Since the original Broadway cast recording of
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which was recorded in December 1949, went out of copyright in Europe (where a 50-year limit obtains), several record labels have taken advantage of that situation to issue their own unlicensed versions of it. Naxos adds yet another here, distinguishing it from the others by pairing it with the original Broadway cast recording of High Button Shoes, the music for which was written by the same composer, Jule Styne, in 1947. Set in the pre-World War I era, High Button Shoes (tracks 17-24) gave Styne and his lyricist partner Sammy Cahn the chance to write a nostalgic score that made use of comedian Phil Silvers' talents on the one hand and exploited the warmly romantic attraction of Nanette Fabray on the other. The show is better remembered for the latter, particularly the two hits that emerged from it, "Papa, Won't You Dance with Me?" and "I Still Get Jealous," although Silvers is as brashly entertaining here as he was in his movie roles and later as Sgt. Bilko on TV. Made in the early days of Broadway cast albums, High Button Shoes was originally released as a set of four 78 rpm discs and consists of only these eight songs.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which Styne wrote with Leo Robin, came only two years later, but by then the LP had been introduced, and the album was issued in the 12" format, allowing for 15 tracks and over 40 minutes of music. (Here, the closing medley has been separated into two tracks, for a total of 16.) Of course, the highlights of the show and the recording all belong to
Carol Channing in the role of the gold-digging flapper Lorelei Lee, who justifiably became a star with this performance. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" and "A Little Girl from Little Rock," her solo showcases, plus the duet "Bye Bye Baby" with Jack McCauley, remain the most memorable songs, and not just because they are the ones that were retained for the 1953 movie version with
Marilyn Monroe. The ballad material, handled by co-star Yvonne Adair, is less impressive, although Adair does her best with it in the thankless task of playing "straight man" to
Channing. Whatever the legalities, theater music fans (who were not supposed to be able to buy this disc in the U.S.) should welcome the combination of Styne's two earliest Broadway successes on a single CD. ~ William Ruhlmann