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Collector's Gems
Title:
COLLECTOR'S GEMS FROM THE M-G-M FILMS
Category:
Vocal/Soundtrack
Label:
Rhino Movie Music/Turner Classic Movies Music
Catalog Number:
R2 72543
Release Date:
1996
Type:
CD
Discs:
2
Length:
2 hrs 54 min
Availability:
Out of print
Collector's
Collector's Gems



ABOUT THE DISC & RECORDINGS:

This is by far the best two disc compilation of music from Judy's MGM career. Released in 1996, producers George Feltenstein and Bradley Flanagan took the unusual step of releasing rare and lesser known material from the MGM vaults, including rare outtakes, alternate takes, and extended versions of songs not normally associated with Judy in the public's eye.

Previously, the film version of "Everybody Sing", as heard in the film, was released on the 1990 CD "Robert Parker's The Golden Years In Digital Stereo - Volume 2 - Movie Musicals - 1930-1938" along with "You Made Me Love You (Dear Mr. Gable" - both from Broadway Melody Of 1938 (1937). Booklet CoverMr. Parker was an expert at taking songs directly from the soundtracks of old films and running them through a process which, although not real stereo, sounded like stereo. In 2000 he released "Judy Garland - 21 Hollywood Hits" which contains Decca recordings, plus the film soundtrack versions of several of the prerecordings contained here - all put through the same "stereo" process.

The MGM Records versions of "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen", "I'm Nobody's Baby", "Singin' In The Rain", "Danny Boy", & "You Can't Get A Man With A Gun" previously appeared on the Blue Moon CD "Judy Garland - The Hollywood Years". The company is based out of Spain, and the CD was a transcription, of sorts, of the MGM Records two record set which contained the same 26 soundtrack recordings that MGM Records had kept in release for over 30 years. None of the tracks on the Blue Moon CD were in stereo nor were they complete and/or remastered. The sound quality was, well, like listening to an old record.

In 1995, Turner Entertainment & MGM Home Video released the first ever comprehensive record of Judy's MGM recordings as part of their laser disc boxed set "Judy Garland The Golden Years At MGM". This set contains literally hours of Judy in the recording studio at MGM. All are remastered (into stereo where possible) and complete. These give the listener a "you are there" scenario with Judy on the recording stage at MGM - all the starts, stops, flubs, and chatter between takes. To date, still the best source for the complete Garland MGM recordings (The Wizard Of Oz, Listen Darling, & Thoroughbreds Don't Cry have their own laser editions with all available audio tracks).

Due in part to the overwhelming response to the laser discs, and Rhino's current releases of several classic MGM Musicals (including many of Judy's films) remastered and restored on CD, this two disc set was put together to present to the public (for the first time) the best comprehensive set of Judy's "non-blockbuster" film songs.CD Artwork

With a 43 page booklet detailing Judy's career and each film represented, "Judy Garland - Collector's Gems From The M-G-M Films" is a wonderful and lasting tribute to Judy's talent and the sheer professionalism of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during their heyday. A true "must have" for any fan of Judy Garland and movie musicals.

Two years later, Rhino would release a "companion" disc entitled "Judy Garland In Hollywood: Her Greatest Movie Hits", which would carry on the Turner Classic Movie Music/Rhino Records commitment to restoring and preserving these historical recordings for future generations.

CLICK HERE to read the Producer's Notes for this CD.

CLICK HERE to read the Allmusic.com review (opens a new window).

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



TRACK LISTING


Title
Performed with...
From the film...
Date Recorded
Time
Disc 1
Waltz With A Swing/Americana (Medley)
Deanna Durbin
06-30-1936
2:27
Opera Vs. Jazz (Americana Reprise)
Deanna Durbin
06-30-1936
1:36
Everybody Sing (Extended Version)
Sophie Tucker, Barnett Parker, J.D. Jewkes
03-05-1937
06-12-1937
4:48
Yours And Mine
Eloise Rawitzer and The St. Brendan's Boys Choir
04-16-1937
2:22
Your Broadway And My Broadway
The MGM Studio Chorus
03-14-1937
3:34
Got A Pair Of New Shoes (Extended Version)
The MGM Studio Orchestra
09-20-1937
2:29
Sun Showers (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Orchestra
09-11-1937
2:27
Down On Melody Farm (Extended Version)
The MGM Studio Orchestra
10-04-1937
4:40
Why, Because!
Fanny Brice
(Recorded live on set)
12-21-1937
2:15
Ever Since The World Began/Shall I Sing A Melody?
The MGM Studio Chorus
12-13-1937
4:27
In Between*
The MGM Studio Orchestra
06-24-1938
4:31
It Never Rains, But what It Pours*
The MGM Studio Orchestra
06-21-1938
2:24
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Orchestra
06-31-1938
2:49
Meet The Beat Of My Heart* (Extended Version)
The MGM Studio Orchestra
06-24-1938
2:55
Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart* (Unused "Swing" Version) (Outtake)
[Note: The recording date listed for this song may be a typo - all other sources list the recording sessions for "Zing!" - both the swing and ballad versions - as 09-16-1938]
The MGM Studio Orchestra
06-16-1938
2:52
On The Bumpy Road To Love*
Mary Astor, Freddie Bartholomew & Scotty Beckett
09-26-1938
2:08
Ten Pins In The Sky
The MGM Studio Orchestra
07-28-1938
3:36
I'm Nobody's Baby*
The MGM Studio Orchestra
03-14-1940
3:32
All I Do Is Dream Of You* (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Orchestra
05-10-1940
1:37
Alone
The MGM Studio Orchestra
05-10-1940
2:43
It's A Great Day For The Irish
Douglas McPhail
08-09-1940
2:37
Danny Boy (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Orchestra
09-10-1940
2:37
A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow
The MGM Studio Orchestra
09-10-1940
2:52
Singin' In The Rain
The MGM Studio Orchestra
09-10-1940
3:00
Easy To Love* (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Orchestra
06-04-1941
3:25
Disc 2
We Must Have Music (Outtake)
Tony Martin and Six Hits And A Miss
12-22-1940
2:15
I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
The MGM Studio Orchestra
11-13-1940
2:08
Minnie From Trinidad
The MGM Studio Chorus
01-14-1941
02-24-1941
5:21
Every Little Movement Has A Meaning Of Its Own*
Mary Kent (voice double for Connie Gilchrist)
07-28-1942
2:10
Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son
The MGM Studio Orchestra
07-28-1942
2:40
When I Look At You*
Bob Crosby & His Orchestra
09-18-1942
1:32
Paging Mr. Greenback* (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Chorus
10-16-1942
4:51
Where There's Music* (Finale Medley)
(Extended Version)
Where There's Music
St. Louis Blues
It's A Long Way To Tipperary
In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree
Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree
It's Three O'Clock In The Morning
Broadway Rhythm
The MGM Studio Orchestra plus Judy Carol (St. Louis Blues); Charles Walters (Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree/Broadway Rhythm) & Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra (Broadway Rhythm)
04-04-1943 & 03-05-1943
10:16
The Joint Is Really Jumpin' Down At Carnegie Hall
Jose Iturbi
12-22-1942
3:40
D'Ya Love Me (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Orchestra
10-15-1945
2:33
Mack The Black (Deleted Version) (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Chorus
The Pirate (1948)
12-28-1946
6:01
Love Of My Life* (Deleted Version) (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Chorus
The Pirate (1948)
12-27-1946
4:41
Voodoo* (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Chorus
The Pirate (1948)
04-10-1947
6:09
You Can't Get A Man With A Gun (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Orchestra

Annie Get Your Gun (1949)

03-25-1949
4:23
There's No Business Like Show Business (Outtake)
Frank Morgan, Howard Keel & Keenan Wynn
03-31-1949
2:19
They Say It's Wonderful* (Outtake)
Howard Keel
03-28-1949
3:22
The Girl That I Marry (Reprise) (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Orchestra

Annie Get Your Gun (1949)

03-28-1949
2:07
I've Got The Sun In The Morning (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Chorus
04-01-1949
2:08
Let's Go West, Again (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Chorus
03-30-1949
3:25
Anything You Can Do* (Outtake)
Howard Keel
04-01-1949
2:38
There's No Business Like Show Business (Reprise) (Outtake)
The MGM Studio Chorus
03-31-1949
1:02
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PRODUCER'S NOTES
CD Artwork
Few cineastes would deny that Judy Garland’s tenure at M-G-M yielded some of the greatest performances in the history of musical filmmaking. Although it has been more that 25 years since her passing, the popularity and aura of Garland’s films and recordings have lost none of their luster. Most of the soundtrack recordings from these films have recently been restored and reissued by Turner Classic Movies Music/Rhino Movie Music. Yet this collection brings together for the first time 46 recordings made by Judy between 1936 and 1949, all but five of which have never been issued in any audio format (the excepted five are making their compact disc debut here).

Beginning with her M-G-M short subject debut in Every Sunday, the recordings trace the development of Judy as a performer and an artist. Under the guidance of Roger Edens as her musical mentor, Judy gained confidence and style with every performance. The collection closes with Garland’s previously unissued prerecordings for the intended Annie Get Your Gun production in 1949 that she could not complete. Many of the other performances here are from sequences that did not make the final cuts of the films, making this collection a true treasure trove for Judy’s ever-growing legion of fans.

Collector's Gem from the MGM films In the early 1960s, M-G-M transferred the original optical film studio recording session master to magnetic tape and it is from these tapes that most of this collection has been digitally restored. Some of these performances were recorded from multiple microphonic channels, and where these elements were all still intact, we were able to remix them to stereo. The remainder of the tracks are presented in their original monaural form. While most of the recordings overall were in good condition, a few had suffered deterioration that led to a noticeable echo effect (primarily recordings from Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry and Everybody Sing). Certain recordings (including “D’Ya Love Me,” the first part of “Mack The Black,” “The Girl That I Marry [reprise][outtake],” “I’ve Got The Sun In The Morning outtake],” and “Let’s Go West, Again outtake],”) no longer existed in any form other than studio playback acetates; and these, like all of the tracks on the album, were given NoNoise processing to remove the extraneous noise and distortion.

For years, pirates and bootleggers have circulated horrendous sounding tapes of a few of these performances. But the bulk of them were never heard beyond the studio walls…until now.

Collector's Gems from the MGM FilmsCREDITS

Produced by George Feltenstein and Bradley Flanagan

Project Supervisor Julie D'Angelo

Art Direction by Coco Shinomiya and Tornado Design

Design by Darrin Kagele

Liner Notes by John Fricke

Additional Liner Notes by George Feltenstein

Engineered & Mastered by Doug Schwartz, Audio Mechanics, Los Angeles, CA

Additional Mixing by Allan Finch and Ted Hall

Photographs Courtesy of Turner Entertainment Co., George Feltenstein, John Fricke, and The USC Cinema and Television Archives

Production Assistance: Jayne Blume, Tom Eckmier, Norma "Big Red" Edwards, and Julee Stover

Special Thanks to: Woolsey Ackerman, Maggie Adams, Bruce Baggot, Scott Benson, Tom burke, Ned Comstock, Michael Feinstein, Gina Henschen, Andrea Kinloch, Richard May, Roger Mayer, Michael Nieves, Scott Perry, Susan Sennett, Charles Shultz, and Mary Beth Verhunce

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