Al Goodman & His Orchestra [w/Earl Wright, Frances Greer, Jimmy Carroll & The Guild Choristers] - Gems From "The Desert Song" (1949 RCA Victor 78 Album)

There have been many recordings made of the once-phenomenally popular Sigmund Romberg (1887-1951) & Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) operetta The Desert Song. However, this is the first known album set of the work to feature some of the best opera and musical theater singers of the day, instead of relying on unnamed studio performers or forgotten members of the original cast to record the music.

In this album, soprano Frances Greer (1917-2005), tenor Jimmy Carroll (1910?-1965?) and baritone Earl Wrightson (1916-1993) - who all performed with each other in a 1949 Broadway production of the operetta - sing under the direction of famous conductor Al Goodman (1890-1972, and who later went on to be an easy-listening/Muzak figurehead). I picked this 78 set up at Hymie's Vintage Records two years ago, mostly because I wanted to hear Earl Wrightson's version of "One Alone", a song from this operetta I adore and performed at my senior voice recital. When I listened to the other records in this album, I was pleasantly surprised at how good each and every one of them was - there are no "dud" tracks in this album!

As an interesting side note about The Desert Song itself, it was debuted in 1926, adapted to a movie version in 1943 and remained fairly popular with audiences until 1987, when the New York City Opera staged a live televised production of it. After that, it faded away from the public interest and to the best of my knowledge, has not been performed anywhere since 2008. This is no doubt due to its politically-incorrect portrayal of all Muslims as bloodthirsty savages, which can easily offend modern audiences. At any rate, overlooking this otherwise fantastic operetta is truly a shame, because it has some of the best music Romberg & Hammerstein II ever composed.

Check out a few clips from the Internet Archive to hear it for yourself!

a.) "One Alone"
b.) "Romance"
c.) "One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden"

The songs on this album are as follows:

1. "Overture"
2. "The Riff Song"
3. "The French Military Marching Song"
4. "Romance"
5. "Love's Dear Yearning"
6. "The Desert Song"
7. "One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden"
8. "One Alone"

Download (32.5 MB, 160 kpbs)