She loves me recordings

[Kofler222]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 7:11am

He everyone! I was listening to the Broadway revival cast recording of She loves me, and I was wondering wich of the three recordings available is the best. I love most of the cast on the revival, mostly Howard McGillin and Sally Mayes, but the original has Barbara Cook, and London has Ruthie Henshall...what do you think?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 8:00am

Barbara. Cook.

[The Other One]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 8:24am

Definitely the original with Barbara Cook.

Are there three available recordings?  I remember the abridged London cast recording from 1964, but it seems to have fallen off the map.  It's fine, though nowhere near as good as the earlier recording.  Its main drawing is "Heads I Win", which Ilona (Rita Moreno) sang in that production instead of "I Resolve."  It's not better, but it is a good song.

[aj88]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 8:46am

I'm not the biggest fan of the London Cast Recording, but I do enjoy both the OBC and the Revival recordings very much.

I think the Revival recording has a little more material and some of the arrangements were more exciting, but the OBC still wins, which is often the case. It is hard to beat the likes of Barbara Cook.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 11:56am

Barbara Cook. Daniel Massey. Entire production...Perfect.

[MCfan2]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 12:39pm

I confess I'm partial to the revival recording, as I happen to be a fan of many of the performers on it. (I'd seen Fratantoni in Guys and Dolls and loved her, I've long been a fan of Freeman and McGillin, etc.)

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 12:50pm

Hands down the OBC is my favorite. The orchestra is gorgeous, the cast can't be beat. And it's pretty much complete (a rarity for 1963).

Perhaps if Judy Kuhn had recorded the revival recording it would rival the original but the reduced arrangements and lack of "Tango Tragique" puts it far below for me. The rest of the cast is good but lacks something the OBC has.

I've never heard the London revival but I know people who swear by it. The original 1964 London album as people have said is pleasant but pretty incomplete and the performances are largely just OK.

[Fantod]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 4:03pm

I am not nearly as big of a fan as a lot of people of the score (the book is wonderful, though), but you can't beat the original.

[nicnyc]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 4:56pm

As a whole, I just love the 93 revival cast performances (Sally Mayes, Boyd Gaines & Jonathan Freeman in particular) as well as the arrangements  - but Barbara Cook is amazing in the role, no doubt.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 5:18pm

It's a shame Judy Kuhn's performance never got recorded. Diane Fratantoni sounds fine, but I'd love to hear Kuhn's voice sing those songs (I never saw that revival). 

Oversll, though, it's hard to go wrong with an in her prime Barbara Cook. Wasn't she still singing Ice Cream in her solo concerts as recently as like 5 years ago? Amazing. 

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 5:24pm

And don't forget the youtube recording of the IMHO perfect 2011 Roundabout concert with O'Hara, Radnor, Krakowski, Creel, Garber, McGrath, O'Malley and Bartlett.  Each is extraordinary and Radnor, Krakowski, Creel and Bartlett will reprise their wonderful performances in the upcoming revival.

(yes, I know that a bootleg recording of a concert is something quite different than a studio cast recording, and that Kofler may well have been only inquiring about the latter....  but in this case it's something not to be left out of the discussion!)

Updated On: 8/4/15 at 05:24 PM

[gypsy101]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 5:26pm

The original is absolutely fantastic. The broadway revival was a missed opportunity because they didn't record Judy Kuhn. It would probably be among my favorite recordings if she had been with the show still. I hope they record the upcoming revival!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/4/15 at 5:53pm

I also hope they record the revival. I mean that cast is too out-of-the-world brilliant to go unrecorded.

 

Go with the OBC. I've been listening to it a lot lately and it truly is up there with one of the best cast recordings I've listened to. Pretty much every song works, I don't think there's a single throwaway somg. Even something small like "I Resolve" is perfectly delivered by Barbara Baxley. Barbara Cook gives one of the most gorgeously rendered performances I've listened to. The way she sings each number with such sweetness, naivette, intelligence and proficiency sometimes brings tears to my eyes (how corny, I know), but it really is the definition of sublime. Her performance of "Ice Cream" is a tour de force. And yes, "Tango Tragique" is reason enough to go with this one.

Ruthie Henshall is very good in the London recording, and she won an Olivier for her performance. It's a good recording but it doesn't have the magic of the OBCR.