Marilyn Monroe was legendarily one of the most iconic personalities of the post-war era, an almost impossibly glamorous film actress and one of the showbiz figures who came to encapsulate the essence her times and how they are remembered. Best-known, of course, as a film actress, she was also a much-underrated singer, which could turn her hand to a variety of different material in when singing in her films, and had a highly individual and seductive vocal in her sadly somewhat limited studio output.
This 34-track 2-CD set brings together most of the extant recorded examples of her performing in a musical environment. Most of these, inevitably and quite reasonably, are performances from the soundtracks of her movies, the primary exceptions being titles she recorded for RCA outside of a movie environment in 1954, and the legendary performance of Happy Birthday for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1962 a few months before her tragic and untimely death. The films from which songs in this collection are taken are Ladies Of The Chorus, Niagara, The French Doll, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, River Of No Return, There's No Business Like Show Business, The Seven Year Itch, Bus Stop, The Prince And The Showgirl, and Some Like It Hot. (It does not include a recording of When I Fall In Love which has sometimes been attributed to Marilyn by other compilers, but is generally recognised as having been performed by Sandra Dee). Its a fascinating and revealing showcase of an aspect of Monroes varied talents and attributes which has sometimes been ignored.
REVIEWS
"Obviously the best qualities of MM were best captured by the camera, but this is a fascinating and entertaining set…" - Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 323)
Disc 1 |
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Track |
Title |
Artist |
1 |
Ladies Of The Chorus |
Adele Jergens & Marilyn Monroe |
2 |
Every Baby Needs A Da Da Daddy |
Marilyn Monroe |
3 |
Anyone Can See I Love You |
Marilyn Monroe |
4 |
Kiss |
Marilyn Monroe |
5 |
Do It Again |
Marilyn Monroe |
6 |
Two Little Girls From Little Rock |
Jane Russell & Marilyn Monroe |
7 |
Bye Bye Baby |
Jane Russell & Marilyn Monroe |
8 |
Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend |
Marilyn Monroe |
9 |
When Love Goes Wrong |
Jane Russell & Marilyn Monroe |
10 |
She Acts Like A Woman Should |
Marilyn Monroe |
11 |
(This Is) A Fine Romance |
Marilyn Monroe |
12 |
The River Of No Return |
Marilyn Monroe |
13 |
I'm Gonna File My Claim |
Marilyn Monroe |
14 |
One Silver Dollar |
Marilyn Monroe |
15 |
Down In The Meadow |
Marilyn Monroe |
16 |
After You Get What You Want You Won't Want It |
Marilyn Monroe |
17 |
Heat Wave |
Marilyn Monroe |
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Disc 2 |
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Track |
Title |
Artist |
1 |
A Man Chases A Girl |
Donald O'Connor & Marilyn Monroe |
2 |
Lazy |
Marilyn Monroe |
3 |
You'd Be Surprised |
Marilyn Monroe |
4 |
Alexander's Ragtime Band/There's No Business Like Show Business |
Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor & Johnny Ray |
5 |
"Rachmaninov" & "Chopsticks" |
Marilyn Monroe & Tom Ewell |
6 |
That Old Black Magic |
Marilyn Monroe |
7 |
I Found A Dream |
Marilyn Monroe & Laurence Olivier |
8 |
I'm Through With Love |
Marilyn Monroe |
9 |
I Wanna Be Loved By You |
Marilyn Monroe |
10 |
Running Wild |
Marilyn Monroe |
11 |
Some Like It Hot |
Marilyn Monroe |
12 |
My Heart Belongs To Daddy |
Marilyn Monroe |
13 |
Let's Make Love |
Frankie Vaughan & Marilyn Monroe |
14 |
Incurably Romantic |
Marilyn Monroe & Yves Montand |
15 |
Incurably Romantic |
Frankie Vaughan & Marilyn Monroe |
16 |
Specialization |
Frankie Vaughan & Marilyn Monroe |
17 |
Happy Birthday Mr. President /Thanks For The Memory |
Marilyn Monroe |