Change Your Image
flman46
Reviews
The Judy Garland Show (1963)
Definitive Collection of Judy
If you want to see an excellent performer at the peak of her career, then these two boxed sets will not disappoint.
Everything is here ... Judy singing solo, duet, and in chorus. Bob Mackie evening gowns and the costumes we know so well....from the clown to the glamorous. It's quite obvious that Judy put her heart and soul into these performances.
You'll have to get past the ridiculous Jerry Van Dyke (even he admitted, years later, that his presence on the show was a big mistake). But I can assure you the good parts far outweigh the bad. Just listen to her renditions of "When The Sun Comes Out" or "Battle Hymn of the Republic" or her duets with Liza or Streisand or Merman or Bobby Darin (to name only a few) ... it's all about the WOW factor.
The producers, the CBS executives, the writers (if you can call them that), had absolutely no idea how to package Judy so they threw in all this junkie filler, which slowed the show down and detracted from Judy's talent ... SINGING. You'll notice (in the last few shows when there was yet another change in producers) that somebody finally GOT IT and just let her sing. Those are the best shows of all. They're simply timeless -- totally relevant to today and not "of the moment" like so many variety shows from the 60's.
These shows are the closest we'll see to Judy performing live ... thank goodness Pioneer put some thought into these sets and packaged them beautifully with the respect due an artist of Judy's stature. It's ALL here....the outtakes, flubs, Judy joking with the audience. A true performer.
There's a reason these shows are being released 40+ years later ... Judy is an incomparable performer capable of wringing every emotion from her listeners. Who cares what problems she had, really? I've been hearing this stuff for years but what does that have to do with an artist's performance? Don't we all have problems????
The Judy Garland Show (1962)
Miss Showbusiness SINGS
This 1962 special was taped a year after Judy's infamous Carnegie Hall appearance and there are references throughout this wonderful show to that legendary April 1961 event.
Thankfully, CBS (who always stupidly thought Judy needed costars) paired her with Frank and Dean and not some of the nitwits they added to her TV series the next year. This is what "The Judy Garland Show" should've been ... the great Judy singing with other greats.
She sounds a little raw in a few spots, but the voice, in all it's glory, is out there front and center. The opening sequence is her Carnegie Hall overture followed by "Just In Time" and "When You're Smiling" both of which are sung to the RAFTERS. Lovely.
"You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" with all three legends is absolutely thrilling. The closing sequence is not to be missed. Here she is...the Great One....doing a small piece of her Carnegie Hall act (dressed in similar costume no less!), from "Rockabye Your Baby" to her tour-de-force rendition of "Swanee" ... Where does she get all that POWER. Wow.
I have ALL the Judy stuff and this concert special is one of my very favorites.