Search - Liza Minnelli :: The Complete A&M Recordings

MAGIC OF MINNELLI~BRAVO LIZA!!!

Bradly Briggs | TOLUCA LAKE, CALIFORNIA | 11/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Liza Minnelli is the singing wonder of her generation and this tremendous collection is proof...stunning collection should have made the Legendary Diva a Superstar long before Cabaret but radio for some strange reason refused to play these awesome recordings that would easily have sold in the millions plus won a number of well-deserved Grammy Awards...doesn't say much for the music industry in general or the lame radio-programmers of America who were all going psychedelic at the time of Liza's stunning A&M debut. Self-titled "Liza Minnelli" is the extraordinary A&M Records recording debut with incredible performances like "Married/You'd Better Sit Down Kids", "Waiting For My Friend", "The Look Of Love", "My Mammy", "For No One", plus a number of Peter Allen & Randy Newman gems making this landmark album magnificent from start to finish! "Come Saturday Morning" is another awesome collection of great songs filled with more fine singing from Liza like smoldering & mesmerizing performances such as "On A Slow Boat To China", "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream", a haunting "McArthur Park/Didn't We" featuring Peter Allen on piano while "New Feelin'" is a charged rocking and soulful set containing a passionate & stirring "Maybe This Time" plus a sublime gospelized "God Bless The Child". Now by the early 70's only "Singer/Songwriter's" were given airplay but in early 70's "New Feelin'" Liza really lets it rip on old standards such as "Love For Sale" & "I Wonder Where My Easy Riders Gone" while "Can't Help Loving That Man" & "The Man I Love" are soul-deep & satisfying. An exciting early live album recorded at the legendary Olympia Theater in Paris is included along with superb unreleased gems with a jazzy tropicial feel featuring glorious & mesmerizing vocals from Liza.

Liza recorded a rich variety of standards during her productive stint at A & M Records but the real surprise here is the greatness of the contemporary material and unique originality of the varied and richly illuminating performances...the legendary lady can really sing and this magical & wondrous musical treasure should be given a Special "Grammy Award" as it is better late than never to award a deserving stunning collection filled with timeless great performances!!!

Bravo Liza!"

Liza's a&m recorded work...4 stars for three albums and unre

L. Steidl | NYC | 11/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 2-disc set, "The Complete A&M Recordings", is actually four albums Minnelli recorded for the A&M label between the brief period of 1968-1970 , along with alternate recordings & unreleased cuts.



The first two albums, "Liza Minnellli" and "Come Saturday Morning" are quite lovely and find Liza in a mellow, pop-folk early-70's mood, handling this material very well, considering that her forte has always been, and will always be that of the bombastic, socko-boffo-POW Broadway style of singing. I've always preferred these two albums over her earlier, immature Capital recordings, and are completely superior to the bland "The Singer", the weak "Tropical Nights", both recorded later for CBS and the sleep-inducing, boring "Gently" for Angel. Her renditions of "Wailing of the Willow", "Look of Love", "Raggedy Ann & Raggedy Andy",and especially "Simon" are surprisingly lovely & subtle, and she seems truly comfortable in a recording studio. These two albums deserved to be released & completely restored on compact discs.



The third album Minnelli recorded for A&M, "New Feelin' ", is a total embarrassment and should never have been released on CDs, let alone released in the first place in 1970. This ill-advised concept was to have Liza record standards of the Great American Songbook in an R&B-country-rock-mishmash style and is a complete nightmare of bad arrangements, bad taste, and screeching, shouting singing. Not one song on this awful album works. Most of the cuts from this album have already been released on at least two prior compilations produced by Scott Schechter and why he insists on reminding people of this bomb I simply do not understand. Thank God this trash is followed by Liza's first solo "live" album, recorded at the famed Olympia in Paris. She's in fine voice, with great renditions of "I Will Wait For You" (Legrand's beautiful theme from "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg"), "Nous On S aimera", "My Mammy", and a vastly different version of her signature tune "Cabaret" that her admires will be interested in hearing.



With few exceptions (film soundtracks, Broadway/live recordings, Pet Shop Boys "Results", Liza's finest pop studio endevour to date), I admit to NOT being a Minnelli lover when it comes to her recorded work, as I feel her craft & artistry is best captured in other mediums. Her two first albums for A&M are part of that exception and are truly worth purchasing this package.........just be sure to skip "New Feelin' "!!!!



Luigi ~ nyc"

A Collectors' Choice: Early Liza

Bruce K. Hanson | Petersburg, VA | 12/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I first saw this two CD set advertised in Collectors' Choice mail order magazine I literally yelped before calling to order a copy. First of all, I would finally own the rare "Liza Minellei: Live at the Olympia in Paris", a 1972 album of which I had only heard portions. That album is a wonderful glimpse of the singer on the verge of superstardom; not quite capturing the all out frenetic style that she would soon become famous for. Secondly, I would be able to listen to a non-scratched version of her 1969 album, "Come Saturday Morning" which includes not only that sweet (but all too short) song from "The Sterile Cuckoo" but also truly beautiful takes on "Raggedy Ann& Raggedy Andy", "Leavin' On A Jet Plane", and a breath-taking version of "On A Slow Boat to China" that will knock your socks off. I forgot just what a good voice Minnelli had as her obvious stage performance skills sometimes obliviated her natural vocal gifts. In third place on this compilation is Minnelli's first A&M entry, a 1968 album with such diverse titles as "My Mammy", "The Happy Time", "The Look of Love", and "For No One". There's also her first recording of a later mainstay of her repertoire, "Married" coupled with "You Better Sit Down Kids". There are also outtakes from this album including "Once in a Lifetime", "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" and "Snow". The only weak part of this CD set is the album, "New Feelin'" where the arrangements just don't let Minnelli do justice to otherwise great songs such as "Stormy Weather", "Come Rain or Come Shine", and "Easy Rider's Gone". However, there are other treats including "Frank Mills" from the Broadway musical, "Hair" and "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon" a song penned by Minnelli's then husband, Peter Allen. Still, even with a few poor choices in arrangements and selection of material this new release is an excellent partner to DRG's wonderful "Liza Minnelli: The Complete (Capitol) Collection"; a welcomed addition in efforts to own all of the singer's commercially recorded material; and an excellent reminder of just what a great talent is Liza Minnelli. Kudoos to Collectors' Choice for another excellent re-release of out of print records with the original cover art intact; to Amazon.com for picking up this independent release; and to Scott Schecter for once again penning excellent liner notes."