Customer Reviews

Very Best of Judy Garland: The Capitol Recordings 1955-1965

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My new Judy set arrived today along with DRG's release of Judy's "The Letter" (will review separately). I didn't know what to expect, since I've purchased the previous issues of Collectable's complete Judy 2on1 albums. I thought the sound on those issues were pretty good. In this case, with an all new 2007 Remastering from the original session tapes, there is significant difference. The sound is vibrant and crystal clear as you would probably hear it being recorded in the sound booth at Capitol in the original high-fidelity mono. The packaging is gorgeous. The blue color is becoming to accent the black & white photos of Judy, some I've seen for the first time. Unique to this release is the complete JUDY IN LOVE album from 1958 is issued in Mono for the first time. The mixing for the mono release vs. what has been mixed and released in stereo is different and packs more of a punch. It is nice to have this version of JUDY IN LOVE, plus two comparing tracks added on Disc 3 of ZING...and I AM LOVED in 2007 remastered stereo. One track from THE LETTER and one from GARLAND AT THE GROVE makes this package. Still waiting on a complete CD release of THE GROVE concert recording. The London Sessions are also represented with two alternate takes that are previously unreleased. STORMY WEATHER and OVER THE RAINBOW are alternate TAKE 1's from these sessions in their complete form. Jacket notes state a combination of takes were used in the previous released versions.

Capitol/EMI here in the US should have considered a set like this when issuing CLASSIC JUDY GARLAND a couple of years ago. Though that is an excellent set, as is this new gem, both are not complete, so you need to keep both. The new set is a must for the extras and the extrodinary beautiful remastering. It keeps Judy alive and makes her best recordings shine so brilliantly.

The Very Best of Judy Garland: The Capitol Recordings 1955-1965 gives us a remarkable 72 tracks on three CDs all proving beyond a doubt that Judy Garland remains the world's greatest entertainer. The sound quality is very good (at least on the copy I purchased) and the artwork reflects good taste, too. The liner notes are very informative.

The first CD starts with a stunning medley from Judy's LP entitled Miss Show Business. "This Is The Time Of The Evening/While We're Young" introduces Judy with a chorus that sings sweetly; and when Judy comes in her voice never sounded better! This is followed by an even better medley of "You Made Me Love You/For Me And My Gal/The Boy Next Door/The Trolley Song." Judy performs this second medley with great panache; she enhances the beauty of each tune with her singularly beautiful voice. The strings add to the arrangement very nicely, too. "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody" has great brass and strings to accompany Judy's sublime vocals; Judy sings this with all her heart and soul. This number lacks nothing--it's THAT good.

"Over The Rainbow," is, quite naturally, given the royal treatment by Judy Garland as this was her principle signature song. It's perfect! "I Feel A Song Coming On" gets a snazzy arrangement and Judy doesn't sing a single superfluous note! Listen also for "Maybe I'll Come Back;" this old vaudeville song was reportedly one of Judy's father's favorites--but in any event Judy delivers this brilliantly! "Lucky Day" sparkles like gold when Judy sings this with heart and soul. "Me And My Shadow" begins with a musical flourish from the strings; and when Judy comes in this number truly takes flight!

The second CD is equally beautiful. "I Get The Blues When It Rains" is a striking torch song that Judy aces easily; and the strings on this tune are fantastic. "Just A Memory" is another torch song that Judy enhances with her singularly beautiful rendition of this ballad. "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart" was always one of my very favorite Judy Garland songs; I could never tire of this one! The percussion, brass and strings greatly enhance the natural beauty of this song. "Do It Again" has Judy singing a rarely heard opening verse; and as Judy sings the main lyrics to "Do It Again" this blossoms into a lush love song. There's also the zesty "That's Entertainment" from the LP of the same name; Judy attacks this number with all her might and she truly gives blood to make this perfect! I love it!

The third CD gives us even more. "Just You, Just Me" has a fine piano arrangement and Judy makes this sound fresh and new even if you've heard this a million times before! The "Judy At The Palace" medley gives us "Shine On Harvest Moon/Some Of These Days/My Man/I Don't Care." "I Don't Care," from the movie In The Good Old Summertime, thrills me every time I hear Judy sing this with all her might--it's a brilliant performance from Judy--as usual! The strings and more enhance the melody to make this extremely pretty and sweet. After being treated to an alternate take of "Over The Rainbow," we hear Judy performing another signature song, "The Man That Got Away." The horns make this so beautiful along with Judy's voice; this live track really is electric! "I Could Go On Singing" is from the movie of the same name; Judy delivers this so smoothly it stuns me every time I hear it. Listen also for two duets Judy sings with her daughter Liza Minnelli; we get "When The Saints Go Marching In" and "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands."

If you're a fan of Judy Garland this is a must have CD set for your collection. It's also a wonderful CD set for people who appreciate classic pop vocals and even some of the "oldies" songs as well. Get this today and enjoy!

As a member of the production team, I noticed and inquired about the comments that CD #1 had a manufacturing defect. EMI London looked into this with the plant, to learn that it did accidentally occurr on a few pressings, and it has been corrected. Our sincere apologies. It should not happen again. My information is that anyone who has a defective CD should be able to return it to the seller, and they will be supplied a new one. This is most unusual, and again our apologies. We were very pleased to see the comments on the booklet and excellent audio quality, as a great deal of time was spent on them. These recordings are glorious, and we wanted them presented in the best way possible.

Judy Garland fans who buy this box set will definitely feel they have hit The JUDY GARLAND JACKPOT" and experience musical nirvana here on earth! Oh, Yes!! For starters, you get three complete Capitol Albums, plus excerpts from others, rarities. alternate takes, etc. for a whopping grand total of 72 gorgeous tracks; and very affordably priced, too! The beautiful booklet includes extremely well-written liner notes and stunningly lovely photographs of Our Lady Of Song.
Once Judy was free from the shackles of the MGM movie studio, she started Concert appearances and gave us a brilliant "A STAR IS BORN" at Warner Brothers in 1954. Arriving at Capitol Records in 1955, Judy took charge; determined to sing her songs HER way. With superb arrangements from Nelson Riddle, Mort Lindsey, and others, Judy never sang in the "sweet girl next door from MGM Style" ever again!! She was a woman with a lot of good and bad life experience, and it shows in the rich, robust, warm, full-throttle vocals here.
In addition to Judy's signature songs, you'll hear "Danny Boy", "Last Night When We Were Young", "Me And My Shadow," "Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries," "Lucky Day," "Little Girl Blue," "Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home," "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues," "I Concenttrate On You," "If I Love Again," "This Is It", and so many more! The only real great Judy performances I'm missing here are "Hello, Bluebird" and the full-force, dramatic Mort Lindsey arrangement of "By Myself"-- both of these are included on the soundtrack of Judy's final film "I COULD GO ON SINGING" in 1963. For The Record, on the beautiful 1955 recording of "Over The Rainbow" included here on CD One, it does sound as though Judy quietly bursts into tears mid-way through, and just keeps on crying until the finish. Judy's fans, however (and we know who we are!) will be filled with joy. for this beautiful 3-CD Set, along with "THE WIZARD OF OZ," "A STAR IS BORN" and the complete, historic 1961 "CARNEGIE HALL" CD, are all the essentials necessary for a proper Judy Garland Festival. REJOICE IN THE GLORIOUS TALENTS OF JUDY GARLAND!!! Amen!!

There are two unreleased takes on this 3 CD compilation set of Judy Garland's Capitol recordings. Since we are unlikely to get a box set of Judy's complete Capitol recordings, this one will have to do. The sound is remastered on all cuts and you will hear most songs as if it were the first time. There are some beautiful photographs of Judy, one I had never seen before. This set is a must have for Judy Garland fans and also for the curious. She was simply the greatest!

The vocals and remastering are superb on this Judy Garland CD. I agree with the reviewer who noted the POOR quality of the first cd. I too, have purchased two copies of this set from two different Amazon sellers and both skip on the "Memories of You " track. Shame on EMI you can even see a bubble on the playing side of the first CD.

This release is almost great, but hold onto your copy of CLASSIC JUDY GARLAND - THE CAPITOL YEARS: 1955-1965 2-CD set! I compared the tracks that are available on both releases and found that THE VERY BEST OF JUDY GARLAND has some inferior sources for some songs!

Disc 2 - Track 7 (It's So Lovely to be Back in London) suffers from horrible echo on the VERY BEST CD, and the liner notes say it was impossible to lessen the echo because it was recorded into the masters. Well, check out CLASSIC JUDY GARLAND (Disc 1 - Track 10) and hear this song WITHOUT the echo and sounding far crisper and "present". The liner notes also claim this is a problem with the London Sessions recordings, but they do sound arguably better on THE LONDON SESSIONS CD (though any added reverb seems to be the same).

The 1961 singles on VERY BEST (Disc 3 - Tracks 13-14) sound like they are a generation down from what was used on CLASSIC JUDY GARLAND (Disc 2 - Tracks 8-9). The other tracks the two releases have in common sound either remarkably similar or slightly better on this release, with the exception of those I have noted.

Also, the remixed version of "I Could Go On Singing" on this release blows away the excessively hissy previous releases on MANY a compilation album! It's amazing how CLASSIC JUDY GARLAND, the THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT/I COULD GO ON SINGING CD, J.G. IN HOLLYWOOD and many other releases all put out such a substandard recording when VERY BEST has managed to remix the song from the 4-track master and improve its sonic clarity by a wide margin. Why wasn't this done before?

This is an excellent collection of Judy's best. She was a great entertainer and singer. Once she sang a song, nobody else could sing it better.

The previous reviewers have set most everything that I would about this set. This set along with The One and Only Judy Garland, the Capitol Years, give anyone a superb overview of the artist in her later prime, when she was no longer the very young belter, but the voice was still dependable. The One and Only tries to give an overview of all phases of Garland's recording career, Studio on Disc l, Live on Disc 2 and the definitive London sessions of her signiture songs. This set concentrates on the studio material, and much of this was new to her repetoire at the time, or at least the arrangements were. The transfers from the original tapes are simply superb, and the artistic decisions are all first rate, such as releasing the Mono version of Judy in Love. I have a CD transfer of the stereo mix, and the decision makers were right, the stereo mixing is very flawed so the mono packs much more punch. The last reviewer said that only one completel album is featured, that is incorrect, three albums are included in their eitirety, Alone, Judy in Love and Thats Entertainment. Most of her other studio albums are represented by 4 to 6 cuts from each, so that you can get a feel for what the entire album is like. Alone, is an absolute classic, setting and maintaining a bluish mood, as only a great singing actress could. Every other CD transfer of this album has left out one or two of the cuts, and that damages the entire product. The album is one of those great Capitol theme albums of the 50's that is all of a piece, such as Sinatra's Only the Lonely or In the We Small Hours of the Mornng. There is a very strong emotional arc to the whole. Absolutely essential to anyone trying to explore Garland. I can not believe it was released at such a small price, what a great bargain.

For anyone whose image of Judy Garland is that of an exploited and fragile woman, a sad and tragic figure, or just some sort of camp icon, this collection could just open your eyes to why she was - and continues to be - such a big deal. Free of the narrow limitations MGM placed on her musical style, her interpretations of the songs in this collection are thrilling.

Sure, there really is something of the fragile woman, the tragic figure and the camp icon in the lady. But her performances are exciting despite those facets of her persona that could relegate her permanently to the list of hollow icons. Listening to her, you're not always sure where a song is going to end up. At times she's subtle and beautifully measured. But at others it looks like that vibrato - so big it's almost out of control - is going to make her slip and miss a note all together, sliding her into something almost grotesque or, worse yet, into a caricature of herself. But she never goes there. And it's her ability to walk so close to the edge of artistic mishap without ever taking a false step that pushes some button deep inside the listener. Fragile? Yes, but fearless in the risks she takes. Tragic? Maybe, but she has that ability to laugh at herself which only comes with real strength and years of real living. Camp? Not really: because, despite the desire to imitate her, no one really could. She was smart enough and had enough self-awareness to be in complete control of her image.

And this is a great collection through which to explore what she's all about. The first disc gets off to a slow start, as if her first recordings for Capitol were meant only to build safely on the songs she'd already made famous. But it doesn't take long for the arrangements and Garland's vocal style to explore new dimensions.

Judy Garland never seemed to get away with being just a great talent. There was always something of the curiosity - or the freak - in the way people related to her: that odd little girl with the voice and heart of a grown-up, or the middle-aged performer people hoped to see crash and burn with every performance. This collection is a chance to hear her as just a truly great musician.

I don't mean to dismiss Garland's movie work. It was really wonderful and stands on its own merit. But it's a very different thing all together. If that's what you're looking for, Rhino has put together a great sampler: Judy Garland In Hollywood: Her Greatest Movie Hits - Original Soundtrack Performances 1936-1963.