'Kiss Me, Kate' with Keel, Grant and Jeffreys

My Sid Ramin post somehow led to a long discussion of this studio version of Kiss Me, Kate in the comments section, involving stalwart blog followers Charlot, JAC, Wortley Clutterbuck and Geoconno. Those who have heard this record, extolled it. Those who hadn't asked me for a transfer.

Here it is and it has many merits, starting with three fine singers, two of whom were experienced in the musical: Howard Keel played Fred Graham in the film version, and Anne Jeffreys succeeded Patricia Morison as Lilli Vanessi on Broadway. The excellent pop singer Gogi Grant had no such advantages, but she is not outclassed in their company.

Howard Keel in the filmic Kiss Me, Kate

The LP also benefits from the imaginative arrangements of the Henri René, whose pop orientation pervades the proceedings. Even with the presence of Keel and Jeffreys, this isn't really a quasi-cast album so much as it is an enjoyable ramble through Cole Porter's songs.

Because there are only three singers, parts in the ensemble songs are reassigned to those on hand. So, rather than the usual trio of gangsters, you will hear Grant, Keel and Jeffreys left to right in "Brush Up Your Shakespeare." The three also take on "Too Darn Hot" and "Another Op'nin', Another Show" in place of the minor characters who present the numbers on stage. In all of these, Keel scales back his voice, hardly sounding like the heroic bass-baritone we all love.
 

Anne Jeffreys as Lilli Vanessi

All three were apparently encouraged to be broad in their effects. This usually works well enough, such as in Grant's bravura version of "Always True to You in My Fashion." But her torchy reading of "Why Can't You Behave" is too externalized; the song benefits from the simpler approach of Lisa Kirk of the original cast. 

In another assignment switch, Grant turns up in "So in Love," which is a Lilli solo in the stage musical, so ordinarily would be assigned to Jeffreys. RCA probably decided it needed to make more use of Grant: the label was giving her a big build-up at the time.

Grant was with Victor for less than two years, but it was enough time for her to record three solo LPs, three potted musicals (this one, Show Boat, also with Keel and Jeffreys, and Gigi with Tony Martin), the soundtrack LP for The Helen Morgan Story, singles and at least one EP. The latter featured four songs from 1958's low-budget, teen exploitation film The Big Beat, which Grant appeared in. I've posted the EP along with her biggest pop hits ("The Wayward Wind" and "Suddenly There's a Valley") on my other blog.

Gogi Grant

The impetus behind this Kiss Me, Kate recording was probably two-fold: the dawning of the stereo era and a late 1958 televised production of the play with Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison from the original Broadway cast. After seeing the play on TV, anyone who wanted a recording could choose between the old mono Columbia of the Broadway cast and the new Living Stereo version on RCA Victor. Capitol stepped into the market in 1959 with a quasi-original cast recording in stereo featuring Drake, Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.

At the time, it was not unusual for record companies to issue multiple versions of the same musical. This was particularly true with a new score: there were at least a dozen Gigi recordings: cover versions, budget LPs, instrumental renditions, jazz make-overs, and what not. When RCA put out this Kiss Me, Kate LP, it also issued a competing version on its budget label, Camden, and gave it a bigger promotional push!

Again, this is an good record presented in the ping-pong stereo that was then fashionable and is still enjoyable. The download includes favorable reviews from Billboard and HiFi-Stereo Review.