Search - Jerry Ross :: Damn Yankees: An Original Soundtrack Recording (1958 Film)

This One's Really Fun...

A. Regina Phipps | 01/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Damn Yankees" was one of two film musicals co-produced by George Abbot and Stanley Donen, the other one being "The Pajama Game." Both pictures were marked by an exuberance that you rarely saw, even in movies of the time, and the feeling really comes through on this CD. Two cautions: (1) because of censorship requirements of the time, several songs are truncated or included with revised "radio" lyrics - don't expect a complete recording of the score, and (2) studio executives forced Tab Hunter into the "Joe Hardy" part -- he tries gamely, but he really can't sing or dance. Still, the album as a whole is a treat. Particular highlights include Ray Walston (as the devil) savoring "Those Were The Good Old Days," Gwen Verdon's sultry "Whatever Lola Wants," and the cast's "Shoeless Joe" number. And yes, that's a young Bob Fosse cutting up with Verdon in the "Who's Got the Pain" number near the end. For the soundtrack of a 50's vintage picture, the audio is clean and has a fair range to it.For the price, this disc is one great deal."

Fine, but markedly inferior to the OBC

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 08/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The film soundtrack to DAMN YANKEES is similar but certainly quite inferior to the peerless 1955 original Broadway cast album. The Warner Bros. film brought the entire original cast to reprise their roles (with the exception of Stephen Douglass who was replaced by Tab Hunter, who provided the marquee-value for the box office). Gwen Verdon's performance of Lola is perhaps even better here than on the 1955 OBC; she belts the role a little better and on the whole her singing is stronger here. Shannon Bolin gets a new song "There's Something About an Empty Chair" which isn't really memorable. Rae Allen once again knocks `em dead with "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO", and Ray Walston's performance of Mr Applegate is priceless. Tab Hunter is only average in his singing as the younger Joe Hardy. The remastering of this album is quite fine; there is some scratch and surface-hiss, but nothing too-obtrusive.



Very nice for the price."

Dynamic recording of great score

Tommy Peter | 06/10/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This soundtrack of the 1958 film version of the Adler-Ross Broadway hit "Damn Yankees" really makes me wish I could get my hands on a copy of the film itself. This great score is very well-represented by the entire cast, almost all of it directly from the original Broadway company. Dynamic readings from the baseball players and Rae Allen as the reporter in "Heart" and "Shoeless Joe," Ray Walston recreating his Tony-winning role as Mr. Applegate in "Those Were the Good Old Days," and especially the great Gwen Verdon, also recreating her Tony-winning, starmaking role of Lola. Though she was probably a better dancer than a singer, Verdon makes up for it with her incredible energy and zest. (And I bet nobody noticed her singing skills in the film, as I expect she was dancing too well for them to even care) From "A Little Brains, A Little Talent" to her famous "Whatever Lola Wants" seduction to "Who's Got the Pain," which also features her choreographer and later husband, Bob Fosse, Verdon is wonderful. And the shows two ballads, "Goodbye, Old Girl" and "There's Something About An Empty Chair" (The last written especially for the film) are pretty good, too. Definitly worth a look."