Brigadoon (1957 Studio Cast)

Jack Cassidy (Artist), Frederick Loewe (Artist), Shirley Jones (Artist), Susan Johnson (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 22, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drg
• ASIN: B0007LXP54
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,268 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Musicals > Classic Musicals

Track Listings

1. Introduction and Prologue

2. Brigadoon/Vendor's Calls/Down on MacConnachy Square - Susan Johnson, Susan Johnson

3. Waitin' for My Dearie - Shirley Jones

4. I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean - Frank Porretta

5. Heather on the Hill - Jack Cassidy,

6. Love of My Life - Susan Johnson, Susan Johnson

7. Jeannie's Packin' Up

8. Come to Me, Bend to Me - Frank Porretta

9. Almost Like Being in Love - Jack Cassidy, Shirley Jones

10. Chase - Jack Cassidy

11. There But for You Go I - Jack Cassidy

12. My Mother's Wedding Day - Susan Johnson, Susan Johnson

13. From This Day On/Farewell Music - Jack Cassidy,

14. Finale

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Unless you have a sentimental attachment to the familiar voices of the original Broadway cast or movie soundtrack, the 1957 studio recording of Brigadoon might just become your favorite. It's exceptionally well cast, for starters, especially the great Jack Cassidy as the romantic lead Tommy and the woefully underrecorded powerhouse Susan Johnson as the brassy Meg. Singing sweetly opposite Cassidy is his then-wife Shirley Jones (their children included Shaun Cassidy; David was from Jack's previous marriage), fresh off her lead ingenue roles in the Oklahoma! and Carousel films, and sometimes-opera-singer Frank Poretta covers the high-tenor songs "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean" and "Come to Me, Bend to Me." Producer Goddard Lieberson also included choral and dance numbers to showcase more of the Lerner & Loewe score (45 minutes) than had been recorded before. Modern collectors have choices, however, and the best overall option might be John McGlinn's 1991 recording, which has even more music and is also very well sung, by Rebecca Luker and Brent Barrett. But if one has the shelf space for more than one Brigadoon, the 1957 cast is so good that it's worth picking up. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite possibly the best BRIGADOON recording, March 31, 2005

By	Pope (Wisconsin, United States) - See all my reviews

This recording of Lerner and Loewe's BRIGADOON was recorded in 1957 and features Jack Cassidy and then-wife Shirley Jones, fresh from her motion picture sucesses in OKLAHOMA and CAROUSEL. You couldn't ask for a better cast--all turn in very praiseworthy performances. It's too bad that MGM didn't make their film version of BRIGADOON a couple years later than it did; not that we don't enjoy Cyd Charisse's performance in the film, but imagine Shirley Jones singing and dancing alongside Gene Kelly...oh to think about what could have been!

Produced by the late great Goddard Lieberson, this recording sounded great on LP and it sounds great on CD as well--no gripes whatsoever about the recording or its CD transfer. This is now the album of choice for newcomers to the score. The original 1947 album is still very nice, but the occasionally-less-than-desirable sound quality and truncated musical numbers (necessitated by 1947 recording technology and the limited playing time of the 78-RPM records on which it was recorded) make it more of a historical document than anything else. The 1954 MGM soundtrack features stereophonic sound, which really opens the music up, and includes all the dance music heard in the film as well as the deleted numbers, but the soundtrack and film are really more about the dance music than the songs themselves--still great though. Purists will definately go after McGlinn's 1991 "complete" studio album on Angel/EMI. With all the choices, though, this 1957 album is definately a great place to start--well recorded, cast, and performed. I recommend this recording of BRIGADOON over all the others. RUN to buy a copy now that it's back in print!

EDIT 1/20/08: Picked up an old copy recently of the 1960s television cast with Robert Goulet and Sally Ann Howes and it definately gives this album a run for its money. Definately pick that album up on LP if you ever come across it!

HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More theatricality than on the actual OCR, March 24, 2005

By	Mark Andrew Lawrence "Theatre Reviewer" (Toronto) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When BRIGADOON premiered in 1947, the recording industry was still using 78 RPM records and the cast album was truncated to fit the format. After a long run, multiple tours, revivals and a movie version, Columbia Records decided to make a modern "high fidelity" recording that would be more complete than the original.

When this album was recorded in July 1957 the stars Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones were married and seem to bring a delightful flirtatious quality to their duets. Susan Johnson was a veteran of the Broadway revival and the record was conducted by Lehman Engle. Despite being a studio cast recording not directly connected with any stage production, there is more theatricality to this disc than to RCA Victor's original Broadway cast recording.

The new orchestrations are respectful of teh origianlas but add a layer of mystery to the prelude rather than the orchestral blare trying to emulate bagpipes that opens the show in the theatre.

Since this record was made by Columbia's pop division (rather than the Columbia Masterworks division which released rthe label's Broadway cast albums) it was taped in mono only even though stereo recording had become common at the time. In teh 1960s the record was re-released in electrontic (or fake) stereo but now DRG restores it to the catalogue in beautiful pure mono.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars almost near-perfect BRIGADOON, June 26, 2005

By	Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

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Columbia's 1957 studio cast album of BRIGADOON remains to this day one of the best (if not THE best) recordings of the dreamy Lerner-Loewe score.

This was originally one in a series of Broadway studio cast albums, produced by Goddard Lieberson, many of which have been released on CD (including GIRL CRAZY (Mary Martin, Louise Carlyle); OH KAY! (Barbara Ruick, Jack Cassidy); and BABES IN ARMS (Mary Martin, Jack Cassidy).

Shirley Jones is a revelation as Fiona with Jack Cassidy as Tommy. The performances are enlivened no end by their real-life chemistry as husband and wife, and they used that kinship to great effect in their recordings together. Jones' rendition of "Waitin' for My Dearie" includes the right combination of melancholy and hope. Jack Cassidy has a ball with "There But for You Go I".

Susan Johnson replaced Pamela Britton on Broadway during the run of the original production, and she beautifully recreates the role of soubrette Meg Brockie. A spirited reading of "The Love of My Life" is a highlight of the entire recording.

There are many delightful BRIGADOON's around (I own a copy of the Armstrong television cast recording on LP, which features the once-in-a-lifetime casting of Sally Ann Howes and Robert Goulet in the roles of Fiona and Tommy), nevertheless, the Shirley Jones/Jack Cassidy BRIGADOON will always be my favourite rendition of the score.