Customer Reviews

Mame (1974 Movie Soundtrack) (Rhino Handmade)

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MAME was one of the top musicals from the 1966 Broadway season, cementing Angela Lansbury as a musical theatre star to be reckoned with, and earning her the first of several Tony Award's. Lansbury campaigned heavily to reprise the role of Mame Dennis in the Warner Bros. film version, though producers said she didn't have the box office clout (a laughable notion, considering that Lansbury started out in the movies and only segwayed into theatre quite late into her career!). Lucille Ball gamely stepped up to the plate, middle-aged and with no singing voice to speak of (she had starred on Broadway in WILDCAT but its run was notorious for Ball's frequent illnesses and vocal problems). If there were any qualms about Ball being miscast, they were kept quiet. Madeline Kahn was originally announced for the role of frumpy secretary Agnes Gooch, but Ball was afraid the trained opera-singer would steal the picture. After considering Ruth Buzzi, producers resorted to Jane Connell, who had played the role in the 1966 original cast. Likewise Bea Arthur got to reprise her Tony-winning role of boozy barb Vera Charles, with Broadway favorite Robert Preston (THE MUSIC MAN) as Mame's loving Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside. Cherubic little Kirby Furlong played the young Patrick Dennis. Jerry Herman simplified all Mame's numbers in order to accommodate for Ball's shortcomings. The score for the film version of MAME is vastly different to what audiences heard during the show's almost 5-year run on Broadway. The Overture now included Gooch's number "St. Bridget", and Mame's introductory number "It's Today" isn't the brassy showstopper it should be. Apparently in order to get the most out of Ball's voice, an electronic device was implemented to adjust her pitch and so forth, during the recording of the numbers. This is glaringly obvious on this reissue of the soundtrack, where her voice often sounds over-dubbed. Jane Connell gives a splendid reading of "Gooch's Song" (perhaps even better than on the OBC) and Bea Arthur is at the peak of her formidable musical talents. Robert Preston is heartbreaking with "Loving You", the only new number written especially for the film by Jerry Herman. Apart from the odd lyric-change, the numbers are almost exactly the same (the only glaring omission is Mame's Act 2 showstopper "That's How Young I Feel", though given Ball's musicality, perhaps it was a mountain she'd preferred not to have tackled). This limited-edition reissue from Rhino Handmade marks the soundtrack's CD premiere

Unquestionably, Lucille Ball couldn't sing.

Why did they cast her in MAME, which could have been a triumph for someone like Angela Lansbury?

Well, that was 30 years ago, and we all know how the movie turned out.

However, even with Lucy's frog-like croaks, which seem to have been edited together word-by-word, this great CD is a must-have for Lucy fans, and movie musical completists as well.

This album is a guilty pleasure. Lucy's "singing" is so bad, that it's actually funny, especially if you know how the songs really could sound....

As someone else here wrote, Robert Preston's contribution on LOVING YOU is a gem, as is his rendition of the title tune. The orchestrations (though slight in sound compared to Broadway) are often elegant, and three other performers (Jane Connell, Beatrice Arthur, Sab Shimono) re-create their Broadway performances.

The liner notes for this release do not shy away from confronting the truth about the calculated error of casting our beloved Lucy, but the notes point out, and I agree, that Lucy tried awfully hard!

Put this on your shelf next to THE ETHEL MERMAN DISCO ALBUM!

Yes, I know, Lucille Ball can't sing and neither can Kirby Furlong, who played the young Patrick. But the orchestrations on this album are wonderful. The overature is a delight and captures the spirit of the story and the original novel. Watch the details of the actual film and you will see that it is quite faithful to the details of the orginal novel.

The producers of the movie kept all the Broadway score except for one song, and added the lovely "Loving You."

When you listen to the album, listen to it with fun in mind. Lucille Ball's rendition of "We Need a Little Christmas" is actually quite joyous and full of spunk. There is nothing wrong with her "Bosom Buddies," and she brings a sense of pathos to "If He Walked Into My Life."

The pity of the album is that if true singers had been cast in the Mame and young Patrick roles, the album would be perfect.

The title song is very well done, perhaps with more life and excitement than the OBC rendering.

All in all, this is a fun album if you think Fun, good Broadway music not ruined by the movies, and not "I need to be a critic."

Not content with having botched the movie versions of GYPSY and CAMELOT, Warner Bros had to detroy the musical MAME as well.

Bypassing Broadway star Angela Lansbury (because she wasn't a "movie" name - never mnd the fact that she had spent the first 20 years of her career in Hollywood!), the studio agreed to let Lucille Ball play MAME. In an interview, Angela Lansbury admitted "I wanted to make the film of MAME in the worst way" which prompted one wag to riposte "and that is exactly the way Lucille Ball did it."

The movie bombed. The Warner Bros. soundtrack album flooded into cut-out bins. And that was that.

Until Now.

Rhino Hand Made has exhumed the original soundtrack album tapes and done a VERY limited pressing (2500 copies) for collectors. Tt comes with a 16 page booklet chock full of color pictures from the movie and wonderfully detailed notes on the making of the film.

On the CD you can clearly hear how many edits and overdubs were done to get one good take out of Lucy. The rest of the cast is fine but MAME is a star part with seven numbers for the leading lady.

There is one number on the CD that almost...almost makes it worthwhile: Robert Preston singing "Loving You" - a song written especially for the film by Jerry Herman.

Stick with Angela Lansbury and the original Broadway cast (on Sony) for a much more enjoyable listen.

LUCILLE BALL WILL BE FOREVER IMMORTALIZED AS LUCY RICARDO AND AS SUCH HER COMEDIC GENIUS WAS UNIMPEACHED- BUT LUCY AS MAME? ARE YOU KIDDING? MAME IS A THIRTY-SOMETHING PARTY ANIMAL TAMED BY THE RESPONSIBILTY OF RAISING HER NEPHEW. MISS BALL AT SEVENTY APPEARED TO BE AN ARTHRITIC OLD CRONE RECENTLY ESCAPED FROM THE NURSING HOME. SHE THEN STARTS TO SYSTEMATICALLY DESTROY EACH SONG SHE CROAKS FROM THIS WONDERFUL SCORE. USE THIS CD AS A COASTER FOR A FROSTY MINT JULIP AND REVEL IN THE OBC STARRING ANGELA LANSBURY.

The reason I like the movie Mame is because Lucille Ball is in it. As everyone knows Lucy is the greatest female comedienne ever.

When she sings in Mame its like listening and watching an old friend sing.

Sure, Lucy isn't a great singer, but to me, this makes the movie more realistic. Yes, its a musical, but I find it cool that when Lucy sings, it sounds like Lucy! Her personality and comedy skills shine through her singing voice.

The character of Mame is supposed to be a brassy, loud, opinionated, friendly woman, and Lucy played the part perfectly, in my opinion.

What I'm trying to say is, in the real world, when someone sings in a social setting, like a party, they don't normally sound perfect, they sound like an amature.

And I like to view Mame as an amature singer who just likes to have a good time and doesn't care what people think about her singing.

I've always been amazed at those who have the gall to say the most unkindest remarks about Lucille Ball's performance on the soundtrack of "Mame," not to mention the fact the utter shock of those who 30 years later, are still sticking up for a stuffy, old-fuddy duddy like Angela Lansbury. Give it UP!! "Mame" didn't bomb. It actually made money, and today this movie is loved by a lot of people. Was the movie supposed to make ten million dollars in order to be called a success?? Were there supposed to be lines around the block like "Star Wars?" Were people actually supposed to be breaking the doors down to see it, in order for these "haters" to call this movie a success?

I loved the movie and I love the album. For heaven's sake, this is LUCY. Was the voice of Karen Carpenter supposed to come out of Miss Ball's mouth when she sang "Get the ice out" or "hang up the holly?" I can honestly say that I never questioned Lucy's singing into Lucy haters started pointing out the technical aspect of Miss Ball's vocal chords. I've heard Miss Lansbury sing and I can honestly say as well that her voice has never made me want to go out and buy her records or put a poster up on the wall.

We all like Lucy. Those that don't, well, we know what they are. This is a great album and my thanks to Rhino for doing a splendid job on the mastering. Viva La Luce!!!!!!

I dont care what people think but Lucille balls version is a lot better than Angela Lansbury. Lucille Balls, version is so much better my top four favorite songs are Mame, Its today, bossom buddies,Loving you. So give Mame a try !

Lucille balls version is a lot better than Angela Lansbury. Lucille Balls, version is so much fun, my top four favorite songs are Mame, Its today, bossom buddies,Loving you. So give Mame a try !