Posted by [Read the new interview with the audio engineer, Nick Dellow, here!]
AVID Easy continues with its Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2-CD second release from Judy Garland, complete with original artwork, liner notes, and personnel details, titled “Judy Garland – Four Classic Albums – Second Set.”
The albums featured are: “Judy In Love“; “Judy Garland At The Grove“; “That’s Entertainment” and “The Garland Touch” – plus 6 bonus tracks. New liner notes by Garland historian and producer Lawrence Schulman.
From Lawrence Schulman:
AVID remastering engineer Nick Dellow and I have worked closely on this CD set to make sure all the songs on it sound as good as they can possibly be. The remastering process included de-clicking and denoising transfers taken from mint original sources, such as the ultra-rare British 78 rpm record of “It’s Lovely To Be Back In London.” Dellow has also skillfully re-equalized many tracks and discretely reduced excessive reverb where necessary, all the time respecting the skills of the recording engineers that Capitol employed across these recording sessions. It should also be noted that a number of tracks were found to be sharp and these have now been adjusted so that they are correctly pitched, in many cases for the first time.
Judy Garland was naturally musical and her speaking voice and singing voice were seamless and synergistic; as a result, she could switch from one to the other effortlessly. And this natural quality has been the guiding light that ensures these half-century plus recordings retain a vibrancy when remastered that is worthy of 21st-century ears. The tracks heard here are among Garland’s greatest: “Judy In Love” (1958) was her fourth LP for Capitol Records and includes love songs as only she could sing them; “Garland At The Grove” (1959), Garland’s fifth LP, was her first live album, and the in-situ stereo recording quality is particularly remarkable for the era; “That’s Entertainment!” (1960), Garland’s seventh album, is considered by many as her best in that it was recorded when she was in particularly good voice; finally, the compilation “The Garland Touch” (1962), which includes tracks from various Capitol sessions, was Garland’s very last studio album released in her lifetime. As two of the recordings on “The Garland Touch” also appear on the album “Judy In Love,” these have been removed to avoid duplication. A positive aspect of this necessary deletion is that it has allowed more space for bonus tracks.
The only mono recordings on this CD set are among the bonus tracks. In addition to the above-mentioned British 78 rpm single of “It’s Lovely To Be Back In London,” the mono take of “Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart” from “Judy In Love” is also included. The only notable musical difference compared to the stereo version is the improvised tenor sax solo; Judy Garland’s vocal, which was recorded on a separate tape to the band, is identical. The remaining bonus tracks are stereo and come from the animated feature, Gay Purr-ee (1962), for which Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen, composers of The Wizard Of Oz (1939), wrote the words and music, and for which Garland is in resplendent voice.
Lawrence Schulman is an award-winning music producer, critic and translator, and a widely acknowledged expert on Judy Garland. In addition to being a consultant on this AVID release, he has compiled a number of notable CD sets devoted to Judy Garland, including the recently issued “Judy Garland: Lost Tracks 2 1936-1967.” (JSP Records).
Check out last year’s release!
TRACK LISTING:
CD 1 – trt: 74:43
JUDY IN LOVE (1958 Capitol Records Album)
Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
This Is It
More Than You Know
I Am Loved
I Hadn’t Anyone Till You
I Concentrate On You
I’m Confessin’ That I Love You
Do I Love You?
Do It Again
Day In – Day Out
GARLAND AT THE GROVE (1959 Capitol Records Album)
Garland Overture:
The Trolley Song/Over The Rainbow/The Man That Got Away
When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)
Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart
Purple People Eater
Medley:
You Made Me Love You
For Me And My Gal
The Trolley Song
When The Sun Comes Out
Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody
Over The Rainbow
After You’ve Gone
A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow
Swanee
CD 2 – trt: 81:50
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT! (1960 Capitol Records Album)
That’s Entertainment!
Who Cares?
I’ve Confessed To The Breeze
If I Love Again
Yes
Puttin’ On The Ritz
Old Devil Moon
Down With Love
How Long Has This Been Going On?
It Never Was You
Just You, Just Me
Alone Together
THE GARLAND TOUCH (1962 Capitol Records Album)
Lucky Day
I Happen To Like New York
Comes Once In A Lifetime
Judy At The Palace
Shine On Harvest Moon
Some Of These Days
My Man
I Don’t Care
Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe
Sweet Danger
You’ll Never Walk Alone
It’s A Great Day For The Irish
BONUS TRACKS
It’s Lovely To Be Back In London (Capitol Single)
Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart (Mono version from “Judy In Love”)
Little Drops Of Rain (from the soundtrack album of Gay Purr-ee)
Take My Hand, Paree (from the soundtrack album of Gay Purr-ee)
Paris Is A Lonely Town (from the soundtrack album of Gay Purr-ee)
Roses Red, Violets Blue (from the soundtrack album of Gay Purr-ee)
I’m like a kid at Christmas time with every Judy Garland release that Lawrence Schulman and Scott Brogan are associated with. The recently released Lost Tracks 2 is simply great! I ‘m looking forward to the Avid release . Sheldon
Wonderful! I’m so glad you like it. I’m looking forward to the Avid release as well (I haven’t heard it yet, either). 🙂
Thank you for writing. The feedback is great for the labels to gauge interest in the projects which helps green light future projects. Thanks again!
Thank you Lawrence Schulman for your continual contribution to the art of Judy Garland. I am so happy that you were able to here Nick Dellow upcoming release and assist him. I read the interview he gave and he was very appreciative of your help. Judy deserves only the best, and you Lawrence and Scott and Nick are certainly that. Thanks Again!