May 16, 2018

20,000 Vinyl LPs 138: Annie Get Your Gun ~ 1946

vinyl lp record cover 
album cover photographer unknown 
photo of album cover by Styrous®


Annie Get Your Gun opened on Broadway on this date, May 16, in 1946. It is a musical with lyrics and music by Irving Berlin and a book by Dorothy Fields and brother Herbert Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley (1860–1926), a sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and her romance with sharpshooter Frank E. Butler (1847–1926).


Annie Oakley - 1880's


Oakley was portrayed by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton as Butler. The loud and brassy Merman was perfectly cast as the rough and tumble Oakley.                  
      

      
vinyl lp record cover detail
album cover photographer unknown 
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

 
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II was the team selected to produce the musical; they had just completed their first musical collaboraion, Oklahoma!. The music and lyrics are by Irving Berlin.       


vinyl lp record back cover
photo of album bacl cover by Styrous®
 

The show engendered many show-stoping songs, Doin' What Comes Natur'lly, You Can't Get a Man with a Gun, They Say It's Wonderful, Anything You Can Do and of course, the anthem of theater, the BIG one, There's No Business Like Show Business.     

I love these songs but I have two favorites, I Got The Sun In The Morning, which is the exautation of the simple life, the wonders it holds and is sung with complete joy by Annie.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, The Girl That I Marry, is a soft, almost lullabye tune in a gentle waltz time. In it, Butler sings of the girl he longs to marry, ". . . as soft and as pink as a nursery", of course, Annie is anything but and she watches with sad dismay as he sings these words so it turns out to be a very sad song.


Frank E. Butler ca. 1882
photographer unknown


Annie Get Your Gun premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on May 16, 1946 and ran for 1,147 performances. Directed by Joshua Logan, the show starred Ethel Merman as Annie, Ray Middleton as Frank Butler, Lea Penman as Dolly Tate, Art Bernett as Foster Wilson, Harry Bellaver as Chief Sitting Bull, Kenneth Bowers as Tommy Keeler, Marty May as Charlie Davenport and William O'Neal as Buffalo Bill.         
     

vinyl lp record back cover detail
detail photo of album bacl cover by Styrous®




vinyl lp record sleeve cover
photo by Styrous®


Annie Oakley died of pernicious anemia in Greenville, Ohio at the age of 66 on November 3, 1926. After her death it was discovered that her entire fortune had been spent on her family and her charities.         



vinyl lp record sleeve cover
photo by Styrous®


On February 15, 1984, 10 months after she was diagnosed with brain cancer, Merman died at her home in Manhattan at the age of 76. On the evening of Merman's death, all 36 theatres on Broadway dimmed their lights at 9 pm in her honor.           

The 56th Academy Awards, held on April 2, 1984, ended with a performance of "There's No Business Like Show Business" in tribute to Merman.

     




vinyl lp record, side 1
photo by Styrous®






vinyl lp record, side 2
photo by Styrous®

    
     
Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Doin' What Comes Natur'lly    
A2 - Moonshine Lullaby    
A3 - You Can't Get A Man With A Gun    
A4 - I’m An Indian Too    
A5 - They Say It's Wonderful    
A6 - Anything You Can Do    

Side 2:

B1 - I Got Lost In His Arms    
B2 - I Got The Sun In The Morning    
B3 - The Girl That I Marry    
B4 - My Defenses Are Down    
B5 - Who Do You Love I Hope    
B6 - There's No Business Like Show Business    

Companies, etc.

    Manufactured By – The Compo Company Ltd.

Credits:

    Art Direction [Costumes] – Lucinda Ballard
    Conductor – Jay Blackton
    Directed By – Joshua Logan
    Lead Vocals – Ethel Merman, Ray Middleton
    Music By, Lyrics By – Irving Berlin
    Producer – Richard Rodgers-Oscar Hammerstein II*
    Set Designer – Jo Mielziner
    Vocals – Kathleen Carnes, Robert Lenn

Ethel Merman With Ray Middleton ‎– Annie Get Your Gun - The Original Cast Album
Label: Decca ‎– DL 9018
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Country: Canada
Released: 1955
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Musical
      
           
Viewfinder link:          
           
Irving Berlin      
Oscar Hammerstein II       
Ethel Merman      
Richard Rodgers      
          
Net links:          
           
Plot summary         
Characters
Original 1946 production     
Recordings           
          
YouTube links:          
           
Annie Get Your Gun ~         
        Doin' What Comes Natur'lly    
        You Can't Get A Man With A Gun       
        I’m An Indian Too 
        They Say It's Wonderful    
        Anything You Can Do     
        I Got The Sun In The Morning     
        The Girl That I Marry     
        There's No Business Like Show Business    

   
 
   
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, 16 May, 2018      



           
         
         
           








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