Vintage voices…
Judy Garland is one of the most tragic, and tragically overlooked vocalist these days. You know her because of various films like Meet Me In St. Louis and The Wizard of Oz, but she was also a formidable and emotive deliverer of standards as well. This two disc collection has her in 1961 at Carnegie Hall, and it is definitely one of the highlights of her career. Of course there are pieces like the obligatory “Over Rainbow”, but she pulls out all of the stops with her takes of the upbeat “That’s Entertainment”, the embracing “Come Rain Or Come Shine” and the blue mood of “The Man That Got Away” and “You Go To My Head”. Like Billie Holiday, she carried her heart on her sleeve, and she had long sleeves this evening.
Hank Locklin had one of country music’s warmest voices, as these early albums attest. His 1960 album actually includes material as early as 1956, teaming up with Millie Kirkham on a rich “Send Me The Pillow You Dream On” while sounding rich himself on “Seven Days”. His 1961 album includes romantic treatises like “No One Is Sweeter Than You”, “Tell Me You Love Me” and “Come Share the Sunshine With ME”. The next year saw two releases, one including his own “Same Sweet Girl” and the other including a rich take of Don Gibson’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You” that was later made popular by Ray Charles. For the finale, there’s a salute to Roy Acuff with some respectable takes of “Wabash Cannonball” , “As Long As I Live” and “Wreck On The Highway”. Blue eyes are cryin’ in the rain.