NICK WAKEHAM casts an eye over some of the latest CD releases.
SHOOT…BANG – Studio Cast (PPCD005 – available for Download – www.perfectpitchmusicals.com/shootbang.html)
This album contains some excerpts from two new musicals with music by John-Victor, a young British composer writing innovative, contemporary scores for new musicals. This album contains excerpts from four of those shows: War and Fleece, Carla Cthulu, Chick and Barry the Penguin (a black and white Christmas).
The musicals contain a happy blend of pop, rock, indie and club music but always with the eye on the genre of musical theatre. Tracks include: ‘Rise’, ‘Countdown’, ‘Mexicano’, ‘The Polar Bears Are Smiling’, ‘Ticking Bomb and Shoot…Bang!’ Artists appearing on these tracks are: Craig Webb, Rosa O’Reilly, Dani Harrison, Lauran Rae and Zen Blythe.
The four musicals have different lyricists: Chick and Carla Cthulu has Paul Roberts and War and Fleece and Barry the Penguin are by Lesley Ross. Don’t let the titles fool you into thinking these shows are going to be light and fluffy – they aren’t, they have a dark humour to them that makes them so appealing.
These shows are presented by the not-for-profit company Perfect Pitch, who work in collaboration with venues, writers, producers and creatives all over the UK, for which I (and you should) applaud them. I also think we’ll be hearing a lot more from John-Victor in the future, if these four musicals are anything to go by.
BEWITCHING ME: The Lyrics of Yip Harburg – Amanda Thorpe (Rubric Records – RR-2027-3)
Every now and then I’m sent an album to review that makes me sit up and listen – this is one of them. First off: Yip Harburg is sadly all but forgotten these days and he did write some really good lyrics – with music by Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Burton Lane, Arthur Schwartz and others. Secondly: as much as it pains me to admit – I usually hate jazz versions of songs written for musicals.
However, Amanda Thorpe won me over on this album due, in no small part, to her very smoky deliverance of these classics. Here is where plaudits must also go to the arrangements of the songs. If you think this is just going to be one of your run-of-the mill compilations then you are going to be in for a very pleasant surprise.
The album includes: ‘April In Paris’, ‘Old Devil Moon’, ‘Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?’, ‘It’s Only a Paper Moon’, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, plus another ten tracks. The musicians on the album should also get a special mention – Tony Scherr, Rob Jost and Robert DiPietro plus a host of exceptional guest players.
I can imagine me putting this on late at night with a nice glass of wine, the fire lit and me relaxing after a long day. Yes, definitely one CD that I would recommend to all musical fans and also to those who don’t particularly like musicals (I know they exist!). Play this album to them and, you never know, you might convert them!
ANTHONY NEWLEY SINGS THE GOOD OLD BAD OLD DAYS – Anthony Newley (Stage Door Records: Stage 9038, www.stagedoorrecords.com)
Where do I start? Ok, let me say first of all – I totally respect Stage Door Records for all the shows and artists from the past that have been given a great digitalised resurgence. I also have to say that my vinyl copy of the Bricusse/Newley musical The Good Old Bad Old Days has been played so often that I’m afraid the grooves are all going to end up flat as a pancake. I saw the production and loved it. I went straight out the next day and bought the cast recording. However, I have to admit that I am not one of the thousands of people who like Anthony Newley’s voice especially when he is trying to put over a song full of pathos, it seems to warble more than usual.
Okay, so that’s the down-side to the new recording from Stage Door Records (there is one other surprise which I’ll tell you at the end of this review). By my counting there are six songs that aren’t on the original cast recording from the Prince of Wales in 1972. This is great news as these numbers have been recorded during the development of the musical and were never really made to be issued to the public. This CD is a marvellous reminder of that musical which played for 309 performances.
Tracks include: ‘The Good Old Bad Old Days’, ‘The Wisdom of the World’, ‘A Woman Must Wait’, ‘The People Tree’, ‘It’s a Musical World’ and, surprisingly, ‘A Cotton Pickin’ Moon’. I say ‘surprisingly’ because it’s a send-up of the old minstrel shows and, as I found out when I tried to include it in a radio programme I was presenting, it cannot be broadcast due to a certain ‘n’ word which appears four times in the lyrics.
There is also a bonus track on the album called ‘Mister Sniffles’, which I have to say I had never heard before. All-in-all, this is definitely a collector’s dream come true and it’s great to hear material that was dropped from the show during try-outs. Again, my hat is off to you Stage Door Records for another blast from the past.
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