Editorial Review

Cheated out of playing nightclub canary Sally Bowles on Broadway in director Hal Price's Read more

Features

• Soundtrack

Reviews (30)

A Different Interpretation of Cabaret
It really bothered me that a review below stated that Liza Minnelli wasn't Sally Bowles and that the song "Cabaret" is about Sally being upset that she lost her true love and that its about Sally coming to the realization that she is stuck in the awful cabaret.
Love this album
Just got a new CD player for car and this is one of the first albums I had to have on CD. Now all I need is "Two Ladies".

Viva La Diva
After reading all of the reviews where everyone blasts Liza Minnelli, and how this was a vehicle for her talents...I think they forget that she was originally desired for the role of Sally Bowles in the first place, and was considered too American. Yes, one cannot deny this is Judy Garland's daughter. Every actor/actress has one or two roles that define perfection...and in this case (as much as I hate to admit) this is Liza's. Ripping apart the "love triangle" and comparing it to the broadway musical, you are forgetting to the heart of this production in the first place: the stories written by Christopher Isherwood, and that is exactly what Fosse did in his desire to return to the original inspiration. Sexuality couldn't be mentioned in 1966 as something realistic or even a possibility. But blooming homosexuality/bisexuality was VERY prelevent in Weimar Berlin (it is even alluded to in the silent German classic: Pandora's Box, with Louise Brooks, which has modern cinema's first lesbian and remember, in Frankfurt there was a center for Studies on Human Sexuality that as early as 1925 said that homosexuality was natural...one of the first places to be destroyed by fascism and Hitler) and to me, that is why the story line and these songs work...it is realistic and also very true to Isherwood's stories. So if anything, blame the stage musical for glossing over the truth...not the film. Obvious critics also blast the cutting out of a lot of the original tracks, which again works because the story line has changed. Why include tracks of Sally's landlady singing about her love for a Jewish fruit vendor if it isn't even alluded to in the film?
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Subjects:  1. Music Theater    2. Musical Theater    3. Musicals    4. Original Score    5. Pop    6. Show Tunes    7. Soundtrack    8. Soundtracks & Film Scores    9. Traditional Pop   

Editorial Review

"If you wanna hear me sing serious, buy an album," Dean Martin says early in this 70-minute disc, underlining his point by deliberately mangling the last word's pronunciation. Issued to catch the wave of Steven Soderbergh's remake of the Pack's romp, Read more

Features

• Live

Reviews (45)

How can you go wrong?
This is the RATPACK on the home turf Las Vegas with a nice orchestra INCLUDING strings which add especially on the ballads.
It's your world Frank, I'm just livin' in it."
LIVE AT THE SANDS is The Rat Pack on their home turf---The Sands Hotel, Las Vegas Nevada, 1963. Frank, Dean and Sammy go to town with a collection of old standards and new numbers with a twist.
Enjoyable CD!
This CD is a great addition for any fan of the Rat Pack. It has wonderful songs and hilarious dialogue between all three of the Rat Pack guys. In fact, you would probably enjoy it and laugh along even if you aren't into the Rat Pack! I recommend this CD. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Pop Vocals    3. Popular Music    4. Traditional Pop    5. V/a Compilations    6. Vocal Collections   

Editorial Review

Getting the two most personable voices in jazz to sing an hour's worth of George Gershwin's opera Read more

Reviews (20)

once-in-a-lifetime greatness
Two thousand five hundred musicians have recorded "Summertime" --- it's a classic. (I bet most Americans can name Janis Joplin and no other singer.)As for "Porgy and Bess," the folk opera from which "Summertime" springs, it's such a classic that it's hard to believe anyone ever had a harsh word to say about it.
We love this album
We hope they will someday bring this beautiful story back to the stage

Simply great
The fusion between the great two voices and the orchestra is just brilliant. Very good brass and violins that accompany Fitzeralds and Armstrongs magic voices leaves you with your mouth open.
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Subjects:  1. American 20th/21st Century Opera    2. Ballads    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Jazz Vocals    6. Opera    7. Pop    8. Standards    9. Swing    10. Traditional Pop    11. Vocal Jazz   

Editorial Review

She's been eclipsed by a generation of newfangled power divas, but Babs still has it--superior repertoire in the Read more

Reviews (78)

Barbara does Inspiration
'Higher Ground' by Barbra Streisand is, in many ways, very typical of a long string of Streisand albums done to capitalize on a popular theme or collaborator. That does not make this a weak album. In fact, I consider it one of her stronger albums of the last few years, especially when compared to her recent live issues and treatments of Broadway numbers.
Another classic album by the legendary classical Barbra!
12 new amazing recordings by this huge voice.
Gag Me With a Spoon!
Streisand is spiritual? That is the biggest laugh yet!
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Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Popular Music    5. Show Tunes    6. Vocal   

Editorial Review

The Sinatra who could more than convincingly offer that he had a crush on you is represented by this sweetly packaged 22-track collection. Culled mostly from the early Reprise years (with a four-cut sample of Capitol performances), Read more

Reviews (21)

Greatest Love Songs
This compilation is done very well. I like the song selections in the manner that are chosen, Especially "In the Blue of Evening", "Don't Take Your Love Away from Me","The Very Thought of You", "Come Rain or Come Shine", these are absolute gems.
not what I expected
I didn't really feel like some of the songs were really love songs.A lot of these songs I had not even heard before.

Musical Treasure Of A Lifetime
With twenty-two greatest love songs of all-time interpreted by the greatest singing icon, the legendary, the one and only Mr. Frank Sinatra, you can never go wrong with this CD.It's a musical treasure of a lifetime.
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Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Pop    3. Popular Music    4. Traditional Pop    5. Vocal   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (14)

Perry Como is Mr. Christmas
This CD is well worth the money! It is a superb compilation, well mixed and re-mastered (credit to BMG!) This includes some of Perry's most popular and most rare tracks! The main highlights off this album for the Como fan and/or collector are 'Christmas Bells', 'Some children see him', 'Love is a Christmas Rose' and 'I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus'!
Excellent sound quality, good selection
Perry Como's calm, steady and laid back approach to singing meshes well with the Christmas genre. He effortlessly conveys the spirit of the holidays and infuses all of his songs with a gentle, yet beautiful, manner. Perry Como is seriously under-appreciated today and that's a shame, because he used his voice simply and effectively for sixty years. If you have a stressful job and need to relax when you come home, Perry Como will help you and this album is perfect for daydreaming and relaxing. A comfortable collector of Perry Como's Christmas songs
Perry Como's "Greatest Christmas Songs" is a solid collection of twenty one mostly contemporary holiday songs from one of the legendary laidback singers of the second half of the 20th century. In the 1950s Como's dreamy baritone defined the middle-of-the-road pop style and in this selection of Christmas songs Como is singing to his strengths.There are a few religious songs here, such as "Christ is Born" and a particularly nice version of "O Holy Night," but mostly Como is doing popular contemporary songs.From "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "White Christmas" to "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas" and "The Christmas Song, " Como covers all the bases.He also does more of the "novelty" Christmas songs, like "Frosty the Snowman," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," than you usually find on one of these crooner collections of Christmas carols. There are also a couple of "new" songs, with "Some Children See Him" and "Love is A Christmas Rose," to round out this excellent holiday collection.However, the collection ends with "Ava Marie," as a gentle reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. For the true Perry Como fan there are some songs that would be missing here, but there are at least another half-dozen of his Christmas albums out there in one form or another (including the 1994 live concert album).Still, it is hard not to be happy with these twenty-one tracks for those who like the simpler way of singing these songs from days gone bye. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christmas    2. Christmas / Chanukkah    3. Christmas Music    4. Holiday    5. Pop    6. Traditional Pop    7. Vocal Pop    8. Xmas Vocal   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (6)

A Drop in the Ocean...
...of what constitutes Louis' career, so it's hard for it to earn its "Essential" appellation, but still, it's hard to go wrong with this -while you're listening to it, every cut sure seems essential. Some listeners, used to recordings of more recent vintage may be shocked at how lo fi some of this is, but still, I think they'll be able to get past that...Wonderful and beautiful stuff from one of the alltime if not THE alltime, American immortals...
Searching for years
This CD brought together many old favourites. The quality of the re-mastered music is far superior to my original records, audio tapes and CDs. I'm so glad I was able to find this compilation and am very happy with the purchase.I also have to congratulate AMAZON for the prompt service and ease of ordering both books and music.Your prices are comparable and in fact cheaper, even allowing for the conversion from US to Australian dollars.

Pops was tops!
All too often "Greatest Hits" collections are less than that; however, that is not the case with this fine selection, an excellent compilation of Armstrong's work in classic jazz.
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Subjects:  1. Classic Jazz    2. Jazz    3. Jazz Traditional    4. New Orleans Jazz    5. Pop    6. Traditional Pop    7. Vocal Jazz   

Editorial Review

Curiously, yet not surprisingly given the enormity of his sway, Billie Holiday's greatest vocal influence was "Pops"--Louis Armstrong, whose trumpet was his first signature (though he's often credited with being the first great jazz singer as well). One hears Armstrong in Holiday's sense of phrasing, timing, and the warmth she invests in a lyric. This package, containing such touchstone Holiday renderings as "I Cried for You," "Body and Soul," and "When a Woman Loves a Man" (poetic, given the fact that Billie was notoriously unlucky at love), also boasts her signature song, "God Bless the Child." Her accompanists are a hall-of-fame lot, including trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Buck Clayton; saxmen Lester Young (with whom she had a close relationship), Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, and Harry Carney; drummers Cozy Cole and Jo Jones; bassists John Kirby and Walter Page; and her frequent pianist, Teddy Wilson. Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (13)

Fave Jazz Album!
Every tune is fab! Thankfully, the remastering has not diminished the old scratchy sound typically found in recordings from this era.
Early greats from Lady Day
I heard this CD while I was walking around Borders and just had to have it.These are early recordings - the music is fresh and joyous - the vocals are superb.I especially love the recordings of "Miss Brown To You," "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" (a treat), "Some Other Spring" and my very favorite, "I Can't Get Started."I have other Holiday recordings.However, this is the one I play again and again.I only wish that it had "Good Morning Heartache" on it.Oh, well.

A great place to start, an album with a special treat!
Almost everything Billie Holiday recorded, and maybe everything Billie recorded before 1941, like these sides, was great. Certainly, this collection doesn't have any of the very important work Billie Did during WWII for Commodore, nor does it have some of th exciting Jazzy recordings Billie did for Verve in the late 1940s and 1950s.Nor are any of the outstanding live performances by Billie for Jazz at the Philharmonic or in her Carneige Hall concerts on this CD.
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Subjects:  1. Ballads    2. Classic Female Blues    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Jazz Vocals    6. Pop    7. Swing    8. Traditional Pop    9. Vocal Jazz   

Editorial Review

Evidence that one can make a musical about anything, Exhibit A: Read more

Features

• Cast Recording

Reviews (40)

Overrated Tony Award Winner
How could this musical win the Tony award having as a competitor a play like HAIR which - for many people - stands as an emblematic theatre piece of the 60's? Who remembers a tune out of this musical? On the contrary, "Aquarius", "I Got Life" or "Walking in Space" are still popular and they play all over the world. Even ZORBA and PROMISES PROMISES - both candidates for the award in the same year - have songs that are still remembered. 1776 may wake up patriotic feelings to American listeners which is quite understandable but the music and songs are old-fashioned, overrated and awfully boring.

Brilliant, Definitive and Remarkably Accurate!
1776 has become an institution, thanks to the motion picture which was made of this original Broadway show, and which starred most of the cast from the theatrical production. It gets rerun every July 4th week on some movie channel or local station!
Saw this on Broadway
Saw this show, with original cast, on Broadway in '69 and it has stayed with me ever since then.Every time I listen to these songs, I laugh.The historical figures (done with some tongue-in-cheek) are highly entertaining and even better if you see the movie.I would recommend the dvd for a great, lighthearted evening, and good family entertainment.You can't miss with this one!A winner on all fronts. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cast Recordings    2. Classical    3. Film Music    4. Music Theater    5. Original Cast Recordings    6. Show Tunes    7. Showtunes / B'way   

Editorial Review

As its title indicates, this 1985 recording marked Barbra Streisand's return to her Broadway roots (significantly, she had dropped her pop-period Read more

Features

• Original recording reissued
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (65)

she believes the hype
This is from the big-shot who thinks she can control a political party and tell fans what to think about issues despite being a high-school dropout.She's a good singer, but not the best.She basically needs to shut the eff up and sing.Hey, those are her words, right?

Lovely voice, lovely songs
This album contains the choicest of Broadway hits given an outstanding interpretation by the Streisand.Barbra's flawless voice moves up and down with ease as the melodies unfold. Perfect!

Barbra's Best...
Barbra Streisand is such a prolific and extremely talented woman, thatgiven a mediocre material, she can rise above it and make it palatable to the public.
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Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Pop Vocals    3. Show Tunes    4. Soundtrack    5. Vocal   

Editorial Review

Talk about your gifts of Christmas past, Read more

Reviews (12)

"Christmas Memories. . . They're The Sweetest Ones I've Known"
"Oh, the joy of waking Christmas mornings
SentimentalHoliday Journey With Sinatra !
I bought this album a few weeks ago to check out and add to my arsenal of Holiday music. It seems to have become permanently affixed to my CD player. I cannot bring myself toreplace it's slot with any other music so far. I LOVE it, and have been listening to it over and over, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!!
Even better on CD`
I owned this on tape and enjoyed it for years. So needless to say I was estactic to find it on CD with even more songs - including a very touching of Frank towards the end singing Silent Night. Every song is great - including the family songs with Nancy, Frank, and Frank, Jr (who sings very well). But it's worth it if you only got Whatever Happened to Christmas. That is a wonderful performance. This CD is one of my all time favorites. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christmas    2. Christmas / Chanukkah    3. Holiday    4. Pop    5. Standards    6. Traditional Pop    7. United States of America    8. Vocal Pop    9. Xmas Vocal   

Reviews (32)

What a BAND!
Got this one just for Roger Ingram on "Just Kiss Me".Folks, this is how lead trumpet is done!

Probably his finest work overall
Other releases of Harry's better demonstrate his jazz chops (some of the cuts on WHEN HARRY MET SALLY [ASIN B0000026V6] and 19[ASINB0000026LW]) and others are more experimental (the Nawlins' funk expressed on SHE [ASIN B000002A64]) but as a reflection of Connick's usual big band style, this is probably his most realized attempt at offering his affection for the style by trying to add to the "Great American Songbook".
Can never be replicated
This is by far Harry's most complete album.I got this CD in 1991 when I was twelve and just getting into music and fell in love with it.Thirteen years later I am still listening to the CD.It starts out with a powerful ballad in Blue Light, Red Light, comes to the halfway point with a great dixie land swing mix in With Imagination (great solos) and ends with a high energy big band piece, Kiss Me.People who appreciate jazz and music alike will be assured to enjoys hours of listening.P.S. Go see Harry live, the man puts on a great show and is an audience pleaser. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Big Band    2. Jazz    3. Pop    4. Pop Vocals    5. Popular Music    6. Swing    7. Traditional Pop   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (15)

Perry Como - Superb Singer, Super Songs and Superb Sound!
Perry Como is as always in superb singing voice and sounds as wonderful as ever. The songs on this collection have all been sourced from the Release Master Tapes and/or Metal Parts (not original sources like 1st Generation Master Tapes, but the next best thing!)
As calm and pleasant as it gets
The old barber Perry Como had the smoothest, most relaxed voice. At times he looked as if he was falling asleep. He exuded a niceness, a sentimentality that none of his compeers could match. He didn't have Sinatra's musical brilliance, but he had a kind of quiet integrity that radiated calm and pleasantness. My own favorites among the songs include one which I believe was his last great hit , "It's Impossible" and 'Some Enchanted Evening' 'If' . I personally do not go very much for the novelty songs, of 'Hot- Diggety -Dog' type.
An excellent retrospective of a singer who is often forgotten...
Perry Como's voice was smoother than silk while oozing masculinity and a singular tenderness all at the same time. I agree with the reviewer who writes that it IS a tragedy that many younger people today have no idea who Perry Como was or what he did. Perry brought a great deal of sunshine into many people's lives for pretty close to half a century and he deserves a world of credit for that.
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Subjects:  1. Easy Listening    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Popular Music    5. Traditional Pop    6. United States of America    7. Vocal    8. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

Call him the retro Sinatra, the keeper of the big band flame, the swingin' piano man, but Harry Connick Jr., remains one of New Orleans' treasures. His second Christmas CD is as much a salute to his hometown musical roots as it is to the season.Filled with second-line arrangements and fierce horn charts that could blow all that holiday chill back to Canada, Connick's latest revisits upbeat standards such as "Frosty The Snowman," "Blue Christmas," "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," and others. Most swing and romp, but the hymns are given the reverential vocal treatment that Connick is known for on his more secular love ballads. Surprises include a quirky arrangement of "Silver Bells," in what sounds all the world like a Henry Mancini score for an action film. And there's four Connick originals that don't quite match the level of the covers, except for what must be the oddest pairing of talents all season, the duet with country singer George Jones on "Nothin' New For the New Year," an inspired tune and performance from two master stylists. There's nothing quite as lasting as the chestnut he penned on his first Christmas CD, "I Pray on Christmas," but for fans, here's a merry Harry N'awlins holiday love fest. Read more

Features

• Enhanced

Reviews (75)

I Might Like It IF.........
In the fine print it says "The audio side of this disc does not conform to CD specifications and therefore will not play on some CD and DVD players." This should be in bold face, bright contrasting colors on the cover! I have numerous different CD and DVD players and it will not play on any of them. This is very disappointing as I can't seem to find a "normal" format of this album.

Bah Humbug
The worst Christmas album I ever heard.I just bought it, played it once, and will NEVER play it again.

Great fun
Love Harry!!This isswingin fantastic band with of course the ever so talented Harry Connick Jr.A great play for the holidays! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christmas    2. Christmas / Chanukkah    3. Christmas Music    4. Holiday    5. Mainstream Jazz    6. Pop    7. Swing    8. Traditional Pop    9. Xmas Vocal   

Editorial Review

After countless alterations, a revolving door of writers and directors (which included Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Sidney Lumet, and Garson Kanin), crazed tryouts, and an opening night that was delayed five times, Read more

Features

• Cast Recording

Reviews (22)

Classic Streisand Role!
While not her first show, "Funny Girl" proved to be Barbra Streisand's ticket to immortality.Too bad she lost that year's Best Actress Tony to the equally deserving (?) Carol Channing in "Hello Dolly" ... though she ultimately won the 1968 Oscar for the film version of the classic role.
Early Great Barbra
The fun of this cast album is hearing young Streisand. She still projects so much star quality in her voice, that the album is a gem. But compared to later years, when her voice has aged, improved and been somewhat trained, her singing pails. Yet it's fun to hear, even when she cracks, as in the end of Don't Rain On My Parade. Still a great score, but get the film soundtrack, Barbra's voice is much better on it.

Blah
It was a good recording but i found the actual songs kinda Blah.They had no spice or spunk. . . Just kinda boring. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cast Recordings    2. Classical    3. Musicals    4. Original Cast Recordings    5. Pop    6. Show Tunes    7. Showtunes / B'way