Call Me Madam, a fictionalized account of the life of Washington hostess and ambassador to Luxembourg Pearl Mesta, was
Irving Berlin's final hit Broadway musical. It was also his second collaboration with
Ethel Merman, who had starred in his most successful show, Annie Get Your Gun. Opening October 12, 1950, Call Me Madam settled in for a run that eventually totaled 644 performances, making the commercial prospects of a cast album bright. Unfortunately, there was a glitch. The show had been financed by RCA Victor Records, who claimed the cast album. But
Merman was an exclusive recording artist for Decca, one of RCA's major rivals. The result was two albums: RCA replaced
Merman with
Dinah Shore, while Decca replaced the rest of the original cast with
Dick Haymes, Eileen Wilson, and a chorus. The Decca album got out of the gate first and, featuring the show's star, was bound to be the more successful anyway; it just missed topping the charts.
Merman is, of course, the recording's chief asset, as she belts out half of the album's songs (the original EP and 10" LP versions had only eight tracks, but they were quickly superseded by a 12-track 12" LP), including "Marrying for Love" and "The Best Thing for You." Her duet with
Haymes, "You're Just in Love," was the hit of the show, reaching the Top 40.
Haymes was in typically good voice on his solo, "Once Upon a Time Today." ~ William Ruhlmann