The Comedian Harmonists

The Comedian Harmonists

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 24, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hannibal
• ASIN: B00000IXS6
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,241 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hallo, Was Machst du Heut', Daisy?

2. Der Alte Cowboy (The Last Roundup)

3. Wochenend und Sonnenschein

4. Creole Love Call

5. Veronika, Der Lenz Ist Da

6. Night and Day

7. Mein Kleiner Gruner Kaktus

8. Tea for Two

9. Kannst du Pfeifen, Johanna

10. Baby, Wo Ist Mein Baby

11. Schöne Lisa, Süsse Lisa

12. In Einem Kühlen Grunde (In a Shady Grove)

13. Die Dorfmusik (The Village Band)

14. Irgendwo auf Der Welt

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Long quarantined to the province of obsessive record collectors and historical nitpickers (rock scribe supreme Lester Bangs--a mutant spawn of those two groups if there ever was--loved them like family), the Comedian Harmonists are making their stateside debut some 70 years after their heyday. For a spell, the Harmonists were the toast of pre-WWII Berlin, flooring audiences with their dizzying harmonic acuity. But their harmonies are only half the story. The Comedian half of the CH equation comes from--among other tricks--an astute knack for vocal mimicry. On Duke Ellington's "Creole Love Call" they imitate kazoo, muted trumpet, trombone, even theremin to positively alien effect. But the Harmonists' good humor belies the exacting skill and recurrent hint of sorrow and longing that pervades their work. Their rendering of Cole Porter's classic "Night and Day," with its paradoxical taskmaster's precision and soft sentimentality, accounts for one of the many shining moments on this compilation. Imagine Elmer Fudd crooning from atop a piano in a Berlin cabaret and you'll get an inkling of the Harmonists' singular charms. --Matt Hanks

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcendent performances radiate joy, September 11, 1999

By A Customer

Lester Bangs has written a review of these wholly _sui generis_ singers I can only echo: These songs radiate pure joy of singing. There is no category for them. Imagine six young fellows with the spirit and the blooming ensemble notes of a barbershop quartet, with European sensibilities and a repertoire from German lieder to American classics like "Daisy, You're Driving Me Crazy" and "Happy Days are Here Again". Now imagine this repertoire performed mostly in German for audiences in the Cabaret days of Berlin. These recordings are verging on seventy years old but are wonderfully mastered and as fresh as spring air. This music bridges genres: it speaks to everyone. BUY IT and prepare to be stunned and lifted to the sublime.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comedians always make the best drama, October 13, 2003

By	James Poulakos (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Just as comedians so often make good dramatic actors, these 'comedian' harmonists were the finest of their time. A friend of a friend passed me a cassette tape of them in Germany in 1995, and I listened to it for years without knowing who they were, awed by the complexity of their harmony and the simple charm of their melodies. I think Matt's reference to Elmer Fudd can be explained by the similarity of their musical styles to early music of Warner Brothers and Disney cartoons; the Harmonists loved American jazz and blues records, as you can tell by the list of titles on this CD. Fans of the band should see the German biopic, The Comedian Harmonists, for a decent telling of their tragic story--at the height of their fame in Germany, and on the brink of international success, the blight of Hitler's dark parade ruined their careers and dashed their hopes of spreading their music across the Atlantic to the country that had inspired so much of their ground-breaking music.

Even if you don't understand their German lyrics, the music of the Harmonists will cheer you, especially if you have any nostalgic feeling for the old tunes we hear in the earliest Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons. A musician will tell you there's nothing trivial about their talent -- singing stuff like this is *hard* -- but you don't have to be a musician to love this stuff.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfection is hard to find; this CD offers it!, August 17, 2001

By A Customer

I certainly can't top the reviewer from Northampton, who so eloquently expressed what the Comedian Harmonists are about. But I do want to add that these are tight vocals, very seamless, smoothly melodious. (I'm not sure how the Elmer Fudd image came to Matt the reviewer, above, but it certainly couldn't have been from the SOUND of the Harmonists: overall, these guys are silk.) Also, the pianist that accompanies them has a deft way of supporting the vocals without overwhelming them or becoming underwhelming himself. It's a balancing act of pure magic. The Hannibal CD has superb sound quality (considering the age of these recordings)--it really sparkles--and great selections. This is music you can listen to when you're happy, when you're sad, when you want to do a little two-step for the heck of it, when you want to think. It's versatile. It's perfect. And, as the reviewer from Northampton said, it's sublime.