NOVEMBER 6, 1998 GAY PEOPle's ChrONICLE

17

MUSIC

A box full of Judy

by Bob Findle

Being a man of a certain age, I was amused at a party a few months ago to be informed by a late-teen boyette about the cult status of Judy Garland among gay men. He relayed the news of his new-found discovery to me with that charming earnestness that only comes before you are able to legally order a cocktail. Oh, sure, he had always been aware of Judy as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, but now he was finding out about MGM Judy hoofing it with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, triumphant Judy wowing the Palace, Judy recorded live at Carnegie Hall, addicted Judy in and out of rehab.

I thought of this budding new fan with the release of Judy, a four-CD box set from 32 Records that also includes a 30-minute videotape of selected performances from Garland's short-lived 1963-64 CBS television show and a 100-page booklet with photos, essays and CD track notes.

With more than three hours of music, the set catalogs a lot, but not all, of Garland's body of work from almost-beyond vintage tracks re-

is the Garland/pre-Broadway Funny Girl Barbra Streisand duet. Babs, all of 21, takes a second seat to Garland's pipes. Also Liza '(with a Z) is heard in duet with mom Judy.

The videotape is a short treasure for us that were too young to have seen the television show. A slender Garland looks fab in

corded in 1929 when she was only The many faces of Judy Garland seven and singing with her siblings

as the Gumm Sisters, through the classic MGM muscials (but, sorry to say, "The Boy Next Door" is missing), to live concert and television performances. Included are rare tracks not available elsewhere and out-take gems like Garland's infectious laughter while flubbing a recording of the chorus from "Swanee" for A Star is Born.

We hear her pull it together and go on to do a vocal-chord busting 14-second finale that says it all about the Garland voicethe emotion and the power. Within tracks of one another she goes from the bright vocal on "Get Happy" to the no-holding-back blues lament on "The Man That Got Away" to the Vegas-style up tempo “Come Rain or Come Shine" to the quiet sadness of "How About Me."

Discs three and four are tracks from Garland's television show, including her standards such as "What'll I Do?” and “I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," but also many numbers not performed anywhere else. Here

designer gowns and perfectly coifed hair as she works the runway. Longer tapes can be found at the video store, but this tape is enough of the highlights of the show to keep us happy. Though, unfortunately, the Streisand duet is not included.

The booklet is full of photos not seen before and the essays are from a broad range of angles-from Aretha Franklin getting interviewed for her thoughts on Garland's talent to Camille Paglia theorizing on the Garland mystique.

And what of that mystique? Why have gay men continued to idolize this woman for decades? Putting aside the questionable theories of victim identification, to me it is an appreciation of a talent so great it could shine through the turmoil of a life not lived so well. A talent that has endured and will continue to.

Bob Findle is editor of the Gay & Lesbian Times, a San Diego weekly newspaper.

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