| Judy at Carnegie Hall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live album by Judy Garland | ||||
| Released | 10 July 1961 | |||
| Recorded | 23 April 1961 | |||
| Length | 122:51 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Judy Garland chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
Judy at Carnegie Hall is a two-record live recording of a concert by Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall in New York.
This concert appearance, on the night of April 23, 1961, has been called "the greatest night in show business history".[2] Garland's live performances were big successes at the time and her record company wanted to capture that energy onto a recording. The double album became a hit, both critically and commercially.
Judy Garland's career had moved from movies in the 1940s, to elaborate vaudeville stage shows in the 1950s. During this period, she broke many box office records, making her concert appearances events unto themselves. She also suffered from extreme drug and alcohol abuse, and had become overweight, and very ill, by 1959. After a long convalescence, weight loss, and vocal rest, she returned to the concert stage with a simple program of 'just Judy.' Garland's 1960-1961 tour of Europe and North America was a success, and her stage presence was highly regarded; eventually she was billed as 'The World's Greatest Entertainer'. Garland's concert mania was on the rise when she visited Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, and many reviews of her shows commented on her showmanship, vocal maturity, and the emotional effects that her performances delivered. Audiences often called her back for encore after encore, even asking her to repeat a song after her book of arrangements was completed.
On the evening of the Carnegie show, after a bombastic overture that built high emotion, Judy appeared, looking remarkably healthy, and well-groomed, to a very loud ovation from the audience. The recorded applause proves the energetic connection between Garland and her fans. Her audience that night included theatre performers on their usual Sunday night off, and the celebrities were as wild with adoration towards Garland as the rest of the audience. Photographs on the liner notes show the audience, in evening dress, lining the stage as was indicative of a Garland performance. Hedda Hopper, reviewed Garland's ability to embrace her concert audience by saying of the show, "..I never saw the likes of it in my life." All reviews of the show gave Garland high marks, and commented on her healthy appearance, exuberance, energy, vocal power, and the uplifting emotional power that Garland has on her audience. By all accounts, the evening's performance was a resounding success, even if it had not been recorded. The release of Garland's record set, only two months after the concert, cemented her comeback from illness, and brought her a new public acclaim.
The double album was a huge best seller—charting for 73 weeks on the Billboard chart, including 13 weeks at number one, and being certified gold. It won four Grammy Awards, for Album of the Year (The first live album and the first album by a female performer to win the award.), Best Female Vocal Performance, Best Engineered Album, and Best Album Cover.[3] The album has never been out of print.
In 2003, the album was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
Contents |
Side one
Side two
Side three
Side four
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Billboard Pop Albums (Billboard 200) (mono and stereo) | 1 |
| Preceded by Something for Everybody by Elvis Presley |
Billboard 200 number-one album (mono) September 11, 1962 - December 10, 1962 |
Succeeded by Blue Hawaii (soundtrack) by Elvis Presley |
| Preceded by Stars of a Summer Night by Various artists |
Billboard 200 number-one album (stereo) September 11, 1962 - November 12, 1962 |
Succeeded by Stereo 35/MM by Enoch Light & the Light Brigade |
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