MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ben Bagley's Cole Porter Revisited Vol. V - show tunes -- many of them never before recorded.
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COLE PORTER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ben Bagley's Cole Porter Revisited Vol. V - show tunes -- many of them never before recorded.
Ann Hampton Calloway, Arthur Siegel, Sandy Stewart, Tommy Tune, Julie Wilson, etc
[ Painted Smiles Records / CD ]
Release Date: Saturday 5 May 1990
Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 4 weeks.
Back in 1955 and 1957, Bagley, who was in his early 20's, dazzled critics with two brilliant Shoestring Revues produced Off-Broadway. Reviewers were mesmerized by the young man's uncanny ability to discover bright new talent (Beatrice Arthur, Chita Rivera, Dody Goodman, Arte Johnson, Paul Mazursky, Dorothy Greener, etc.) but also by his unerring taste in selecting their hilarious, sassy sketches and songs by future titans Sheldon Harnick, Michael Stewart, Charles Strouse, lee Adams, Tom Jones, Harvey Schmidt and Arthur Siegel.
In 1971, Ben embarked on a new and impressive career. He founded Painted Smiles Records and since then has produced 47 highly distinctive albums of show tunes -- many of them never before recorded.
Eleven years passed between the releases of Cole Porter Revisited, Vol. 4 in 1979 and Cole Porter Revisited, Vol. 5 in 1990, but one suspects the lengthy gap had more to do with the challenge of continuing to finance organizer Ben Bagley's recordings for his Painted Smiles Records label than with any problem in coming up with a fifth set of Porter's rare and obscure songs. Working mostly in an era that pre-dated the cast album, Porter wrote for show after show and several films. Many of his songs were cast aside for one reason or another (a casting change brought in a performer unsuited to the material, a scene was rewritten, etc.), and even if they were used, all but the hits disappeared after the show closed or the film left movie houses. That is not to say, however, that the songs were not worthy. In fact, Porter shows a remarkable consistency in quality in addition to a constant point of view, that of the wealthy, sophisticated, somewhat decadent aesthete of the interwar period, commenting wittily on life and love. Using a cast of familiars -- Ann Hampton Callaway, Arthur Siegel, Sandy Stewart -- a grande dame (Julie Wilson), and a Broadway legend (Tommy Tune), and returning to piano/bass/drum accompaniment, Bagley presents little-known Porter compositions that cover more than 30 years of work, from 1924's independent song "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" to 1955's "Under the Dress," written for, but unused in Silk Stockings. Even among the usual rarities, there are some surprises here, none more so than "I Gaze in Your Eyes," actually written as a poem and set to music for the first time by Callaway, which results in a lovely ballad that recalls the style of Melissa Manchester. Wilson is particularly accomplished, which is no surprise since she makes a career of singing Porter songs and other material of the same sort in nightclubs. Five albums on, Bagley's Porter series seems as inexhaustible as it ever did. (This, however, turned out to be the final volume.)
COLE PORTER REVISITED VOL 5 is limited to 500 copies of the CD
Tracks:
"It All Belongs to You" [from the film Break the News] - Sandy Stewart, Arthur Siegel, Ann Hampton Callaway (2:32)
"When Love Comes Your Way" [from Jubilee] - Julie Wilson (1:39)
"Should I Tell You I Love You" [from Around the World in Eighty Days] - Sandy Stewart (2:15)
"Between You and Me" [from Broadway Melody of 1940] - Arthur Siegel (2:34)
"Under the Dress" [cut from Silk Stockings] - Ann Hampton Callaway (2:13)
"You've Got Something" [from Red, Hot, and Blue] - Julie Wilson (2:57)
"Who But You?" [cut from Red, Hot, and Blue] - Sandy Stewart (1:37)
"Love Me, Love My Pekinese" [from Born to Dance] - Ann Hampton Callaway, Arthur Siegel (2:01)
"When a Woman's in Love" [written for Mississippi Belle, unproduced]- Julie Wilson (1:39)
"Rap Tap on Wood" [from Born to Dance] - Tommy Tune (2:36)
"Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" ["party" song] - Ann Hampton Callaway (1:50)
"Close" [cut from Rosalie] - Sandy Stewart (3:48)
"There's a Fan" [cut from Leave It To Me] - Julie Wilson (2:36)
"That's Why I Love You" [cut from Fifty Million Frenchmen] - Arthur Siegel, Sandy Stewart (2:47)
"I Gaze in Your Eyes" [music by Ms. Callaway; lyrics by Mr. Porter] - Ann Hampton Callaway (3:07)
"They Ain't Done Right By Our Nell" [from Panama Hattie] - Julie Wilson (3:35)
"What is That Tune" [from You Never Know] - Sandy Stewart (2:45)
"When My Baby Goes to Town" [from Something for the Boys] - Arthur Siegel (2:17)
"That's What You Mean to Me" [cut from Mexican Hayride] - Ann Hampton Callaway (2:33)
"Look What I Found" [from Around the World in Eighty Days] - Sandy Stewart (2:36)
"I've Got Some Unfinished Business with You" [from Let's Face It] / "Revenge" [dropped from Let's Face It] - Arthur Siegel, Ann Hampton Callaway (2:34)
"Weren't We Fools" [written for Fanny Brice] - Julie Wilson (3:15)
"Please Don't Monkey With Broadway" [from Broadway Melody of 1940] - Tommy Tune (1:36)
"Please Don't Make Me Be Good" [cut from Fifty Million Frenchmen] - Sandy Stewart (3:18)
"So Near and Yet So Far" [from You'll Never Get Rich] - Julie Wilson (3:35)
"Blue Hours" [cut from Paris] - Ann Hampton Callaway, Sandy Stewart (3:43)
"Something to Shout About" [from Something to Shout About] - Arthur Siegel, Sandy Stewart, Ann Hampton Callaway (2:26)
