Gertie

by Gertrude Lawrence

Overview

Naxos' out of copyright Gertrude Lawrence collection, Gertie, appears to have been constructed out of whatever 78s the label was able to round up; it's a random batch of her recordings for HMV and Decca Records in the '30s, plus one track, George Gershwin's "Maybe," for the British Columbia label in 1927. Apparently aware of the absence of some of Lawrence's best-known numbers, the compilers begin and end the set with the two parts of a medley of her "song successes" she made in 1936, including "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You" and "Someone to Watch over Me." But such signature songs as "Poor Little Rich Girl," "Parisian Pierrot," and "The Physician" are missing entirely, not to mention songs from Lady in the Dark and The King and I, which came later, in the '40s and '50s. Lawrence's acting abilities are on display in the extensive excerpts from Noel Coward's plays Private Lives and Tonight at 8:30, which also feature him. And several of Lawrence's best recorded performances are included, among them Coward's "Someday I'll Find You" and "Mad About the Boy," and Cole Porter's "Experiment." But this is more a Lawrence miscellany than a Lawrence best-of, and since the tracks are drawn from old records instead of the original masters, there is considerable surface noise, despite the "digital restoration" performed on them. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	04/16/2002
Label:	Naxos Nostalgia
UPC:	0636943256022
Rank:	288875

Tracks

1. A Medley of Gertrude Lawrence Song Successes: Someone to Watch Over Me/A
2. I Said Goodbye
3. Maybe
4. Someday I'll Find You
5. My Sweet
6. Mad About the Boy
7. Let's Say Goodbye
8. Someday I'll Find You (Act 1 Love Scene)
9. I Never Realised/If You Were the Only Girl (Act 2 Love Scene)
10. How Could We Be Wrong?
11. Experiment
12. Then/Play, Orchestra, Play/You Were There
13. Has Anybody Seen Our Ship?
14. An Hour Ago This Minute
15. What Now?
16. Moonlight Is Silver
17. A Medley of Gertrude Lawrence Song Successes: Limehouse Blues/You ...

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Gertrude Lawrence   Primary Artist,Vocals
His Majesty's Theatre Orchestra   Primary Artist
Carroll Gibbons   Primary Artist,Conductor
Claude Ivy   Primary Artist,Conductor,Piano
Clifford Greenwood   Primary Artist,Conductor
Ray Noble   Primary Artist,Conductor
Ray Noble & His Orchestra   Primary Artist
Noel Coward   Primary Artist,Guest Artist
Ord Hamilton   Primary Artist,Piano
Harry Jacobson   Primary Artist,Piano
Albert Harris   Primary Artist,Guitar
Phoenix Theatre Orchestra   Primary Artist
Billy Amstell   Primary Artist,Trumpet
New Mayfair Orchestra   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Peter Dempsey   Compilation Producer,Digital Restoration,Liner Notes,Transfers,Research
Noel Coward   Composer
Cole Porter   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Ray Noble & His Orchestra   Performer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
Phoenix Theatre Orchestra   Performer