WIWS Banner

The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

  • Home
  • News
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Features
    • Release Round-Up
    • Giveaways!
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Release Calendar
    • Coming Soon
    • Now Available
  • About
  • Second Disc Records
    • Full Catalog
  • Contact

/ News

Life Is A Banquet: Stage Door Records Reissues 1969 London Studio Cast of "Mame" Starring Beryl Reid

March 26, 2021 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Mame London Studio Cast

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Light the candles, get the ice out...roll the rug up, it's today!

Everybody's favorite madcap auntie, Mame Dennis, made her first appearance in Patrick Dennis' 1955 novel Auntie Mame.  The book was a cultural phenomenon, selling more than two million copies and staying over two years on the New York Times Best-Seller List.  It was quickly followed in 1956 by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee's Broadway comedy of the same name starring Rosalind Russell and then by Warner Bros.' lavish film version also starring Russell.  But Auntie Mame arguably made her biggest splash when Angela Lansbury took the stage of the Winter Garden Theatre in 1966 for Lawrence, Lee, and composer-lyricist Jerry Herman's musical simply entitled Mame.

With an opening night cast also including a martini-dry Beatrice Arthur as Mame's best friend Vera Charles, Jane Connell as Agnes Gooch, Frankie Michaels as young Patrick, Jerry Lanning as adult Patrick, and Sab Shimono as Ito, Mame netted three Tony Awards (for Lansbury, Arthur, and Michaels) and ran for almost four years.  Among its many highlights, Herman's intoxicating score - equal parts fizzy joy and sheer heart - yielded the holiday standard "We Need a Little Christmas," the duet favorite "Bosom Buddies," and the dramatic "If He Walked Into My Life" for which Eydie Gorme earned a hit single and a Grammy Award.  The showstopping title song drew covers from Bobby Darin, Louis Armstrong, and Herb Alpert, among others.  Mame opened in London's West End in February 1969 with stage and screen legend Ginger Rogers in the title role - but that production was never recorded.  The only U.K. recording of the show to date (and one of the few recordings of the score in English) was made for the budget Major Minor label starring stage veteran Beryl Reid as Mame.  Its original release was timed to fill the void in the U.K. marketplace for a homegrown recording of the show as the West End production was about to open.  Now, that rare studio cast album is making its CD debut from Stage Door Records on April 30.

Beryl Reid (1919-1996) began her career in British music hall and had appeared onstage both in London and New York; in fact, she picked up a Tony Award as Best Actress in a Play for The Killing of Sister George in 1967 while the original Broadway run of Mame was still going strong.  She reprised her role in the 1968 film version for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe.  Reid had also previously sung Jerry Herman's other big leading lady role - Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! - for a 1965 studio cast recording.  She was joined on the recording by comedienne and soprano Joan Turner as Vera Charles as well as familiar session voices including Keith Knight, Fred Lucas, Patricia Whitmore, Charles Young, and The John McCarthy Singers.  The 12-song album captured most of Herman's score minus the brief opening "St. Bridget," "The Letter," and Patrick's reprise of "My Best Girl."  It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on January 5, 1969 by Norman Newell, one of the most prominent producers of British cast recordings, with his usual hallmarks of quality.  Geoff Love conducted the big, brassy orchestra.

The Mame recording received a U.S. LP release on the Illinois-based Musico Records, a budget subsidiary of the Musicor label (onetime home of Gene Pitney and George Jones, among others).  Stage Door's reissue of the album, remastered from stereo tape, adds two bonus tracks from Joan Turner, her 1954 Philips single release of "The Homecoming Waltz" b/w "The Shadow Waltz."  These sides were conducted by Wally Stott, later Angela Morley.

If you need a little Mame right this very minute, Stage Door's reissue is available now for pre-order directly from the label as well as at Amazon worldwide.  It hits stores on April 30 but pre-orders directly from the label typically arrive much earlier.  You'll find the pre-order links and track listing below.

Mame: London Studio Cast Recording (Major Minor LP 5005 (U.K.) /Musico LP MDS 1024 (U.S.), 1969 - reissued Stage Door Records STAGE 9082, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Stage Door)

  1. Overture
  2. It's Today
  3. Open a New Window
  4. The Man in the Moon
  5. My Best Girl
  6. We Need a Little Christmas
  7. Mame
  8. Bosom Buddies
  9. Gooch's Song
  10. That's How Young I Feel
  11. If He Walked Into My Life
  12. Finale
  13. The Homecoming Waltz - Joan Turner (Philips single P.B. 277, 1954)
  14. The Shadow Waltz - Joan Turner (Philips single P.B. 277, 1954)

Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Cast Recordings Tags: Beryl Reid, Jerry Herman

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

Connect With Joe: FacebookTwitter

You Might Also Like

  • Nesmith PackshotRelease Round-Up: Week of April 30
  • Jerry HermanIn Memoriam: Jerry Herman (1931-2019) and Allee Willis (1947-2019)
  • Cabaret OBCGive My Regards to Broadway: Sony Masterworks Seeks Votes on Vinyl Reissues
  • mrs santa clausStephen Sondheim, Angela Lansbury, Mary Martin Feature in Latest Masterworks Line-Up

Comments

  1. Harry Cohen says

    March 29, 2021 at 10:41 am

    I saw Mame on Broadway when I was a kid with ine of the replacement Mames...Jane Morgan. I saw it again with Ann Miller. It has always been one of my favorite Broadway shows. I did not know about this recording, but I will be ordering it.
    Thanks for the "heads up".

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Upcoming Releases

  • Coltrane Favorite Things packshot
    My Favorite Things: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
    John Coltrane
    May 20, 2022
  • Combat Rock Peoples Hall
    Combat Rock/The People's Hall (Special Edition)
    The Clash
    May 20, 2022
  • Nancy and Lee CD Packshot
    Nancy and Lee [Expanded Edition]
    Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood
    May 20, 2022
See Full Calendar

Connect

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,435 other subscribers

Popular

  • Rolling Stones El Mocambo
    Release Round-Up: Week of May 13 posted on May 13, 2022 | under Release Round-Up
  • Thriller 40 packshot
    No Mere Mortal Can Resist? Speculating on the 40th Anniversary Reissue of 'Thriller' posted on May 16, 2022 | under Features, News
  • Everly Brothers Hey Doll Baby
    Devoted to You: "Hey Doll Baby" Features The Everly Brothers' Hits and Deep Cuts posted on May 12, 2022 | under News

Comments

  • small faces here come the nice2
    Return To Itchycoo Park: Small Faces' "Here Come The Nice" Deluxe Box Set Arrives In January [UPDATED 12/3] 84 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 3, 2013 | under News
  • the beatles u s albums box2
    British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil "The U.S. Albums" Box Set in January 69 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 12, 2013 | under News
  • Rolling Stones in Mono
    Out of Their Heads: Stones Plan Mono Box Set 47 comments | by Mike Duquette | posted on August 10, 2016 | under News

Music Resources

  • Addicted to Vinyl
  • Crap from the Past
  • Discogs
  • Film Score Monthly
  • IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
  • MusicTAP
  • Musoscribe
  • Pause & Play
  • Popblerd
  • Popdose
  • Record Racks
  • Slicing Up Eyeballs
  • Steve Hoffman Music Forums
  • Ultimate Classic Rock
  • Vintage Vinyl News
  • Viva La Mainstream
  • Wolfgang's Vault

Labels of Note

  • Ace Records
  • Analog Spark
  • Bear Family
  • BGO Records
  • Big Break Records
  • Blixa Sounds
  • Cherry Red Label Group
  • Craft Recordings
  • Demon Music Group
  • Friday Music
  • Funky Town Grooves
  • Iconoclassic Records
  • Intervention Records
  • Intrada
  • Kritzerland
  • La La Land Records
  • Legacy Recordings
  • Light in the Attic
  • Masterworks Broadway
  • Now Sounds
  • Omnivore Recordings
  • Real Gone Music
  • Resonance Records
  • Rhino Entertainment
  • Rock Candy Records
  • Sunset Blvd. Records
  • Supermegabot
  • Varese Sarabande
  • Vinyl Me Please
  • Wounded Bird
Copyright © 2022 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy