Search - Richard Rodgers, Diahann Carroll, Richard Kiley :: No Strings (1962 Original Broadway Cast)

Richard Rodgers' best post-Hammerstein score.

Mark Andrew Lawrence | Toronto | 09/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Despite some weak lyrics here and there, the score is the finest of Rodgers in the post-Hammerstein era.



Capitol did a first-rate production of the original cast album and it remained in print for more than 20 years. Now, it has been brought back by DRG in a crisp sounding transfer. You'll have little trouble following the story as most of the songs are laundrey lists that give examples to support their titles, but the best tracks are provide enjoyable listening experiences: "The Sweetest Sounds" is the best known number (it was later interpolated into the DIsney remake of CINDERELLA where surprisingly it worked quite well!) Other gems: Maine, Look No Further, Nobody Told Me and the title song. In fact there is not a song here that one would label a dog.



DRG's reissue lacks the extensive bachground notes that Broadway Angel had in their 1993 CD edition. But the recording was and still is one well worth owning."

43 years later It's still Wonderfull!

Jay D. Morgenthal | Brewster , NY , USA | 04/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard the LP in at age 11 in 1962 at a freinds home but my parents did not have it. So after all these years I discovered Amazon had it on CD and I grabbed it ! and WOW! All those great songs, those wonderfull lyrics came back to me! It has that wonderfull bounce that all the great Rodgers songs have but with a modern (for 1962) touch . The fact that I could remember music I have not heard in over 40 years shows how good this was and still is. Anyone who was lucky enough to see the orig. Broadway production and hear this music live must have come out of that theatre dancing in the street!"

Finally re-released!

Christy | Harleysville, PA | 03/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"How nice to have No Strings available on CD again! A friend and I had searched for it several years ago to no avail. I certainly thought it would be issued at Richard Rodgers' centennial, since it was a milestone of sorts in his career. But it is here now and all is well.



I like the "big band" kind of arrangement to this score (no strings), and I have always enjoyed Diahann Carroll. My favorite pieces here are Sweetest Sounds and No Strings, but I had forgotten some of the smaller pieces that remind the listener of the story line.



Having grown up with parents who bought (and played -- a lot) every cast album of every show they saw (and they saw some on Broadway and almost all that came to Philadelphia to try out), knowing the story line was a big part of the listening experience. And the album notes are here! There were many times that I could not remember whether or not I had actually seen a musical, I got to know the music and had imagined the story (as told in the album notes) so well.



Enjoyable!"