Real Gone Music is kicking off its October slate of titles with a CD commemorating the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic television program of all time: The Carol Burnett Show.  The multi-talented Burnett recorded the album Carol Burnett Sings to tie in with the premiere of her new program, and Real Gone is giving the title its first-ever reissue on CD on October 6th, featuring liner notes by our very own Joe Marchese.

Carol Burnett was already a stage, screen and recording veteran by the time the show bearing her name premiered in September, 1967.  She had starred in two Broadway shows: 1959's Once Upon a Mattress (garnering a Tony nomination) and 1964's Fade Out-Fade In.  Among other television appearances, she became a regular on The Garry Moore Show in 1959, earning an Emmy Award in 1962.  Also, in addition to her appearances on the cast albums of her Broadway shows, she released three albums: 1961's Carol Burnett Remembers How They Stopped The Show, 1962's live affair with Julie Andrews Julie and Carol Live at Carnegie Hall, and 1963's Let Me Entertain You: Carol Burnett Sings.

Released in October 1967, Burnett's second album to be titled Carol Burnett Sings appeared in stores from RCA.  Meant to be a tie-in to the show, Burnett is pictured in her famous Charwoman character on the cover.  She had created the Charwoman a couple of years before, and the character proved to be very popular, even appearing in animated form in the opening credits of The Carol Burnett Show.  To further strengthen the synergy between record and show, Burnett as the Charwoman performed four songs from the album on the program:  "Georgy Girl," "Enter Laughing," "I Believed It All" and "There's No Business Like Show Business."  The Charwoman had previously performed the tune "Nobody," also included on the album, during an appearance on the earlier program Carol and Company.

Carol reprised "Meantime" from Julie and Carol Live at Carnegie Hall.  The song had been written specifically for Burnett for the performance. Carol also previewed "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie," which she would sing on Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center.  Other songs on the original LP include "What Did I Have That I Don't Have" from Broadway's On A Clear Day You Can See Forever and a cover of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" which he had taken to #2 on the Billboard chart the year before.  Also included is Carol's version of The Sherman Brothers' "Fortuosity" from the Walt Disney musical The Happiest Millionaire.

Two bonus tracks have been added to the original album.  The previously unreleased outtake "Make Me Rainbows" was written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman with a young John Williams for the Dick Van Dyke comedy Fitzwilly.  The final track stretches back to 1955 when Carol joined Dan Dailey and Steve Lawrence on The General Motors 50th Anniversary NBC-TV Color Special to perform "The Bullfrog Patrol."

In addition to the notes by Joe, the booklet features Julie Andrews' original sleeve notes from 1967 and rare photos of Burnett in the studio.  The remastering has been done by Maria Triana at Battery Studios.

We've got the pre-order links below if you'd like to hear this delightful souvenir from Carol Burnett's classic television show!

OCTOBER 6, 2017 RELEASES FROM REAL GONE MUSIC

Carol Burnett, Carol Burnett Sings: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Links TBD)