How can get anything better than an evening with Judy Garland ?
.....Well.....you can get another night !
The folks at FHR Records have assembled for the first time the complete Amsterdam concert recorded just months before the famous Carnegie Hall concert.
There are some good and bad aspects to this CD set. So lets start first with the bad.........well Audiophiles will definitely shriek at the less than full sound here. One must remember that this was lifted from two Dutch radio broadcasts and it was back in 1960. So considering the source you will hear fades in and out and varying sound levels. It was also recorded and broadcast in MONO and not STEREO. The other bummer is that this is almost a mirror set list to the Carnegie Hall concert (and chatter between songs) with one exception with the addition here of "It's A Great Day For The Irish" and some Radio interviews. At one point you can hear the radio voice over too just mentioning that we were listening to Judy ! Egad ! Now having said all that about the sound I will say that it is VERY listenable and has a ton of magic still in it.....sonic flaws and all !...remember this was never meant for public sale and was intended only for radio broadcast.
...and now the GOOD........JUDY ! ...the voice of Judy is bang on, lovely and powerful as you would expect. I think in many ways some of the songs here are better than the Carnegie Hall show actually. Judy Garland was a genius and fans of her will love this 2 CD set ! The orchestra was filled in with local talent as well while Judy was on tour and they sound wonderful....
Overall a great 2 CD set and I am very thankful for what FHR Records did here to give us the best sonic experience even thought the original had some definite shortcomings. The music is magic.....
...ladies and gentlemen..........Judy Garland !
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