The 2000 reissue includes original and new liner notes and four interesting bonus tracks: the original Queenie, Tess Gardella, singing "Can't Help Loving Dat Man"; the original Julie, Helen Morgan, singing "Bill"; Paul Robeson singing "I Still Suits Me," written for the 1936 film; and Jan Clayton's "Nobody Else but Me," from the 1946 revival. --David Horiuchi

The cast is headed by Broadway stars John Raitt and Barbara Cook, as Gaylord and Magnolia, along with a superb supporting cast including Anita Darian and Fay DeWitt.

John Raitt's full-throated voice is perfectly suited to the score, particularly "Where's the Mate For Me?" and his duets with Barbara Cook in "Make Believe", "You Are Love" and "Why Do I Love You?".

Barbara Cook, as always, is a delight. Her sprightly reading of "After the Ball" is almost worth the price of admission alone, but she is winning in all her numbers. Her clarion-like soprano never fails to amaze me.

Anita Darian is a suitably-tragic Julie LaVerne, and sings the plaintive eleven o'clocker "Bill" with emotion dripping in every note. Fay DeWitt's performance as Ellie is pure perfection, and her "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" is the comical highlight of the score.

This recording makes great use of the stereo speaker-seperation system, where the voices shift from speaker to speaker as though they are actually performing on the theatre stage.

This CD includes some bonus tracks that are very fascinating, including the original Julie, Helen Morgan, singing her own emotional "Bill"; the original Queenie, Tess Gardella, singing "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man"; and Jan Clayton, performing "Nobody Else But Me" from the 1946 Broadway revival of SHOW BOAT. Clayton played both Magnolia as well as Magnolia's daughter Kim in the revival.

This was (and still remains) a very popular recording, and 2 years later Barbara Cook and Anita Darian were recruited again by Columbia to appear on their celebrated studio album of THE KING AND I (which I also recommend that you purchase).

A must-own recording.


A great recording of a classic   June 25, 2000
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Some might say that Show Boat, with music by Jerome Kern and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein & P.G. Wodehouse, started the birth of musical theatre. I wholeheartedly agree with the above statement. Showboat is a classic in its own right.

Stellar performances are given on this CD by William Warfield, John Raitt, and Barbara Cook, who play Joe, Gaylord Ravenal, and Magnolia respectively. Classic songs such as Ol' Man River, Bill, and Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man are sung beautifully. You can hear William Warfield's pain as he sings Ol' Man River.

On some studio cast recordings you may find that since the cast does not perform on stage together, they do not have a sense of closeness and in turn do not give heartfelt performances. This is the case with this CD. While all of the songs are great you are just missing something. I can't put my finger on it but it just lacks gusto in some parts. That is why it only gets 4 stars.


Generally a good highlights disc... but some reservations...   September 6, 2004
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

Columbia's stereo album of SHOW BOAT recorded in December 1961 has been a steady best-seller ever since it was first released.

It's a fine recording of the key highlights of the score. Barabra Cook, John Raitt and William Warfield are well cast and the stereo spread is effectively used in the staging. This is a santaized version of the original text: the openng chorus here is sung "HERE we all word on the Mississippi..." and other Hammerstein lyrics have been censored. Also the recording eliminates key numbers: "Till Good Luck Come's My Way", "I Might Fall Back on you", "Queenie's Ballyhoo" among others. Why was Joe (William Warfield) left out of the quartet segment of "Can't help Lovin' Dat man?" And, Why does Anita Darian pull the tempos around so much in Julie's songs?

EMI's 3 CD set using the original 1927 text and orchestrations is as definitive as we'll likely ever get, and the (now out-of-print) Toronto cast offers a good highlights version documenting the Tony winning 1994 Broadway revival. Still, this 1961 version is preferable to the 1966 Lincoln center version also starring Barbara Cook.

BONUS MATERIAL: In addition to the 4 listed Bonus tracks, those familiar with the original LP release will be pleased to discover a longer take of the Overture included here.


Pretty good   March 28, 2002
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

This 1962 Columbia cast album of Show Boat is pretty good all around. With a handpicked cast of some of the biggest musical stars of the time, Goddard Lieberson couldn't go wrong. John Raitt as Ravenal, Barbara Cook as Magnolia, and William Warfield (from the 1951 MGM film) as Joe. All the rest of the cast are great as well. This was the most complete cast recording of Show Boat when first released in 1962 and was up until McGlinn's set was released. The only reason this album gets only 4 stars is that the bright and brassy orchestrations are such that all the songs begin to sound alike after awhile. Other than that, not many gripes. Highly recommended.


The Best Recording of the Bunch   November 23, 2004
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

There are several recordings of this landmark musical, and in my view, this is the best overall.

I've heard the soundtrack from the 1951 movie, which is pretty good. That recording, however, whitewashes some of the lyrics and is not as good in quality as this 1962 recording (which still edits some lyrics). There is also a 1988 recording which seems to be well liked, but I don't like the tempos, and the quality of the performers seems to be lower, especially with respect to "Ol' Man River." It is a thorough recording, though (3 CDs, w/ more dialogue)

My favorite recording of "Ol' Man River" happens to be on the Lincoln Center cast, but the rest of that recording is a hack-job. There is also the 1993 Toronto cast version with Michel Bell and Robert Morse, but I haven't heard it yet.

Which brings me back to this version. The recording quality is great, William Warfield does a good job, and the performances are very strong overall for all the hits-"Make Believe," "Bill," "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," and "Ol' Man River." I'm glad I bought it.