Masterworks Broadway Celebrates Loesser with Compilation CD Release, 6/29
By: Jessica Lewis Jun. 28, 2010
Masterworks Broadway celebrates the 100th anniversary of composer/lyricist Frank Loesser's birth on June 29 with an all-new collection of his greatest songs entitled Heart & Soul: Celebrating the Unforgettable Songs of Frank Loesser. Available digitally and as a disc-on-demand from Arkivmusic.com, the collection brings together classic pop recordings of many of Loesser's most enduring hits from Hollywood and Broadway. The recording will be available on June 29, the exact anniversary of Loesser's birth.
As the composer/lyricist of such Broadway classics as Guys and Dolls, The Most Happy Fella and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Frank Loesser is a towering figure, both in the history of Broadway and in the Masterworks Broadway catalogue. He won Tony Awards for Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a Pulitzer Prize for the latter, and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical for all three shows. A five-time Oscar nominee for Best Original Song, he won the award in 1949 for the perennial favorite "Baby, It's Cold Outside."
The definitive cast recordings of his three greatest musicals have become Broadway legends themselves, remaining in print since their original release. On the occasion of Loesser's 100th birthday, Heart & Soul: Celebrating the Unforgettable Songs of Frank Loesser samples the great "covers" of his songs, from his Hollywood years as well as Broadway. These classic recordings confirm the universal appeal of Loesser's songs, regardless of their origin, and their uncanny, enduring popularity with a mass audience.
TRACK LISTING:
"I Don't Want to Walk Without You"
Helen Forrest / Harry James and His Orchestra
"Heart and Soul"
Bea Wain / Larry Clinton and His Orchestra
"Two Sleepy People"
Della Reese, vocal
"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!"
Kay Kyser and His Orchestra
"Can't Get Out of This Mood"
"Let's Get Lost"
Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra
"What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"
"Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year"
"I Wish I Didn't Love You So"
"Baby, It's Cold Outside"
Pearl Bailey and Hot Lips Page
Medley from Where's Charley? ("Where's Charley?" / "Once in Love with Amy" / "Pernambuco" / "My Darling, My Darling" / "The New Ashmolean Marching Society and Students Conservatory Band")
The Four Lads / Ray Ellis and His Orchestra
"I've Never Been in Love Before" from Guys and Dolls
Doris Day / David Rose and His Orchestra
"Luck Be a Lady" from Guys and Dolls
"Standing on the Corner" from The Most Happy Fella
The Four Lads / Ray Ellis and His Orchestra
"Somebody, Somewhere" from the musical The Most Happy Fella
"Joey, Joey, Joey" from the musical The Most Happy Fella
"Never Will I Marry" from Greenwillow
"I Believe in You" from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Medley from the film Hans Christian Andersen ("I'm Hans Christian Andersen" / "Thumbelina" / "Inch Worm" / "Anywhere I Wander" / "Wonderful Copenhagen")
Boston Pops Orchestra / Arthur Fiedler, conductor
Masterworks Broadway is a label of Sony Masterworks. For email updates and information on Masterworks Broadway, visit www.masterworksbroadway.com.
Videos