May 5, 2021

20,000 vinyl LPs 289: Damn Yankees & Gwen Verdon

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vinyl LP front cover   
cover photo by Gene Cook 
photo of album cover by Styrous®
 

Sixty-six years ago today the Broadway musical Damn Yankees opened in 1955. I have loved this show for decades; the songs have become classics because of their beauty, creativity and even humor.          

Goodbye Old Girl is among my top favorite songs; it is one of love and hope for the future with a touch of wistfulness. The plot is based on the legend of Faust. Robert Shafer (Joe Boyd) sells his soul to Mr. Applegate, (really the Devil) played by Ray Walston who is billed as the star of the musical, in exchange for youth; Stephen Douglass (Joe Hardy) is the youth he becomes (plot below). The song is occurs during the transformation scene. In the 1958 film version, Walston & Shafer reprise their roles but Joe Hardy is played and the song sung (slightly off key) by Tab Hunter. Who wouldn't sell their soul to look like him?    
 
 
 

Another reason I love this show is Gwen Verdon. What a treasure she was. In Yankees she plays the role of Lola, with a capitol LA. She is the devil's familiar sent by him to seduce Joe so he won't break his bond; she sings and made a huge hit of the song, Whatever Lola Wants. Can-Can made her a star but Lola made her a legend!         


Damn Yankees - 1955
photographer unknown


The dance numbers choreographed by Bob Fosse are a bunch of fun. There is Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo., a rollicking hoedown led by Rae Allen, with the Baseball Players cast. 
 
Verdon and Fosse team up on the song, Who's Got the Pain (When They Do the Mambo)?.  Then there is Two Lost Souls both with gestures that would become signature Fosse moves.          
 
 
Damn Yankees - Two Lost Souls
photographer unknown
 
 
Fosse met Verdon in this show; they would go on to become a fantastic dance team known as the "Dynamic Duo of Broadway" and they even married.         


Damn Yankees -Who's Got the Pain 
photographer unknown

  
The songs are great! Heart is a bouncy, joyous and inspiring tune sung by baseball team members, Russ Brown, Jimmie Komack, Nathaniel Frey and Albert Linville.        
 
 
Russ Brown, Jimmie Komack, Nathaniel Frey and Albert Linville 
Damn Yankees - 1955
photographer unknown
 
 
Damn Yankees - entire cast 1955
photographer unknown
 
            
Damn Yankees won the Tony Award for Best Musical, both Douglass and Walston for Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical, Verdon for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and Fossie for Best Choreography; it won many other awards as well as.          


vinyl LP back cover
photo by Styrous®


Damn Yankees ran for 1,019 performances in the original Broadway production. Adler and Ross's success with it and The Pajama Game (link below) seemed to point to a bright future for them, but Ross suddenly died of chronic bronchiectasis at age 29, several months after Damn Yankees opened.   




vinyl LP, side 1
photo by Styrous®

 

   
Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Shannon Bolin, Robert Shafer, Baseball Fans*, Baseball Widows* – 
               Overture: Six Months Out Of Every Year - 4:40
A2 - Robert Shafer, Stephen Douglass – Goodbye, Old Girl - 3:12
A3 - Russ Brown (3), Jimmie Komack*, Nathaniel Frey, Albert Linville – Heart - 4:34
A4 - Rae Allen, Baseball Players* – Shoeless Joe From Hannibal, Mo. - 3:40
A5 - Gwen Verdon – A Little Brains - A Little Talent - 3:35
A6 - Stephen Douglass, Shannon Bolin – A Man Doesn't Know - 3:07

Side 2:

B1 - Gwen Verdon – Whatever Lola Wants - 3:05
B2 - Jean Stapleton, Ronn Cummins, Jackie Scholle, Cherry Davis – Heart (Reprise) - 1:22
B3 - Gwen Verdon, Eddie Phillips (2) – Who's Got The Pain? - 2:50
B4 - Jimmie Komack*, Nathaniel Frey, Baseball Players* – The Game - 4:24
B5 - Stephen Douglass, Shannon Bolin – Near To You - 5:27
B6 - Ray Walston – Those Were The Good Old Days - 2:32
B7 - Gwen Verdon, Stephen Douglass – Two Lost Souls - 2:15
B8 - Shannon Bolin, Robert Shafer – A Man Doesn't Know (Reprise) - 1:22
B9 - The Entire Company* – Finale - 0:55

Companies, etc.

    Copyright © – RCA
    Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis

Credits:

    Arranged By [Dance Music Arrangements] – Roger Adams
    Choreography – Bob Fosse
    Directed By [Production Directed By] – George Abbott
    Leader [Musical Direction By], Written-By [Book by] – Hal Hastings*
    Lyrics By – Richard Adler
    Music By – Jerry Ross (2)
    Orchestrated By [Orchestrations By] – Don Walker (3)
    Other [Based On The Novel, "The Year The Yankees Lost The Pennant" By], Written-By [Book by] – Douglass Wallop
    Other [Lola] – Gwen Verdon
    Other [Starring] – Ray Walston, Stephen Douglass
    Other [with] – Eddie Phillips (2), Jimmie Komack*, Jean Stapleton, Nathaniel Frey, Rae Allen, Richard Bishop (3), Robert Shafer (6), Russ Brown (3), Shannon Bolin
    Photography By [Cover Photo] – Gene Cook
    Presenter – Frederick Brisson, Harold Prince, Robert E. Griffith
    Presenter [in association with] – Albert B. Taylor
    Set Designer [Scenery], Design [Costumes Designed By] – Jean Eckart, William Eckart (2)

Notes:

 
 
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Side A label): F2PP-3748
    Matrix / Runout (Side B label): F2PP-3748
    Matrix / Runout (Side A stamped [var. 1]): F2 PP3748-17S
    Matrix / Runout (Side B stamped [var. 1]): F2PP-3749-14S
    Matrix / Runout (Side A stamped [var. 2]): F2 PP3748-12S A2
    Matrix / Runout (Side B stamped [var. 2]): F2 PP 3749 6Ⓢ E1
    Pressing Plant ID (Both sides stamped; RCA Indy): I
 
Various – Damn Yankees - Original Cast Recording
Label: RCA Victor – LOC-1021
Format: Vinyl, Album, LP, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1955
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Musical
 
   
         
Viewfinder links:        
         
Stephen Douglass         
Bob Fosse        
Tab Hunter        
Gwen Verdon         
Ray Walston               
        
Net links:        
        
         
        
        
Plot        
        
        
YouTube links:        
        
Damn Yankees ~               
Cast ~ Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo. (original cast)        
Shafer & Douglass ~ Goodbye Old Girl (original cast)   
Shafer & Douglass ~ Goodbye Old Girl (film version)        
Gwen Verdon ~ Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets (original cast)   
Gwen Verdon ~ Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets (film version)    
Verdon & Fosse ~ Who's Got the Pain? (film version)              
Verdon & Hunter ~ Two Lost Souls (film version)              
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, May 5, 2021       
       
















 

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