After seeing De-Lovely for the first time recently, I'm trying to get into Cole Porter's music. I loved the music in the film, but I'd rather get a cast recording. I think Anything Goes is a good start, so what recording should I get? or should I start with another show? My funds are somewhat limited right now, so I think I can only afford one recording. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
When it comes to Cole Porter, I prefer Kiss Me Kate. But Anything Goes is still phenomenal.
Thanks, any advice on what recording to get?
As for Kiss Me, Kate, the 1999 revival recording is the best.
While the OBCR has awesome performances, it is drastically cut, because of time constraints, and censored, esp. Too Darn Hot and Always True To You. Amy Spanger gives a knockout performance of the latter in the revival. And there's also the Great Performances DVD, with Rachel York, Brent Barrett, and Nancy Anderson, my favorite Lois/Bianca.
My personal favorite recording of Anything Goes is the LuPone revival, but I also the the 1962 Off-Broadway recording, mostly because of the songs that they didn't use in 1988.
IT depends on which stage version you want to hear. THe ONLY full recording of the original 1934 version is on EMI with Kim Criswell, Frederica Von Stade, and Chris Groenenfaal. It has the origial orchestrations (or fairly authentic recreations) and a very detailed synopsis, libretto and glossery of terms. Jack Gilford was too old and frail to do justice to Moonface, but it's an enjoyable recording.
The 1956 film soundtrack (Decca) is useless.
The 1962 revival (Epic) is a heavily revised version interpolating six Porter tunes (and dropping five from the original) and suffers from some tacky sounding re-orchestrations.
The 1987 revival (RCA Victor) with LuPone restores much of what has been cut, still interpolating other Porter tunes, but the recordibg is so much fun. The exact same program is also available on CD with Elaine Paige of the London cast (First Night) And more or less again with the recent London production cast headed by John Barrowman. (First Night)
ANYTHING GOES has so many hit songs as it is I fail to see the need to interpolate other Porter tunes as so many modern productions do.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Elaine Page's London production is fine. I can't stand the Lupone version. I am convinced that Porter would never have hired someone like Patti Lupone to sing his sparkling lyrics. Can you imagine the droll comments he would have dropped about her voice?
I saw the 1987 version of ANYTHING GOES at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre and enjoyed it very much. So, the other day I ordered the CD of that production. I like Patti LuPone, although not on the current GYPSY cast album. I hope she sounds better singing Cole Porter than she does singing Styne & Sondheim in a recording studio. I DID enjoy her live in the current GYPSY. Sorry, allofmylife.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
Cole Porter was one of the greatest of all musical writers, period. For Anything Goes, I'd go with the Lincoln Center production. For Kiss Me Kate, either the OBCR (the first, by the way, ever made for LP and no one could ever turn a phrase like Alfred Drake) or the 1999 revival. And if you REALLY get hooked on Porter, try the Fifty Million Frenchman with Howard McGillan and the Out of this World (either the OBCR and the Encores! version with Andrea Martin). It's really a crime that there have never been complete recordings of DuBarry Was a Lady, The New Yorkers, Panama Hattie, Red, Hot and Blue, or Leave It to Me.
Does anyone know if there is a full recording of the Porter show Paris? The only song I have from it is Let's Do It, one sung by Rachel York, and one sung by Alanis Morrisette (sp?) from the De-Lovely movie.
the best/worst thing about Anything Goes is that no matter how many times you listen to a cast recording, you can't figure out the plot of the show.
There's no recording of Paris.
Personally, I can't stand the Broadway revival recording of Kiss Me, Kate. A talented cast but I don't like the orchestrations and the cast has been directed to take a sledgehammer approach to the material.
I think you need to get either the original cast recording or the stereo version that reunited the original leads. And then there are the two more or less complete recordings. I find having at least one of them to be essential, even though they both have problems. But there's nothing to substitute for hearing the complete original score with the original orchestrations and in modern sound. The McGlinn is out of print, but you can get it for less on amazon than the competing JAY recording conducted by John Owen Edwards.
Honestly, it's hard for me to choose between them. Both have their points but are very flawed. Thomas Hampson is more or less unbearable on the McGlinn but I don't mind Josephine Barstow (though some do) and the rest of the cast is decent to excellent. No one is unbearable on the JAY recording, but I do find some of the strengths of the McGlinn recording to be a little stronger.
Anyway, I don't enjoy the Lincoln Center version of Anything Goes in any of the recordings I've heard of it. I do love the McGlinn recording of the original version, in spite of an uneven cast and slightly stodgy conducting. At least in this case, no one is awful on the recording. And those original orchestrations are glorious.
Updated On: 1/5/09 at 09:19 AM
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/06
Have you ever heard Noel Coward's version of "Let's Do It"? If not, you MUST get it. It's hilarious!
If you really want to hear Cole Porter done the way he should be done - get the Ella Fitzgerald songbooks. This lady will send the Patti's and Elaine's and all the others back to singing school. It ain't necessarily Broadway - but it's pure gold.
I agree with Mamie. The shows are hard to revive as Porter intended them, so it's much better to start with the songs as sung by the best interpreters and then start listening to the cast albums, each of which has its virtues and drawbacks.
Start, as Mamie said, with Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook. It was the first songbook album Ella recorded in 1956, when Porter's reputation was in decline. It revived his career, launched a new genre of singers singing a songwriter's catalog--she does 34 complete songs on the album!--and established Ella as the First Lady of American Song.
She sometimes misses some of the more sophisticated lyrics, but it's the best introduction to his whole work.
Then I'll go out on a limb and suggest this one: Bobby Short Loves Cole Porter. Bobby Short was a "saloon" singer who sang at the elegant Cafe Carlyle in New York, and his style is somewhat of an acquired taste--but he knew Porter personally and epitomizes Porter's sophistication. (He does 22 songs.)
After those, you will be a Porter expert. Then you can start on the various Anything Goes recordings, the various Kiss Me Kates, the early 20s and 30s recordings, the tracks from the 1940s shows and the Hollywood scores and the 1950s cast albums of Can Can and Silk Stockings, all of which are mixed bags.
Bobby Short Loves Cole Porter
No collection is complete without...
There is a great series called THE SMITHSONIAN COLLECTION OF RECORDINGs. Each CD spotlights a different composer. Their is one for COLE PORTER. It is an excellent introduction to his catalogue.
Tracks:
01 - Anything Goes - Cole Porter (1934)
02 - I Get A Kick Out Of You - Ethel Merman (1934)
03 - Night And Day - Fred Astaire (1932)
04 - Miss Otis Regrets - Ethel Waters (1934)
05 - Begin The Beguine - Artie Shaw And His Orchestra [1938]
06 - My Heart Belongs To Daddy - Mary Martin (1940)
07 - Let's Do It - Billie Holiday (1941)
08 - Easy To Love - Lee Wiley (1940)
09 - Don't Fence Me In - Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters (1944)
10 - Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye - Benny Goodman Quintet Featuring Peggy Mann (1944)
11 - Be A Clown - Judy Garland & Gene Kelly (1947)
12 - It's All Right With Me - Peggy Lee (1956)
13 - I've Got You Under My Skin - Peggy Lee (1953)
14 - Love For Sale - Billie Holiday (1952)
15 - It's De-Lovely - Mabel Mercer (1954)
16 - Just One Of Those Things - Lena Horne (1957)
17 - What Is This Thing Called Love? - Ella Fitzgerald (1956)
18 - Always True To You In My Fashion - Lisa Kirk (1959)
19 - Which? - Jeri Southern (1959)
20 - In The Still Of The Night - Eileen Farrell (1961)
21 - At Long Last Love - Bobby Short (1971)
22 - The Laziest Gal In Town - Marlene Dietrich (1964)
23 - You're The Top - Eileen Rodgers & Hal Linden (1962)
Another excellent recording as mentioned by another poster is ELLA FITZGERALD SINGS THE COLE PORTER SONGBOOK. Another personal favorite of mine is the soundtrack to the MGM film HIGH SOCIETY.
Updated On: 1/5/09 at 10:27 AM
Stand-by Joined: 12/31/69
Here's another whole-hearted endorsement of the Ella Recordings. Perfect voice, perfect arrangements, beautifully recorded. Ella Fitzgerald was so talented that an entire record label was created to record her. And her "Songbook" recordings basically codified what we think of as a "standard."
I beg to differ MrMidwest but no Cole Porter collection is complete without:
My favorite review of "Cybill Shepherd Does It to Cole Porter" was...
"Why? What did Cole Porter ever do to her?"
I think both are necessities, Usnavi.
"My favorite review of "Cybill Shepherd Does It to Cole Porter" was...
"Why? What did Cole Porter ever do to her?"
LMAO!!!
I know, I know I've posted it a million times but I love it. It's the top!!!!
And here's the one from the next year. These are from the 1933 and 1934 season. Bill Gaxton was the original star of "Anything Goes"...
I take it I'm in the minority but I am a very big fan of the '87 Lincoln Center revival cast recording with Patti LuPone and Howard McGinn. I get chills when LuPone hits those notes during "Blow, Gabriel, Blow."
Another great recording is called "Cocktails With Cole". It's not a cast album, but it's great to play at parties. Or just while drinking.
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