Customer Reviews

Songs My Mother Taught Me

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Lorna Luft pays tribute to her mother Judy Garland with an incredible CD bursting at the seams with songs Judy sang. This truly IS an album of songs that Lorna's mother taught her both at home in the 1950s and later on in the 1960s when they occasionally did concerts together. Indeed, the entire CD, the liner notes, and all the sweat, labor and planning reflect an enormous amount of love and affection Lorna still has for a mother whose memory she holds so dear. Lorna cares a lot about her mother's legacy; and I believe that Lorna must miss her mother very much to have produced such a marvelous tribute CD to Judy.

But already I am going off a bit too much on a tangent. The album itself couldn't be more packed with great Judy Garland songs. Although this is not a live recording of Lorna's tribute show to her mother, Lorna delivers these songs flawlessly with the same loving care and honest emotion she exudes in her tribute shows.

The CD begins with a recording of Judy Garland herself singing "Lorna;" and then Lorna comes in to sing songs including "Chicago;" "I Feel A Song Coming On;" "Rockabye Your Baby (With A Dixie Melody);" "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart" and so much more. Garland fans will notice that these are, of course, all songs that Judy sang often. In addition, I also like how Lorna interjects a bit of conversation with her daughter Vanessa and her son Jesse about how she wishes they had known their grandmother Judy. Lorna describes Judy in such a loving, sweet way that anyone would want to meet Judy Garland.

The musical arrangements lack nothing, either. The "Garland Overture" sounds just as strong and dramatic as ever, even if it's been tweaked slightly here and there. The musical accompaniments for Lorna's songs serve to bolster her performance without ever stealing the spotlight from Lorna as she sings. It's truly very well done.

The liner notes give us great photos of Lorna with just a handful of the numerous people who worked to make this album a reality; and the artwork impresses me. The quality of the sound is excellent.

Of course Lorna Luft fans will want this CD in their collections; a CD from Lorna is long overdue. Lorna sings very well and she performs beautifully throughout the album. Judy Garland fans will be touched by Lorna's loving tribute to her mother; and the CD will be very, very enjoyable regardless of whether or not anyone's seen Lorna's tribute show to her mother of the same name. This is not a live album; but I point that out merely to describe the album further--this studio album is every bit as enjoyable as Lorna's stage tribute to her mother.

Very few superstar mothers have a talented daughter so devoted and loving that decades after they're gone their daughters turn out tribute albums to them. Then again, however, who else but Judy Garland would deserve this fine honor? "Celebrities" may come and go; but there will never be another superstar like Judy; and Lorna knows that. That is why Lorna made this CD with extra love and care that shows through in Lorna's timing when she sings and Lorna's interpretations of great ballads including The Man That Got Away.

Great job, Lorna--I know your mother's smiling down at you from heaven. She's very, very proud of you.

I've seen two incarnations of this show on stage -- first at the Cinegrill in Hollywood and then several months later at the Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills during an extended run there. Obviously, I liked it! And, we've waited forever for a recording of Lorna doing many of these numbers. To say it's been worth the wait would be an understatement.

Lorna gives it her all in a touching and lovely tribute to her mother. In interviews and such, Lorna often says words to the effect of, "People come up to me and they tell me they loved Judy Garland and that they miss her, but I just miss my mother so I can't relate to that." But, I think she has to realize that a project like this helps gap that divide for the fans who did love and do miss Judy Garland. She clearly does, too, and hopefully, she's finding personal and professional fulfillment by creating this show and hunkering down with this material and sharing it with the world. She's offered us a glimpse into "those shadows" and it's a happy occasion.

Her vocals are terrific, yet nuanced enough to not be carbon copies of Judy's performances of the same material. She emerges as a confident, in control performer and contributes wonderfully to the legacy that is her family...and this includes Liza, too. The long medley of "how mama got to Carnegie Hall" is terrific as Lorna recounts her mother's professional triumphs through her music. She reminds listeners that Judy did a lot of things first. In the foreward to one of John Fricke's books, she wrote, "I tell my kids that before Brittany, before Whitney, before Tina, before Madonna, before Barbra, there was Judy and she set the standard for much of what was to come later" and that's so true.

Buy this CD and appreciate Lorna for all her talents while she remembers an artist the likes of which we'll not see again.

Having a legend as a Mother can cause havoc in your life - something Lorna Luft knows all too well; and as she will admit she spend a good many years running away from her Mother's legacy. Having turned and faced the music, Lorna has grasped hold of this timeless songbook of her Mothers and made it her own... with superb results! 'Songs My Mother Taught Me' is the album of the show celebrating the life of Judy Garland. Lorna delivers an outstanding vocal performance on this album, the arrangements are fantastic and I think you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who can improve on Lorna's version of 'The Man that Got Away'.

Is Lorna Luft the "singer" that her mother was? No. But neither was Liza Minnelli--not by a long shot. Kudos must be given to both women, all the same. Oh man, cut the crap.

That aside, this is a sparkling and appropriate collection by Luft, honoring her mother's song-book, and why shouldn't she capitalize on that song-book? Every dirty show-biz dog from Hollywood to Hanoi has "used" Judy Garland, so I think it's quite a stretch to say her own beloved children cannot reference her, artistically. Grow up, people.

Please appreciate the fact that Luft references her with flair on this record--with respect, humor, and verve on a well-executed, properly produced, worthy album--an album that simultaneously honors Garland but reminds us that the Great American Songbook belongs to everyone; it transcends even Garland...with the exception of three or four songs that were indelibly Judy's. Garland herself surely knew that.

People can't say this sort of thing anymore about a singer, or about songs--no one appreciates the art of covering a hallowed song-catalogue nowadays, except as a complete novelty. In Garland's day (and, by osmosis, Luft's) you sang your way through tons of other people's compositions and were proud to do so. You were proud to put your stamp on a great tune, even if it had been already sung by a thousand other fine singers. People don't understand this dynamic today; the industry paradigm has radically changed, but this doesn't mean that there is no place for exquisite memories.

Lorna's got a superb tone, a nice, winning voice on these songs, and impeccable phrasing, I must say. No offense to the utterly fine & gifted Minnelli, but she hasn't aged nearly as well as Luft has, in terms of voice or vigor. Minnelli deserves every credit, but the two daughters should not be compared, just as no one can be compared to the Mother...period. Minnelli has more grit and emotion in her caterwauling. Luft has FAR superor phrasing. Let these girls do their thing, however they want to do it!

Lorna Luft is singing like a bird, and this honorable recording merits respect. Buy it for dinner parties and guests will love it. That is a suggestion, and ~not~ a diss. She's a credit to her mother, who, let us face facts, cannot ever be duplicated by anyone. Buy it; it's a piece of American history, to hear a gifted and devoted Luft give lovely reverence to her mother's legendary legacy.

Bottom line: she sounds great.

This album has been 3 years in the making but what a result! It has been wonderfully produced by Lorna's husband Colin R Freeman and her long time friend Barry Manilow. Lorna sounds amazing singing some of her mothers most famous songs. The 'duets' with Judy are extremely well done and the 19 minute Born in a Trunk medley is outstanding... featuring 26 different songs! Judy Garland once said about her young daughter 'Lorna has more talent than all of us put together'... and she certainly proves that with this album.

Lorna's voice is thrilling, I love this CD and have seen her live show twice! she is riveting and the show and songs are performed with Love, Judy's looking down from Heaven and smiling at her daughter! I hope a follow up to this album will come!
the must own album ever!

This was SUCH a long awaited album! I remember a couple of YEARS before the CD came out, Lorna had on her MySpace previews of some of the songs she had recorded for this CD. When I heard the tracks I absolutely loved them. But as for when I would be able to get my hands on them, I didn't know; It had said that the album was coming soon...Soon!? Yeah right! This album didn't come out for like another two years after I heard the previews on Lorna's MySpace. I'm guessing it took long to release because of all the rights and negotiations. And I know that it's extremely hard to get rights to release Garland material, even for Garland's own daughter.

Lorna had toured the UK and parts of California for years before the CD came out. Now, I think she should have released the CD first so she could have sold it and the following things could have happened: One, People would have bought it and been more aware of her coming to town. And Two, Maybe she could have sold them at her concerts! I mean Lorna has gone so long without doing stuff, why couldn't she wait until she got all of the rights for the CD to do the Touring?

Anyways, the performance by Ms. Luft on this CD is outstanding. Her voice in my opinion reminds me of the Mama Rose character in the musical, Gypsy. (Which I have heard before that Lorna was the best Mama Rose their has ever been. When Lorna played Mama Rose I don't know) But at the same time, she kind of sounded like she was imitating her Mother; Their are songs that Lorna mixed with Judy's recordings and created a duet with Judy. When they sing together, their vibrato is exactly the same! Judy's vibrato was one of the most noticeable features of her voice. And for her daughter to use the same exact techniques of her Mother, side to side in a mixed duet makes her look like a Judy wanna be! Which I don't think makes her look good comparing her to how original her sister Liza is.

As for the rest of the CD, I love how she set it up as like a concert! At the beginning she takes a bit from Judy's Minstrel Girl melody and uses it as an introduction after Judy performs the song "Lorna". Then Lorna goes into the song "I Feel a Song Comin' on" in which she narrates through. After listening to the first two tracks you can tell that it is the same type of script she would use in concert.

The rest of the CD has a good mix of songs originally performed greatly by Garland. Songs include "You're Nearer, I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Rock-A-bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody, Through The years, and more. One notable track is the melody of the songs "Shining Star" and "Over The Rainbow". Yes, it was a cute idea to mix them together, but Shining Star was never a song sung by Judy (To The Best of my knowledge) and this is supposed to be a tribute CD to her Mother. So I just think Lorna should have stuck to her Mother's songs only.

This CD is extremely hard to get your hands on. I got it as a Christmas gift around the time it came out. The people who gave it too me said it was a hassle to get because it was an imported CD (I'm living in the USA and Lorna mostly does work in the UK.) But if you can get your hands on this CD, defiantly don't pass up the chance.

Yes, she has Judy's belt. But Lorna fails to capture any of the emotion that made her mother the greatest singer of our lifetime, while somehow managing to sound like Barbra Streisand with most notes resonating in her nasal cavities. I was bored two songs into it. I couldn't get past her dragging her children out for no reason but to help her tell Judy's story. Cheesy? Heart attack on CD. I also couldn't get past her shameless self-promotion of her Mommie Dearest-type tell-all book and the mini-series she produced. I guess if your career consists of "Grease 2", you'll do anything to promote yourself.

Liza has sung some of Judy's songs of late ("Over the Rainbow" and "The Trolley Song"), but she's never stopped being her own woman and performer. I applaud her for never stooping to highjacking her mother's work, even when her career wasn't the strongest. She wrote in the first box set of Judy's Capitol Records catalog that she always knew that Judy's singing was the best there is. Too bad Lorna didn't understand that. I'll take the revitalized Liza ANY day.

If you really want to hear these songs, get "Judy at Carnegie Hall" or Linda Eder's "By Myself". Linda does a Judy tribute far better and FAR classier than this.

A complete labor of love, "Songs My Mother Taught Me" is a wondrous & magnificent collection of brilliant performances from Garland's youngest daughter who happens to possess a voice that is one of the finest of her generation and should have been a blockbuster success as greatness is clearly displayed throughout magical tribute that Judy Garland would be very proud of...amazing with such awesome pipes & superb performing ability Lorna hadn't achieved widespread acclaim before now as her tremendous talent on full display throughout this stunning collection of amazing & magical soul-stirring performances show a magnificent performer in full command...
Starting with Judy singing to a very young thrilled Lorna the sublime & deeply moving performance of "Lorna" from classic CBS television extravaganza, this stunning performance is one of the many highlights from the legendary series and what an opener for this mesmerizing tribute celebration which translates beautifully to this winning recorded collection...Lorna embraces her her moms incredible talent and as a result shows her own and shines...Lorna is gifted and a credit to her legendary genes and the lady can really sing!
Don't miss the chance to see this extremely moving & stunning tour-de-force tribute live filled with many deserved standing ovations and not a dry eye in the house...Bravo Lorna and your time has come...overdue but here & now this great recording available for all who appreciate an amazing talent to savor and enjoy over and over again!
3/10/11 "Songs" update; Lorna stunned McCallum Theater audience in Palm Desert looking smashing in full lenght bright red gown singing up a storm in magnificent form...full house standing ovations, enthralled audience didn't want it to end...Bravo Lorna!

I lOVE this CD! I have no words to express it!

No matter how hard some criticize Lorna Luft, I find her unbelievably talented. Her singing voice does everything she wants it to do: holding notes, singing «sotto voce», vibrating, etc. She really has a perfect instrument...sparkling, energizing, powerful, soulful, youthful...God Bless her! She's an amazing singer!

As for the songs, I already knew them all and I like almost all of them. The possible exeption is «Come Rain Or Come Shine»; I'm rather tired of this one by ANYONE and, here, Lorna is a bit over-the-top. But, otherwise, it is really, really an enjoyable CD full of energy and powerful renditions.

Sure, there is too much biographic talking during «I Feel A Song Coming On» and the «Born In A Trunk Medley» (wich is interesting at the first hearing, but is getting on your nerve after a while...) and it's a shame because these, with «Chicago», are the best tracks on the CD.

But don't hesitate one minute to buy this CD. I've listened to it constantly since last November and it helped me like nothing else getting me through the rigorous, overlong and depressing Winter season!