Take Me Along: An Original Cast Recording (1959 Broadway Cast) [Cast Recording]

Bob Merrill, Una Merkel, Eileen Herlie, Susan Luckey, Peter Conlow, Robert Morse, Walter Pidgeon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 30, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: Rca Victor
• ASIN: B000003EU6
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,546 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Take Me Along/Overture

2. Take Me Along/The Parade

3. Take Me Along/Oh, Please

4. Take Me Along/I Would Die

5. Take Me Along/Sid, Ol' Kid

6. Take Me Along/Staying Young

7. Take Me Along/I Get Embarrassed

8. Take Me Along/We're Home

9. Take Me Along/Take Me Along

10. Take Me Along/Volunteer Firemen Picnic

11. Take Me Along/Wint's Song

12. Take Me Along/That's How It Starts

13. Take Me Along/Promise Me a Rose

14. Take Me Along/Staying Young (Reprise)

15. Take Me Along/Little Green Snake

16. Take Me Along/Nine O'Clock

17. Take Me Along/But Yours

18. Take Me Along/Finale

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very charming and light, December 25, 2001

By 

D. Clancy (Portland, Or USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Take Me Along: An Original Cast Recording (1959 Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

"Take Me Along", the musical based on Eugene O'Neill's only comedy "Ah, Wilderness", is not a great musical but it is certainly better than a lot of them that followed. It has a charming score that is not complicated and some excellent performances by the cast. Jackie Gleason as Sid and Eileen Herlie as Lily are a perfect match as the middle aged love interest. Robert Morse makes his biggest debut on Broadway as the delinquent son of an upper middle class Connecticut family. Walter Pidgeon and Una Merkel fill out the family nicely.
Given the fact that the musical opened on Broadway in October, 1959 it has held up well over the ensuing years. There was one attempt to revive it in 1985. It lasted one night on Broadway.
For musical comedy afficionados this CD is a must. Plus the CD booklet is handsomely packaged. It also contains many details of the bickering between producer David Merrick and Jackie Gleason, and the bad relationship between the very ego centered Gleason and co star Walter Pidgeon.
If all this was not enough it is great to listen to.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another gem from Broadway's Golden Age, November 22, 2008

By 

D. Morse "Broadway Fanatic" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Take Me Along: An Original Cast Recording (1959 Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

I had trouble obtaining this CD, but finally did and am glad I put forth the effort...I had a Hal Bowens' Orchestra rendering of the Musical on an old LP, which I enjoyed listening to for years and have since put it on CD, but is nice to add the Original Cast CD to my collection...this is probably the only Musical Jackie Gleason ever did and he is wonderful as Sid, and is well supported by Eileen Herlie (who just passed away at about the age of 90), Robert Morse, and Walter Pidgeon...it is very melodic with tunes by Bob Merrill (Funny Girl, How Much is that Doggie in the Window, and other novelty songs)...this is an old fashioned Musical, which for the most part has gone by the wayside, although, it would be wonderful to see a revival of this show....the music grows on you...."Promise me a Rose" "Sid OL Kid" "Nine O'Clock" "But Yours" "Wer'e Home", title song and others...all of the stars have passed on for the most part other than Robert Morse, who achieved later fame in "How to Succeed in Business", among other stage plays..Walter Pidgeon later would star as Flo Ziegfeld in the movie version of Funny Girl, and Eileen Herlie, would make a name for herself later in life in one of the major soap operas on Television, and also played many classical roles on stage in her native British Isles, as well as in the United States...she also appeared in the 1962 show "All American" which introduced the hit, "Once Upon a Time," a duet with the star of that show "Ray Bolger" I would also recommend this show for your collection, another neglected golden oldie....I must give kudos to Amazon and others for making these Cast Albums available, since they have been impossible to find for years..

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little known treasure, October 28, 2008

By 

Augustine Towey "Bro" (Niagara Falls, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Take Me Along: An Original Cast Recording (1959 Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

This barely-known musical based on O'Neill's "Ah Wilderness!" is worth listening to and -- if you're a producer -- worth doing because of the great score and lyrics. They wonderfully capture the people and the period. It needs a new major production.