SOME REVIEWS:

LIZ SMITH -- Friday, March 14th, 2008

MORE CLASSIC MUSIC: Judy Garland's first "live" concert record, 1958's "Garland at the Grove," has finally made its CD debut, via Koch Records. This 14-song concert was recorded on Garland's closing night, and her voice is slightly raw on some numbers. But even with a pesky frog in her throat, this is an electrifying performance, and the star seems very happy, giggling and joking.

People seem to prefer the tragic Judy - an image she did not discourage - but all those who knew her remember her laugh and her wit. Lucille Ball said, "Judy Garland. Now, there's somebody who's really funny."



The Edge
Judy Garland At The Grove
by Adam Hetrick
EDGE Contributor
Sunday Mar 16, 2008

The DRG release offers the concert in its entirety, as the original Capitol Records LP deleted three songs for the sake of vinyl space. The three numbers originally cut "Day In - Day Out," "I Can’t Give You Anything but Love" and "Do It Again", have all been restored for the DRG release, which also presents the concert in 24-bit remastered form.

Judy Garland at the Gove was recorded on the final night of Judy’s two-week engagement at L.A.’s Coconut Grove in the late summer of 1958. While it may not capture the same palpable excitement of her 1961 Carnegie Hall recording, the Grove concert still showcases Garland’s unparalleled showmanship and ease with her audience.

All of Garland’s best are here, including "Zing! Went the Strings of MY Heart," "Over the Rainbow," "Do It Again," a smoldering "When the Sun Comes Out," "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody," and the pop tune "Purple People Eater." The only songs conspicuously missed are "Come Rain Or Come Shine," and "The Man That Got Away."

DRG does, however, include Garland’s bows and encores, which provides one of the most exciting parts of the recording. Garland fans can be heard shouting song titles at the always-eager performer, in the hopes she would chose their suggestion. Unfortunately, Garland admits the charts for "The Man That Got Away" were not with them that evening. But Garland did treat fans to exciting encores of "After You’ve Gone," "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow," and "Swanee."

Any chance to hear Garland anew is a golden one for her many fans. Garland at the Grove offers a more intimate portrait of the showbiz legend’s infamous concert set and puts the listener in the front row.


$17.98 (List Price) from DRG Records



RetroMusicReview.com:

Judy Garland - Garland At The Grove (DRG; 19107)
reviewed by Michael Macomber

Garland At The Grove – the phrase is pure magic. DRG’s reissue of Judy Garland’s amazing 1959 live LP adds 3 new tracks, the previously omitted “Day In - Day Out,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” and “Do It Again.” Garland’s renditions of all these songs are, not unexpectedly, exquisite. Johnny Mercer’s “Day In - Day Out” lyrics could not have a better friend than Garland. Her delivery is powerful, of course, but also affecting. Building and building, she winds up the song with a fabulous emotional crescendo. Her tender reading of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” tugs at the heart gently. Every time she says baby, it’s like a loving caress. “Do It Again” is another shot of romance, swaying like a palm tree in a warm island breeze.

The original tracks from this LP are just as fantastic. The ironic nature of Garland singing “When You’re Smiling” is bound to elicit a tear from the hardest heart. The tragically truthful quality in her astounding voice is all over this song, as well as “When The Sun Comes Out,” and of course, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” “After You’ve Gone” takes the whole affair up tempo, for a jaunty and empowering arrangement. Defiantly, Garland plants her feet and declares her independence.

Freddy Martin’s Cocoanut Grove Orchestra soars throughout, providing first class accompaniment for a first class lady. Martin finds a new approach to an old tune with his super jazzy, Latin infused “Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart.” The rhythm section is a gas. Glorious strings and horns drive “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody,” beautifully complimenting Garland’s swinging delivery. Even “Purple People Eater” is a kick, thanks to Martin’s mysterious and haunting opening. Garland is clearly having the time of her life with this tune, rockin’ along and loving the silly lyrics.

DRG is to be congratulated for presenting this incredible set of songs by the inimitable Ms. Garland in its entirety for the very first time. This is more than just a reissue — for Garland fans, this is manna from Heaven.



TheaterMania.com:

DRG Releases Garland at the Grove CD
By: Brian Scott Lipton · Mar 6, 2008  · New York

DRG Records has released the CD Garland at the Grove, which was recorded live at July Garland's August 5, 1958 concert at Los Angeles' Cocoanut Grove.

Unlike the original Capitol Records album, this remixed and remastered CD captures all 13 of Garland's vocal selections.

Among the tunes that Garland sang that night were "Day In-Day Out," "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," "When the Sun Comes Out," "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody," "Over the Rainbow," "Swanee," and the novelty hit "Purple People Eater."



Playbill.com:

JUDY GARLAND AT THE GROVE [DRG 19107]
By Steven Suskin 02 Mar 2008

Capitol Records hit it big with "Judy at Carnegie Hall," a two-LP set recorded live in April 1961 that captured Garland at the peak of her career — or, at least, one of the peaks of her career. Capitol had first carted recording equipment to a Judy performance three years earlier, at the Cocoanut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. "Garland at the Grove" was released the following year, slightly trimmed so that it could fit on a single LP. It has more or less faded from memory, especially in the wake of the best-selling Carnegie recording. DRG, which continues to mine the archives of the Capitol and Columbia catalogues, has now brought the Aug. 5, 1958 nightclub act to CD.

This is not Garland at her best; the fire and excitement of the Carnegie album is pretty much absent. Even the crowd of Garland fans, at the closing performance of her two-week stint, is relatively sedate. But a live recording of Judy is a live recording of Judy, which should be enough for her current generations of fans. And I mean, after all, you get not only the Rainbow and Trolley songs but the contemporary treat (?) "Purple People Eater." (I especially like Ms. Garland's rendition of Arlen & Koehler's "When the Sun Comes Out.") The three songs that were cut from the LP due to length — "Day In – Day Out," "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" and "Do It Again" — have been restored for the CD. True, these tracks have been heard elsewhere over the years; but now "Garland at the Grove" gives us the full 50-minute set as heard on that August night long ago. Here she is, boys — here she is, world: Somewhere between her triumphant comeback of 1951 at the Palace, and her triumphant comeback of 1961, ten blocks uptown, at Carnegie Hall.



American Theater Web Blog:
By Andy Propst March 19, 2008

Finally, let me mention the third recent release from DRG. It's "Garland at the Grove" – a recording of a concert the legendary singer offered in August 1958 at Coconut Grove-Ambaassador Hotel in L.A. The DRG issue of this title is notable because it's the first time that the entire concert has been available unedited and the disc includes 3 songs that had been omitted from previous "Grove" releases. Additionally, tracks here have been digitally remixed from the 3-track master tapes. This means the sound is fantastic and you can hear all of the nuances in Garland performances of some of her signature songs ("Over the Rainbow," "The Man That Got Away," etc.) and some truly oddball offerings: "Purple People Eater" and "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow." Informative notes from Scott Schechter enhance the package of this welcome addition to the plethora of Garland recordings available on CD.



GayWired.com:
Article Date: 03/06/2008
By Duane Wells

Judy Garland / Garland At The Grove

Fifty years after the closing night of Judy Garland’s landmark two-week engagement at the famed Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, comes Garland At The Grove, a digitally remixed, remastered and restored live recording of every song the gay icon sang at that now legendary show. Unlike the original release, this new disc features the three songs that were deleted from the 1958 LP.

The songs range from the old (Judy's movie masterpieces "The Trolley Song," "You Made Me Love You," "After You've Gone," and "Over The Rainbow") to newer songs she'd just cut for Capitol ("Day In, Day Out," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," and "Do It Again"), to songs that had either recently become concert staples or would be repeated on her later TV series ("Rock-a-bye Your Baby," and a spectacular "When The Sun Comes Out"). Another highlight is the diva's take on the newest song in the lineup, the novelty track "The Purple People Eater."

A must have for die-hard Garland fans.



Album Review
~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

From the spring of 1951 on, Judy Garland's reputation rested on her abilities as a live act, but it took another eight years before her first commercially recorded live album was issued by Capitol Records, demonstrating to people unable to make it to venues like the Palladium what all the fuss was about. In this case, Garland's set at the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles was recorded in August 1958 for release six months later. Accompanied by Freddy Martin & His Orchestra, Garland performs many of her best-known songs from the movies, including, of course, "Over the Rainbow." A significant part of the song list is given over to material from the 1910s and '20s, some of it associated with Al Jolson -- "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody," "Swanee," etc. Selections such as "When You're Smiling," the rock & roll novelty "Purple People Eater," and a medley of "You Made Me Love You," "For Me and My Gal," and "The Trolley Song" boast extra musical sections, the special material probably written by longtime Garland associate Roger Edens. The audience is enthusiastic, especially toward the end, when, coming out for her encores, Garland asks for requests and gets plenty. Even without the visual complement (and said to be suffering from laryngitis, which is only occasionally evident), she is clearly a powerful performer with a strong connection to her listeners. During the early '90s, Capitol unearthed three previously unheard songs from the Grove performance and released them on compilation albums. This reissue inserts those tracks -- "Day In -- Day Out," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," and "Do It Again"  -- in their proper sequence in the show, extending the performance out to its full 51-minute length.

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