News

Kritzerland is continuing its long-running series of reissues drawn from Ben Bagley’s Painted Smiles archives.  The label has just announced new editions of the long out-of-print George Gershwin Revisited and Noel Coward Revisited.

George Gershwin Revisited remains one of the starriest releases in the Revisited series, featuring Barbara Cook, Elaine Stritch, Bobby Short, and Anthony Perkins.  Keeping with the focus of the series, producer Bagley and musical director-arranger Norman Paris concentrated solely on lesser-known songs from the legendary composer including songs from largely forgotten shows such as La La Lucille, Sweet Little Devil, Niceties of 1923, and Tell Me More.  The album was originally released on MGM Records in 1966 and subsequently reissued in the U.K. on RCA Victor; Bagley’s Painted Smiles label brought it to CD.  Unlike many of his other CD reissues, however, he didn’t add any bonus tracks.  So Kritzerland has added one additional cut: the first recording of Gershwin’s “Concerto in F” in its original Ferde Grofe orchestration, recorded in 1928 by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra with Roy Bargy on piano.   James Nelson has remastered George Gershwin Revisited.

Bagley’s celebration of an American legend is joined by a tribute to a British one.  Noel Coward Revisited was originally released just a bit later in 1966, also on the MGM label.  For this volume, Bagley and Paris enlisted the considerable talents of Manchurian Candidate star Laurence Harvey alongside Hermione Gingold, Nancy Andrews, and Edward Earle plus The Satisfactions.  Revisited is filled with lesser-known but no less worthy Coward tunes (all bearing Coward’s trademark wit and sophistication), but Bagley also found room in subsequent pressings including the 1973 U.K. RCA Victor LP to add the great Dorothy Loudon’s rendition of the all-time standard “If Love Were All.”  A further five bonus tracks were added for the CD edition (all, naturally, included here) as performed by artists including Ann Hampton Callaway, Barbara Lea, and Arthur Siegel.  Kritzerland notes that “we are doing major work on this, the worst-sounding of all the Bagley albums.”  While track samples are available at the label’s website, the remastered tracks were not available for the announcement.

Both George Gershwin Revisited and Noel Coward Revisited are limited to just 500 copies and are adorned with Harvey Schmidt’s classic artwork.  They’re expected to ship by the second week of June, but those who pre-order directly from the label will usually find their copies arriving earlier.  You can pre-order both titles at the links below!

Various Artists, George Gershwin Revisited (MGM Records SE-4375, 1966 – reissued Kritzerland, 2019)

1. There is More to the Kiss Than the XXX – Barbara Cook, Anthony Perkins, Elaine Stritch, Bobby Short
2. Under a One-Man Top – Anthony Perkins, Barbara Cook
3. Feeling Sentimental – Elaine Stritch
4. Tra-La-La – Barbara Cook, Bobby Short, Anthony Perkins
5. Nashville Nightingale -Bobby Short
6. Drifting Along with the Tide -Anthony Perkins, Barbara Cook
7. Virginia Don’t Go too Far -Anthony Perkins, Bobby Short, Elaine Stritch
8. Back Bay Polka -Anthony Perkins, Bobby Short, Barbara Cook, Elaine Stritch
9. Changing My Tune -Anthony Perkins, Barbara Cook
10. Rose of Madrid -Bobby Short, Elaine Stritch
11. Oh Gee! Oh Joy! -Bobby Short
12. Three Times a Day – Anthony Perkins
13. Scandal Walk -Anthony Perkins, Bobby Short, Barbara Cook, Elaine Stritch
14. Concerto in F – Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra feat. Roy Bargy, piano (Bonus Track)

Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Irving Caesar, B. G. DeSylva, Ira Gershwin, Arthur Jackson, Gus Kahn, P.G. Wodehouse
Musical Direction and Arrangements by Norman Paris

Various Artists, Noel Coward Revisited (MGM Records SE-4430, 1966 – reissued Kritzerland, 2019)

1. London at Night – Edward Earle and The Satisfactions
2. Evening in Summer – Nancy Andrews and The Satisfactions
3. The Wife of an Acrobat – Hermione Gingold
4. Nothing Can Last Forever – Laurence Harvey
5. Green Carnations Edward – Edward Earle and The Satisfactions
6. That Is the End of the News – Hermione Gingold, Nancy Andrews
7. May I Have the Pleasure/The Waltz – Laurence Harvey, Nancy Andrews
8. Housemaid’s Knees – Hermione Gingold, Nancy Andrews
9. You Were There – Laurence Harvey
10. He Never Did That to Me – Hermione Gingold
11. If Love Were All – Dorothy Loudon
12. Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans – Edward Earle and The Satisfactions
13. Chase Me Charlie – Nancy Andrews
14. Never Again – Laurence Harvey
15. Finale – The Satisfactions

CD Bonus Tracks

16. Operette – Myvanwy Jenn
17. When My Ship Comes In – Arthur Siegel
18. The Hall of Fame – Barbara Lea, Arthur Siegel, Myvanwy Jenn
19. Most of Every Day – Ann Hampton Callaway
20. Let’s Live Dangerously – Myvanwy Jenn, Ann Hampton Callaway, Barbara Lea, Arthur Siegel

Music and Lyrics by Noel Coward
Musical Direction and Arrangements by Norman Paris