Judy Dyslexic

The late 1950s were tough on Judy Garland, but this live recording, cut on April 23, 1961, at Carnegie Hall, would (rightfully) bring the legendary icon back into the spotlight. Live would go on to win five Grammys, be Garland's bestselling record, and confirm that, yes, on certain levels, she still had it. Her vocals are as strong as ever on these tunes, and Garland has fun with an audience obviously enraptured by her charms. She's self-deprecating where necessary–on "You Go to My Head" she "forgets" the lyrics but pretends to improvise. Mostly she just shines, especially on tunes she made famous, such as "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Stormy Weather," and "Over the Rainbow." This is easily one of pop music's greatest live recordings and a fine testament to Garland's recorded legacy. This two-CD set has been remastered for EMI's 40th-anniversary reissue to coincide with the ABC film based on daughter Lorna Luft's memoir Me and My Shadows.

The final instalment of Judy’s entrancing trilogy of albums for Talking Elephant is a perfect continuation of the second (Spindle), notably in the consistency of both its poetic lyrical invention and its adopted sound-world. It brings eight more new songs to the table, resplendent in beautiful aural clothing that’s smooth but edgy, refined but somehow quite primeval. The dominant timbre is, as before, intelligent prog-ambient keyboard texturings, which are all down to the wizardry of Judy’s chief collaborator Mark Swordfish (of Astralasia); however, such is the excellence of the recording that neither is Judy’s vocal ever in danger of being drowned in a sea of synths nor are the key instrumental lines or "voices" held anywhere but in exemplary balance.

Running for My Life is Judy Collins' 15th album for Elektra Records (not counting three compilations) in 19 years, and by now the 40-year-old singer knows what she wants in putting together an LP, which may help explain why this is her first album on which she alone is credited as producer. She still retains her affection for traditional folk music, which she demonstrates with a version of "Bright Morning Star." She continues to champion songwriters whose work she helped to popularize in the past, here taking another pass at Jacques Brel's "Marieke" and, as she had with Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns," bringing the Broadway composer's work into the pop realm by performing both "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" and "Pretty Women" from his 1979 Broadway musical Sweeney Todd. Another songwriter she has called attention to recently is Hugh Prestwood, and she sings his "Almost Free," which, with Larry Gatlin's "I've Done Enough Dyin' Today," shows her continuing affinity for country music.