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vinyl LP front cover
photo by Styrous®
What better way to salute the 4th of July, aka Independence Day (although that is slowly disappearing), than to celebrate the birthday of George M. Cohan who was born on July 3, 1878[, in Providence, Rhode Island,
to Irish Catholic parents. He was an American entertainer, playwright,
composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.
He wrote the patriotic standards, Over There, The Yankee Doodle Boy and You're a Grand Old Flag, as well as the wonderfully uplifting tune, Give My Regards to Broadway.
George M!
is a musical based on the period of his life from the late 1880s until
1937 and focuses on his life and show business career from his early
days in vaudeville with his parents and sister to his later success as a Broadway singer, dancer, composer, lyricist, theatre director and producer.
George M! opened at the Palace Theatre
on April 10, 1968 and closed on April 26, 1969 after 433 performances
and 8 previews. It did not get very good reviews.
A television adaptation, presented as a staged reading of the musical
with the performers discussing Cohan's life and work between
rehearsal-style song-and-dance routines, was broadcast by NBC on September 12, 1970. Grey and Peters were joined by Jack Cassidy, Nanette Fabray, Anita Gillette, and Blythe Danner.
There are some great videos of both Joel Grey from the play and James Cagney from the film, as well as Enrico Caruso taking a shot at a Cohen song and sound and video of George M. Cohan himself on YouTube (links below).
A 1942 film, Yankee Doodle Dandy, was based on his life and starred James Cagney as Cohan. It also featured Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf, Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp, Jeanne Cagney, and Vera Lewis. Joan Leslie's singing voice was partially dubbed by Sally Sweetland.
movie poster
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Overture - 3:32
Performer – Orchestra*
-
A2a - Musical Moon - 3:59
Performer – Grove*, Dodge*
A2b - Oh, You Wonderful Boy
Performer – Peters*
-
A3 - Musical Comedy Man - 2:03
Performer – Chorus*, Peters*, Grove*, Dodge*, Grey*
A4 - Twentieth Century Love - 2:34
Performer – Peters*, Grove*, Donnelly*, Dodge*, Grey*
A5 - My Town - 1:46
Performer – Grey*
A6a - Billie - 6:00
Performer – O'Hara*
A6b - Push Me Along In My Push Cart
Performer – Donnelly*, Baker*, Savage*
A6c - Ring To The Name Of Rose
Performer – Bell Ringers*, Peters*
A6d - Popularity
Performer – Orchestra*
-
A7 - Give My Regards To Broadway - 4:04
Performer – Company*, Grey*
Performer – Orchestra*
-
A2a - Musical Moon - 3:59
Performer – Grove*, Dodge*
A2b - Oh, You Wonderful Boy
Performer – Peters*
-
A3 - Musical Comedy Man - 2:03
Performer – Chorus*, Peters*, Grove*, Dodge*, Grey*
A4 - Twentieth Century Love - 2:34
Performer – Peters*, Grove*, Donnelly*, Dodge*, Grey*
A5 - My Town - 1:46
Performer – Grey*
A6a - Billie - 6:00
Performer – O'Hara*
A6b - Push Me Along In My Push Cart
Performer – Donnelly*, Baker*, Savage*
A6c - Ring To The Name Of Rose
Performer – Bell Ringers*, Peters*
A6d - Popularity
Performer – Orchestra*
-
A7 - Give My Regards To Broadway - 4:04
Performer – Company*, Grey*
Side 2:
B1a - Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway - 4:43
Performer – Grey*, Ackerman*
B1b - So Long, Mary
Performer – Martin*, Carroll*, Evans*, Grey*, Ackerman*
B1c - Down By The Erie
Performer – Company*, Politicians*, Allen*, Batson*
Performer – Company*, Politicians*, Allen*, Batson*
-
B2 - Mary - 1:49
Performer – Alloway*
B3 - All Our Friends - 1:49
Performer – Company*, Evans*, Grey* - 1:05
B4 - Yankee Doodle Dandy; Nellie Kelly I Love You; Harrigan; Over There; You're A Grand Old Flag - 8:23
Performer – Company*, Grey*
B5 - Finale; Yankee Doodle Dandy - 1:10
Performer – O'Hara*, Grey*
B6 - Epilogue
Performer – Company*, Grey*
Companies, etc.
Credits:
Arranged By [Vocals] – Jay Blackton
Directed By – Joe Layton
Engineer – Fred Plaut, Murray Zimney
Liner Notes – Charles Burr
Music By, Lyrics By – George M. Cohan
Orchestrated By – Philip J. Lang
Producer – Thomas Z. Shepard
Supervised By [Musical] – Laurence Rosenthal
Vocals [Agnes Nolan] – Jill O'Hara
Vocals [Ethel Levey] – Jamie Donnelly
Vocals [Fay Templeton] – Jacqueline Alloway
Vocals [George M. Cohan] – Joel Grey
Vocals [Jerry Cohan] – Jerry Dodge
Vocals [Josie] – Bernadette Peters
Vocals [Nellie] – Betty Ann Grove
Vocals [Rose] – Loni Ackerman
Vocals [Sam Harris] – Harvey Evans
Notes:
Sleeve variation, back of sleeve bottom near # shows an Engineering credit.
Joel Grey – George M!
Label: Columbia Masterworks – KOS 3200
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Musical
Label: Columbia Masterworks – KOS 3200
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Musical
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Masterworks Broadway ~ George M! – Original Broadway Cast 1968
NY Times ~ George M. Cohan, 64, Dies at Home
PBS ~ George M. Cohan
Playbill ~ George M!
Songwriters Hall of Fame ~ He gave us Yankee Doodle Dandy
YouTube links:
George M! (complete show) (1 hr., 16 mins., 26 secs.)
James Cagney ~
Enrico Caruso ~ Over There
George M. Cohan ~
George M. Cohan (sound clips)
Over There (only Cohen studio recording)
You're a Grand Old Flag (1948)
Joel Grey ~
George M. Cohan Medley, Statue of Liberty, 1986 (TV)
"Ladies and gentlemen, my mother thanks you,
my father thanks you, my sister thanks you,
and I thank you!"
~ George M. Cohan
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