Frank Loesser - Guys & Dolls: A Decca Broadway Original Cast Recording (1950 Original Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Guys & Dolls: A Decca Broadway Original Cast Recording (1950 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: Classic Decca original cast album sounding better than ever!
Hit: 5 Stars
Winner of the 1951 Tony Award for Best Musical, GUYS AND DOLLS is considered by many to be a near perfect musical comedy. The book is genuinely funny and yet we really do care about the characters.Decca's original cast album was taped just a few weeks after the show had opened to rave reviews. The voices are full of character: Robert Alda and Isabel Bigley make an ideal Sky and Sarah. Vivian Blaine forever owns the role of Adelaide (and she got to preserve her performance in the 1955 film.) Sam Levene is NOT a singer (the cast even asked him NOT to sing in the chorus numbers) and his appearances on the recording are limited. Still, GUYS AND DOLLS would not work with opera singers. The flat Decca sound does not exactly make the vocals sound warmer, but in remastering the original tapes, we can at least hear everything clearly and especially some of the orchestral textures lost in the previous releases. And no one can beat Stubby Kaye's "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" Like Blaine, he got to repeat his role in the film but neither of them appear on the soundtrack album.
No complete soudntrack album was made of the 1955 film because of Frank Sinatra's contract with Capitol Records. Decca put out a 4-song EP with Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons singing their numbers from the film and that mini-album is included here as bonus tracks.
The 1992 Broadway revival was a spirited production with a great cast (Peter Gallagher, Nathan Lane and Faith Prince) and a recording that captures all the fun. It's more complete, and has better sound. What it lacks are Stubby Kare and Vivian Blaine.
Free Music Review: The original Guys and Dolls: still the best
Hit: 5 Stars
This brilliant score has passed the test of time; it sounds even better today than it did when it was recorded in 1950. Nearly 60 years old, it sparkles with humor, intelligence, and glorious melodies. The original cast recording has never been matched. Robert Alda sings superbly as Sky Masterson, and is matched in lovely duets with Isabel Bigley as Sarah Brown. Vivian Blaine's performance as Adelaide is definitive, and even Sam Levene (who really cannot sing at all) is amazingly effective in his one extended number ("Sue Me"). The underappreciated Stubby Kaye makes a huge contribution to many of the numbers. But the real stars are the lyrics and music by the amazing Frank Loesser. If this is not the greatest musical comedy score of all time, I don't know what is. Accept no substitutes; the original cast recording is the only one to get. (Loesser hated the movie version, in which Frank Sinatra's crooning was completely at odds with the rough-and-tumble character of Nathan Detroit. And while Marlon Brando's singing as Sky Masterson is creditable, he doesn't hold a candle to the brilliant Robert Alda.) Musicals don't get any better.Free Music Review: WHAT BROADWAY ONCE WAS
Hit: 5 Stars
This recording ranks high amongst those which ought to be deployed in an overdue effort to teach younger audiences about the essence of Broadway musicals during their salad days. They were days of luscious words and music, a time of actors who sang and singers who could act. Cartoons? Well, that's exactly what Damon Runyon about --- he took the characters he had observed and wrote a light-hearted story about them! He had no intention of revealing to us the seamier side of life. How else to explain a plot which involves a loony character like "Harry the Horse." or a scheme to deliver a bunch of Broadway schmoes to the sanctuary of a salvation mission? I laughed aloud when I first read of Harry punching the milkman's horse, collapsing it to its knees. I'm sorry folks, but this show was not the precursor of "West Side Story." Frank Loesser was brilliant, but he was not,and did not attempt to be, the other Leonard Bernstein. The reality here, as was the case with many Broadway shows, comes from people such as Robert Alda, who gets the song across while his limited voice makes him so very believableFree Music Review: Excellent.....Nothing Beats the Original
Hit: 5 Stars
Being that I am doing a production of Guys and Dolls as Nicely-Nicely, I decided to do some research. Naturally, I started with the Original Broadway Cast Recording, but of course I had been familiar with this recording for years already.
I just have to say that NO ONE can beat Vivian Blane as Adelaide, no matter how big their belt, or how nasal they are, Vivian brings something real to the role of Adelaide, and I am glad that her performance was captured here, and in the film. Sam Levene is hilarious as Nathan Detroit, although he is not a singer by ANY means. Isabel Bigley and Robert Alda are great as well. Stubby Kaye as Nicely-Nicely, just like Vivian Blaine cannot be beat. His "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat" is THE definitive version, and the best recorded version. Excellent.
Although the orchestrations are not as full and lively as other recordings, it captures the feel of the time period this show is supposed to take place in, and I it is just perfect.
I would definitely recommend this recording over the plethora of Guys and Dolls recordings.
Free Music Review: A remastered CD of a Broadway masterpiece with some bonuses
Hit: 5 Stars
Not all that many musicals can brag that more than half the songs have become standards. And in these days of the "one tune show" (if that many), it is the revivals of the Oldie Greats that represent the American Musical at its best. And high up there stands <Guys & Dolls>. I will grant that the recording of the last revival is quite good and certainly more complete than the original cast recording from 1951. But the soloists (if we forget the relatively lackluster role of Sarah) cannot replace the Damon Runyonesque cast of the original: Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene, Pat Rooney, Sr., and Stubby Kaye. Therefore any collection of Broadway history must include this older release.So just in case you do not yet own a copy, know you by this presence that Decca has reissued it on CD (012 159 112-2) with four bonus tracks from the film for those who think Marlon Brando renditions are worth hearing. Add to which, the booklet has some excellent photos from the 1950 production. 'Nuff said. Run out and grabbit.