In the 50's and 60's, she was one of the top-selling recording artists in the world under the Capitol/EMI label and it's never more apparent than when she worked in England. This set spans seven years and is comprised of recordings made at Abbey Road studios. The producers and engineers who worked on this are really a class act! The sound quality (not surprisingly) is off the charts and the material is a gold mine!
There are a total of 14 alternate takes, 12 of which have never been heard before and one ("Please Say, 'Ah'") that until now was completely undocumented and unheard. That alone is worth getting the set, but there are so many amazing things to hear! Judy's conversations with the guitarist about fixing the intro to "It Never Was You", The audience at the studio breaking into applause when she finishes "Hello, Bluebird", her hilariously accusing one of the engineers of being a pot head... I could go on, but you really should hear for yourself! The "Please Say, 'Ah'" number was recorded during the sessions for "I Could Go On Singing" as a demo with Saul Chaplin for Dirk Bogarde to learn and sing in the film. As the script and music progressed, clearly it had no place in the film, but the song itself is absolutely priceless! It's perky and adorable and Mort Lindsay's arrangement is of the highest quality.
At this stage in my life, hearing something that Judy has done that I haven't already heard is a pretty rare occurrence, but when it does happen, boy do I get excited! And in this case, ecstatic because the material here is incredible in itself! If you didn't know these tracks had never been heard before, you'd still enjoy them just because they're that great.
All in all, this is by far the best Judy release of 2011 and I really hope that whatever else is lurking in the vaults is made available for us to hear and enjoy. There is a reason why she's a legend and this cd is a perfect example of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment