My partner lived that moment. On April 23, 1961 he was a handsome 23 year old living in Manhattan and by some accident of history he managed to have a ticket (he wasn’t a particular fan of Judy Garland at the time but his roommate insisted that he go with him). Even though my partner is bedridden today and living in a long term care facility he can still remember that night vividly. He tells me that it seemed as if every celebrity in America was present and even before the overture started there was such an incredible buzz of anticipation in the air that the atmosphere was nothing short of electric. Once Judy came out and began to sing the connection between her and each member of the audience was so instantaneous that it felt like a swift punch to the gut. From that moment on it was almost impossible not to be swept away by everything she did. Through song after song Judy and the audience fed off each other until finally the entire space seemed to be enveloped in a powerful and overwhelming feeling of love. My partner tells me that there was something more going on in that room that night than just a mere concert. It was a complete coming together of hearts and souls, a quality he says that the recording only hints at. As my partner puts it, “You just had to be there to understand what really happened. All of us-all 3000 people-we were all one.”
Fascinating: it seems to have been a "TIME LOCK"- for instance *( Kennedys Assassination or 9/11 World Trade Twin Towers)- Where a confluence of cultural memory, a Juggernaut of collective cultural aspirations and deep wounding unraveled with the sheer force of cosmic destiny in time and space 3,000 people were live wires conjuring a reflection of infinite mirroring. I think your partner was absolutely correct. ✨️🫵🏻🫵🏻🫵🏻🫵🏻🫵🏻✨️✨️🇺🇲🌿🇺🇲
The Man That Got Away very much knocked me out. I was just so floored by it. You could have heard a pin drop during the pauses if a pin was dropped because the audience was *so* quiet during that performance. You can just tell how mesmerized they were watching this. Then that absolute crescendo of applause and the roar that broke out at the end. My gosh.
But for God's sake, skip this video. Yes, do as @rlmack5 instructs you. Go listen to that concert in one go and LIVE IT!! Believe us. You will indeed imagine/ dream/ fantasize that you are there. Let your heart break. Then let it laugh. Let your soul triumph. Then "Do it Again". Experience the record of this night as it was meant to be experienced. Without idiots pulling out their goddamned phones and watching it on a tiny smartphone screen. Or worse yet, a notepad. Now go. I hear the orchestra starting the overture!! Peace.
I found a slightly used vinyl copy of this years ago for $7.50 and thought, "meh, what the hell? Not really my thing, but I heard it's a classic." Then, I played it...immediate fan for life. No live recording before or since has made me feel like I was actually there when it happened. The energy is contagious.
Judy was at the apex of her stellar career with her incomparable Carnegie Hall concert, the recording of which forever cemented her rarefied status among the 20TH century's great entertainers! Forever Judy!
Yeah, that's a whole Eurovision final ( a very European reference), and that's performed one performer per song, the smae person doing them all...she had some stamina.
In regards to San Francisco, someone told Jeanette MacDonald about Judy’s quips in the show. Jeanette’s response was, “as long as it’s Judy!” Jeanette had a sense of humour.
Joe W. Says: My late Mother - who was born in 1926 - so was almost the same age as Judy Garland - used to say that she Adored seeing Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy singing together in the movies when she was a girl - it gave her a sense of what Romance Really WAS - and she watched them every chance she got! Mom grew up in a musical household and she dreamt of becoming a Boogie Woogie pianist herself - but opportunity knocked, she accompanied a friend to a job interview in the 1940s and ended up being offered the job (her friend wasn't!) - in Miami - my mother became a Stewardess for TWA and ended up flying all over the Caribbean and Latin America! This would become a trove of memories when she ended up marrying a very dashing and handsome member of the Ground Crew and being a 1950s Housewife (No Pressure THERE, LoL!) - many years later, when I was accepted into Art College, my mom told me, "Never Give Up Your Dreams!" I believe Judy Garland Didn't. She Blessed the world with her gifts. My mother never became famous. However, she blessed many people with her loving Spirit. USE Your Gifts, people! Give the World what you've Got!
@@cuucnsbfl9913 Indeed & share with joy😊 However, if the opportunities do not present themselves during this lifetime...remember that Eternity is forever, and there is music indeed in the Heavens❤
You could be jabbed by worse. Greatest performer. The American "Edith". Judy. I have a photo of her I had framed, arms down by her side, small feet akimbo shoulders slumped chest out, chin down, about to SORE... From a great distance, you know it can only be Judy. A gift from the Gods.
@@waynedaves5089 Evidently, Jeanette used to make unkind remarks about Judy's looks when Judy was younger. And much as I love Judy, no one has ever been the American "Edith" if you're talking about Edith Piaf. I saw her at Carnegie Hall. It was the greatest theatrical experience of my life.
To this day, Judy remains an icon of immeasurable status. Few artists could hope to achieve what she has with this concert and the subsequent live album. Her voice, as often, was not perfect that night - she had shaky moments and sometimes her voice would crack. It's her story, her energy, her love for music & Judy herself that made this show the "perfect concert". Her voice was like no other and her delivery of any song was nothing short of impeccable. Making Judy the sole focus of this show was a brilliant decision. On top of that, she had a fighting spirit that you rarely find in artists (to this degree). It could've been the worst night of her life and she'd still try her hardest to put on a fabulous show.
Great job. I was there for both nights - in the audience and backstage with her in the dressing room. I was also in NYC for the funeral and was at Stonewall the night before the riot. Yes, Judy was an influence. It was only her music on the jukebox and we all wept and held each other. Did she cause the riot - no. She was the final straw after years of raids and abuse.
Outside of Karen Carpenter, Maria Callas and Billie Holiday, Judy is one of the very few singers who can still reduce me to teary eyed goosebumps within less than thirty seconds, ever since I was exposed to her at about 10 years old. "Do It Again" from the Carnegie Hall album never fails to tear my insides apart for being so seductive and yet so heartbreakingly vulnerable in its subtle delivery... Goddamn... 😭
@@mervyngreene6687 Aretha's gift is incredible. I love her to bits. "Amazing Grace" is one of my all time favorite albums. She hits me in the feels without doubt, but, for some reason, (I don't know why) it takes a while for her voice to penetrate and reduce me to a sobbing state to the point of sanctification. Whereas, the three women I mentioned have been bringing me to tears within less than half a minute since I was about 10 or 11 years old and continue to do so, which says something. Singers like Judy and Aretha (as well as Karen, Maria and Billie) seem to possess this ability of letting their listeners subconsciously take in the depths of their emerging emotions and face them with a sense of hushed wonder. It's otherworldly, for want of a better word.
@@Mrvictorfernandes I think it is an example of the old adage that "art is personal." I understand your reaction to Billie, Karen, and Judy. There is something fragile and vulnerable about their voices. I think that there are a lot of women who are "technically" better singers. But very few had the ability to touch us in such a visceral way. On the other hand, Aretha and Maria (Jessye Norman and MAYBE Sarah Brightman) are SINGERS! They have it ALL! And, EVERYONE knows it: *I don't really like that kind of music, but, yeah, she is great!"
i knew someone that saw this and he said many in the audience just sat for the longest time once the show was over. it was like they needed to reacclimate, rest and able themselves to deal with JUDY being done and off the stage.
Judy Garland At Carnegie Hall is an incredible album. The best, and only way, to listen to it is relaxed and all at once. It demands this level of respect. Even though she is performing at Carnegie Hall, it feels so personal. You can, easily, imagine yourself there in the audience with Judy. It's an experience.
Glad she also mentioned it in passing😂 If it doesn't win album of the year then the Grammys are truly dead. Opening track alone is already an all-timer
My trans awakening was watching Garland in wizard of OZ as a young child in the mid ‘80s. She’s just so delightful I wanted to be like her so much. So endearing and pretty. I hope her memory lives on in future generations. Watched Meet Me In St Louis today, so smitten with her and I’m not remotely into women. Such an icon. It’s hard to accept her life was so troublesome for so long. Its heartbreaking,
I just can't believe that people spoke of the greatest entertainer of her time. The studios destroyed her with drugs along with her mother but she plowed through and did such a great job starting at a very young age. They said when she was learning her songs she never made a mistake. I just love this woman and her daughters. I don't like when people speak badly of her. Rip love.
My father bought me this album when I was in high school I was a huge and still am a huge Judy Garland fan. He said he was here and grown men were sobbing in the audience. That’s how great this was.
I picked up a copy in 1982 somewhere in Greenwich Village. I knew it was special and enjoyed listening to it often. In 2006 I discovered two ticket stubs for the second evening and a note about the evening. I own property but the album and its contents on my prize possession.
My parents were immigrants from the French Caribbean, so I grew up in the late 70s listening to both Black Caribbean, Latin, and European orchestral/vocal arrangements from the '40s to the '70s. Judy Garland was next to Edith Piaf, Nana Mouskouri, and Ceclia Cruz in my mother's Saturday evening playlist.
I’ve listened to the live album on and off over the years and I do feel it’s the best live album of all time and only Judy Garland could achieve such status
I agree that was a magical night That concert had it all of course the great Judy great songs great Orchestra. Judy was in great voice that night. The greatest live album ever recorded still after all these years.
In spite of all the books, articles, reminisces, TV shows and movies about Garland, we shall never know what made her tick. It's been over a century since she was born and we are still fascinated with Judy.
Her singing of Stormy Weather always rips my heart out and blows me away. Began listening to the Carnegie Album at 11 years old. Now, I'm 64, it just gets better and better. She was 4'11" physically but she was a collosus of heart and voice. Love, love, love.
Just... incredible. Simply incandescent and beautiful and raw and big and small and victorious and forlorn and...just the perfect performance. Vocal talent, emotive acting through her voice, banter with the audience...no one ever has, is, or will ever be able to do the damn thing like Judy.
Comedian Jack Carter said old timers said Al Jolson was the greatest entertainer. After seeing Judy at CH he said "Jolson would have opened for Judy Garland!" Still a powerhouse of a record.
When I was in high school (2009/2013) was around the time records were coming back into style, modern artists were releasing things on vinyl and I wanted a record player so bad! I got one for Christmas one year along with a bunch of my parents'/family's old vinyls. My dad (an avid thrift store shopper) had even bought me some more he had found at a local thrift shop to us, one being Judy at Carnegie Hall. At that point in my life, I primarily knew Judy from two movies I loved: Wizard of Oz and Meet Me in St Louis. The record blew my mind lol. To this day, Judy at Carnegie Hall is one of my most listened-to vinyls and I will listen to it in any other format as well if I'm away from my record player. I have it on CD, Spotify, and as an actual purchased download on my ancient iTunes account lol. It is what made me fall in love with Judy and her voice and to read and consume any info I could on her life. I related so much to her, her struggles and her insecurities and her addiction issues. I'm getting a tattoo of her lol. I don't think it's for everyone, her voice is so unique and that era of music can seem dated to a lot of people. But to me, it genuinely is one of the greatest nights in entertainment history. I hope, if there is an afterlife, Judy knows so many people loved her for HER. For her talent and charisma and hard work. And wished the best for her even outside of all of that. I hope she is resting. Also, she was always gorgeous. Until her final days, a gorgeous talented true performer and she deserves to be recognized for that instead of constantly torn down like she was. I genuinely hate how the media, still, feels the need to be negative about women. Let's look at even the most like universally loved and gorgeous women of history since Judy: Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Princess Diana, Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears...all faced so much abuse by the public and by the media. I hope with all of the stories that are now being made public about their time in the spotlight we as a culture can finally stop the cycle. Treat stars and the women in our own lives like the human beings they are.
This the best critical piece on her Carnegie Hall concert/ album period. Finally the focus is on Judy’s skills and talents and her vision of herself as an artist 🎉👍👏 thank you for giving Judy her due
I was raised on Judy Garland movies that my Grandma dearly loved. When I was old enough to learn about her life it totally broke my heart the way she was used, abused, and ultimately destroyed by almost everyone in her atmosphere. Thank you for the great deep dive into this amazing concert.
I read a book by Mel Tormé about working on The Judy Garland show and he told a story about her singing Over the Rainbow and how affecting it was, she said don't come tomorrow because you'll be disappointed, mainly because the tear during the song happened at exactly the same time, which demonstrated that Judy was an actress first who happened to be a great singer.
…and Judy began calling him Mel Torment after their working relationship went sour, so take that book with a grain of salt. For a less egomaniacal and more balanced/researched book about the Judy Garland show was Coyne Steven Sanders book “Rainbows End”. Excellent book if you haven’t read it.
I read during the Palace run, on Boadway, she was often drunk. Matter of fact, somebody actually saw her, and yes, so very drunk. She wasn't at her best, then one night the audience rioted. She was shocked into reality, you gotta be good, best, every time. She sat on the stage and sang Under the rainbow a capella....she had them, again, in the palm of her hand.
He was referring to her Palace Theater concert. And his point was that she was such a consummate performer that she could control the real emotion she actually felt. Her tear was staged and genuine. That is showmanship.
This event changed my life. My 7th grade Musi teacher asked me to do a report on Judy’s concert at Carnegie Hall. I have the record and cd. When I listen to it,I feel I was there.😊
It's no over statement that this recording is the greatest live album in history. Judy is stellar. She puts her very heart and soul into every word. Even the fluffs are purely heaven! Thanks for this and always championing Judy and her legacy. I will love her forever.
when I was 13, my mother took me to Record Town and bought me this album. this was in 1983. I played the sh%t out of it. it's one of the best albums in the world. thank you so much for sharing this.
It's hard for me to measure the impact Judy has had on my life. I discovered her at a very complicated time in my teens and just latched onto her as a lifeboat. It was the voice. Before I saw any of her films I was already very well acquainted with her sound, and this record in particular, because something about it resonated with the turmoil I was feeling. It was as if she could vocalize all the things I could not. Every crack, every wobble. And yet, she kept on singing through it all. Always at the risk of falling apart, of her instrument failing her. And I loved her for it. Nobody has been more vulnerable onstage, or more generous with her audience. And it's hair-raising the way you can hear them loving her back. Clapping, yelling, begging for more. Just the way I did so many years after them. She made it through, which made me think I could do it too. And now hearing BKR break down the tracks I've loved for so long is a very special experience. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing your love of Judy Garland. I adore her and loved her as a child, watching all the daytime tv broadcasts of her films. I’m 40 now but always loved her and still do. Her voice is magical but more than this, she seems to give some of her soul to each performance. Just incredible.
My parents were immigrants from the French Caribbean, so I grew up in the late 70s listening to both Black Caribbean, Latin, and European orchestral/vocal arrangements from the '40s to the '70s. Judy Garland was next to Edith Piaf, Nana Mouskouri, and Ceclia Cruz in my mother's Saturday evening playlist.
When I noticed the "Judy at Carnegie Hall" graphic on the title card of this video I skipped over it because I remembered listening to the original 2-album set on my dad's stereo in the mid to late 1960s and thought I knew all about it. But, now I just watched this 1+ hour video and realized after only a minute or two that I didn't know it at all. Now I do. Now I can put it in context and appreciate it as a key piece of American cultural history (including the Al Jolson digression). Thanks to BKR for threading the needle of copyrights and cliches to launch a major refresh in 2024. It pays homage to a period in time that has almost disappeared. Michael Jackson and Judy Garland had remarkably similar life trajectories.
I remember first I was disappointed on the song listing when I first got the cd many years ago. When I listened to it from being to the end it all made sense and it became my all time favourite live albums EVER! Her voice is in top form, her monologues between some of the songs are so entertaining and hearing everything on the record even her steps, every breath it makes you feel like it’s happening at this moment! Still sounds fresh after all these decades!
I saw Judy in concert twice in 1961 doing the same show she did at Carnegie Hall with Mort Lindsay. Of course we stood on our chairs and shouted Brava. I saw Barbra in 1962 at the Blue Angel in an audience of 18. So lucky.
Judy had a set of stories she would tell to gain breathing time and each time it sounded like she had just thought of it, and was speaking off the cuff.
BKR is simply the best review of movies and concerts I've ever seen. The analysis is so detailed and indepth that leads to meaningful dialog, proof of what is really true or false, and is entertaining as well. Terrific work. We need authentic critiques and information like this that truly educates and entertains.
I’m so glad you insightfully delineated that the strains and rawness of her voice was part of the power of this album. When I first heard it, THAT was what drew me in and made me want to listen again. Those breaks and imperfections were so filled with life and experience that it made the songs infinitely more compelling than merely a lovely sounding tone.
I've been praying for times like these😭 This album experience is the closest I'll ever get to time traveling. For the past 9 years it has become a regular ritual of mine to dress up and sit down to listen to it without interruption. I wish it had been recorded on film, but the audio alone paints a vivid picture of what that night might've been like. Also, apparently Julie Andrews was in the crowd, too😮 Thank you so much❤
A week after this video came out my Mom and I went to our local community libraries book sale and while looking through the CDs to find albums my Mom would enjoy, you wouldn't believe how happy and excited I was to come across the CD for this concert. My Mom is a huge lover of Judy, so she was also happy I found it, but she was surprised by my reaction.
It’s really nice to hear some positive and happy stories about Judy Garland’s life. Everyone always wants to focus on the negative stuff. This video was so elegantly made.
My mother bought me this double album when I was in junior high school. I was home on a legit sick day. She brought it home on her lunch break. I had read about it in advance. I put the record on, sat down on the living room floor and listened. I cried with joy and laughter and incredulous wonder. A day I’ll never forget.
Incredible, absolutely incredible. She was dead two decades before I was even born but she is just such a modern marvel as well as a throwback to a time I never knew. Your work Be Kind is so well done and it is so well appreciated!
Bought the original double-LP on eBay as a college graduation gift for myself... Best live concert I've ever listened to. Garland was one of my first crushes, and I still have a soft spot for her.
BRAVO! James Mason, Garland's co-star in a "A STAR IS BORN" remarked that he worked with a lot of actors and actresses, but only one genius: JUDY GARLAND. This is THE BEST video you have ever done done because you are FINALLY dealing with an artist who interprets the complexities of the human condition rather than an "entertainer." You place Garland's Carnegie Hall triumph in context, but the focus is properly on Garland as an artist in full control instead of the usual "before and after" trashing of her as a drugged-up, out of control mess of a train-wreck. Whereas Barbra Streisand seeks "perfection" to the point of being off-puttingly egocentric, Garland embraced imperfection as part of humanity and reality in performance. Her imperfections made Judy human; and Judy's humanity made her "accessible" and relatable in a way nobody in show-business has EVER been: before or since. Judy didn't operate from an obvious, cold or calculated "bag of tricks", as most "entertainers" do. You could never catch Judy in a lie, because she had dynamic talents and a jumble of emotions and feelings, and that's what she worked with, and that's what she still captivates us with today. Judy couldn't give us anything but love, baby... and her talents, and her emotions, and her FEELINGS... and we will love her eternally for all that.
Thank you for covering my favorite album for over half a century and one of the legendary moments in show biz herstory, Judy Live At Carnegie Hall! It is a lasting testament to her amazing talent and never ceases to thrill and amaze.
I just read the Clarke biography. I’m more obsessed with Judy than I’ve ever been. When I saw that BKR was doing a video on this night, I shrieked. I’m teaching a class on 1940s actresses and this will likely be assigned. I say this after watching the first four minutes. I have that much faith in BKR!!
At last, something on TH-cam that is considered, intelligent, thoughtful and not full of gush or rant. It's an involving assessment of a star, a great singer and her place in the culture of the last century. Thank you.
Seeing Streisand and Garland perform together really put things in to perspective for me. I never thought of Streisand and Garland as contemporaries, them being about 20 years apart in age. But if we still have Barbra now at 80...we could have had Judy all the way up to 2002, maybe even later. I always knew her death was tragic, but I never thought of her as dying young until i realized how much more time she could have had, and for how much longer we could have had her. she could have been alive in my lifetime even.
I love the way this is done . The narrater is excellent . I have always been a great Judy Garland fan . I was introduced to Judy with her wonderful MGM musicals as a kid . So I knew the 'movie star Judy Garland , not the concert Judy . And then when she started doing those concerts of course I saw 5 of her concerts in Chicago where I live . And I saw the exact concert here in Chicago before it hit Carnegie Hall and it was the thrill of a lifetime . She was magnificent . And the Capitol Recording taken from the concert has never been out of print . It still sells . After all of these years Judy Garland has been a topic by many , fans and professonals . Judy Garland was one in a million . It is a 'damn' shame that she had a rather sad life . She deserved better . A great director who did some of her TV Shows said she was the most mismanaged people in show business . And this is so true . I wish that Judy had more of a 'backbone' like a barbra Streisand . Oh well Judy's gone now , but we still have Judy's movies , recordings and TV Shows . Whan an entertainer .
I remember those days. We did not appreciate her nearly as much as we should have. It seemed like she would be always be there. Like she was immortal. But she wasn't. I am glad she did this concert. It's at least one if not the best concert of all time.
When listening to Judy at Carnegie Hall, you can literally feel the electricity and the frenzied audience who went absolutely nuts! I’ve never heard such reaction nor even felt anything like it in any other album! The greatest singer of all time
Such an incredible video, I’ve never listened to a Judy Garland record before but I downloaded this album immediately after finishing the video and it truly is just a spectacular experience.
This was an hour of chills for me. Wow. What a masterful analysis of Judy, her style, and this particular concert. Thank you, BKR. You have outdone yourself. More, please.
I was a teenager when I first heard this record, growing up in the seventies into the eighties. Rock, disco and, later, new wave and technopop ruled. ¿But who was to put a voice to all the anguish, all the despair, all the loneliness of growing up a gay teenager in a hard and condemning latin family? Then came Judy. I had heard and seen her before, in the MGM movies, the very pretty and likable girl next door with very polished songs and a voice that always lingered on the girlish. I was feeling so sad, so angry, so desperate for so many things I needed to say but couldn¨t. I heard this record: not all the songs had the same impact but one in particular, Stormy Weather: all the desperation, all the almost frightening loneliness and anger, even the menacing thoughts of self destruction stemming from not being permitted to be myself and love another seemed.to be there . This was not a girl, this was not an actress, this was a woman, a very sad, angry and lonely woman, opening her soul for me to find my own reflection on it. Contrary to what some people say, I didn¨t feel she was only singing for me, I felt she WAS SINGING ME; this was Judy. And this was Judy at Carnegie Hall. Thank you for this GREAT VIDEO, thank you for all your videos, I love your channel and always feel like it´s a great celebration when you post one.
I saw her live at the Boston Common in 1967 when I was 17. Went early and sat right up front. Quite a show from what I remember. A lot of it now is just a blur. Hey, I'm almost 75 now!
I saw her at Boston Garden in 1961, part of the tour leading up to the Carnegie Hall concert. A wonderful experience that I remember fondly. The whole audience was mesmerized.
I can’t get through this version of “Over the Rainbow” without crying. I found that out the hard was a long time ago-while driving. Thankfully, I was at a red light when the tears started. It sounds so tired, yet triumphant, like a heartfelt and gracious goodbye.
Whenever I am asked what concert I would like to go back in time to see, this is the one. You can feel the joy and electricity and excitement coming out of the speakers.
I discovered this album in 1979, and it's been on my playlist for 45 years. Thank you for filling in all the background that I sort of inferred but didn't really know. You're right about the endless ovations at the end. Greatest night in entertainment history? It would be hard to think of a greater one!
The Greatest Entertainer in Show Business History in The Greatest Night in Entertainment History meets The Greatest Entry in Be Kind Rewind History, period. Thank you.
I adore you for giving your take on a true Icon and Legend. I had to listen is chapters because it’s painful to listen to all of Ms Garland’s unending difficulties. Her talent has entranced me since I was a tiny child and now I’m in my sixties.
Quick note: the delays with filming A Star is Born had much more to do with the difficulty shooting in color using a still relatively new technique - a high resolution Todd-AO film format by Elizabeth Taylor's husband, Mike Todd's, company - than it did Judy Garland's issues. But the studio found it easier to blame her - though she had been much better on this film than most since her husband, Sid Luft, was also Producer - than their struggle with Todd-AO and the constant reshoots (and rebuilding of sets months later to reshoot in) they kept having to do.
I first heard this album in 1975 (yeah, I'm old - LOL!) and it blew me away. I still listen to it via a CD which I got some years back. To this day, Judy's live version of "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" floods my eyes with tears. The greatest and most heartfelt/heartbreaking love song anybody ever sang, in my view. I am commenting before I watch the video, but it's worth noting that Carnegie Hall was part of a multi-city tour - Garland was in great voice throughout, and her audience reaction just as enthusiastic in Buffalo, NY (at the famed Kleinhans Music Hall) as it was in Manhattan's great Carnegie Hall.
Judy was treated badly by the media. I really became obsessed with her way before the movie "Judy" came out, and when I watched it, I did like it but didn't love it. Her story is larger than life. Her talent was mesmerizing. I have listened to this album several times, and it makes me happy that her legacy still endures through the young audience (i'm 28). May Judy Garland never be forgotten
As a Judy stan, I thought I wouldn't learn anything new (this album is in my regular road trip fixture). But even for this Judy fan, this still had nuggets of new interesting info. Greatly researched and thoroughly enjoyable
Wonderful video, thank you. It was very personal for me, because my father, Bob Arnold, was the Grammy-winning engineer on that recording. Two points: (1) it wasn't his fault that the tape ran out, and (2) although he was gay, he never wore fluffy pullovers!
I have to be honest that I was never a big Judy Garland fan and also didn’t know much about her but Izzy’s videos have constantly increased my interest in her and this is her masterpiece. Being unfamiliar with the concert, I knew right away that this video would be absolutely fascinating and it exceeded all expectations. It draws you right into “Judy’s world”, being educational without stuffy but entertaining from start to finish. I couldn’t think of a more worthy tribute to a true legend and a legendary event that I will surely listen to as soon as possible.
One of my best friends introduced me to Judy with this album over 30 years ago. His birthday (the first since he died last summer) was yesterday, so the timing of this video is bittersweet. Judy at Carnegie brings me such lovely memories and makes me miss my friend even more than usual. ❤
Though an ardent gay male fan of Judy from childhood, i didn't hear this album until my mid-20s. I remember being struck by the roaring men in the crowd and coming to the inevitable conclusion that the majority of them must be gay. Projection? Maybe. But i would have been screaming with them. My favorite line from the concert is "I'll sing 'em all and we'll stay all nigh!"
I stumbled onto this album by accident and have been obsessed with the entire thing ever since. every song you bought up made me literally start cheering - amazing analysis so glad more people get to here her like this♥️
As always an amazing look at another great Pe romance by an fantastic artist……made by an incredible artist herself. All of your content never feels like it’s about looking at great women, but more over looking at great and forgotten artist. Please know that you are admired for your passion.
"Judy Garland at Carnegie" was the first vinyl I bought! Thank you SO MUCH for covering this so masterfully. I guess what I love about Judy was her ability to excite and thrill *everyone*. I remember reading Julie Andrew's autobiography and her vividly recalling how "Come Rain Or Come Shine" ended with audience hysteria (no exaggeration!) Ellen Freed from the NCY Woman notes: "[the] standing ovation throughout the hall that lasted for several minutes-supposedly precipitated by Julie Andrews’s rising from her seat." Judy really was a master! (And double thanks for finally explaining the Jeanette MacDonald reference. I probably could have worked it out myself over these years, but its been like a little tease each time I listen to the record!)
I just got into her for the first time a couple months ago and have been devouring anything I can find so this was perfect timing. I think I've probably watched hours of interviews with Liza and Lorna. It really says a lot about her character that, despite the press piling on her disfunction, her children speak of her with such adoration and reverence. That's more than most celebrities without addiction issues could say.
@@akrenwinkle I don't really intend to debate the veracity of her claims, but Joan Crawford's daughter made bank doing this so there's actually precedence of an incentive to writing a tell-all about your famous parent's dysfunction. And Judy's children always had the option to decline interviews and books devoted to talking about and defending her so I don't think it's likely they are entirely motivated by preservation and self-interest. Also the accusation of jealousy falls a bit flat because Liza is an EGOT winner whereas her mother famously lost her biggest shot at an Oscar. What is there to be jealous of?
@@rossmerchant8435 Lorna did write a tell-all book about Judy, but is very circumspect in interviews. Liza's an EGOT winner and has been a star for half a century, but more than half the time her name is misspelled and kiddies only know her from Curb Your Enthusiasm. There's no comparison who still is the bigger star of the two. You will never see any comment saying Liza was more talented than Judy. You will always find the opposite. Now, I'm certainly not saying anyone was jealous of anyone. I'm just saying that the public, which only knows folklore and rumors, would turn on Liza and Lorna, and even special needs Joey, if any of them spoke the truth in interviews. What is the truth? Ironically, it's in Lorna's book, but the reviewers either never read it all the way through, or decided not to get into details. It's eerily similar to "Mommie Dearest."
My partner lived that moment. On April 23, 1961 he was a handsome 23 year old living in Manhattan and by some accident of history he managed to have a ticket (he wasn’t a particular fan of Judy Garland at the time but his roommate insisted that he go with him). Even though my partner is bedridden today and living in a long term care facility he can still remember that night vividly. He tells me that it seemed as if every celebrity in America was present and even before the overture started there was such an incredible buzz of anticipation in the air that the atmosphere was nothing short of electric. Once Judy came out and began to sing the connection between her and each member of the audience was so instantaneous that it felt like a swift punch to the gut. From that moment on it was almost impossible not to be swept away by everything she did. Through song after song Judy and the audience fed off each other until finally the entire space seemed to be enveloped in a powerful and overwhelming feeling of love. My partner tells me that there was something more going on in that room that night than just a mere concert. It was a complete coming together of hearts and souls, a quality he says that the recording only hints at.
As my partner puts it, “You just had to be there to understand what really happened. All of us-all 3000 people-we were all one.”
Your partner is a lucky man. Wow.
Fascinating: it seems to have been a "TIME LOCK"- for instance *( Kennedys Assassination or 9/11 World Trade Twin Towers)- Where a confluence of cultural memory, a Juggernaut of collective cultural aspirations and deep wounding unraveled with the sheer force of cosmic destiny in time and space
3,000 people were live wires conjuring a reflection of infinite mirroring. I think your partner was absolutely correct. ✨️🫵🏻🫵🏻🫵🏻🫵🏻🫵🏻✨️✨️🇺🇲🌿🇺🇲
Wishing your partner all the best in their journey...
but did you have a partner?
sheesh
Enviable!
Nope, it doesn't matter what else I was doing! BKR Just dropped and the thumbnail has Judy on it!!
Literally. Like sorry clients, the meetings will have to wait.
SO TRUE!!!!!
Me too.
Amen!
SAME. Just sat down for lunch and I couldn't hit play fast enough.
This is IT! ... Listen to this double record through at one go, and you'll never be the same again. Miss Garland was a natural genius.
Incomparable‼️♥️
The Man That Got Away very much knocked me out. I was just so floored by it. You could have heard a pin drop during the pauses if a pin was dropped because the audience was *so* quiet during that performance. You can just tell how mesmerized they were watching this. Then that absolute crescendo of applause and the roar that broke out at the end. My gosh.
But for God's sake, skip this video. Yes, do as @rlmack5 instructs you. Go listen to that concert in one go and LIVE IT!!
Believe us. You will indeed imagine/ dream/ fantasize that you are there. Let your heart break. Then let it laugh. Let your soul triumph. Then "Do it Again". Experience the record of this night as it was meant to be experienced. Without idiots pulling out their goddamned phones and watching it on a tiny smartphone screen. Or worse yet, a notepad. Now go. I hear the orchestra starting the overture!! Peace.
This is true. I'll never forget my first play through.
Hear, hear!
I found a slightly used vinyl copy of this years ago for $7.50 and thought, "meh, what the hell? Not really my thing, but I heard it's a classic." Then, I played it...immediate fan for life. No live recording before or since has made me feel like I was actually there when it happened. The energy is contagious.
You found a steal!
And that’s just the vinyl - the full digital recording with the vamping in between songs makes it even better
Judy was at the apex of her stellar career with her incomparable Carnegie Hall concert, the recording of which forever cemented her rarefied status among the 20TH century's great entertainers! Forever Judy!
As a singer, having 26 songs ready for performance is no easy task. Very impressive!!
Yeah, that's a whole Eurovision final ( a very European reference), and that's performed one performer per song, the smae person doing them all...she had some stamina.
She had sung them all dozens of times.
In regards to San Francisco, someone told Jeanette MacDonald about Judy’s quips in the show. Jeanette’s response was, “as long as it’s Judy!” Jeanette had a sense of humour.
Joe W. Says: My late Mother - who was born in 1926 - so was almost the same age as Judy Garland - used to say that she Adored seeing Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy singing together in the movies when she was a girl - it gave her a sense of what Romance Really WAS - and she watched them every chance she got! Mom grew up in a musical household and she dreamt of becoming a Boogie Woogie pianist herself - but opportunity knocked, she accompanied a friend to a job interview in the 1940s and ended up being offered the job (her friend wasn't!) - in Miami - my mother became a Stewardess for TWA and ended up flying all over the Caribbean and Latin America! This would become a trove of memories when she ended up marrying a very dashing and handsome member of the Ground Crew and being a 1950s Housewife (No Pressure THERE, LoL!) - many years later, when I was accepted into Art College, my mom told me, "Never Give Up Your Dreams!" I believe Judy Garland Didn't. She Blessed the world with her gifts. My mother never became famous. However, she blessed many people with her loving Spirit. USE Your Gifts, people! Give the World what you've Got!
@@cuucnsbfl9913
Indeed & share with joy😊
However, if the opportunities do not present themselves during this lifetime...remember that Eternity is forever, and
there is music indeed in the Heavens❤
@@cuucnsbfl9913beautiful. I spiring. Thank you !
You could be jabbed by worse. Greatest performer. The American "Edith". Judy. I have a photo of her I had framed, arms down by her side, small feet akimbo shoulders slumped chest out, chin down, about to SORE... From a great distance, you know it can only be Judy. A gift from the Gods.
@@waynedaves5089 Evidently, Jeanette used to make unkind remarks about Judy's looks when Judy was younger. And much as I love Judy, no one has ever been the American "Edith" if you're talking about Edith Piaf. I saw her at Carnegie Hall. It was the greatest theatrical experience of my life.
To this day, Judy remains an icon of immeasurable status. Few artists could hope to achieve what she has with this concert and the subsequent live album. Her voice, as often, was not perfect that night - she had shaky moments and sometimes her voice would crack.
It's her story, her energy, her love for music & Judy herself that made this show the "perfect concert". Her voice was like no other and her delivery of any song was nothing short of impeccable. Making Judy the sole focus of this show was a brilliant decision.
On top of that, she had a fighting spirit that you rarely find in artists (to this degree). It could've been the worst night of her life and she'd still try her hardest to put on a fabulous show.
That was the best assessment of her performance that I’ve ever read.
Right there with you!
Great job. I was there for both nights - in the audience and backstage with her in the dressing room. I was also in NYC for the funeral and was at Stonewall the night before the riot. Yes, Judy was an influence. It was only her music on the jukebox and we all wept and held each other. Did she cause the riot - no. She was the final straw after years of raids and abuse.
Wow! Thank you for sharing your important personal stories of history with us. It is very generous of you to do so.
Wow- what an incredible experience. I’m sure you have fascinating stories!
oh I do
My goodness!
Amazing…. Thank you, so much for sharing this history. “She was the final straw..” that hit me me so powerfully! Bless you, Allan
@@allancuseo7431you should write a book. I'm sure it would be a best seller! What an experience you've had.
Judy’s private life breaks my heart, but her talent fills my heart with joy
Outside of Karen Carpenter, Maria Callas and Billie Holiday, Judy is one of the very few singers who can still reduce me to teary eyed goosebumps within less than thirty seconds, ever since I was exposed to her at about 10 years old. "Do It Again" from the Carnegie Hall album never fails to tear my insides apart for being so seductive and yet so heartbreakingly vulnerable in its subtle delivery... Goddamn... 😭
Same, heavy on Billie Holiday
I would include Aretha Franklin to that list.
@@mervyngreene6687 Aretha's gift is incredible. I love her to bits. "Amazing Grace" is one of my all time favorite albums. She hits me in the feels without doubt, but, for some reason, (I don't know why) it takes a while for her voice to penetrate and reduce me to a sobbing state to the point of sanctification. Whereas, the three women I mentioned have been bringing me to tears within less than half a minute since I was about 10 or 11 years old and continue to do so, which says something. Singers like Judy and Aretha (as well as Karen, Maria and Billie) seem to possess this ability of letting their listeners subconsciously take in the depths of their emerging emotions and face them with a sense of hushed wonder. It's otherworldly, for want of a better word.
@@Mrvictorfernandes
I think it is an example of the old adage that "art is personal."
I understand your reaction to Billie, Karen, and Judy. There is something fragile and vulnerable about their voices. I think that there are a lot of women who are "technically" better singers. But very few had the ability to touch us in such a visceral way.
On the other hand, Aretha and Maria (Jessye Norman and MAYBE Sarah Brightman) are SINGERS! They have it ALL! And, EVERYONE knows it: *I don't really like that kind of music, but, yeah, she is great!"
Her rendition of “cottage for sale” literally rips my heart out.
Such a beautiful woman inside and out.
i knew someone that saw this and he said many in the audience just sat for the longest time once the show was over. it was like they needed to reacclimate, rest and able themselves to deal with JUDY being done and off the stage.
Judy Garland At Carnegie Hall is an incredible album. The best, and only way, to listen to it is relaxed and all at once. It demands this level of respect. Even though she is performing at Carnegie Hall, it feels so personal. You can, easily, imagine yourself there in the audience with Judy. It's an experience.
Absolutely, and play it LOUD to get the feel.
You nailed it!
Amen
Best live album ever!
Is it in youtube? I thought this was it, not a freaking lecture.
Just paused Cowboy Carter to watch this one. BKR + Judy = gold for sure.
Lmao same
Shut your pie !!! Get on with the concert!!!! We ant to hear Hudy NOT YOU!!!
Glad she also mentioned it in passing😂 If it doesn't win album of the year then the Grammys are truly dead. Opening track alone is already an all-timer
There’s a reason they called her “leather lungs” - she’s a motherfucking rockstar and it’s on full display on this album (of course I own it). 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
One of my new favorite hobbies is pausing BKR videos and reading all the other articles in the quoted newspapers.
My little gay brain is so happy this exists so thank you and a bigger thank you to Judy Garland for existing.
My trans awakening was watching Garland in wizard of OZ as a young child in the mid ‘80s. She’s just so delightful I wanted to be like her so much. So endearing and pretty. I hope her memory lives on in future generations. Watched Meet Me In St Louis today, so smitten with her and I’m not remotely into women. Such an icon. It’s hard to accept her life was so troublesome for so long. Its heartbreaking,
I’m right there with you!
I'm glad you are here, too.
@@Smith6262-ep8fx Thank you
I just can't believe that people spoke of the greatest entertainer of her time. The studios destroyed her with drugs along with her mother but she plowed through and did such a great job starting at a very young age. They said when she was learning her songs she never made a mistake. I just love this woman and her daughters. I don't like when people speak badly of her. Rip love.
My father bought me this album when I was in high school I was a huge and still am a huge Judy Garland fan. He said he was here and grown men were sobbing in the audience. That’s how great this was.
I picked up a copy in 1982 somewhere in Greenwich Village. I knew it was special and enjoyed listening to it often. In 2006 I discovered two ticket stubs for the second evening and a note about the evening. I own property but the album and its contents on my prize possession.
This live album is my favorite to clean to. I play it every time I have to move to a new place. Judy was a gem and deserved better.
My parents were immigrants from the French Caribbean, so I grew up in the late 70s listening to both Black Caribbean, Latin, and European orchestral/vocal arrangements from the '40s to the '70s. Judy Garland was next to Edith Piaf, Nana Mouskouri, and Ceclia Cruz in my mother's Saturday evening playlist.
Bel héritage l'ami. ❤👋
I’ve listened to the live album on and off over the years and I do feel it’s the best live album of all time and only Judy Garland could achieve such status
I agree that was a magical night That concert had it all of course the great Judy great songs great Orchestra. Judy was in great voice that night. The greatest live album ever recorded still after all these years.
In spite of all the books, articles, reminisces, TV shows and movies about Garland, we shall never know what made her tick. It's been over a century since she was born and we are still fascinated with Judy.
Her singing of Stormy Weather always rips my heart out and blows me away. Began listening to the Carnegie Album at 11 years old. Now, I'm 64, it just gets better and better. She was 4'11" physically but she was a collosus of heart and voice. Love, love, love.
An hour of Judy Garland. . . YESSSS! ❤❤❤
Just... incredible. Simply incandescent and beautiful and raw and big and small and victorious and forlorn and...just the perfect performance. Vocal talent, emotive acting through her voice, banter with the audience...no one ever has, is, or will ever be able to do the damn thing like Judy.
The Man that Got Away is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
Right!!
A True Classic of a Torch Song.
It's my Favorite of all the songs Judy Garland originated.
The song hits so hard
Comedian Jack Carter said old timers said Al Jolson was the greatest entertainer. After seeing Judy at CH he said "Jolson would have opened for Judy Garland!" Still a powerhouse of a record.
When I was in high school (2009/2013) was around the time records were coming back into style, modern artists were releasing things on vinyl and I wanted a record player so bad! I got one for Christmas one year along with a bunch of my parents'/family's old vinyls. My dad (an avid thrift store shopper) had even bought me some more he had found at a local thrift shop to us, one being Judy at Carnegie Hall. At that point in my life, I primarily knew Judy from two movies I loved: Wizard of Oz and Meet Me in St Louis. The record blew my mind lol. To this day, Judy at Carnegie Hall is one of my most listened-to vinyls and I will listen to it in any other format as well if I'm away from my record player. I have it on CD, Spotify, and as an actual purchased download on my ancient iTunes account lol. It is what made me fall in love with Judy and her voice and to read and consume any info I could on her life. I related so much to her, her struggles and her insecurities and her addiction issues. I'm getting a tattoo of her lol. I don't think it's for everyone, her voice is so unique and that era of music can seem dated to a lot of people. But to me, it genuinely is one of the greatest nights in entertainment history. I hope, if there is an afterlife, Judy knows so many people loved her for HER. For her talent and charisma and hard work. And wished the best for her even outside of all of that. I hope she is resting.
Also, she was always gorgeous. Until her final days, a gorgeous talented true performer and she deserves to be recognized for that instead of constantly torn down like she was. I genuinely hate how the media, still, feels the need to be negative about women. Let's look at even the most like universally loved and gorgeous women of history since Judy: Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Princess Diana, Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears...all faced so much abuse by the public and by the media. I hope with all of the stories that are now being made public about their time in the spotlight we as a culture can finally stop the cycle. Treat stars and the women in our own lives like the human beings they are.
This the best critical piece on her Carnegie Hall concert/ album period. Finally the focus is on Judy’s skills and talents and her vision of herself as an artist 🎉👍👏 thank you for giving Judy her due
I was raised on Judy Garland movies that my Grandma dearly loved. When I was old enough to learn about her life it totally broke my heart the way she was used, abused, and ultimately destroyed by almost everyone in her atmosphere. Thank you for the great deep dive into this amazing concert.
The men who made Hollywood were all horrid, horrid people. Especially to women.
I read a book by Mel Tormé about working on The Judy Garland show and he told a story about her singing Over the Rainbow and how affecting it was, she said don't come tomorrow because you'll be disappointed, mainly because the tear during the song happened at exactly the same time, which demonstrated that Judy was an actress first who happened to be a great singer.
I have that book. I remember him saying that.
…and Judy began calling him Mel Torment after their working relationship went sour, so take that book with a grain of salt. For a less egomaniacal and more balanced/researched book about the Judy Garland show was Coyne Steven Sanders book “Rainbows End”. Excellent book if you haven’t read it.
I read during the Palace run, on Boadway, she was often drunk. Matter of fact, somebody actually saw her, and yes, so very drunk. She wasn't at her best, then one night the audience rioted. She was shocked into reality, you gotta be good, best, every time. She sat on the stage and sang Under the rainbow a capella....she had them, again, in the palm of her hand.
He was referring to her Palace Theater concert. And his point was that she was such a consummate performer that she could control the real emotion she actually felt. Her tear was staged and genuine. That is showmanship.
yes,,this is true...and shows exactly what great singing is all about...acting
This event changed my life. My 7th grade Musi teacher asked me to do a report on Judy’s concert at Carnegie Hall. I have the record and cd. When I listen to it,I feel I was there.😊
It's no over statement that this recording is the greatest live album in history. Judy is stellar. She puts her very heart and soul into every word. Even the fluffs are purely heaven!
Thanks for this and always championing Judy and her legacy.
I will love her forever.
It's always exciting when BKR talks about Judy Garland again
The legend, the star, Miss Judy Garland!!!! ❤❤❤
when I was 13, my mother took me to Record Town and bought me this album. this was in 1983. I played the sh%t out of it. it's one of the best albums in the world. thank you so much for sharing this.
It's hard for me to measure the impact Judy has had on my life. I discovered her at a very complicated time in my teens and just latched onto her as a lifeboat. It was the voice. Before I saw any of her films I was already very well acquainted with her sound, and this record in particular, because something about it resonated with the turmoil I was feeling. It was as if she could vocalize all the things I could not. Every crack, every wobble. And yet, she kept on singing through it all. Always at the risk of falling apart, of her instrument failing her. And I loved her for it. Nobody has been more vulnerable onstage, or more generous with her audience. And it's hair-raising the way you can hear them loving her back. Clapping, yelling, begging for more. Just the way I did so many years after them. She made it through, which made me think I could do it too. And now hearing BKR break down the tracks I've loved for so long is a very special experience. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing your love of Judy Garland. I adore her and loved her as a child, watching all the daytime tv broadcasts of her films. I’m 40 now but always loved her and still do.
Her voice is magical but more than this, she seems to give some of her soul to each performance. Just incredible.
My parents were immigrants from the French Caribbean, so I grew up in the late 70s listening to both Black Caribbean, Latin, and European orchestral/vocal arrangements from the '40s to the '70s. Judy Garland was next to Edith Piaf, Nana Mouskouri, and Ceclia Cruz in my mother's Saturday evening playlist.
I feel EXACTLY the same way.
@@juniorjames7076 Celia.
As a massive, massive Judy fan, I truly appreciated this fantastic video. She is my #1 favorite singer.
When I noticed the "Judy at Carnegie Hall" graphic on the title card of this video I skipped over it because I remembered listening to the original 2-album set on my dad's stereo in the mid to late 1960s and thought I knew all about it. But, now I just watched this 1+ hour video and realized after only a minute or two that I didn't know it at all. Now I do. Now I can put it in context and appreciate it as a key piece of American cultural history (including the Al Jolson digression). Thanks to BKR for threading the needle of copyrights and cliches to launch a major refresh in 2024. It pays homage to a period in time that has almost disappeared. Michael Jackson and Judy Garland had remarkably similar life trajectories.
I forget that Judy has sounded like Judy her entire life!
She died so young! 😓
I remember first I was disappointed on the song listing when I first got the cd many years ago.
When I listened to it from being to the end it all made sense and it became my all time favourite live albums EVER!
Her voice is in top form, her monologues between some of the songs are so entertaining and hearing everything on the record even her steps, every breath it makes you feel like it’s happening at this moment! Still sounds fresh after all these decades!
I have listened to this album a thousand times since I was a teenager. This tribute is so beautifully appreciative. Thank you.
❤🎉😊
You're really spoiling us with these +1 hour long videos
I saw Judy in concert twice in 1961 doing the same show she did at Carnegie Hall with Mort Lindsay. Of course we stood on our chairs and shouted Brava.
I saw Barbra in 1962 at the Blue Angel in an audience of 18.
So lucky.
I play this all the time. I rank it as the top live concert EVER! The stories she tells are pure genius. I can only imagine how exiting it was.
Judy had a set of stories she would tell to gain breathing time and each time it sounded like she had just thought of it, and was speaking off the cuff.
BKR is simply the best review of movies and concerts I've ever seen. The analysis is so detailed and indepth that leads to meaningful dialog, proof of what is really true or false, and is entertaining as well. Terrific work. We need authentic critiques and information like this that truly educates and entertains.
I’m so glad you insightfully delineated that the strains and rawness of her voice was part of the power of this album. When I first heard it, THAT was what drew me in and made me want to listen again. Those breaks and imperfections were so filled with life and experience that it made the songs infinitely more compelling than merely a lovely sounding tone.
I've been praying for times like these😭 This album experience is the closest I'll ever get to time traveling. For the past 9 years it has become a regular ritual of mine to dress up and sit down to listen to it without interruption. I wish it had been recorded on film, but the audio alone paints a vivid picture of what that night might've been like. Also, apparently Julie Andrews was in the crowd, too😮 Thank you so much❤
Oh my gosh this actually sounds like such a fun way to relisten to this great album! ❤
Listened to this album today and I'm 8 songs in and so far it really is an incredible performance. As good as it gets really. Hats off.
I sat on the living room floor of my family home when in junior high school and cried with joy. You still have the original vinyl album set.
So did I!
A week after this video came out my Mom and I went to our local community libraries book sale and while looking through the CDs to find albums my Mom would enjoy, you wouldn't believe how happy and excited I was to come across the CD for this concert. My Mom is a huge lover of Judy, so she was also happy I found it, but she was surprised by my reaction.
Am I watching this on my lunch break instead of eating? YES!
More than a hour of Judy? Count. Me. IN!!!!
It’s really nice to hear some positive and happy stories about Judy Garland’s life. Everyone always wants to focus on the negative stuff. This video was so elegantly made.
My mother bought me this double album when I was in junior high school. I was home on a legit sick day. She brought it home on her lunch break. I had read about it in advance. I put the record on, sat down on the living room floor and listened. I cried with joy and laughter and incredulous wonder. A day I’ll never forget.
As a kid in the early 70’s my grandmother played that album like crazy.
I owned this album….. listened to it and loved it
Incredible, absolutely incredible. She was dead two decades before I was even born but she is just such a modern marvel as well as a throwback to a time I never knew. Your work Be Kind is so well done and it is so well appreciated!
Bought the original double-LP on eBay as a college graduation gift for myself... Best live concert I've ever listened to. Garland was one of my first crushes, and I still have a soft spot for her.
Me too.
BRAVO! James Mason, Garland's co-star in a "A STAR IS BORN" remarked that he worked with a lot of actors and actresses, but only one genius: JUDY GARLAND. This is THE BEST video you have ever done done because you are FINALLY dealing with an artist who interprets the complexities of the human condition rather than an "entertainer." You place Garland's Carnegie Hall triumph in context, but the focus is properly on Garland as an artist in full control instead of the usual "before and after" trashing of her as a drugged-up, out of control mess of a train-wreck. Whereas Barbra Streisand seeks "perfection" to the point of being off-puttingly egocentric, Garland embraced imperfection as part of humanity and reality in performance. Her imperfections made Judy human; and Judy's humanity made her "accessible" and relatable in a way nobody in show-business has EVER been: before or since. Judy didn't operate from an obvious, cold or calculated "bag of tricks", as most "entertainers" do. You could never catch Judy in a lie, because she had dynamic talents and a jumble of emotions and feelings, and that's what she worked with, and that's what she still captivates us with today. Judy couldn't give us anything but love, baby... and her talents, and her emotions, and her FEELINGS... and we will love her eternally for all that.
Thank you for covering my favorite album for over half a century and one of the legendary moments in show biz herstory, Judy Live At Carnegie Hall! It is a lasting testament to her amazing talent and never ceases to thrill and amaze.
I just read the Clarke biography. I’m more obsessed with Judy than I’ve ever been. When I saw that BKR was doing a video on this night, I shrieked. I’m teaching a class on 1940s actresses and this will likely be assigned. I say this after watching the first four minutes. I have that much faith in BKR!!
I will never forget the first time I heard this double album at a friends dinner party.
A truly wonderful tribute to a legendary artist. Thank you for teaching us more about Judy.😊
At last, something on TH-cam that is considered, intelligent, thoughtful and not full of gush or rant. It's an involving assessment of a star, a great singer and her place in the culture of the last century. Thank you.
I played her vinyl non stop today. Love her voice I can feel her pain, joy and love
Seeing Streisand and Garland perform together really put things in to perspective for me. I never thought of Streisand and Garland as contemporaries, them being about 20 years apart in age. But if we still have Barbra now at 80...we could have had Judy all the way up to 2002, maybe even later. I always knew her death was tragic, but I never thought of her as dying young until i realized how much more time she could have had, and for how much longer we could have had her. she could have been alive in my lifetime even.
Babs hasn't had a mainstream voice since the 80s
@@cheric35 ok? I'm not saying they would have been active, just that they're still around.
I love the way this is done . The narrater is excellent . I have always been a great Judy Garland fan . I was introduced to Judy with her wonderful MGM musicals as a kid . So I knew the 'movie star Judy Garland , not the concert Judy . And then when she started doing those concerts of course I saw 5 of her concerts in Chicago where I live . And I saw the exact concert here in Chicago before it hit Carnegie Hall and it was the thrill of a lifetime . She was magnificent . And the Capitol Recording taken from the concert has never been out of print . It still sells .
After all of these years Judy Garland has been a topic by many , fans and professonals . Judy Garland was one in a million . It is a 'damn' shame that she had a rather sad life . She deserved better . A great director who did some of her TV Shows said she was the most mismanaged people in show business . And this is so true . I wish that Judy had more of a 'backbone' like a barbra Streisand . Oh well Judy's gone now , but we still have Judy's movies , recordings and TV Shows . Whan an entertainer .
I remember those days. We did not appreciate her nearly as much as we should have. It seemed like she would be always be there. Like she was immortal. But she wasn't. I am glad she did this concert. It's at least one if not the best concert of all time.
Judy was the queen of a comeback!
When listening to Judy at Carnegie Hall, you can literally feel the electricity and the frenzied audience who went absolutely nuts! I’ve never heard such reaction nor even felt anything like it in any other album! The greatest singer of all time
Such an incredible video, I’ve never listened to a Judy Garland record before but I downloaded this album immediately after finishing the video and it truly is just a spectacular experience.
This was an hour of chills for me. Wow. What a masterful analysis of Judy, her style, and this particular concert. Thank you, BKR. You have outdone yourself. More, please.
I was a teenager when I first heard this record, growing up in the seventies into the eighties. Rock, disco and, later, new wave and technopop ruled. ¿But who was to put a voice to all the anguish, all the despair, all the loneliness of growing up a gay teenager in a hard and condemning latin family? Then came Judy. I had heard and seen her before, in the MGM movies, the very pretty and likable girl next door with very polished songs and a voice that always lingered on the girlish. I was feeling so sad, so angry, so desperate for so many things I needed to say but couldn¨t. I heard this record: not all the songs had the same impact but one in particular, Stormy Weather: all the desperation, all the almost frightening loneliness and anger, even the menacing thoughts of self destruction stemming from not being permitted to be myself and love another seemed.to be there . This was not a girl, this was not an actress, this was a woman, a very sad, angry and lonely woman, opening her soul for me to find my own reflection on it. Contrary to what some people say, I didn¨t feel she was only singing for me, I felt she WAS SINGING ME; this was Judy. And this was Judy at Carnegie Hall.
Thank you for this GREAT VIDEO, thank you for all your videos, I love your channel and always feel like it´s a great celebration when you post one.
I saw her live at the Boston Common in 1967 when I was 17. Went early and sat right up front. Quite a show from what I remember. A lot of it now is just a blur. Hey, I'm almost 75 now!
I saw her at Boston Garden in 1961, part of the tour leading up to
the Carnegie Hall concert. A wonderful experience that I remember fondly. The whole audience was mesmerized.
I can’t get through this version of “Over the Rainbow” without crying. I found that out the hard was a long time ago-while driving. Thankfully, I was at a red light when the tears started. It sounds so tired, yet triumphant, like a heartfelt and gracious goodbye.
Whenever I am asked what concert I would like to go back in time to see, this is the one. You can feel the joy and electricity and excitement coming out of the speakers.
Imagine my excitement as a huge Judy fan when I saw the thumbnail!! 🤩Judy at Carnegie Hall is my favorite live album!
This was the best "Be Kind Rewind" yet. Thank you.
I discovered this album in 1979, and it's been on my playlist for 45 years. Thank you for filling in all the background that I sort of inferred but didn't really know. You're right about the endless ovations at the end. Greatest night in entertainment history? It would be hard to think of a greater one!
The Greatest Entertainer in Show Business History in The Greatest Night in Entertainment History meets The Greatest Entry in Be Kind Rewind History, period. Thank you.
I adore you for giving your take on a true Icon and Legend. I had to listen is chapters because it’s painful to listen to all of Ms Garland’s unending difficulties. Her talent has entranced me since I was a tiny child and now I’m in my sixties.
Quick note: the delays with filming A Star is Born had much more to do with the difficulty shooting in color using a still relatively new technique - a high resolution Todd-AO film format by Elizabeth Taylor's husband, Mike Todd's, company - than it did Judy Garland's issues. But the studio found it easier to blame her - though she had been much better on this film than most since her husband, Sid Luft, was also Producer - than their struggle with Todd-AO and the constant reshoots (and rebuilding of sets months later to reshoot in) they kept having to do.
Just the best entertainer of all time
A great, talented artist: Judy Garland FOREVER!
I first heard this album in 1975 (yeah, I'm old - LOL!) and it blew me away. I still listen to it via a CD which I got some years back. To this day, Judy's live version of "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" floods my eyes with tears. The greatest and most heartfelt/heartbreaking love song anybody ever sang, in my view. I am commenting before I watch the video, but it's worth noting that Carnegie Hall was part of a multi-city tour - Garland was in great voice throughout, and her audience reaction just as enthusiastic in Buffalo, NY (at the famed Kleinhans Music Hall) as it was in Manhattan's great Carnegie Hall.
Judy was treated badly by the media. I really became obsessed with her way before the movie "Judy" came out, and when I watched it, I did like it but didn't love it. Her story is larger than life. Her talent was mesmerizing. I have listened to this album several times, and it makes me happy that her legacy still endures through the young audience (i'm 28). May Judy Garland never be forgotten
As a Judy stan, I thought I wouldn't learn anything new (this album is in my regular road trip fixture). But even for this Judy fan, this still had nuggets of new interesting info. Greatly researched and thoroughly enjoyable
Wonderful video, thank you. It was very personal for me, because my father, Bob Arnold, was the Grammy-winning engineer on that recording. Two points: (1) it wasn't his fault that the tape ran out, and (2) although he was gay, he never wore fluffy pullovers!
I have to be honest that I was never a big Judy Garland fan and also didn’t know much about her but Izzy’s videos have constantly increased my interest in her and this is her masterpiece. Being unfamiliar with the concert, I knew right away that this video would be absolutely fascinating and it exceeded all expectations. It draws you right into “Judy’s world”, being educational without stuffy but entertaining from start to finish. I couldn’t think of a more worthy tribute to a true legend and a legendary event that I will surely listen to as soon as possible.
One of my best friends introduced me to Judy with this album over 30 years ago. His birthday (the first since he died last summer) was yesterday, so the timing of this video is bittersweet. Judy at Carnegie brings me such lovely memories and makes me miss my friend even more than usual. ❤
As a child I listened to this album many times. She was amazing.
Though an ardent gay male fan of Judy from childhood, i didn't hear this album until my mid-20s. I remember being struck by the roaring men in the crowd and coming to the inevitable conclusion that the majority of them must be gay. Projection? Maybe. But i would have been screaming with them.
My favorite line from the concert is "I'll sing 'em all and we'll stay all nigh!"
I stumbled onto this album by accident and have been obsessed with the entire thing ever since. every song you bought up made me literally start cheering - amazing analysis so glad more people get to here her like this♥️
I must say: I am so grateful we got a Barbra Judy collab before it was too late.
As always an amazing look at another great Pe romance by an fantastic artist……made by an incredible artist herself.
All of your content never feels like it’s about looking at great women, but more over looking at great and forgotten artist.
Please know that you are admired for your passion.
"Judy Garland at Carnegie" was the first vinyl I bought! Thank you SO MUCH for covering this so masterfully.
I guess what I love about Judy was her ability to excite and thrill *everyone*.
I remember reading Julie Andrew's autobiography and her vividly recalling how "Come Rain Or Come Shine" ended with audience hysteria (no exaggeration!) Ellen Freed from the NCY Woman notes: "[the] standing ovation throughout the hall that lasted for several minutes-supposedly precipitated by Julie Andrews’s rising from her seat."
Judy really was a master!
(And double thanks for finally explaining the Jeanette MacDonald reference. I probably could have worked it out myself over these years, but its been like a little tease each time I listen to the record!)
Just when I think YT has nothing to watch on Judy, this occurs!! Wow, what a tremendous breakdown of this concert!! Thank you.
I just got into her for the first time a couple months ago and have been devouring anything I can find so this was perfect timing. I think I've probably watched hours of interviews with Liza and Lorna. It really says a lot about her character that, despite the press piling on her disfunction, her children speak of her with such adoration and reverence. That's more than most celebrities without addiction issues could say.
@@rossmerchant8435 Her children are not idiots. They know better than to diss their mother, or the public would react badly: "You're just jealous!"
@@akrenwinkle I don't really intend to debate the veracity of her claims, but Joan Crawford's daughter made bank doing this so there's actually precedence of an incentive to writing a tell-all about your famous parent's dysfunction. And Judy's children always had the option to decline interviews and books devoted to talking about and defending her so I don't think it's likely they are entirely motivated by preservation and self-interest. Also the accusation of jealousy falls a bit flat because Liza is an EGOT winner whereas her mother famously lost her biggest shot at an Oscar. What is there to be jealous of?
@@rossmerchant8435 Lorna did write a tell-all book about Judy, but is very circumspect in interviews. Liza's an EGOT winner and has been a star for half a century, but more than half the time her name is misspelled and kiddies only know her from Curb Your Enthusiasm. There's no comparison who still is the bigger star of the two. You will never see any comment saying Liza was more talented than Judy. You will always find the opposite. Now, I'm certainly not saying anyone was jealous of anyone. I'm just saying that the public, which only knows folklore and rumors, would turn on Liza and Lorna, and even special needs Joey, if any of them spoke the truth in interviews. What is the truth? Ironically, it's in Lorna's book, but the reviewers either never read it all the way through, or decided not to get into details. It's eerily similar to "Mommie Dearest."