Description
A consummate singer and actress, Judy Garland was also a fine musician capable of blending her voice with the finest vocalists of her era. Her duets are that perfect dose of "blendship" that makes you respect her immense talents even more. All in new state-of-the-art remastering!
Judy Garland, always celebrated as a singer and actress, has rarely been called a musician. Her instrument, of course, was her voice. Even though she studied piano and attended a dance school in the late 1920s, she learned her art and craft not formally but on the job. Hers was the most powerful voice of the Gumm Sisters and with them she learned melody and harmony, all delivered with a sense of rhythm and timing rare for youngsters. Her signing to M-G-M in 1935 gave her the chance to work with some of the great talents on the studio's roster. Her first mentor at M-G-M was Roger Edens, who took the young Judy under his wing and refined her singing talent. He helped make the strong-voiced Garland more sophisticated - she no longer had to be heard to the vaudeville rafters, but could sing more intimately into the microphone. In short, he tamed that powerful, natural voice. During her time at M-G-M (1935-1950), she worked with some of Hollywood's most distinguished musicians and the same could be said for her stay (1936-1947) at Decca Records. She even married a musician, David Rose, with whom she worked while at Decca. But her musical education evolved most during her years on stage after her departure from M-G-M. These concert years (1950-1969) allowed her to project her voice as she had done in vaudeville, now with the maturity accrued from professional and personal experience. These years brought her into contact with important arrangers and conductors of the calibre of Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, and Mort Lindsey. They taught her that her voice needed to blend with the orchestra, like an instrument in a concerto: a soloist among musicians.
One aspect of her musical education that is rarely discussed is her frequent duetting with some of the greatest artists of her era. Often she sang melody, but more frequently she deferred to her opposite and sang harmony. The art of duet is in fact the art of three if one includes the orchestra. Like two dancers gliding over a waltz, Garland developed the uncanny ability to be one of two on these duets - that is becoming a part of the whole. This marriage of voices - 'a perfect blendship,' as Cole Porter wrote in his lyric to Friendship - was like two instruments in dialogue with each other with orchestral accompaniment. All is in the balance and elegance of the mix.
On these duets, Garland displays balance and elegance, and often great humour. To many couplings she lends a warmth and playfulness that goes beyond the longing heard on many of her solo sides. Her subdued power reflects a humility not previously heard. She is a 'non-star' when in duet, giving these sides a beguiling charm.
The jovial interaction between her and her singing partners makes listeners more sensitive to the musical exchange between singers. We can smile as we listen to these incredible duets, knowing that only a warm and giving soul could have produced such heartfelt camaraderie and joy.