 |  | Judy, late in her career, is still marvelous |  |
I've always been a fan of Judy Garland from her first days at MGM through the magnificent "A Star is Born". Later on, her performances became more of an acquired taste as her mannerisms grew and her voice faltered a bit. Still, this snapshot of Judy's live performances of the 1950s is well worth having -- I've owned the original LP version for years and am thrilled to finally get the CD version, with a few great bonuses thrown in too!
July 11, 2008 | | A MUST HAVE FOR GARLAND FANS | |
Finally we have the complete performance released as it was recorded. The sound on this remaster surpasses all previous releases in my opinion.A great forerunner to Garlands Carnegie Hall concert.RUN OUT AND BUY IT, things of this elk tend not to be availible very long.
April 25, 2008| | | At Last Judy At The Grove Is Out On CD | |
I was Pleasantly surprised that this 1959 LP has come out on CD. I saw Judy Garland for the first time in person here in Chicago at Orchestra Hall in 1958, and she was great. Just great. It was one of her first concerts before the Carnegie Hall thing. Half of the songs she did at Orchestra Hall were the same ones she did at Carnegie Hall, so I never quite understood what made the Carnegie Hall so much greater! Judy herself has said,"People keep saying I'm making a comeback. I don't know where I've been!" Of course the Coconut Grove show was shorter than her previous concert because night club acts were shorter than actual concerts, and the LP record did cut three songs from Judy's set of songs. But LP reords could hold just so much material because there was not enough room on an LP record. So something had to go. Oddly enough the three numbers that were cut from the LP, were used later on, on different CD compilations. But back 'in the day' I was so happy with the Judy Garland At The Grove record album because it was the closest thing we had to a 'live' album of Judy Garland. I believe we had less back then,but appreciated so much more. Yes the Judy At The Grove on CD is great, especially since it reminds me of the first time I saw Judy. The sound is terrific. There has been speculation that Judy was not in great voice on this performance. Bull. This was a real live performance, given by one of our greatest talents the world has ever known.Judy sang her heart out (as she ususlly did anyway). I say this is one of the greatest live performances ever recorded by Judy. In my humble opinion, it is right up there with Judy At Carnegie Hall and all the rest
April 24, 2008Garland at The Grove is great. A nice live experience. A good chance to see her nightclub style at work. The audience loved her.
April 5, 2008| | | Any Garland is Great Garland | |
Despite the fact that most of Judy Garland's officially recorded output is already available on compact disc, a few more obscure items have languished. Last year, DRG released a 1959 Capitol Records item, THE LETTER, a "concept" album featuring Garland, and now Garland's nightclub act, circa 1958, has been released "complete" for the first time. Recorded on the last night of a two-week run at Los Angeles' Cocoanut Grove, JUDY GARLAND AT THE GROVE offers a shorter program than her magnificant JUDY AT CARNEGIE HALL concert three years later and Garland's voice strains a bit, but for her legion of fans, this CD is a long awaited gem filled with her standards ("When You're Smiling," "Rock-a-bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody," "Swanee," "After You've Gone," the medley of "You Made Me Love You," "For Me and My Gal," and "The Trolley Song," and, of course, the inevitable "Over the Rainbow." Less frequently recorded songs such as "Day In - Day Out," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow," and others are included -- and a true rarity, Garland's raucous rendition of the then-popular novelty song, "Purple People Eater," is featured. Back by Freddy Martin's orchestra, Garland was at a career low point -- she was overweight and ill, but her 1960-61 career resurrection was just around the corner. The first official recording of Garland in live concert offers a tab version of what was to come. For the confirmed Garland-ite, any Garland is better than no Garland. This CD is not her finest vocalizing, but even at a low ebb, Garland is better than most. Hopefully, DRG will eventually release other Garland items missing from compact disc (for example, a complete JUDY GARLAND AND LIZA MINNELLI LIVE AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM originally released by Capitol and the 1967 ABC Records release, JUDY GARLAND AT HOME AT THE PALACE, hopefully more complete than the original single-disc LP release.
April 5, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(10 reviews)