Search - Susannah Mccorkle, E. Y. Harburg :: Over The Rainbow: The Songs Of E. Y. "Yip" Harburg

Susannah's lovely tribute to Yip Harburg

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 08/25/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"E Y 'Yip' Harburg was not the most prolific composer, and has not gone down in history to be mentioned with Berlin, Porter, Gershwin and the rest, but he certainly had his moments. Susannah certainly made a good decision by recording this collection of his songs, many of them co-written with Harold Arlen.The liner notes tell you which shows the various songs were written for, although everybody will recognise the Wizard of Oz tracks, and some will also recognise the Finian's rainbow tracks.The first two tracks (Old devil moon and The begat) are from Finian's rainbow, which hit Broadway in 1947 and was made into a movie in 1968. Susannah chose not to record How are things in Glocca Morra?, though there are plenty of other versions of this song around, including one by Petula (who co-starred with Fred Astaire in the 1968 movie) on her Downtown to Sunset Boulevard collection.The next three tracks (If I only had a heart, Ding dong the witch is dead and Over the rainbow) are from the Wizard of Oz, and Susannah does them all well.The other tracks were written for Jamaica, Flahooley, Cabin in the sky, Bloomer girl, Ship ahoy, Hooray for what?, Ziegfeld follies and Ballyhoo.This is a lovely collection by a lady who is sadly missed."

I Hope She Has Found Her Life's Dream

Don A. Frascinella | The City By The Bay, USA | 09/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many of us have probably never heard of E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. There are probably very few of us who have not heard his music. "Over the Rainbow", "If I Only Had a Heart" and "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead". Those wonderful songs from the Wizard of Oz are his work and you will find all of them and more on this CD.
Again, Susannah demonstrates her ability to tackle a wide variety of material with one of many composer tributes in her impressive catalog. She covers all of the above songs and many more. "Old Devil Moon", "Poor You", "Moanin' in the Mornin" are all covered beautifully. One of the nice things about Susannah's composer tributes is that they offer an introduction to an artist's work, perhaps whetting your appetite to seek out more of their contributions. That Harburg could write a song about a dead witch and also write one about Moanin' in the Mornin' certainly reveals something about his talents.
Again, we see Susannah's choice of material perhaps defying her fate - or maybe foretelling it. After all, Dorothy went over the rainbow looking for her life's dream. Susannah did as well and I pray that she has found it.
As an aside, many artists have recently covered "Over the Rainbow". Jane Monheit is one. Another is Eva Cassidy, another beautiful songbird who left us far too soon."