Customer Reviews

Merman in Vegas

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

 

 

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!

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.

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]

Ethel is phenomenal in this rare, live recording. She doesn't spend a great deal of time chatting between numbers. Instead, she gives the audience what they came for - her voice in all its glory.

This C.D. is well worth getting just to hear how Merman turned a disaster into a hit. The original live recording wasn't usuable so she went back in the studio and redid her vocals over the original live tape. You'd think there would be a loss in spontaneity or power but, nope, she brings every bit of drive and verve and enthusiasm to the rerecording as the original. Yes, you can hear both vocals but that only makes the album more unusual. As a night club performer, Merman is the tops. She carefully prepared and scripted her program, got the best arrangers, dressed gorgeously and was ready, willing and able to knock 'em dead. The public could never seem to get its head around the fact that away from Broadway she was every bit the star she was on stage. She had difficulty establishing a film career and a record career though eventually she established a lucrative concert and club career. What is here is outstanding and enjoyable first note to last. The Merm is momentous, memorable and marvelous.