Merman in Vegas [Live]

Ethel Merman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 18, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1962
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Collectables
• ASIN: B00006BNE8
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,793 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The Queen of Broadway headed west in '62 to record this live Reprise album in Vegas, a show-stopping set of performances including I Got Rhythm; Just a Lady with a Song; This Is It , and more-with There's No Business Like Show Business as the rousing finale!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Merm Stuns Vegas Crowd, August 12, 2002

By 

Geoffrey Mark Fidelman (Sherman Oaks, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merman in Vegas (Audio CD)

This album is the only commercially released live album by the great Ethel Merman. So near and yet so far, this collection should have been the perfect representation of Ethel performing before a live audience. Alas, The Mighty Merm was recorded through a wireless chest mike, and the audio was deemed unsatisfactory for release. So Ethel was invited in to the Reprise recording studios in Burbank, where she sang (nonstop) the entire show over again to the playback of the master tape. In it's original LP release, the album was awful. One could hear two Merman voices overlapping on almost every number. For this CD version, the audio engineers have managed to mix it down to one voice for the most part, and to remove a troublesome hoarseness in Merman's voice made during the original Vegas recording. The only complaint now is that they did not include for CD the rest of the concert, which contained such gems as "That Old Feeling", "Eadie Was a Lady", "I Got Lost in His Arms", "Gee, But It's Good to Be Here", "I Get a Kick Out of You" and others. Ethel was proud to be signed to Reprise Records by Frank Sinatra. This was the second and last album she did for them. The first one, "Merman: Her Greatest" still has not been released on CD. When asked about Ethel's opening night in Vegas, Judy Garland said, "I was stunned, simply stunned!" So will you. Get this album!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Epitomizes the Merman I DON'T Like, May 21, 2010

By 

heyteegs (San Jose, CA, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merman in Vegas (Audio CD)

As the title suggests, Merman does her best Katherine Hepburn impression on this strange recording. I wondered why it sounded like two voices when I popped it in the player and came here to read up on the history. They should've never released this if they didn't get her voice live. Aside from her none-too-subtle vocal acrobatics throughout, there are times where she sounds hoarse and needs a good cough to release some phlegm. The charm of a live recording is that it is live - which this is not. Her voice is not reacting to the audience adoration; she just barrels through the songs as if trying to catch a train. Some might like this but I'd rather hear her less annoying (read not stereotypically Merman) studio recordings.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Merm does Vegas, August 27, 2008

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Merman in Vegas (Audio CD)

Ah yes, Ethel Merman's Las Vegas nightclub act. Originally recorded live at the Flamingo Hotel during Ethel's debut cabaret show, this album was later revised when it was discovered that Ethel's body microphone failed to capture her vocal performance (and if there was one performer who DIDN'T need a mic, it was The Merm). Merman was called back into the Reprise studios to re-record the whole show; and it's that performance you hear on this CD.

The Merm's in top form, especially when she rips through a gangbusters medley of her greatest hits from "Annie Get Your Gun", "Call Me Madam", "Anything Goes" and "Gypsy". If you're a fan of Merman, you'll definitely get a kick out of her nightclub album!

[COLLECTABLES-6193]