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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly sought-after soundtrack now avaliable in full release, February 22, 2005
This is not the first, but the second CD imprint of the soundtrack to the 1974 Lucille Ball musical film, MAME. It had originally appeared on CD last year as a limited edition release of 2500 copies from Rhino Handmade. That initial limited edition release QUICKLY sold out, making copies of it highly sought after by fans of both Lucy and the film, and soundtrack afficionados alike. Hats off to Collectors' Choice Music for going ahead and licensing the soundtrack from Warner Bros. Records for a full re-release. The CCM disc has the exact same contents, song order, and disc mastering as the Rhino Handmade release (a comarison between the two--I have copies of both versions--proves this). This CD release, like the previous one, faithfully reproduces the 1974 LP cover art.
The contents of this disc are exactly the same as the MAME soundtrack LP released in February 1974. The transfer to CD (on both this and the RHM releases) is good, but not perfect. The higher fidelity digital format reveals the constant over-dubbing techniques used to get the most out of Lucille Ball's less than ideal singing voice. Many of Lucy's numbers were essentially glued together from pieces of several different takes, and it's not hard to tell on the CD. Additionally there is quite a bit of distortion in various places on the recording, especially during louder passages. My guess would be that the producers of this release utilized the LP masters for this rather than the original session master tapes, which may or may not still be stored away in the WB vaults.
Still, its great to have this on disc for the masses to enjoy. Although newcomers to the show will want to start with the original Broadway cast recording which stars Angela Lansbury and is available on Columbia, it goes without saying that fans of Lucy and of the film who missed out on the RHM release will be grateful to CCM for bring this to CD again.
And here's my vote for a DVD release of MAME and soon!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Collectable, but Not Much Else, April 28, 2005
Okay, so we all know that Lucille Ball as Mame was panned by critics left and right. We all know that she was too old for the role, that she couldn't sing very well, and so on and so forth. But darn it, I just had to have this CD for some reason. And I listen to it still too! Jerry Herman is the reason why. His songs, though arranged much differently than the Broadway score, still shine through through Ball's low voice. Robert Preston is in fine form, singing "Loving You," a song written especially for the movie. This CD is really not all that different from the original Warner Brothers' Soundtrack LP in terms of quality. But there is interesting infromation in the CD booklet about the movie. So, if you want to hear Lucy in her last film, buy it. If you want to just listen to the music form Mame, then get the Broadway cast.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lucy is Mame, June 20, 2005
I originally bought the LP of this soundtrack after seeing the film in 1974. I always thought that the film was very entertaining (funny, with great songs) and that Lucille Ball gave a great performance.
Her singing voice was very limited and she was panned because of this flaw. However, her charisma made up for the shortcomings of her singing voice and in my opinion her rendition of "If he walked into my life" is very moving despite the vocal shortcomings. I have heard the Angela Landsbury broadway recording and her singing is far superior but Lucy' s interpretation brings a new and unique take to the role of Mame. I highly recommend this recording! However, I think that anyone interested in buying it should see the film first in order to really enjoy the CD. It is important to remember that this is film soundtrack and only after seeing the film can one appreciate the recording. This CD is not simply a recording of Lucille Ball attempting to sing hits from Mame! Context is the key in this case.
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