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AMG (All Music Guide) review of "Liza Minnelli: The Complete Capitol Collection"

• Release Date: 2006
• Genre: Vocal Music
• Label: DRG/EMI
• Artist: Liza Minnelli
• Flags: Compilation (best of)
• Type: Compilation
• Rating:

• Styles: Traditional Pop, Show Tunes

Review

Containing 55 tracks on two CDs running over two-and-a-half hours, The Complete Capitol Collection presents all the recordings Liza Minnelli made for Capitol Records. Minnelli was signed to Capitol in 1963 at the age of 17, just after she had made her professional debut in the Off-Broadway musical Best Foot Forward. Over the next three years, before she made her final Capitol recordings at the age of 20, she established herself as a Tony-winning Broadway star, a major nightclub performer, and a TV personality. Her recording career, however, was not as successful, as much because of the radical changes wrought in the record business by another Capitol act, the Beatles, as because making records was a relatively minor priority for her. When Capitol signed her, the label must have envisioned a younger version of her mother and labelmate Judy Garland as well as a potential competitor to rival Columbia Records' new star Barbra Streisand. That's no doubt why Capitol hired arranger/conductor Peter Matz, who worked with Streisand, to do the same with Minnelli on her first two albums, Liza! Liza! and It Amazes Me, which make up most of disc one here. As he had with Streisand, Matz resurrected obscure gems from the Great American Songbook and gave them inventive new arrangements, and Minnelli did, indeed, sound like a young Garland and like another Streisand singing them. Only the first of the LPs made the charts, however, and Capitol parted ways with Minnelli after the commercial failure of her third album, There Is a Time, a concept record of mostly French songs (albeit sung in English). Subsequent compilation CDs have drawn only upon those LP tracks and haven't even used all of them; ten of the songs are making their CD debuts here. While Capitol attempted to market Minnelli as an adult artist with her LPs, the company also recorded her on a series of non-LP singles, some of which were aimed more at the teen market. All of them, another LP's worth of material, are appearing here for the first time in 40 years. They include versions of four songs from Minnelli's Broadway musical debut, Flora, the Red Menace, as well as some stylistic experiments. "His Woman," for example, is a dialect novelty, and one single, "I'm Not Laughing"/"Did I Hurt Your Feelings?," consists of co-compositions by Bob Crewe, best known for his work with the Four Seasons. It turns out that Minnelli tried some things even further in the direction of Brill Building pop, if not outright rock & roll, but Capitol never released them. There are nine previously unreleased tracks on the album, and among them is "The Many Faces of Love," a song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman that is very much in the Brill Building tradition. Minnelli also tries a pop/rock arrangement of the standard "Everybody Loves My Baby" and even a cover of the Rooftop Singers' folk hit "Walk Right In." (She also cut an early version of her nightclub theme song, "Say Liza [Liza with a 'Z'].") This material suggests that Capitol and Minnelli were already grappling with the problem of marketing a singer coming out of the traditional pop environment who was not yet of voting age in a period when British Invasion rock was all the rage. It never got much easier in the record racks for Minnelli. And yet, all her talents are on display in these early recordings, which will be welcomed by her fans. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

 

Two somewhat different reviews of the new Liza COMPLETE CAPITOL COLLECTION two-disc set, both by NYC journalist Rob Lester. The first review is a bit longer and more in depth, and is from the website edgenewyork.com. The second review is from TalkinBroadway.com.

****

"The Complete Capitol Collection" by Liza Minnelli
Reviewed by Rob Lester
EDGE Entertainment Contributor
Thursday Aug 3, 2006

Christmas for Liza Minnelli fans has come during the summer. Some of her very earliest recordings (1963-1966) are now available, thanks to DRG Records. Depending on your familiarity with her young work, they are either a welcome reminder or a revelation. Either way, there’s a lot of wonderful stuff to savor in this generous package, and the real coup is the inclusion of twenty (!) songs besides the tracks from the three complete first albums They were made as singles: some were never released at all, and only half a dozen are known from other versions by the singer. (There’s also one track, the medley of Walk Right In and How Come You Do Me Like You Do, cut from her second LP.) It’s all lovingly packaged with photos, and liner notes by Liza expert and the producer of this issue, Scott Schechter, and the sound quality is great.

Yes, there’s some stridency (stand back!) and some wannabe hits that are definitely not woulda-been classics. Liza was 17 in the earliest of the single recordings, and was fresh from recording her songs from the off-Broadway revival of Best Foot Forward (not on the Capitol label) and appearances live and on TV were already on her resume. The first two solo albums Liza! Liza! and It Amazes Me were arranged and conducted by Peter Matz. His imaginative and evocative work is a major asset, matching the zest and openheartedness in the vocalist’s youthful vigor, but also adding subtlety and sophistication that balance the exuberance. The explosive fervor and confidence in "The Travelin’ Life" and "I’m All I’ve Got" are just plain exciting and invigorating, and two Rodgers and Hart standbys, "Wait Till You See Him" and "Blue Moon" (the latter intertwined with the Vernon Duke/John Latouche standard "Taking A Chance On Love") are also examples of a singer with voice to burn, belting and blasting away. The ballads are also very satisfying, because the emotions are close to the surface even though there is restraint. The vulnerability and raw energy are disarming, and don’t sound over-rehearsed or manufactured.

What has always impressed me about these recordings since I first heard them ages ago is how effectively this teenager could capture the regret, wistfulness and longing in songs about time going by as well as the life lesson about appreciating the moment. "Plenty Of Time" and "Try To Remember" have that, and "Meantime" and others capture the restlessness and determination of youth that still feel real and immediate, even heard more than four decades later when plenty of time really has gone by. The third solo album, There Is A Time had a few songs that also focused on time, and had a French flavor, although it’s sung in English. The arranger-conductor was the talented Ray Ellis. By this time, Liza has shed some of the girlishness and glee. There’s some high drama that suits the material (and the star’s natural leanings). With melodies by Charles Aznavour, Jacques Brel and Michel Legrand, this album showed Liza’s versatility and growth. The word "powerhouse" still applies.

The singles are a mixed bag. Of course, you have to "appreciate" them in the context of the times and the goal. The song choices, sensibilities, and especially the arrangements often reek of trying to land a commercial hit. Rather than trying to think outside the box, the powers that be were trying to box the singer into a traditional pop package and "market" her teen angst and innocent sound. Think "puppy love." Although the results of such transparent efforts (amusing or frustrating with hindsight) make you appreciate the classier material and treatments on the albums, these bits of history still have appeal. There’s singing both strong and sweet. There are six songs from Kander and Ebb, who became so crucial to the performer, with four single versions of numbers from her first Broadway show, Flora,The Red Menace, her trademark lament of being spelled and pronounced incorrectly, "Liza With A 'Z'," and the previously unreleased "At My Age."

This set is on the reliable DRG label (which continues with reissues and newly recorded gems) and can be labeled "wow." To borrow one of the album titles, I am delighted to say, indeed, it amazes me.

Available in stores now. Label website: www.DRGrecords.com 3 original albums plus 21 bonus tracks.

Rob Lester is a freelance writer living in New York City. He also writes on cabaret and the "Sound Advice" CD column for www.TalkinBroadway.com and as far as music, he has a lifelong affection, collection and connection.

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TalkinBroadway.com

Sound Advice, by Rob Lester

Musical Journeys and Roads Not Taken

August 17th, 2006

The path one singer might choose, another eschews. Some of Liza Minnelli's early recordings, just reissued, show her on the path to superstardom but avoiding material associated with her famous mother, Judy Garland.

LIZA MINNELLI
THE COMPLETE CAPITOL COLLECTION

DRG Records

Standards and show tunes, including four Harold Arlen melodies, were included on her first solo albums in the mid 1960s, but Liza Minnelli was determined to go down her own road. She was ready to move beyond being known simply as "Judy Garland's daughter". In this packed double-disc set (55 tracks) are her first three solo albums in full, plus more. There are 20 songs that were recorded as singles, some never released until now, and one track recorded for LP, but left off: a brash medley of "Walk Right In" and "How Come You Do Me Like You Do." Some have never been on CD before. Certainly there are times when there is a lack of restraint, with some something shrill coming along with a thrill, but a legend was already developing.

Here is Liza in her late teens, with her youth and exuberance bubbling over - or even exploited - on some tracks, while on others she sounds wiser than her years. The bursting-at-the-seams energy of "I'm All I've Got," from a then-recent Broadway show, Bravo, Giovanni, is balanced by a plaintive and thoughtful "I Knew Him When." Much of the material heard on the first CD in this double set allowed the developing singer-actress to express the restlessness, optimism and determination of youth, as well as the confusion and thrill of first brushes with romance. The girlishness and humor retain their charm, and there are many excellent performances with a sense of daring in some and heart-on-her-sleeve tenderness in others.

Her third Capitol Records studio set, There Is a Time, begins the second disc. It had an emphasis on songs originally introduced in French, though she sang in English. No matter. She was still taking on the role of dramatic chanteuse. Most were on the serious and dramatic side, but for zip and bounce, she chose a couple of songs heard in French-set film favorites directed by her father, Vincente Minnelli: Gigi's "The Parisians" and An American in Paris' borrowed "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise."

Then come the singles intended to be pop hits. Some are blatantly commercial, striving for a teen sensibility, projecting adolescent angst or puppy love. Many now sound hopelessly hokey and dated. (They were saddled with charts that aped the beat and musical trends of the moment, whereas many of the album tracks are timeless: standard songs with imaginative orchestral arrangements by two of the best in the business: Peter Matz and Ray Ellis.) These singles have more than an amusing historical footnote to offer. There's some good singing in full voice that will please Liza fans eager to hear her with no holds barred and some titles are of special interest: four are different versions of numbers from her Broadway debut, Flora the Red Menace by Kander & Ebb, and their fans will note the same team's "At My Age" and the first recording of her trademark "Liza with a 'Z'," both previously unreleased.

Musical theatre followers will also appreciate "Marriage is for Old Folks" from the Off-Broadway musical The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a welcome choice.

In the forgiving hindsight of 2006, some of the weaker fluff stuff seems sweetly innocent or amusing. None of these attempts became radio hits, and many were left on the shelf, but it does make one wonder if one or a few of the singles recorded prior to her first album had caught on with the intended teen market, would the new recording artist have continued down a very different road rather than the one called Broadway?

In any case, thanks to DRG Records, this road called Memory Lane will provide a very happy ride for Liza fans, with long-lost surprises, too. It's all lovingly remixed, remastered and packaged with the original LP covers and photos of the star, in a booklet with notes that are both a valentine and an informed perspective, courtesy of reissue producer and longtime Minnelli champion, Scott Schechter.

And Liza keeps going. She performs tonight (Thursday, August 17) in a free concert in the park opposite the New York Aquarium in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn.