Customer Reviews

Trouble Is a Man

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judy holliday was at the top of her game when she recorded 'trouble is a man'. her vocals on the songs are throaty, breathy, tear-tipped experiences that tell of love's pain and sorrow. take your zoloft first! the arrangements will not be to everyone's liking. there's lots of violins and the textures are a little muddy or syrupy. and brass and reed solos are just out and out campy, especially on 'where have you been'. and speaking of camp, there is the male quartet of background singers. they give a big chuckle on 'an occasional man'. but i accepted all of this for what it is and got a gift of holliday's ability to wring all the pathos and drama out of each of these wonderful classic torch tunes.

This album was a true suprise. A gifted stylist and beautiful arrangements make this album worth buying.

TROUBLE IS A MAN came during a very interesting period in Judy Holliday's career. Although she had never considered herself an especially gifted singer, Holliday's splash on Broadway in "Bells Are Ringing" (crafted by her dear friends Betty Comden and Adolph Green) won her the coveted Tony Award in 1956 and re-ignited her flailing acting career in the process. In 1958, Holliday (winding down her long run in "Bells Are Ringing"), took a bold new step into the solo recording world with her low-key platter, TROUBLE IS A MAN.

Judy Holliday's rarest magic came in musicals and on record, and TROUBLE IS A MAN is no exception. She's showcased in a selection of moody love ballads, including "Ride on a Rainbow" (another brilliant piece from "Bells Are Ringing"'s composer Jule Styne), "What I Was Warned About" comes from Hugh Martin's 1951 Broadway oddity "Make a Wish"; and "Lonely Town" is a key number from Comden & Green's "On the Town".

Silvery...emotional...heartfelt. Judy Holliday's voice may not be the most powerful or precision-trained (very often she sits so close to the mic that spittle can be heard during her softer moments); but as a singing actress she is second to none. TROUBLE IS A MAN reinvented Holliday in a sophisticated new musical light. Two years later, Holliday teamed with boyfriend, jazz composer/arranger Gerry Mulligan, for arguably her best album, "Holliday with Mulligan" (also available from DRG). Two tracks from that album are included here as a bonus.

Recommended.