Customer Reviews

Memphis: A New Musical (Orginal Cast Recording)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been working on this show for three years and still LOVE listening to the music. Even my boyfriend, who does not like musicals, listens to this album in the car, and especially likes the David Bryan track and Chad Kimball's high note in "Memphis Lives in Me." In fact, one of the best days of my life was driving in the car over Christmas and singing "Someday" with my non-musical loving boyfriend. "Someday" was the first song I fell in love with and now the whole thing is a favorite.

With "American Idiot" deemed ineligible, this year's most likely Best Score Tony Winner appears to be "Memphis," by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro, represented on this tuneful cast recording, which recalls the early days of rock n roll. Chad Kimball (excellent) stars as Huey, a white, wannabe disc jockey who falls in love with an African-American singer, Felicia (Montego Glover), and attempts to make her a star in the days of rampant racism.

If that plot sounds potentially heavy, rest assured that for the most part, things are kept light on this disc. In fact, when I first heard this recording, it struck me as a sort of cross between "Dreamgirls" and "Hairspray," without the impact of either. That is, until I got to the bluesy "Colored Woman," in which Felicia rails against the limitations of her race and decides to accept Huey's help. It's sung with such urgent vibrancy by the fantastic Glover that it's become my most-played show tune of 2010 (I bought this cd from the show's web site last December, before it was commercially available, so that's a lot of months of listening to it--and I'm not sick of it yet.).

And the rest of the score has grown on me, too, with "The Music of My Soul," "Memphis Lives in Me," and "Love Will Stand When All Else Falls," among the standouts. My major complaint with "Memphis" is that, given the subject, there really should be some more emotionally-charged, character driven songs along the lines of "Colored Woman." As it is, it comes across as just a bit too watered down, with a few too many songs, catchy as they are, not doing a lot to reveal character. On the other hand, this is a recording I keep coming back to, and I would be perfectly content if "Memphis" wins the Best Score Tony.

It's the early 1950's in segregated Memphis, Tennessee. Drawn by the music, a young white man, Huey, overcomes his inhibitions and visits a small club in the "dark" part of town. It is run by Delray and features the talent of his younger sister, Felicia. Huey embraces the music with an evangelistic fervency and falls in love with Felicia. Although his feelings are reciprocated, their love is obviously forbidden due to the color of their skin. Huey seeks to spread his new melodious gospel to the masses and Felicia aspires to become a star against a backdrop of social distrust and repression.

This recording is really all about the music and the fantastic performances. Early era rock n' roll dripping with blues, soul, and gospel is very effectively united with the conventions of musical theater. The score is rollicking and rousing. It is impossible not to envision the cast dancing about provocatively and equally difficult not to join in. Traces of themes and melodies from that era are present, but what is lacking in originality is more than made up for in authenticity. The songs possess universal applications that transcend this particular story - whether finding and embracing one's identity ("Memphis Lives in Me") or choosing to overcome some obstacle or oppression ("Colored Woman") or yearning for change ("Say a Prayer"). This accounts for the success of the cast recording even though the show's narrative is not fully captured. Well, this in addition to the great music and delightful performances. Huey, Felicia, and Delray perform their roles brilliantly. Yet as tremendous as the three principals are, they are threatened to be outdone by supporting cast mates Gator and Bobby. The cast is wonderfully talented.

"Memphis" is a great accomplishment in original musical theater. Odds are that those who enjoy this genre or style of music will greatly enjoy this recording.

I recently saw this show in NYC and ADORED IT! The music is fabulous. The leads are ungodly talented. This is such a great soundtrack and an absolute must have!! Especially the songs Stronger, Memphis Lives in Me and Steal Your Rock and Roll. I highly, highly recommend this soundtrack for anyone!

I saw the show on Broadway just after it opened. It has a dazzling star performance from Chad Kimball as the DJ Huey. The story, though based (loosely) on a biography, comes off as curious amalgam of characters and situations we have seen in others hows - from HAIRSPRAY to RAGTIME. It does hold together and the show is lively and reasonably entertaining.

Unfortunately, what works on stage just doesn't come through on this original cast album. It takes a record producer with special skill to be able to translate a hit stage show to records. David Bryan may be skilled at producing pop albums, but he needed to work with another producer more experienced with show albums for this particular disc. What we have here is a collections of songs from the show, sung more or less they way they are done on the stage of the Shubert Theatre, but without any sense of the show that contains them. The booklet, thankfully, includes a synopsis, several pictures and all the lyrics. This last is of particular importance because the sound mix seems to often favour the band over the singers and many lyrics are buried. You'll need the booklet if you want to understand what is being sung.

At 53 minutes the disc does include virtually the entire score but some of the extra space could have been used to include dialogue to help place the songs in context.

I was very interested in this show and when I saw the Tony Awards I knew I had to purchase it. Great musical and great songs! If you're into Broadway musical soundtracks you must get this for your collection. You will not be disappointed.

Wonderful! Great opportunity to listen to the music of this Tony-award winning musical or to re-live the experience if one had the pleasure of visiting Broadway to enjoy this performance.

I really enjoyed this CD -- many of the songs are great and Montego Glover has an awesome voice, especially in the song, Colored Women!

What a wonderful cd full fanastic music! Can't wait to see the broadway show!
If you love great music this is the cd for you

I purchased this because we had tickets to see the show and I wanted to get familiar with the music before we saw the show. Some soundtracks do not stand well on their own because you are unaware of what happened in the show. This one worked nicely to set up the story line. The show doesn't brave new territory--this has been done before. But, what makes it work is knowing that some of these characters did actually exist, and they existed in Memphis--on that note, it works very well.