ABOUT THE DISC & RECORDINGS:

This two LP set was in release by Decca then MCA Records for quite a long time. It was the definitive "best of" album of Judy's Decca work until the compact disc era. Of note is that Decca mistakenly used the previously unreleased "B" take of "Dear Mr. Gable" and mistakenly listed it as the "A" take. This error would not be rectified until the 1990's.

This set was released in "simulated stereo", a process that was very popular at the time (MGM Records used the process in some of their soundtrack reissues). The "simulated stereo" was created by taking mono recordings and adding some echo, and upping the bass on the left channel and upping the treble on the right channel. For me this process was always a little discerning. I had a button on my old receiver that switched the sound to mono, so I would use that button to listen to the "stereo" records.

The records in this album are set up with "Record One" being sides 1 & 4, and "Record Two" being sides 2 & 3. This was done so people with the stackable record players could stack both records together and play the tracks in order by simply flipping both records at the same time after the first sides of "Record One" and "Record Two" had played. I've listed the tracks in order of "sides" rather than "records" as that is order the tracks were intended to be played.

The cover photograph is from a 1963 session with photographer Milton Greene.

CLICK HERE to see the rare Australian 7" 45rpm "Extended Play" version.

This two record gatefold was released in the United Kingdom under the MCA "Coral" label (#CDSP-803) with the same cover art but different photos on the inside; and was released in an abridged version (#CPS107) with the same cover art and titled "Greatest Performances - Judy Garland". The songs included on the abridged version were: "You Made Me Love You"; "Over The Rainbow"; "FDR Jones"; "In-Between"; "For Me & My Gal"; "Love"; " The Trolley Song"; " Meet Me In St Louis Louis"; " Poor Little Rich Girl'; " Sweet Sixteen"; "When You Wore A Tulip"; " You'll Never Walk Alone".

In 1977, MCA released a cassette version, with the same cover art as the 1973 album reissue, #MCAC2-4003.

The only known CD release of this album is the 1989 Japanese release.  In 2020, Universal Japan released a single CD with the same lineup of songs in the same order, but with the cover art of the 1989 "The Best of the Decca Years - Volume One - Hits!"

All images on this page from the collection of Scott Brogan.