of his hits, including "Let's Fall In Love" and "That Old Black Magic." Sound quality is excellent, with all the ticks and pops either gone or at a minimum. If you love the American Songbook, this is an essential buy.