Customer Reviews

Somewhere over the Rainbow: The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The great folks at Rhino and Turner have once again come up with a treasure chest of great (if not THE GREATEST!) songs from the golden era of Movie Musicals. With an emphasis from the masterpieces of MGM, but also with selections from Warner Bros. and RKO, this 2 CD set is simply a must-have for fans of soundtrack gems. All the great moments are here: Fred Astaire's romantic warblings to Ginger Rogers of CHEEK TO CHEEK, THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME and LET'S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE; Gene Kelly's immortal SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, his fabulous duets with Judy Garland on FOR ME AND MY GAL and BE A CLOWN, and then of course there's Judy herself: The amazing GET HAPPY, the Oscar winning ON THE ATCHISON,TOPEKA, & SANTA FE, and of course the track that influenced the collection's title, OVER THE RAINBOW.

The list goes on and on; I got chills listening to the huge stereophonic splendor of HALLELUJAH from "Hit the Deck", and the gorgeous duet by Vic Damone and Ann Blyth of STRANGER IN PARADISE from "Kismet". The superstar line-up also includes Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Tommy Dorsey, Lena Horne, Mickey Rooney, and dozens of others.

If you don't have any of the full Rhino albums these tracks are taken from (each one of which is worth buying on its own), then this double CD is a sampler that will make you want all of them.
If you already have the full albums, you'll want this super compilation as something you'll listen to in the car or the house or on your walkman over and over again.

To top it off, there are SUPERB liner notes which are succinct and eloquent in encapsulating the genius of such a varied and unique collection of soundtrack performances. The notes are written by John Fricke, who has previously worked his magic on several great reissues and compilations, including many for Rhino. His work here is, as usual, superb.

The sound quality overall is simply terrific. Some of the tracks are nearly 70 years old, but sound very, very good. Many of the tracks from the later vintage sound as if they were recorded yesterday. All in all, a sensational product, highly recommended!

Rhino Records and Turner Classic Movies Music present - "SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW: THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS", some of the long ago musicals and stars that will never be forgotten...a 2-CD-Set covering several decades from 1935-1965 with many of the show stoppers of that time...some rare moments from entertainers that you haven't heard or thought of in sometime.

The lineup is fantastic and gives the listener a variety of what musicals were all about in the "Golden Age of the Hollywood Musicals"
June Allyson, Kay Armen, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Ann Blyth, Jack Buchanan, Louis Calhern, Bing Crosby, Vic Damone, Doris Day, Nanette Fabray, Connie Francis, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland, Kathyrn Grayson, Georges Guetary, Lena Horne, Betty Hutton, Louis Jourdan, Howard Keel, Gene Kelly, Grace Kelly, Peter Lawford, Oscar Levant, Ann Miller, Ricardo Montalban, Page Cavanaugh Trio, Debbie Reynolds, Winifred Shaw, Nancy Walker, Ethel Waters, Esther Williams, Dooley Williams and Keenan Wynn.

On Disc One 21 Classic Songs from great musicals with songs in alphabetical order:
AS TIME GOES BY - Dooley Wilson with Elliot Carpenter, pianist (1942)
BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE - Esther Williams & Ricardo Montalban (1949)
BLESS, YORE BEAUTIFUL HIDE - Howard Keel (1954)
EASTER PARADE - Fred Astaire & Judy Garland (1948)
FOR ME AND MY GAL - Gene Kelly & Judy Garland (1942)
GET HAPPY - Judy Garland (1950)
HALLELUJAH! - Tony Martin, Vic Damone, Kay Armen, Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds, Clark Burroughs (for Russ Tamblyn) (1955)
HONEYSUCKLE ROSE - Lena Horne with Benny Carter & His Orchestra (1943)
LARA'S THEME (MAIN TITLE) - M-G-M Studio Orchestra (1965)
LULLABY OF BROADWAY - Winifred Shaw & Dick Powell (1935)
MILKMAN, KEEP THOSE BOTTLES QUIET - Nancy Walker with Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra (1944)
NIGHT AND DAY - Fred Astaire (1934)
PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ - Clark Gable & Company (1939)
'S WONDERFUL - Gene Kelly & Georges Guetary (1951)
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN - Gene Kelly (1951)
STRANGER IN PARADISE - Ann Blyth & Vic Damone (1955)
TAKING A CHANCE ON LOVE - Ethel Waters & Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (1943)
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT - Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan, Nanette Fabray & Oscar Levant (1953)
THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS - Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Keenan Wynn & Louis Calhern (1950)
THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME - Fred Astaire (1949)
TRUE LOVE - Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly (1956)

On Disc Two more memorable performances from the Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals:
A KISS TO BUILD A DREAM ON - Louis Armstrong (1951)
ABA DABA HONEYMOON - Debbie Reynolds & Carleton Carpenter (1950)
ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE - Gene Kelly (1954)
BE A CLOWN - Judy Garland & Gene Kelly (1948)
BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE - June Allyson & Peter Lawford (1947)
CAN'T HELP LOVIN' DAT MAN - Ava Gardner (beautiful woman, who my youngest grandaughter is named after...Avalon) (1951)
CHEEK TO CHEEK - Fred Astaire (1935)
EMBRACEABLE YOU - Connie Francis (1965)
GIGI - Louis Jourdan (1958)
GOING HOLLYWOOD - Bing Crosby (1933)
I GOT RHYTHM - Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney (1943)
IF SWING GOES, I GO TOO - Fred Astaire (1946)
IT'S A MOST UNUSUAL DAY - Jane Powell (1948)
LADY IS A TRAMP - Lena Horne (1948)
LET'S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE - Fred Astaire (1936)
ON THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA AND THE SANTA FE - Judy Garland & Company (1946)
ONE FOR MY BABY (AND ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD) - Fred Astaire (1943)
OVER THE RAINBOW - Judy Garland (became her theme song for the rest of her life) (1939)
PUT 'EM IN A BOX - Doris Day & the Page Cavanaugh Trio (1948)
THE TROLLEY SONG - Judy Garland & MGM Studio Chorus (1944)
WUNDERBAR - Kathryn Grayson & Howard Keel (two of MGM's favorite singing duos) (1953)

It was once said by the songwriters of that era - "There are two artists you want perform your songs on the big screen, they are Fred Astaire and Judy Garland they sing it just the way we wrote it, for which you will have a guaranteed hit on your hands"...well, this collections certainly has some merit to that statement...because with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire performing seven songs each, there must be something to it.

This collection of musicals still has the magic that we remember from those bygone years...but as long as we have the labels and networks who play and show these wonderful films of yesteryear, they will never be forgotten...hats off to Rhino Records, George Feltenstein (producer) and Doug Schwartz (engineer) and Turner Classic Movies for sharing those 42 selections from 42 films...celebrating decades of the tunes and artists that gave it their all...from what it commonly called "The Hollywood Dream Factory"...The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals is still among us...gotta love it!

Total Time: 2-CD-Set ~ Rhino Records 78323 ~ (6/02/2002)

Take all the greatest songs from Hollywood's greatest musicals, use top modern technology to make them sound amazing (while maintaining faithfulness to the original sonics), put them all together in a beautifully designed double CD, and you've got SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW.

I've had this for over two weeks now, and still don't want to listen to anything else. All my favorite performers are here from Bing Crosby to Doris Day and everyone else in between. There are great liner notes, wonderful pictures, and at this price, getting so many songs for so (relatively) little money is an amazing bargain. I highly recommend this CD set.

WOW!! AWESOME!! RHINO HAS DONE IT AGAIN. Rhino Records always puts out great anthologies. I can remember growing up in the 60's and these musicals were always playing on the television on a Saturday afternoon. I have to thank my Mom for that. I remember most of these tunes and I can't wait to order this. It took some time to search it out on Amazon. Congratulations!! You won't find another collection as good as this. It's the closest you can get to owning the best of Hollywood Musicals without buying every soundtrack. If you remember lazy days on the family couch singing along with JUDY GARLAND, FRED ASTAIRE, and GENE KELLY, this collection should HIT THE SPOT.

I agree, this collection needs more BING CROSBY. But I disagree that it needs some SINATRA. (Even though I love ON THE TOWN and GUYS AND DOLLS.) There are plenty of great SINATRA recordings to own (I have 12), but these recordings are RARE. Man, they had to make room for CLARK GABLE. What a great choice. But never fear SINATRA fans, maybe Rhino will do a box set. One can only hope.

"FORGET YOUR TROUBLES, COME ON GET HAPPY." IF YOU REMEMBER WHEN HOLLYWOOD COULD SING, YOU HAVE TO GET THIS. ENJOY.

The music on this double CD is excellent, as is the sound quality. Every song brings a smile to my face. I love Classic Rock, and although I'm not going to compare apples to oranges, I love to just stop rocking now and then, and listen to the great music from this era. Over the last few years I have been adding great music from the likes of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Glen Miller, etc. to my library, and this one ranks very high on my list for a compilation of great Hollywood musicals. Crank up the volume and enjoy!

Everything that happens in life
Can happen in a show
You can make 'em laugh
You can make 'em cry
Anything
Anything can go....

The clown with his pants falling down
Or the dance that's a dream of romance
Or the scene where the villain is mean
That's entertainment!

The lights on the lady in tights
Or the bride with the guy on the side
Or the ball where she gives him her all
That's entertainment!

The plot and the hot simply teeming with $ex
A gay divorcee who is after her ex
It could be Oedipus Rex
Where a chap kills his father
And causes a lot of bother

The clerk who is thrown out of work
By the boss who is thrown for a loss
By the skirt who is doing him dirt

The world is a stage,
The stage is a world of entertainment!

This two CD set amply proves that the musical melodies and lyrics from the golden age of the Hollywood musical remain unsurpassed to this day. This generous two CD set offers 42 incredible songs from Hollywood classic musicals. Most of these fine numbers are indeed from MGM, as Amazon correctly notes; but there are some RKO numbers and even a little from Warner Brothers. Thank goodness, though, that most of these songs came from MGM movies; MGM was the only studio that could boast that it truly had "more stars than there are in the heavens."

I love so many songs on these two CDs. Of course, there's the unforgettable classic "Over The Rainbow" sung by Judy Garland; she also performs "Easter Parade" and "Get Happy" on this two CD set and she carries most of the tune for "I Got Rhythm" even though Mickey Rooney helps her a little. I love "Baby, It's Cold Outside" for its' romantic overtones; and Lena Horne's "The Lady Is A Tramp" is flawless! We also get a rare chance to hear Clark Gable sing in "Puttin' On The Ritz;" and Bing Crosby's "Going Hollywood" may be brief but it's a fun song anyway.

There are two "bonus" tracks on the first CD: "As Time Goes By" from Casablanca and "Lara's Theme" from Doctor Zhivago. "As Time Goes By" is a good choice; it is another unsurpassed classic song that brings back memories and touches even the hardest of hearts. "Lara's Theme," however, is from the mid 1960s and I don't consider this period to be part of the "golden age" of Hollywood musicals.

The liner notes are excellent and they offer wonderful photos of the stars as well. The cover art is well done and the reverse cover art tells which movie each song is from and who is performing each song. Moreover, the quality of the sound is excellent especially when you consider that these numbers were recorded quite a few decades ago.

In short, this superlative two CD highlights the glory of the Hollywood musical when a certain type of sophistication dominated professional movie production. I highly recommend this CD for fans of Hollywood musicals, classic pop vocals and fans of the artists and actors who perform on this two CD set.

If you're thinking of purchasing this compilation, you probably already know and love these classic film performances. Let me just say that this selection of songs is not only uniformly wonderful but also pretty darn close to perfect. The majority are part of the Great American Songbook, one of the most vital strands of our cultural DNA. The composers and lyricists are geniuses, every one: Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Harry Warren, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, Fats Waller, Frank Loesser, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and many more.

Simply listing a dozen of the 42 titles is sufficient to bring warm movie memories flooding back: "Singin' in the Rain," "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Get Happy," "Night and Day," "Honeysuckle Rose," "Baby, It's Cold Outside," "Puttin' on the Ritz," "Over the Rainbow," "I Got Rhythm," The Lady Is a Tramp," "Cheek to Cheek," and "Almost Like Being in Love."

These songs cover a period of approximately 30 years, from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s. Most of the music comes from MGM, home of great performers like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds, Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, and many other stars. Despite the subtitle ("The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals"), themes from two non-musicals -- "Casablanca" and "Dr. Zhivago" -- are inexplicably included. But when there is such a wealth of brilliant tunes, carping about this seems both ungrateful and petty. Emphatically recommended.

What an amazon collection of songs! This is bar none my favorite cd just because of the variety and the quality of songs on it. I love music from this era, and this cd is the perfect companion to my life. Love it! Buy it, you won't regret it for a moment!

A Sensational CD with Lots of Showtunes that Keep You Happy and makes You Want To Sing Along With!!!

I am having so much fun with these CD's. I love the songs. I have most of the movies with the songs on them and it is awesome to be able to enjoy the music without having to watch the movies. How can you go wrong with artists like Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, etc. The recordings sound amazing. I love the nostalgic feel to them. So glad I own this!