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Back in May 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stage Door Records brought some much-needed sunshine with an Original Album Series volume for Broadway baritone John Raitt (1917-2005).  The 2CD volume collected Raitt’s four LPs originally released between 1955 and 1960 on the Capitol and Warner Bros. labels; now, Stage Door has turned the clock back to 1947 for a first-time-on-CD expanded edition of his 1947 Decca EP Songs of the Open Road.

Born in Santa Ana, California, Raitt originated the role of Billy Bigelow in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1945 musical Carousel.  An accomplished athlete from his school days, Raitt had already appeared on the opera stage and in small roles in numerous films by the time Rodgers and Hammerstein came calling.  His role as Curly in the Chicago production of the duo’s Oklahoma! led to his being tapped for Carousel, which inaugurated his tenure as one of Broadway’s most distinguished leading men.  He went on to create the role of Sid Sorokin in The Pajama Game and star in other Broadway shows such as Three Wishes for Jamie, Carnival in Flanders, and A Joyful Noise.  Though his career as a recording artist was sporadic – his final recording was 1995’s aptly-titled Broadway Legend, on which he was joined by his daughter Bonnie on duets from Annie Get Your Gun and The Pajama Game – Raitt nonetheless conveyed the same kind of excitement and rich musicality on records as he did on stage.

The original six-song EP Songs of the Open Road, conducted by Jay Blackton (Oklahoma!, Annie Get Your Gun) drew heavily on operetta (The New Moon, The Vagabond King) and 1920s musical theatre (1927’s Rio Rita, 1929’s Great Day) for its repertoire.  Among its selections, “Without a Song” and “Great Day” have both earned their place in the standards pantheon, while “Stout-Hearted Men” from The New Moon is still among the most recognizable songs from the operetta genre.  The EP’s title track, Albert Hay Malotte’s “Song of the Open Road,” premiered in the little-remembered 1935 film Hi, Gaucho!; Frankie Laine and Giorgio Tozzi were among the other singers to perform it.

Stage Door has generously expanded Songs of the Open Road with both sides of a 1952 Decca single covering songs from the Mario Lanza film vehicle Because You’re Mine (including “The Song the Angels Sing,” a classical adaptation of Brahms with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster and the title song by Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodzsky) and a clutch of songs sourced from radio broadcasts between 1956 and 1959.  Raitt reprises some of his best-known performances (“Hey There,” “The Girl That I Marry”) and even showcases his comic as well as vocal gifts on “Figaro’s Entrance Aria” from The Barber of Seville.  His velvety voice brings a romantic sensibility to such standards as “Deep Purple,” “I Concentrate on You,” and “That Old Black Magic.”

This celebration of John Raitt’s golden voice arrives in a six-panel digipak containing an eight-page booklet with liner notes by George Dansker and a selection of photos; a generous array of photos are also included within the digipak.  Songs of the Open Road is available now directly from Stage Door, at Amazon, and from Broadway poster shop Triton Gallery.  (NY readers: you can also drop by Triton and pick up a CD in person!)  You’ll find links for all stores below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

John Raitt, Songs of the Open Road: Expanded Edition (Stage Door STAGE 9107, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Stage Door Records / Triton Gallery)

1. Song of the Vagabonds
2. Stout Hearted Man
3. The Rangers’ Song
4. Song of the Open Road
5. Without a Song
6. Great Day
7. The Song the Angels Sing
8. Because You’re Mine
9. Song of the Open Road
10. Hey There!
11. Lucky Day
12. That Old Black Magic
13. Silver Dollar
14. Deep Purple
15. I Concentrate on You
16. The Girl That I Marry
17. Indian Summer
18. I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’
19. Shenandoah
20. Figaro’s Entrance Aria

Tracks 1-6 from Songs of the Open Road, Decca EP A-470, 1947
Tracks 7-8 from Decca single 28337, 1952
Tracks 9-10 from radio broadcast, December 1956
Tracks 11-20 from radio broadcasts c. 1958-1959​