alternates on recordings instead of the main actor — Page 4

Julie Wilson

Thanks both of you. I swear as soon as I get to NYC, watching that tape will be the first thing I do. Interesting, Joy Franz was one of the few replacements when the New York cast presented the show in Lond--she played Susan instead of Merle Louise.

^Ha!

In my days as a supernumerary at the Met, I often covered some operas, including LULU. As luck would have it, both Julia Migenes and I made last-minute-replacement appearances in the telecast performance of LULU (I remain unseen on the video). During the time RAGS was developing, there was much joking backstage at the Met about Migenes ending up doing the album. Well, wouldn't you know it!!!!!!

And the speed on the Decca PORGY AND BESS CD remains incorrect. Go for the UK Naxos release instead- very nice. Finally, the Columbia Irra Petina SONG OF NORWAY sides can be found on CD on the UK Naxos Musicals label (I was wrong before). Thank Heaven for Amazon.

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Updated On: 5/15/12 at 09:10 PM

Eric,

Decca did indeed re-release their popular album sets in 45-rpm in two formats...boxed sets that matched the number of records in the 78-rpm albums (catalog numbers have a 9-prefix. For AGYG it was 9-12) and later in the "extended play" format which squeezed two songs one each side reducing a formerly 6-record set to 3 discs. These catalog numbers had an ED prefix (ED 805 for the AGYG album.) Curiously their 9- series sets of CARMEN JONES was complete but SONG OF NORWAY lost part of a song that was included on 78-rpm and all later Lp releases. (No one seems to know WHO made the decisions of what to cut and what to include when these re-releases were prepared.)

But Amazon.com has something that seems to be the album I recall and its cover art bills it as "A DECCA ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING"

Decca started using this phrase on their album covers (even when it wasn't technically true as in CALL ME MADAM) starting around 1955 when their Broadway cast series were reissued on Lp for a second time, switching from 8000 series catalog numbers to 9000 series. (AGYG was first released on Lp as DL 8001. the 1955 reissue which had anew artwork - all of the reissues did - was DL 9107. Later it was reissued in very hollow sounding "fake" stereo as DL 79017)

The British Decca label was never part of U.S. Decca... their USA label was London records and that label did the 1973 studio remake of AGYG that provides the Bonus tracks on the current CD edition from Decca Broadway. (Though once separate companies, they were all merged when Polygram -who owned London/English Decca and MCA which bought out the old American Decca label were combined into Universal Music.)

For the history of the original AGYG recording in more or less reverse chronological order see the link below.

And..to swing this back ON TOPIC, the coupe who sing "Who DO You Love I hope?" on the Decca album are not the cast members who sang it in the show. They are Decca contract singers.

Mary Ellen Ashley who grew up in the original cast variously playing Annie's younger sisters (and in one case brother) told me that the kids were not included in the recording sessions...so in "Moonshine Lullaby" it is just Miss Merman and the Porters on the record.








ANNIE GET YOUR GUN - 1946 original Braodway cast

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Updated On: 5/17/12 at 12:13 PM

Surprised no one's mentioned "Songs For A New World".

It was before my time in NYC, but wasn't Billy Porter in the cast and unable to do the album because he had a recording deal somewhere? I seem to remember hearing that the label wouldn't give him permission to do the cast album...