JUDY GARLAND IN HER OWN WORDS vintage magazine article

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NEW FILES POSTED TO THE YAHOO GROUP for the week of October 14, 2012

Here is a rundown of the new audio files posted to the

Yahoo version of The Judy Garland Experience.

to access the files click HERE.

A JUDY MOMENT
Judy's stereo take on I'll Plant My Own Tree that comes to us direct from the 20th Century Fox master recording.

DUET OF THE WEEK
Liza Minnell and Ann Hampton Callaway take on a Harold Arlen classic.

ENCORE
Sarah Vaughan recorded this in the autumn of her career, but judging from the tasty tag alone, Sassy was still, well, sassy!

FORD STAR JUBILEE
Soundtrack / live feed recording of Judy's first television special. Originally broadcast on September 24, 1955.

G. I. JIVE
G.I. Jill of Armed Forces Radio presents Tommy Dorsey, Tony Pastor, Judy Garland, and Kay Kyser.

JUDY AND BING '51
An episode of Bing Crosby show from January 1951. Judy and Bing trade banter, perform sketch comedy, and sing up a storm.

JUDY AND KUP '65
Following her appearance at Chicago's Arie Crown Theater, Judy appeared on Irv Kupcinet's syndicated talk show, Kup's Show, May 8, 1965.

PENTIMENTO
What if Judy Garland had released a studio album in 1963/1964, what would it have sounded like? What songs might it have included? Utilizing the TJGS pre-recordings that Orval shared with Steve Sanders, and he subsequently shared with us, we have compiled an album that we feel could have worked as a mid sixties studio LP offering from Judy. We call it PENTIMENTO the frances gumm album.

REQUESTS AND RARITIES
Anything and everything.

SUNDAY MORNING SPECIAL
Selections from Barbra's Streisand's 1963 performance at San Francisco's The Hungry i.

THE GLUM GUMM parts 1 & 2
Ultra rare 1956 demo recording of Virginia Thompson, formerly Jimmie of The Gumm Sisters. These originals, penned by Mrs. Thompson, evokes dusty and depressing images of torn taffeta and wringing hands.

WHERE JUDY PLAYED
Josephine Baker in concert at Carnegie Hall, 1973.

NEW FILES POSTED TO THE YAHOO GROUP (for the week of October 7, 2012)

Homepage by Allen Morris

Here is a rundown of the new audio files posted to the Yahoo version of The Judy Garland Experience. To access the files click HERE.

A JUDY MOMENT
Judy Garland casually picks up and owns a standard that Barbra Streisand had recently laid claim to.

COMMAND PERFORMANCE #58
Command Performance #58. With extra special guest host Judy Garland. Starring Woody Herman, Kenny Baker, and Virginia O'Brien. Originally broadcast on March 20, 1943.

DUET OF THE WEEK
Could there have been any other choice for this particular week?

ENCORE
A rarely heard arrangement of one of Barbra Streisand's early hits.

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY
Judy Garland and friends celebrate this grand holiday!

JUDY AND LOUELLA 1948-1954
Judy Garland is interviewed by gossip maven Louella Parsons. Judy even sings, including a performance of Over Rainbow with the rarely heard verse intact.

JUDY GARLAND AND FRIENDS
An All Star Salute To Barbra Streisand. With more stars than there are in the heavens....

JUDY GARLAND IN CONCERT
Debut posting of Judy's June 18, 1967 performance at Westbury Music Fair.

JUDY IN SEATTLE 1955
Radio broadcast where Judy plugs her upcoming shows in British Columbia. She gives the interviewer the brush off with a phony story only to get totally called out on her fib. Fun fluff from people who are in good spirits.

SUNDAY MORNING SPECIAL
Barbra Streisand. Oh so early, oh so rare.

THE GLUM GUMM PT 1.
Ultra rare 1956 demo recording of Virginia Thompson, formerly Jimmie of The Gumm Sisters. This original, penned by Mrs. Thompson, evokes dusty and depressing images of torn taffeta and wringing hands. More next week! The song is also available on our blog in a listen only format. http://thejudygarlandexperience.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-gumm-sister-crying-in-night.html

WHERE JUDY PLAYED
Barbra Streisand taking requests during a 1973 performance at the Jennings Lang estate (to raise money for the Elsberg fund). Maybe Judy didn't exactly perform at Jennings Lang's home (I checked with his widow yesterday just to make sure), but when it came to singing at Hollywood parties and in producers homes, Judy had been there and done that and had the tee shirt in six sizes. Also heard on this recording are Marvin Hamlisch and Joni Mitchell.

RELICS #4 The Meet Me In St. Louis Party Dress

Charles Triplett, longtime member and friend of The Judy Garland Experience, has consented to periodically share special items from his collection in a journal here on The Experience. His extensive collection includes vintage materials of all kinds -- most notably costumes and accessories from Judy's M-G-M films, wardrobe from her CBS-TV series, and her personal couture.. Charles is a careful preservationist, and does not publicly exhibit these items out of concern for their care and longevity. In this series we will have an unprecedented view into many of the rare and wonderful things he has collected.

RELICS  --  The Meet Me In St Louis Party Dress

The Meet Me In St Louis party dress, designed by Irene Sharaff, has always been my favorite MGM Garland costume. Ever since the first time I saw Meet Me In St Louis in the early 1970's I was very taken with the costume and thought Judy looked so beautiful in it. For me it was the quintessential movie musical costume.

The Party Dress and scene in which Judy wore it was obviously considered to be an important part of the promotional campaign used to market Meet Me In St Louis. Images from this scene were used not only on the half-sheet poster and on one of the lobby cards, but also on numerous 8x10 stills from the party scene and cakewalk dance.

As I did more research and study of Judy Garland's career I became aware of the fact that this costume had been sold at the 1970 MGM auction and purchased by Debbie Reynolds. Many years later when I was helping her son, Todd Fisher, identify several Garland costumes I brought up the party dress and told him it was my favorite Garland costume. He replied that it was also his mother's favorite Garland costume and that he knew she would never part with it. With that statement I knew I would never even get a chance to own it although around 2007 she and Todd Fisher did offer it to a collector for $200,000.

In the intervening years Miss Reynolds' dream of a museum was never to be and in 2011 she decided to sell her collection. Movie fans and costume collectors all knew this would be the sale of the century.  The handful of Garland costume collectors knew of my interest in the piece and graciously allowed me to bid without any competition from them.

The auction took 12 hours and most of the prices were astronomical but luckily for me I was able to acquire the party dress for just slightly over the estimate. It was the "icing on the cake" for the Judy Garland Charles Triplett Collection. The 3 major Judy Garland costume collectors were, I think, just as thrilled as I was that I was able to get it.

The dress is made of wool crepe and has three elements: the jacket, blouse, and skirt. The silk blouse is attached to the skirt. The careful detailing on this garment is a great part of its charm ... it has not only some beautifully applied design elements, but also the over 300 original silk tassels. Each tassel is finished with a florette at the bottom instead of loose fringe, and all the original tassels remain on the garment. Miss Garland's name is inscribed inside both the jacket and the skirt.

Miss Reynolds had taken great care of the costume and it was in very nice stable condition. The bright blue color seen with the Technicolor camera had faded, however this is very common for bright blue dye that is 70 years old. The costume today still holds the magic and beauty that Irene Sharaff and Vincente Minnelli envisioned. So when you watch the movie please know that the costume is safe and sound in acid free storage in North Carolina.

I would like to publicly thank Daniel for asking me to do this series of articles on items from my collection. I hope he knows how much I sincerely appreciate his faith in me  He really felt I had something worthwhile and of interest to share.  . Also I would like to thank Tom Larro and David Price for their invaluable input on this 6 month project.   Because of limitations on my time I have decided to make this my final installment of Relics.  

Editor's Note: We at TJGE feel privileged that Charles Triplett agreed to share these looks into his legendary collection with us. His participation has made this blog a better one, and now that he has raised the bar for us we hope to meet it and exceed it as we go forward.

And although we knew the RELICS series was going to be a limited one, it is with a heavy heart that we publish it's final edition.

But no worries for the Charles Triplett fans, as Mr. Triplett will continue to share photos and occasional reportage on this blog. In fact, he recently approached your editor with an idea for a story and photo layout that will excite Garland an Oz fans alike.

We thank you, Charles Triplett, for what you have done, and for what you continue to do for The Judy Garland Experience and for the entire Judy Garland fan/collector community.