Topic: BRIEFS (Read 21454 times)

Matt H. · « **Reply #30 on:** October 23, 2004, 06:43:33 AM »

I found in a cutout bin a Capitol CD reissue of a couple of Yma Sumac's weird recordings on one CD. After the third track, I couldn't listen to her any more.

This was before I got my hands on a copy of FLAHOOLEY though that's where I had heard of her. At that time, the LP of FLAHOOLEY was a rare, rare collector's item, and I never even heard it until it came out on CD from Broadway Angel.

Matt H. · « **Reply #31 on:** October 23, 2004, 06:47:01 AM »

Watched the DVD of DAMN YANKEES last night, and I have to admit it did not hold up as well as I had remembered as an entertainment. Hard to believe the man who directed SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS directed this.

The picture was fine, no artifacts that I could readily see, but it wasn't quite as sharp as I was expecting. I guess these recent remasterings like SEVEN BRIDES have me really spoiled.

Anyway, glad to finally have it on DVD in the collection but I probably won't be revisiting it nearly as much as I do THE PAJAMA GAME.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #32 on:** October 23, 2004, 07:08:02 AM »

I feel the same about those two films, MATTH. Something about THE PAJAMA GAME is still so funny and fresh...and of course, then there's Doris!

I have a question that I KNOW the DR's here at HHW his way can answer for me.

I am watching my video of KISMET....what a physically BEAUTIFUL movie. I am listening to Ann Blyth sing and she certainly has a pretty voice. Why when she is singing the SAME notes is her voice pleasing to me....but when Jane Powell sings the same notes (or similar) there is almost a screeching tone that is unpleasant to my ears. Is it the way I HEAR the notes.....the voice quality....why do some women singers sound so irritating....when others singing in the same register do not?

Or is it me?

And nothing against Jane....she is a favorite of mine - except for those trills and screeches.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #33 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:04:20 AM »

Quote from: JRand54 on October 23, 2004, 07:08:02 AM

I am watching my video of KISMET....what a physically BEAUTIFUL movie. I am listening to Ann Blyth sing and she certainly has a pretty voice. Why when she is singing the SAME notes is her voice pleasing to me....but when Jane Powell sings the same notes (or similar) there is almost a screeching tone that is unpleasant to my ears. Is it the way I HEAR the notes.....the voice quality....why do some women singers sound so irritating....when others singing in the same register do not?

Or is it me?

DRJRand54, I always liked Jane Powell's voice, and I feel she can do no wrong in SEVEN BRIDES . . . It was Kathryn Grayson I believed had a voice only dogs should hear, speaking of screeches and lousy quality.

Anyway, I'm not sure I can answer your question well or badly, but my guess would be that it has something to do with the way your ear accepts sounds, and that Miss Powell's sound waves irritate something within your cochlea.

Speaking of Hollywood sopranos, I was listening the other day to a soprano from the 1930s sing Victor Herbert's coloratura showpiece "Romany Life," and it was quite stunning. I checked the soprano later: Jeanette MacDonald, whom I adore. You're right about Miss Blyth: she should have had all the roles Miss Grayson got; she would have been a Magnolia Hawks-Ravenal and a Lily Vanessi with some real bite and character. Can you imagine how Grayson would have ruined MILDRED PIERCE?

Matt H. · « **Reply #34 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:06:03 AM »

I know what you mean, DR Jrand. I think the timbre of the voice is what is in question. Ann Blyth's voice is much warmer in tone while Jane's is more silvery and thus, as she goes higher up the scale, more prone to shrillness.

Did Ann Blyth ever make any comments about being dyubbed for THE HELEN MORGAN STORY with a voice (wonderful Gogi Grant) totally unlike Morgan's (Ann's wasn't much like Morgan's either but she WAS a soprano).

I also agree about KISMET. I put the laserdisc on occasionally just to enjoy the sumptuousness of it, but it DOES drag terribly even with that powerhouse cast. Minnelli was asleep at the wheel during that shoot. The Arthur Freed book says as much, that he was much more interested in getting to LUST FOR LIFE, his next film, and spent next to no time working any magic on KISMET.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #35 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:16:02 AM »

You know what DRELMORE....I think it is Grayson whose voice I am thinking about moreso than Powell....I wrote too soon, although as you and DRMATTH both point out, Blyth has a warmth to her voice that really gets to me.

As far as Grayson in MILDRED PIERCE....LOL...it is to laugh.

I don't remember Blyth saying anything about her MORGAN dubbing, although I have heard the TV version with Miss Polly Bergen and it is my favorite. I think that Grant dubbing of Blyth is still one of the great Warner Bros mysteries - of which there are so many.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #36 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:19:33 AM »

My cochlea is being irritated - eh? Well that explains A LOT!!

As for Jeanette MacDonald....WELL....what a beauty...and what a voice. I love to watch and hear her in SMILIN' THROUGH....she sings "The Kerry Dance" and so many others. Would love to have that on DVD with GOOD sound reproduction. Of all the ladies we have talked about here....I think she is my favorite. I think that in spite of her reputation (undeserved in my opinion), MacDonald was a lot of things but NOT cloying.

bk · « **Reply #37 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:29:28 AM »

Good morning, good morning, I've slept the whole night through.

I still have the Marcel Marceau LP, one of my faves. I also love Derek and Clive, Live, the very rude Brit comedy LP done by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. No one's mentioned Mrs. Miller - those albums are weird and hilarious and somehow likeable. There was an album (on Warner Bros. I think) that I loved - weird music (very loungy, but weird) accompanied by strange narration. I've tried to find it over the years and haven't been able to. There are times when I remember the composer's name and the narrator's name and then I don't write them down and forget them for years. Then there are times when I think it's not on Warner Bros, although I'm sure it is. I'm gonna think about this all the livelong day.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #38 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:51:19 AM »

Oh Jonathan and Darlene Edwards.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #39 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:54:52 AM »

Quote from: bk on October 23, 2004, 08:29:28 AM

No one's mentioned Mrs. Miller - those albums are weird and hilarious and somehow likeable.

Dear Friend BK, please check my post today #26. Mrs Miller was the first CD I mentioned! But I did forget Jonathan and Darlene, one of the greatest spoofs ever. Their first album was subtle and bizarre, and by the last they were doing outrageously low comedy since the joke was out. Both they and Mrs Miller still make me laugh out loud.

Jay · « **Reply #40 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:57:18 AM »

Quote from: bk on October 23, 2004, 08:29:28 AM

No one's mentioned Mrs. Miller

Sez who?

Quote from: elmore3003 on October 23, 2004, 05:32:57 AM

Weird CD? Mrs Miller, Spike Jones, Florence Foster Jenkins...

elmore3003 · « **Reply #41 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:57:31 AM »

Quote from: JRand54 on October 23, 2004, 08:19:33 AM

As for Jeanette MacDonald....WELL....what a beauty...and what a voice. I love to watch and hear her in SMILIN' THROUGH....she sings "The Kerry Dance" and so many others. Would love to have that on DVD with GOOD sound reproduction. Of all the ladies we have talked about here....I think she is my favorite. I think that in spite of her reputation (undeserved in my opinion), MacDonald was a lot of things but NOT cloying.

I heard, back in the 1980s, that Jeanette turned down R&H for the film of THE KING AND I. You only have to watch her early films to know what a spunky actress, comedienne, and excellent singer she was. MGM did both her and the Marx Brothers, in my opinion, no great favors, but I do love SAN FRANCISCO.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #42 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:58:06 AM »

Quote from: Jay on October 23, 2004, 08:57:18 AM

Sez who?

DRJay, you just went from God to Hero in my book!

Jay · « **Reply #43 on:** October 23, 2004, 08:59:34 AM »

I see Dear Reader Elmore3003 needs no help in defending himself.

Noel · « **Reply #44 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:00:03 AM »

So, tonight begins a World Series between a team from New York, where I've three shows in rehearsal, and a team from Missouri, where DW Joy will soon be performing, 12 times a week, in a theatre with 4000 seats. She has a leading role, Mrs. Claus, and the show is some new creation containing a large number of pre-existing carols. She gets on a plane tomorrow for the state that contained last year's World Series winner for a week more of rehearsals. I don't know when the show opens.

Outside, loudly, is a huge Kerry rally. Where I come from there are always crazy people on the streets, but you're only considered crazy if you're considering voting for Bush. I honestly believe the Current Occupant of the White House is the worst of all 43 presidents. But I'm not such a in depth student of American history to know if any of those 19th Century heads-of-state that got us into so much trouble.

Joy's already voted. One wishes she could have voted in Missouri, a battle-ground state.

Jay · « **Reply #45 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:02:11 AM »

Quote from: elmore3003 on October 23, 2004, 08:58:06 AM

DRJay, you just went from God to Hero in my book!

Aww, shucks.

JMK · « **Reply #46 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:05:19 AM »

Dear Spouse Betsy is winging her way to Michigan (and boy are her arms tired--ba-da-BOOM), and I am gloating because I managed to make waffles from scratch this morning (with help from my youngest son and Betsy's recipe). I used the Kitchenaid for the first time ever. Such are the proud accomplishments of the domestically challenged amongst us.

Weird recordings: I think we did this a long time ago, because I distinctly remember talking about Jonathan & Darlene and how I found the 2 CD set in a little mom and pop record shop in Port Townsend, Washington, of all places. But tops on my list (which I also seem to remember discussing here) is a bizarre LP called "The Music of the Spheres," which purports to have translated Johannes Kepler's mathematical formulae about the orbits of the planets into "music." It is a very weird 30 minute trip that I can only compare to several police sirens at different pulsing rates screeching simultaneously.

And, JR, I am appalled that you could not have mentioned Frances Farmer Swings Fats Domino, certainly one of the strangest albums ever released.

JMK · « **Reply #47 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:11:26 AM »

P.S. Has anyone else become addicted to WhatWORD on AOL Games? It's quite challenging, as you are required to make specific words, but frequently those words contain other words within them, so you have to analyze how to get the letters into the requested word without making the contained word first.

My best outing (next to Mary Cheney--ba-da-BOOM) was to get to Level 11 (just a few shy of Level 42) and a score of about 350,000.

bk · « **Reply #48 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:13:15 AM »

elmore: Sorry, sorry, sorry (that is three sorrys) - my eye must have skipped over it.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #49 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:16:14 AM »

Quote from: Noel on October 23, 2004, 09:00:03 AM

She has a leading role, Mrs. Claus, and the show is some new creation containing a large number of pre-existing carols. She gets on a plane tomorrow for the state that contained last year's World Series winner for a week more of rehearsals. I don't know when the show opens.

Outside, loudly, is a huge Kerry rally. Where I come from there are always crazy people on the streets, but you're only considered crazy if you're considering voting for Bush.

DRNoel, as I was walking down Broadway from 86th Street, I passed many Kerry-Edwards folk and their banners walking up Broadway to your neck of the woods. Now I know why. But aren't they preaching to the converted?

Here's good wishes to DWJoy for her gig as Mr Claus' Mrs.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #50 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:17:01 AM »

Quote from: bk on October 23, 2004, 09:13:15 AM

elmore: Sorry, sorry, sorry (that is three sorrys) - my eye must have skipped over it.

Love means never having to say you're sorry, another Duchess of Windsor quote?

Jrand74 · « **Reply #51 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:18:25 AM »

And what, pray tell, DRJMK, is so weird about Frances swinging Fats?

Jrand74 · « **Reply #52 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:19:16 AM »

DRJAY don't you have a video to watch?

JMK · « **Reply #53 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:22:05 AM »

Quote from: JRand54 on October 23, 2004, 09:18:25 AM

And what, pray tell, DRJMK, is so weird about Frances swinging Fats?

The long pauses every two or three measures as she slurps a little vodka?

Jay · « **Reply #54 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:27:22 AM »

Quote from: JRand54 on October 23, 2004, 09:19:16 AM

DRJAY don't you have a video to watch?

Indeed. And my apologies for it taking this long!

Though I have a concert this afternoon, I have nothing (nothing, I tell you!) on my schedule for this evening. (Oh. A sort of Frank Sinatra reference.) My intent is to at last settle into an evening filled with nothing but the Misses Hayes and Farmer. Report will follow.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #55 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:35:00 AM »

Quote from: JRand54 on October 23, 2004, 09:18:25 AM

And what, pray tell, DRJMK, is so weird about Frances swinging Fats?

The constant sound of the lobotomy drilling?

elmore3003 · « **Reply #56 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:37:02 AM »

Quote from: JRand54 on October 23, 2004, 09:18:25 AM

And what, pray tell, DRJMK, is so weird about Frances swinging Fats?

The heavy grunts as she tries to lift him?

bk · « **Reply #57 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:43:13 AM »

She of the Evil Eye is here and I'm off to prance about like a horn toad with a hotfoot. Keep the home fries burning until my returning.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #58 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:48:30 AM »

You bois....you bois.

And remember DRJAY - you will also see Tennesee Ernie Ford extolling the virtues of the new 1957 Ford! No apologies necessary.

I am watching the 1966 remake of STAGECOACH. I remember seeing a BIG two page ad for this movie in LIFE magazine....and then later that summer when it was on a double bill at the drive in with FANTASTIC VOYAGE, I don't think we stayed passed the first couple of scenes.

Now I can see why, but I think I will stay with it for awhile. I like a LOT of the people in it.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #59 on:** October 23, 2004, 09:49:49 AM »

Well, JMK, as Frances/Jean wrote in WILL THERE REALLY BE A MORNING? - "...at the end of my month, the bill for the liquor store had only gone up by $20, or one bottle of vodka a week. All in all, I think I was handling it pretty well...."

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Author Topic: BRIEFS (Read 21454 times)