[78-L] Listen, all you New Yorkers...

[DAVID BURNHAM]

Capitol's MANHATTAN TOWER was released a couple of years ago by both DRG and Sepia. DRG's CD is a licensed reissue from Capitol and sounds fine. I haven't heard Sepia's version and can't comment on that one.

If the Decca reissue of MANHATTAN TOWER you mention was on the Razor & Tie GORDON JENKINS COLLECTION disc from Universal Special Products, then yeah, it was poorly done. I've got another Razor & Tie/Universal Special Products collection of some of Ethel Merman's Decca sides, released around the same time, and it's equally slipshod. Some of the material--the ANNIE GET YOUR GUN sides, as I recall--was apparently transferred from Decca's 'simulated stereo' LP masters. Which is useful, I suppose, in case you've forgotten what an awful thing fake stereo was.

Will Friedwald wrote the liner notes for the Razor & Tie Jenkins collection and he's no fan of MANHATTAN TOWER or other Jenkins compositions that were in the same vein. He had similar harsh opinions of Jenkins' THE LETTER and WHAT IT WAS, WAS LOVE.

Randy

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I've just ordered the Sepia CD of this from e-bay.  I wish I'd seen your posting before I ordered it, because it looks like the DRG version is the one to have, (although I haven't seen it anywhere).

The Decca reissue is indeed the Razor & Tie version.  I thought it was done by Decca because it contains only Decca material and shows the cover art from the Decca albums.  I've found reissues of Decca material is pretty reliable and I'm relieved to hear that this is actually not a Decca product.

db