Golden Memories Of Judy Garland Review

07/13/2005 5:32 AM, AMG


This is a budget-priced two-LP set of Capitol Records masters licensed to Pair Records. That means the 16 tracks are drawn from Garland's recordings of the second half of the 1950s and the early 1960s, especially the best-selling Judy at Carnegie Hall album from 1961. The selections include such Garland hits (albeit, not in their original recordings) as "Over the Rainbow," "The Man That Got Away," and "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," as well as such standards as "Chicago," "Swanee," and "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby (With a Dixie Melody)" that Garland made her own in her bravura concert appearances. The sequencing, mixing live and studio tracks, is sometimes jarring, but this is a good, inexpensive way to get to hear some of Garland's better later performances. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide