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Somewhere over the Rainbow: The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals
Various Artists
Somewhere over the Rainbow: The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals
Genres: Pop, Soundtracks, Broadway & Vocalists
 
  •  Track Listings (21) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (21) - Disc #2

The "Golden Age" referred to here spans The Jazz Singer and the advent of the talkies to the death throes of the old studio system in the 1960s. So vast was the era's musical landscape that even this 42-track, double-disc ...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Various Artists
Title: Somewhere over the Rainbow: The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Rhino / Wea
Release Date: 6/4/2002
Album Type: Original recording remastered
Genres: Pop, Soundtracks, Broadway & Vocalists
Styles: Vocal Pop, Musicals, Traditional Vocal Pop
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 081227832322

Synopsis

Amazon.com
The "Golden Age" referred to here spans The Jazz Singer and the advent of the talkies to the death throes of the old studio system in the 1960s. So vast was the era's musical landscape that even this 42-track, double-disc anthology can't encompass all its peaks. Not surprisingly, the bulk of this collection originated with the Tiffany's of the screen musical, M-G-M, a body of work whose riches here encompass both pop-cultural bedrock ("Over the Rainbow," "Singin' in the Rain," "There's No Business Like Show Business," etc.) and some less familiar, if equally delightful star turns: Clark Gable gamely "Puttin' On the Ritz"; the sassy, 1948 original of "The Lady Is a Tramp" by Lena Horne; and a loopy duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban. Fred Astaire's elegant, epochal reign at RKO and M-G-M is represented by "Night and Day," "Let's Face the Music and Dance," and three others, while Metro mainstays Gene Kelly and Judy Garland share equal time and billing. It's not perfect--Cagney's "Yankee Doodle Boy" and/or some Sinatra seem more logical choices than the odd "bonus" duet of Casablanca's "As Time Goes By" and "Lara's Theme" from Dr. Zhivago that close out disc one--but it's a stunning, surprisingly comprehensive primer on the Hollywood film musical nonetheless. --Jerry McCulley

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Member CD Reviews

Kevin G. (kkg-ct) from NEW FAIRFIELD, CT
Reviewed on 12/13/2015...
Grade A terrific stuff. If you are a Turner Classic type who loves the top songs of that era , as good a collection as you could hope for. Original artists and a broad election of the best. If you are compiling a special Baby Baby playlist for those romantic moments a breadth of familiar heart melters to guarantee a cozy tim will be had. Of course , you may end with "BE A CLOWN"

CD Reviews

This is Movie Musical Soundtrack Heaven. A MUST!
06/05/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The great folks at Rhino and Turner have once again come up with a treasure chest of great (if not THE GREATEST!) songs from the golden era of Movie Musicals. With an emphasis from the masterpieces of MGM, but also with selections from Warner Bros. and RKO, this 2 CD set is simply a must-have for fans of soundtrack gems. All the great moments are here: Fred Astaire's romantic warblings to Ginger Rogers of CHEEK TO CHEEK, THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME and LET'S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE; Gene Kelly's immortal SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, his fabulous duets with Judy Garland on FOR ME AND MY GAL and BE A CLOWN, and then of course there's Judy herself: The amazing GET HAPPY, the Oscar winning ON THE ATCHISON,TOPEKA, & SANTA FE, and of course the track that influenced the collection's title, OVER THE RAINBOW.The list goes on and on; I got chills listening to the huge stereophonic splendor of HALLELUJAH from "Hit the Deck", and the gorgeous duet by Vic Damone and Ann Blyth of STRANGER IN PARADISE from "Kismet". The superstar line-up also includes Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Tommy Dorsey, Lena Horne, Mickey Rooney, and dozens of others.If you don't have any of the full Rhino albums these tracks are taken from (each one of which is worth buying on its own), then this double CD is a sampler that will make you want all of them.
If you already have the full albums, you'll want this super compilation as something you'll listen to in the car or the house or on your walkman over and over again.To top it off, there are SUPERB liner notes which are succinct and eloquent in encapsulating the genius of such a varied and unique collection of soundtrack performances. The notes are written by John Fricke, who has previously worked his magic on several great reissues and compilations, including many for Rhino. His work here is, as usual, superb.The sound quality overall is simply terrific. Some of the tracks are nearly 70 years old, but sound very, very good. Many of the tracks from the later vintage sound as if they were recorded yesterday. All in all, a sensational product, highly recommended!"
You won't be able to stop listening to this gem. A WINNER!!
07/18/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Take all the greatest songs from Hollywood's greatest musicals, use top modern technology to make them sound amazing (while maintaining faithfulness to the original sonics), put them all together in a beautifully designed double CD, and you've got SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW.I've had this for over two weeks now, and still don't want to listen to anything else. All my favorite performers are here from Bing Crosby to Doris Day and everyone else in between. There are great liner notes, wonderful pictures, and at this price, getting so many songs for so (relatively) little money is an amazing bargain. I highly recommend this CD set."