Irving Berlin - Annie Get Your Gun An Original Cast Album 1966 Lincoln Center Cast (17 tracks) +Album Reviews

The BEST of many recordings of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

Mark Andrew Lawrence | Toronto | 02/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album of the 20th anniversary revival from 1966 is, in fact, much better than the original Decca cast album. For starters it has better sound (and in stereo too!) and is more complete. It is also laid out in theatrical order so the listener can follow the show from Overture to Finale. Merman's voice comes across bright and brassy as ever..she we 58 at the time but certainly doesn't sound it. To answer queries by two other reviewers:1. The famous Merman version of "There's No Busines Like Show Business" was never heard in the show. As originally written the song was to be sung by the other characters to Annie to convince her to join the Wild West Show. After hearing the song in rehearsals, Merman wanted to sing it to, so an extra verse was added ("There's No Business Like Show Business if You tell me it's so...") and she was also given a short reprise later in the show. She did, however, do solo versions on radio and Tv and in 1954 starred in a movie called THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS and it is the soundtrack recording of that movie that yielded her famous recording of the song.2. The song "Old Fashioned Wedding" was not in the original show nor the movie. Irving Berlin wrote it for this 1966 revival and it became another showstopper in a score filled with hits. Because of this new song added to the revival the minor characters of Tommy and Winnie (two young lovers in the wild west show) were downplayed and their two duets "I'll Share It All With You" and "Who Do You love I Hope" were both cut from the revival. Since this is the usual version sent out for community groups, those two songs are seldom heard anymore and "Old Fashioned Wedding is almost always included."

A great recording; Merman is in top form

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 12/12/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In 1966, Richard Rodgers, then the president and producing-director for Music Theater of Lincoln Center, decided to produce a revival of 1946's smash-hit Irving Berlin musical ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, which had established its star Ethel Merman as one of the greatest Broadway divas.Rodgers persuaded Ethel Merman to reprise her role in the revival. Merman had not been on the Broadway stage since 1959's GYPSY and subsequent tour, and was eager to return to the role that she had immortalized. The revival also featured Bruce Yarnell as Frank Butler, Jerry Orbach as Charlie Davenport and Benay Venuta as Dolly Tate (the role she had played in the 1951 film version).ANNIE GET YOUR GUN opened at the New York State Theatre on May 31, 1966 and played a stricly-limited run of 47 performances before heading out for a touring season. It later returned to the bigger Broadway Theatre for an additional 77 performances.As always, Merman is a delight. She peels away the years as she sings showstopers like "I Got the Sun in the Morning", "I Got Lost in His Arms", and "Moonshine Lullaby". Bruce Yarnell sings a gorgeous "I'm a Bad, Bad Man" as well as a jaunty "My Defences are Down".Of course, nothing will displace the original 1946 recording, but completists and Broadway fans will find a lot to love about this second cast album featuring Ethel Merman.Highly-recommended."

Superb recording of the show with Merman at her peak

A. Andersen | Bellows Falls, VT USA | 10/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hearing this back to back with Merman's original 1946 cast recording is an education. Although a wobble is developing, here she is no less in control, no less full of power, character and sheer exuberance. The stereo sound is excellent and the rest of the cast and the orchestra do not let Ms. Merman down. Yarnell is in wonderful voice as Frank. It is an exceptional recording of an exceptional score - the only songs missing are the two for the soubrettes (they were dropped entirely from the show's book after the original run closed) and a new one from Berlin's pen, AN OLD FASHIONED WEDDING, is as fine as anything he ever wrote and completely in character within the show. Of all the Annie albums this is the best.Note: Of the nine recordings made of the show, eight have been released on CD (the soundtrack is being re-released next month). Sadly, the great studio cast recording with Criswell and Hampson has quickly gone out of print - undeservedly. The one recording remaining for CD imprint is the Columbia studio cast recording with Doris Day and Robert Goulet - another excellent job."

A Real Showstopper!

Tim Carroll | Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland | 09/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had been searching for some time for this recording of "An Old Fashioned Wedding" and I'm glad I finally found it - especially as it is an extended version (and previously unreleased)! All of the songs on this disc are superbly reproduced from the original recordings and are simply a joy to behold!I find it surprising that enquiries from musical afficianados - and physical music sales outlets regarding "An Old Fashioned Wedding" resulted in either "Oh no, I'm afraid it's not on the soundtrack recording - you must have got the name of the song wrong!" or "You MUST mean the song 'The Girl That I Marry'".

What a pity, though, that the duet was not featured in the movie as it would have made a superb show which was already full of smashing songs and music, a real masterpiece! Both Ethel and Bruce produce a truly memorable version of Irving Berlin's new song for the 1966 20th-anniversary revival, which was written in his familiar contrapuntal style. Whoever said that this recording of the songs and music from the show is better than the original 1946 production was absolutely right. If you want the true feeling of "Annie Get Your Gun" then this is surely the recording to get. It's a real showstopper!!"

They say it's wonderful... And indeed it is!

Pope | Wisconsin, United States | 01/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 1966 Revival Cast recording of Annie Get Your Gun is by far the most complete of all of the Annie albums I've heard. It features the original star of the show, Ethel Merman, reprising the role she originally created in 1946. Although she is nearly sixty years old, you definately cannot tell that here. She is wonderful and is supported by a dynamite cast. The following year, 1967, she went on to appear in a television production of Annie (Mary Martin had starred in the original television production of the show ten years earlier) and the production included most of the cast featured on this album. Unfortunately, any tapes of this TV production have been lost.Each of the recordings of Annie is good in its own right. I haven't heard the original 1946 album. The 1957 Mary Martin television cast album is by far my favorite. The 1950 MGM film soundtrack is good because one can hear the version featuring Betty Hutton, who starred in the film, with the other half of the disc devoted to a nearly-complete soundtrack featuring Judy Garland, who was originally cast as Annie, but was unfortunately fired from the studio before the film was completed (she had already prerecorded her songs). Interestingly enough, Frank Morgan (who played Professor Marvel, among other roles, in the Wizard of Oz) was originally cast as Colonel Buffalo Bill. He, however, died during production and had to be recast. The 1999 Revival Cast album featuring Bernadette Peters is not my favorite, but it is good for what it has to offer; it's actually better than I first thought it was.If you're new to "Annie" this is probably the album to start with. It's definately a winner."

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