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

Stacks of tracks--from the incomparable Judy Garland

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 03/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!

"

A Very Important Judy Garland Compilation Set

William S. Oser | Florida, USA | 05/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

The best Judy in the studio, hands down

NLK | Milwaukee, WI | 08/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The price for what you get in this collection is phenomenal. Three discs are full of the best of Judy during her Capitol years. The best (in my opinion) albums are heavily represented here - "Judy" "Alone" "Judy In Love" and "That's Entertainment!" In this collection you get a chronologically-organized collection that features all of her best recordings from her post-MGM years. The remastering was really well done and the music definitely pops!"