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MISSION MINNELLI:
Creating Liza Minnelli: The COMPLETE CAPITOL COLLECTION
By its producer, Scott Schechter

“It’s Just a Matter of Time before you come to me
It’s just a matter of waiting, I’m patient as can be
This I’ve found, if you want it bad enough, you’ll get it all
This I know, Dreams you wait for, have a way of coming true”
-- from the opening song, “It’s Just a Matter of Time,” on the Liza! Liza! album

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It’s always a great thrill when a dream comes true, even one nearly four years in the making. Such is the case with the recent release I produced for DRG Records/Koch Entertainment Distribution, Liza Minnelli: The Complete Capitol Collection, a 2-CD set that contains all of Liza’s studio tracks made under her 1960s association with Capitol Records (1963 - 1966).

These recordings represent her first association with a major label, and include her first three solo albums: Liza! Liza!, released in 1964; It Amazes Me, released in 1965; and There Is a Time, released in 1966. The Complete Capitol Collection also contains 12 songs released on various singles from ‘63 to ‘66, and nine additional numbers never before heard or released anywhere, in any form before. 55 tracks in all, this 2-CD is a monumental look at Liza: The Teenage Years, if you will (she turned 20 less than two months before the last recordings made for Capitol). Or, as I called the liner notes I wrote for the set, Early Icon.

I’ve always had a great passion for this material, as I remember playing the LPs when Capitol reissued the first and third albums (in abridged versions) in the late 1970s, not long after I discovered Liza in 1975. I also loved listening to the singles (those scratchy 45s), and greatly enjoyed the slightly younger Liza (remember, this was only a little over a decade after the Capitol material had been recorded).

As time went on, I became saddened that this part of entertainment history (or HER story) wasn’t available to the public in a current format (compact discs). The LP had long died, and even the CD reissue of the Liza! Liza! LP -- renamed Maybe This Time -- disappeared twice (it was released first on LP in 1973, then on CD in 1988, and again on compact disc in 1996). A 2001 CD issued overseas and available here in the States as an import, only improved things somewhat: The Capitol Years -- issued again in 2002 as another import disc, The Essential Liza Minnelli -- changed the running order of the original Liza! Liza! songs. While the Years and Essential CDs did include the numbers cut from the 1973 Maybe This Time (Liza! Liza!) reissue (“I’m All I’ve Got” and “Blue Moon”) --as well as including five songs from each of Liza’s 2nd and 3rd Capitol albums -- those 12 songs were presented in mono sound! (Even the stereo tracks from the Liza!Liza! platter used the 2-track LP master that is so overloaded with echo / reverb.) So it was clear that something needed to done.

I began researching Capitol’s logs / tape vaults in 2002, and by that summer I had located all the known numbers, along with all the outtakes. In some cases there were even complete session tapes (containing every take made of a song), and then with other songs, only the final master take. Yet for every song, I was able to find the original tapes -- the original multitrack tapes. These are the 3-track and 4-track tapes actually made at the sessions (that the songs were recorded onto, the first generation tapes). Given these finds -- and the fact that Liza was enjoying a huge resurgence at that time due to her spring 2002 Liza’s Back! comeback -- I was able to convince Capitol to agree to a new Liza set (and to the disc that eventually was released as the Essential Judy Garland a few weeks ago on June 26th -- so you can see how long certain projects take to see the light of day, on your CD tray!:)

While I fought hard for a 2-disc Liza set, so that all 55 songs could be issued, Capitol finally decided they only wanted a single disc, 21 or 22 tracks (maybe 23). That was officially green-lit in September 2002, with a November 2002 street date set. I chose one track from each of the albums, and concentrated on all the singles and unreleased songs (and threw in “New York, New York” knowing the mass public would like as many hits as possible, and EMI also owns the soundtrack album to Liza’s 1977 film).

Two days or so before we were to start studio work on the remastering (with the great Bob Norberg), the project was canceled, in the first week of October 2002. Being completely undeterred, I went to Angel Records, and they said yes immediately, going with a late January 2003 release date. (Angel Records and Capitol Records are part of the same corporate family, both under the EMI umbrella.) After meetings in their NY office, and just after a designer had been assigned, Angel’s planned Broadway’s Leading Ladies series was canceled, and my Liza CD was again put on hold for the second time.

I must admit that I was preoccupied with other projects in 2003 and 2004, most notably my book, The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook. Finally, in October 2005, I approached another label (not DRG) that reissues back catalog from various labels, and by November we had paper work flowing at Capitol Records for them to license the tracks to this other reissue label. At this point, I want to thank Frank Lopez at Capitol for getting it pushed through. Frank is no longer with the label, but he was an early champion of it, and I’ll always be grateful to him for all his help in making it happen.

Well, it almost didn’t happen -- yet again. By February of this year, I was growing increasingly frustrated at the reissue label’s inability to work out the final agreement with Capitol. To commit to the project, or not. To make a decision, one way or the other. Maddening also was the fact that it was proving equally difficult just getting the label on the phone or online: calls and e-mails were not being returned.

Fed-up, on February 15th, 2006, I finally did what I should have done months earlier (OK, so maybe years earlier): I called Hugh Fordin at DRG Records and told him what I wanted to do. Without pausing or hesitating for even a split second, he said “Yes,” immediately. “Let’s do it.”

Since a large part of the paperwork at Capitol had already been started, we were able to get things pushed through fairly quickly, with a street date of July 11th being set. (A May date had been hoped for, and even April, but there wasn’t as much time as we’d hoped.)

March 29th we got the greenlight from Capitol (via the final “blackline” that lists all the songs, and publishing info), and my liners were turned in the first week of April. I’m grateful to Hugh for wanting to use it all -- and to want a 20-page booklet, when the norm is 8 pages, and 12 pages is considered huge. I’m grateful to Hugh in general, for making this dream project happen -- and for his insight (he had heard a too-heavy bass line on the “Maybe This Time” song, which was corrected), kindness, and belief in Liza. Keep in mind this is not the first time Hugh and his DRG Records have saved the day for Liza fans: Hugh made the U.S. CD debut of Tropical Nights happen, and he produced the Original Broadway Cast album of The Act when Liza’s reign with Columbia Records ended.

The digital remixing and remastering of the Complete Capitol Collection was all done right at Capitol Records/Capitol Mastering, at the Tower, in Hollywood, from April 17th through May 4th (with one final minor tweaking on the song “Maybe This Time” on May 11th), all in 24-bit, by the gifted David McEowen. Dave shared my distaste for the heavy reverb added to the 2-track LP masters, which is why I was so glad we were using the original session tapes. (By the way, that rarely happens on reissues done for another label, DRG in this case: the 2-track album tapes are usually transferred to DAT -- Digital Audio Tape -- and the reissue label handles the mastering itself. The original session tapes are usually never pulled and used when the release is for a different label.) It’s now almost like hearing all these songs for the first time -- a clean, crisp sound, with Liza’s voice front and center, as it should be. She’s not buried by the orchestra or the added echo of the LPs (especially the first album, Liza! Liza!) As for the singles, they had all been issued in mono sound originally, and instead of using the mono phono reels for this release, I’m thrilled we were again using the original, stereo 3-track and 4-track session tapes. Dave really slaved over the music: our ears owe him a big thank-you. (I loved that he kept saying to me “I can’t believe she’s a teenager!”)

There are so many thrills here for me on this Collection....

I love the little things, such as the extra notes on some of the songs, by the orchestra, that we’ve never heard before (as on the end of “I’m All I’ve Got”), or the fact that the mastering is so clear that you can hear Liza’s lips part at certain times (such as the very end of “I Knew Him When,” before she sings the last word “When”) .... I love the SONGS! Every one a winner. My favorites are ... ALL of ‘em, LOL!:) .... Seriously, though, I have a special feeling for the singles, since I didn’t play them as much as the LPs, back in the day. I love “Day Dreaming,” “HIS WOMAN” (wow, what a HOOT! It must be Liza’s most Madcap song, ever!); “We’ll Be Together” sounds as if Patsy Cline could have performed it. “MIDDLE OF THE STREET” and “EVERYBODY LOVES MY BABY” just make me tingle with delight, and “Say Liza, LIZA WITH A ‘Z’” may be my favorite rendition of all time (I chose this version over the others from this session as it was flawless: especially the reading of the word “FAYE” -- Isn’t that a riot?)

I guess I’m gushing like a proud parent. Well, I am. A parent (for giving “birth” to the idea and seeing it through) and proud that this Minnelli Magic is now out for the world to enjoy.

While certain things come close to perfection (like this CD), life isn’t always completely perfect. For instance, you will notice a typo on the first page of my liner notes: The second paragraph left the word “one” out, from the sentence “You would never guess that the artist heard on these 55 tracks hadn’t originally planned to become [ONE] of the best-loved singers and performers of all time.” There’s also a typo on the chart position for the Liza! Liza! platter (it hit #115, not #116). Yet my biggest regret is that mere days after the booklet was completed, additional technical information I was waiting for from Capitol Records finally came in, and thus some of the recording date and release information listed for the three LPs is not completely correct. (The recording dates for the singles are all fine, although I believe one or two of the release #s have a misprint.) While a reprint on the booklet is possible, it’s not likely, as that would be tremendously expensive and time-consuming. So, the following information here will have to do for now:

Liza: Recording Dates for Capitol LPs (1964-1966)

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LIZA! LIZA! (Released OCTOBER 5th, 1964)

1) It's Just a Matter of Time: July 1st, 1964
2) If I Were In Your Shoes: July 1st, 1964
3) Meantime: June 24th, 1964
4) Try to Remember: June 26th, 1964
5) I'm All I've Got: June 26th, 1964
6) Maybe Soon: June 24th, 1964
7) Maybe This Time: June 24th, 1964
8) Don't Ever Leave Me: June 26th, 1964
9) Travelin Life: June 26th, 1964
10) Together: July 1st, 1964
11) Blue Moon: June 24th, 1964
12) I Knew Him When: July 1st, 1964

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IT AMAZES ME: (Released MAY 10th, 1965)

1) Wait Til You See Him: December 10th, 1964
2) My Shinning Hour: December 10th, 1964
3) I Like The Likes of You: December 21st, 1964
4) It Amazes Me: December 10th, 1964
5) Looking At You: December 10th, 1964
6) I Never Has Seen Snow: December 19th, 1964
7) Plenty of Time: December 21st, 1964
8) For Every Man There’s a Woman: December 19th, 1964
9) Lorelli: December 21st, 1964
10) Shouldn't There Be Lightening?: December 21st, 1964
11) Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out: December 19th, 1964
12) Walk Right In / How Come You Do Me Like You Do: December 19th, 1964

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THERE IS A TIME (Released NOVEMBER 7th, 1966)

1) There is a Time: April 7th, 1966
2) I (Who Have Nothing): May 2nd, 1966
3) M'Lord: April 29th, 1966
4) Watch What Happens: April 7th, 1966
5) One of those Songs: April 29th, 1966
6) Days of the Waltz: April 29th, 1966
7) Ay Marieke: April 7th, 1966
8) Love at Last You Have Found Me May 2nd, 1966
9) I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise: April 29th, 1966
10) See the Old Man: May 2nd, 1966
11) The Parisians: May 2nd, 1966

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Those dates aside, I remain quite thrilled with the Complete Capitol set. It’s rarely left whatever CD player I’m near, as the songs on this Collection represent pure joy for me .... And serve as a personal reminder that we must not ever give up on our dreams.

-- Scott Schechter, August 25th, 2006

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Fast Facts -- BY THE NUMBERS -- on Liza Minnelli: The Complete Capitol Collection:

55 songs
33 new-to-CD songs
21 singles and outtakes
12 singles, all heard in STEREO for the First Time Ever
10 additional songs for the first time in STEREO on CD
9 songs NEVER heard ANYWHERE before in any form

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