It's a story Elaine Stritch loves to tell. In 1957, during the run of the disastrous Broadway musical "Goldilocks", Stritch was visited backstage by the one and only Noel Coward, who assured her that the problems in "Goldilocks" had absolutely nothing to do with her, and promised that the next musical she'd star in would be written by him - and it would be a hit.
Three years later, Noel Coward made good on that promise, and Elaine wowed the critics and audiences as Mimi Paragon in SAIL AWAY, which boasts a fantastic score that has now been reissued on compact disc by DRG. There are several bonafide gems in this score, most notably the tour-de-force "Why Do the Wrong People Travel?", but even better in my opinion is the aching 11 o'clocker "Something Very Strange", easily one of my all-time favourite Coward songs.
While Coward originally intended the musical for two co-starring leading ladies (operatic soprano Jean Fenn starred alongside Stritch for the out-of-town tryouts); producers decided the show simply would not work that way; and Fenn was quietly dismissed after the Philadelphia previews.
Stritch subsequently starred in the London production (cast album available on the Fynsworth Alley label), where the reception for the show was even more rapturous than in New York. SAIL AWAY was written by Coward with Stritch in mind, so it's hard to imagine a production without her, simply because the role of Mimi is so perfectly tailored to Stritch in voice, manner and personality.
This reissue of SAIL AWAY comes with a bonus disc of Noel Coward performing the songs from the show.
[DRG 19083]
Buy new:
$39.95$39.95
$4.43
delivery:
Jan 30 - 31
Ships from: rakbooks2 Sold by: rakbooks2
Buy new:
$39.95$39.95
$4.43
delivery:
Jan 30 - 31
Ships from: rakbooks2
Sold by: rakbooks2
Save with Used - Very Good
$5.14$5.14
$3.99
delivery:
Jan 29 - Feb 2
Ships from: HPB-Diamond Sold by: HPB-Diamond
Save with Used - Very Good
$5.14$5.14
$3.99
delivery:
Jan 29 - Feb 2
Ships from: HPB-Diamond
Sold by: HPB-Diamond
Image Unavailable
Image not available for
Color:
Color:
-
-
-
- Sorry, this item is not available in
- Image not available
- To view this video download Flash Player
Sail Away
Cast Recording
$39.95 $39.95
$5.14 with 87 percent savings -87% $5.14
New Condition Price: $39.95 New Condition Price: $39.95$39.95
The “New” price refers to the current Featured Offer price for a NEW version of the item. You may see this displayed as a strike-through price for used offers.
Learn more
Learn more
Track Listings
| 1 | The Passenger's Always Right |
| 2 | Sail Away |
| 3 | Beatnik Love Affair |
| 4 | Later Than Spring |
| 5 | Go Slow, Johnny |
| 6 | You're A Long, Long Way From America |
| 7 | The Customer's Always Right |
| 8 | Something Very Strange |
| 9 | Useful Phrases |
| 10 | Where Shall I Find Her? |
| 11 | When You Want Me |
| 12 | Why Do The Wring People Travels? |
| 13 | Don't Turn Away From Love |
| 14 | When You Want Me |
| 15 | Why Do The Wring People Travels? |
| 16 | This Is A Night For Lovers* |
| 17 | Bronxville Darby And Joan* |
Product details
- Package Dimensions : 5.55 x 4.97 x 0.54 inches; 4.06 Ounces
- Manufacturer : Drg
- Date First Available : February 1, 2007
- Label : Drg
- ASIN : B000EUMK90
- Number of discs : 2
- Best Sellers Rank: #564,930 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #5,369 in Musical Soundtracks & Scores
- #32,902 in Vocal Pop (CDs & Vinyl)
- Customer Reviews:
Important information
To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.
Customer reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars
3.7 out of 5
8 global ratings
How customer reviews and ratings work
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2006
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2006
This show belongs to Elaine Stritch, all the way, and it's great to have the original Broadway cast recording of SAIL AWAY - finally - on CD. I can't think of anyone who could deliver Noel Coward's witty and urbane lyrics better than Miss Stritch, except perhaps for Mr. Coward himself. And this he does, on the companion CD "Noel Coward Sings His Broadway Hit SAIL AWAY." At two for the price of one, this offering can't be beat. (As an additional bonus, Mr. Coward & Joe Layton also perform two songs -- "This Is a Night for Lovers" and "Bronxville Darby and Joan" -- which were cut from the Broadway production.)
Not that every song is a masterpiece. "Later Than Spring" might sound more comfortable in Coward's 1930 operetta BITTER SWEET than in a 1962 musical comedy. And nothing, not even Miss Stritch's peerless delivery, can save a lyric as wretched as this one from "Something Very Strange": "All the sounds I hear/the buses changing gear/suddenly appear to be beguiling." And: "Every cat I see/seems to be purring. I can clearly tell/in every clanging bell/some forgotten melody recurring." Perhaps the song should have been cut in Philadelphia, but it is, after all, the star's only ballad.
It's the ballads that don't fare too well, but thank goodness there aren't that many of them. Charles Braswell and the Stewards show their contempt for their charges with "The Passenger's Always Right;" Patricia Harty & Grover Dale make literary references during their two numbers, "Beatnik Love Affair" and "When You Want Me;" and the formidable Elaine Stritch brings down the house with "Come To Me," "You're a Long Way from America," The Little Ones ABC," and "Why Do the Wrong People Travel?" (I've not decided yet if I'm offended or not with Mr. Coward's contempt for the citizens of Omaha. Political correctness obviously was not uppermost on the author's agenda.)
Thanks to record companies like DRG, Sepia, Fynsworth Alley, PS Classic, AEI and others, important - and some not-so-important -- musicals from the past are being preserved for us old fogies and for generations to come. It was an era when singers could project above the pit band and didn't have to rely on amplification. It's so gratifying to hear real "voices" like James Hurst on this recording or Georgio Tozzi, Jean Fenn and Frank Porretta on the wonderful DRG release of THE GREAT WALTZ. And with this recording, we have a splendid record of both the great Noel Coward and the fabulous Elaine Stritch.
". . . it's a marvelous document of Stritch hitting her stride. . . is there anyone else who can put their interpretive stamp on a song the way she does? Much like the late, great Dolores Gray, when Elaine Stritch interprets a song, every other singer in the world might as well forget about ever trying it. Stritch puts her definitive stamp on everything she touches. Yes, a trilly songbird like Julie Andrews makes a song sound wonderful, but with Stritch you hear the words, their meaning, and the song `feels' wonderful." - (excerpted from an amazon.com review of the London recording)
Although Miss Stritch was nominated for a Best Actress in a Musical, the 1962 Tony went to (tie) - Anna Maria Alberghetti (CARNIVAL) and Diahann Carroll for NO STRINGS, another outstanding DRG release.
SAIL AWAY is very highly recommended, especially if you're partial to sophisticated, witty lyrics. Add the bonus Noel Coward CD and you've got a winner any way you look at it.
P.S. If you want a REAL review of this CD, click on [...] and look for "ETCETERA: John Simon Explains Why Two CDs Are Better Than One for Noel Coward's SAIL AWAY." Simon was the long-time critic for NEW YORK MAGAZINE. (5/12/06)
Not that every song is a masterpiece. "Later Than Spring" might sound more comfortable in Coward's 1930 operetta BITTER SWEET than in a 1962 musical comedy. And nothing, not even Miss Stritch's peerless delivery, can save a lyric as wretched as this one from "Something Very Strange": "All the sounds I hear/the buses changing gear/suddenly appear to be beguiling." And: "Every cat I see/seems to be purring. I can clearly tell/in every clanging bell/some forgotten melody recurring." Perhaps the song should have been cut in Philadelphia, but it is, after all, the star's only ballad.
It's the ballads that don't fare too well, but thank goodness there aren't that many of them. Charles Braswell and the Stewards show their contempt for their charges with "The Passenger's Always Right;" Patricia Harty & Grover Dale make literary references during their two numbers, "Beatnik Love Affair" and "When You Want Me;" and the formidable Elaine Stritch brings down the house with "Come To Me," "You're a Long Way from America," The Little Ones ABC," and "Why Do the Wrong People Travel?" (I've not decided yet if I'm offended or not with Mr. Coward's contempt for the citizens of Omaha. Political correctness obviously was not uppermost on the author's agenda.)
Thanks to record companies like DRG, Sepia, Fynsworth Alley, PS Classic, AEI and others, important - and some not-so-important -- musicals from the past are being preserved for us old fogies and for generations to come. It was an era when singers could project above the pit band and didn't have to rely on amplification. It's so gratifying to hear real "voices" like James Hurst on this recording or Georgio Tozzi, Jean Fenn and Frank Porretta on the wonderful DRG release of THE GREAT WALTZ. And with this recording, we have a splendid record of both the great Noel Coward and the fabulous Elaine Stritch.
". . . it's a marvelous document of Stritch hitting her stride. . . is there anyone else who can put their interpretive stamp on a song the way she does? Much like the late, great Dolores Gray, when Elaine Stritch interprets a song, every other singer in the world might as well forget about ever trying it. Stritch puts her definitive stamp on everything she touches. Yes, a trilly songbird like Julie Andrews makes a song sound wonderful, but with Stritch you hear the words, their meaning, and the song `feels' wonderful." - (excerpted from an amazon.com review of the London recording)
Although Miss Stritch was nominated for a Best Actress in a Musical, the 1962 Tony went to (tie) - Anna Maria Alberghetti (CARNIVAL) and Diahann Carroll for NO STRINGS, another outstanding DRG release.
SAIL AWAY is very highly recommended, especially if you're partial to sophisticated, witty lyrics. Add the bonus Noel Coward CD and you've got a winner any way you look at it.
P.S. If you want a REAL review of this CD, click on [...] and look for "ETCETERA: John Simon Explains Why Two CDs Are Better Than One for Noel Coward's SAIL AWAY." Simon was the long-time critic for NEW YORK MAGAZINE. (5/12/06)
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2013
How can you write a review if you don't even get the product. I ordered this blue covered item and got another project .
It cost me $53.96. To prove it, I am sending the 4 3/4 X 4 3/4 jewell case. Who wouldn't hate
being taken. It even makes it impossible to write it impossible to write Amazon because when
I write the letter of complaint it gets deleted. I tried at least about 20 times. Cliff Hurt
It cost me $53.96. To prove it, I am sending the 4 3/4 X 4 3/4 jewell case. Who wouldn't hate
being taken. It even makes it impossible to write it impossible to write Amazon because when
I write the letter of complaint it gets deleted. I tried at least about 20 times. Cliff Hurt
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2011
The show is just "Great", but:
What ever posessed the DRG company for picking this CD cover for their re-issue of the light hearted Noel Coward musical romp (as they say) of "Sail Away"? What does this cover possibly have to do with this show? Is this a picture of a Pirate's "long ship", against a dark blue background or what? Yes, the show's theme has something to do with the sea and water, but this is stretching the point a bit too far.
Maybe DRG could'nt afford the "user fee" (just joking) for the show's logo. The proper show's logo for this particular musical CD would have certainly been a plus for collectors.
This cover is definitely more suited for the book cover of "Moby Dick" or for the DVD artwork for "Mutiny on the Bounty" or for the catalogue of the mail order company, L.L.Bean, but certainly not a cover for a "Musical". Noel Coward deserves better, Geez.
What's the BIG price about?
What ever posessed the DRG company for picking this CD cover for their re-issue of the light hearted Noel Coward musical romp (as they say) of "Sail Away"? What does this cover possibly have to do with this show? Is this a picture of a Pirate's "long ship", against a dark blue background or what? Yes, the show's theme has something to do with the sea and water, but this is stretching the point a bit too far.
Maybe DRG could'nt afford the "user fee" (just joking) for the show's logo. The proper show's logo for this particular musical CD would have certainly been a plus for collectors.
This cover is definitely more suited for the book cover of "Moby Dick" or for the DVD artwork for "Mutiny on the Bounty" or for the catalogue of the mail order company, L.L.Bean, but certainly not a cover for a "Musical". Noel Coward deserves better, Geez.
What's the BIG price about?
Top
About this item
Similar
Product information
Questions
Reviews
Open Web Player

