''The Ethel Merman Disco Album'' is a 1979 album by

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Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

performer

Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and for leading roles in musical theatre.Obituary '' Variety'', February 22, 1984. ...

. It was released on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. Over the years, the record became a camp classic, with vinyl copies highly sought out by collectors.

Background

Merman recorded 14 songs for ''The Ethel Merman Disco Album'', although only seven were released on the finished record. Each of the songs was recorded in only one take and arranged vocally the way she always recorded them, with disco instrumentation added later as a backtrack. In 2002, Fynsworth Alley Records acquired the rights to release the album on CD. The CD release contains one bonus track, a recording of ''

They Say It's Wonderful "They Say It's Wonderful" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the musical '' Annie Get Your Gun'' (1946), where it was introduced by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton. A film version in 1950 again featured the song when it was performed by ...

''. There are no plans yet to release the other six tracks.

Reception

In a retrospective review, William Ruhlmann of music database website

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

rated ''The Ethel Merman Disco Album'' two-and-a-half out of five stars. Ruhlmann noted that "everyone, it seemed, was adding a disco beat and trying to cash in on the current – and temporary – fad" and that Merman "was 20 years past her last big success on the Great White Way and, you'd have thought, ready for retirement." He called the album "pretty much like you'd expect. Arranger Peter Matz creates typical disco arrangements - and Merman sings the way she always does, sounding like she has nothing to do with the background at all." Ruhlmann concluded: "The record is really only good for a laugh, but there's just one joke."

Track listing

#" There's No Business Like Show Business" (

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

) – 5:48 #"

Everything's Coming Up Roses "Everything's Coming Up Roses" is a song with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, written initially for the 1959 Broadway musical '' Gypsy.'' Introduced in the show's inaugural production by Ethel Merman, "Everything's Coming Up R ...

" ( Sondheim, Styne) – 6:30 #"

I Get a Kick Out of You "I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by Cole Porter, which was first sung in the 1934 Broadway musical '' Anything Goes'', and then in the 1936 film version. Originally sung by Ethel Merman, it has been covered by dozens of prominent performers, ...

" (

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

) – 6:09 #" Something for the Boys" (Porter) – 5:19 #" Some People" (Sondheim, Styne) – 4:49 #"

Alexander's Ragtime Band "Alexander's Ragtime Band" is a Tin Pan Alley song by American composer Irving Berlin released in 1911 and is often inaccurately cited as his first global hit. Despite its title, the song is a march as opposed to a rag and contains little sync ...

" (Berlin) – 4:28 #"

I Got Rhythm "I Got Rhythm" is a piece composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and published in 1930, which became a jazz standard. Its chord progression, known as the " rhythm changes", is the foundation for many other popular jazz tunes suc ...

" ( Gershwin, Gershwin) – 5:06 #"

" (Berlin) (bonus track on CD reissue)''The Ethel Merman Disco Album'', Track 8 - Original recording reissued on CD in 2002 by Fynsworth Alley, LLC and Universal Music Enterprises, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

Personnel

- vocals *

Chuck Berghofer Charles Curtis Berghofer (born June 14, 1937), professionally known as Chuck Berghofer, is an American jazz double bassist and electric bassist, who has worked as a studio musician and in the film industry for more than 60 years, including workin ...

, Greg Lee - bass * Dennis Budimir, Mitch Holder, Michael Anthony - guitars * John Berkman, Peter Matz - keyboards * Steve Schaeffer - drums * Paulinho da Costa, Garyno - percussion *

Ernie Watts Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa ...

Bud Shank Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...

- saxophone solos * Bobby Borelli, Jon Joyce, George Ferren, Steve Smith, Manny Slali, Jon Randazzo - background vocals * Stephanie Spruill, Marilyn Jackson - background vocal directors

References

External links