Search - Various Artists - Soundtracks :: Lullaby Of Broadway: The Best Of Busby Berkeley At Warner Bros.: Motion Picture Soundtrack Anthology

Fine CD set paying tribute to Busby Berkeley

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 05/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lullaby Of Broadway: The Best Of Busby Berkeley At Warner Bros.: Motion Picture Soundtrack Anthology really is an excellent two CD set of the best songs from Busby Berkeley's films in the golden age of Hollywood. Berkeley devised some of the best musical numbers ever; and this two CD set is a fine tribute to his work. The songs are great to enjoy even if you're not a Busby Berkeley fan! The sound quality is great and I like that artwork, too.



"Young And Healthy" is performed by Dick Powell, Toby Wing and Chorus; this track is taken directly from the movie soundtrack and that's great! The recording does show its age but make no mistake about it--the singers are very easy to hear and you won't miss a word! The music for "Young And Healthy" is very good, too. Ruby Keeler does a great job on "Shuffle Off To Buffalo;" the other actors fit in well to make "Shuffle Off To Buffalo" a strong and nostalgic number. Ginger Rogers also makes good with her rendition of "We're In The Money (The Gold Diggers Song)." "We're In The Money (The Gold Diggers Song)" from Gold Diggers of 1933 shines when Ginger sings it; and the chorus enhances the beauty of this number.



"By A Waterfall" from Footlight Parade is one of the most beautiful love songs I've ever heard; and this track comes from the movie soundtrack. Dick Powell sings this so well that I never tire of hearing him perform this ballad.



The second CD continues the hits. "The Girl At The Ironing Board" features Joan Blondell front and center--of course, she wasn't exactly an operatic performer but Joan Blondell does a very good job on "The Girl At The Ironing Board" anyway. I like that chorus, too. "I Only Have Eyes For You" from the movie entitled Dames showcases Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler; and this heavenly number shines bright all these years later! What an ode to Ruby Keeler this was!



"Dames" comes from the movie of the same name; Dick Powell sings this flawlessly and the chorus that backs Powell up sounds great. There are a few lines from the film mixed in with the song as well. Great effect! In addition, the "Lullaby Of Broadway" gets the royal treatment from Winifred Shaw, Dick Powell and Chorus. Winifred had an excellent voice; and as usual Dick Powell never disappoints. His tenor voice really impresses me a lot.



"All's Fair In Love And War" features Dick Powell, Joan Blondell and Lee Dixon; this bouncy and energetic tune has a catchy melody and the brass sounds great as the singers perform! The CD set also ends strong with "Hooray For Hollywood" featuring Dick Powell and Frances Langford--could you ask for anything more?



This is some two CD set to pay tribute to the musical numbers of Busby Berkeley's films. He could choreograph a million elephants at once and he still is well remembered in Hollywood today. I highly recommend this two CD set for fans of the classic movie musicals of this era.

"

Busby and the Kings of Melody

Robin Benson | 12/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dick Powell sings in Dames, 'Who writes the words and music for all the girlie shows? No one cares, and no one knows.' Fortunately with this wonderful soundtrack set we'll always know. For me these Warner Bros movies exist for the Busby Berkeley sequences and the gorgeous melodies.



The twenty tracks, from ten movies, have something for everyone, my favorites are, By a Waterfall from 'Footlight Parade' (1933) Spin a Little Web of Dreams from 'Fashions of 1934' and Dames from the 1934 movie of the same name. The lovely melodies by Harry Warren and Sammy Fain just stay with you. These two had to solve some interesting problems with the dance sequences as they lasted for some minutes but the arrangements were quite short, solved by repeating the theme over and over but with subtly changing orchestration. The melody of By a Waterfall is repeated twelve times during the water sequence but you don't notice while watching it.



An interesting track is We're in the money from 'Gold Diggers of 1933' where Ginger Rogers sings the song and then sings it again in Pig Latin, this was a novelty language of the Thirties. For the curious, this involves taking the first letter of a word and placing it at the end and then adding the letters AY. Confused? Yes, so am I but you can find out more by putting the term into any search engine.



As this is soundtrack material, recorded in the Thirties, I found the quality surprisingly good and the forty-four page booklet with the CDs is full of information. If you want to know more try and find a copy of 'The Busby Berkeley Book' by Tony Thomas and Jim Terry, published in 1973, the complete story in words and (lots of) pictures.



*2006 UPDATE* Fans of Busby can get an excellent Warners DVD box set of five movies, each with loads of extras and a stunning bonus disc of 163 minutes featuring twenty-one musical numbers from nine movies. Unfortunately I don't think the bonus DVD is sold seperately though it might be available from some Market Place Sellers."

Classic Hollywood musicals!

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 11/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you haven't seen the musicals these recordings come from, the songs may seem a bit thin, or overlong. But if you have an appreciation of the lavish nuttiness of Berkeley's best work, then these tunes may conjure delightful images of Dick Powell and all them leggy dames, and the crazy kaleidoscopic dance routines that made these films so fab. This 2-CD set includes material from "42nd Street," "Gold Diggers of 1933," "Footlight Parade," "Wonder Bar," "Fashions of 1934," "Dames," "Gold Diggers of 1935," "In Caliente," "Gold Diggers of 1937," and "Hollywood Hotel." Harry Warren's scores are often frivolous and dingbatty, which is part of what made them so much fun in conjunction with the spectacles on screen. They also work fine on their own, at least to a certain degree. For fans, this collection is a must."