Garland at the Grove

Reception

The Allmusic review by William Ruhlmann awarded the album four stars and said "From the spring of 1951 on, Judy Garland's reputation rested on her abilities as a live act, but it took another eight years before her first commercially recorded live album was issued by Capitol Records (ST 1118)...The audience is enthusiastic, especially toward the end, when, coming out for her encores, Garland asks for requests and gets plenty. Even without the visual complement (and said to be suffering from laryngitis, which is only occasionally evident), she is clearly a powerful performer with a strong connection to her listeners". Those devoted to Garland's albums, particularly her concert recordings, will observe that this particular album appears upon listening as merely a test for Judy's landmark recording at Carnegie Hall from three years after this album was recorded. It seems odd that the Cocoanut Grove show featured Judy with Freddy Martin's Orchestra too, rather than say, Nelson Riddle or Billy May. It's still a four-star album, but pales quickly next to the 2-disc Carnegie Hall set that easily gets five stars.

Track listing

1. Garland Overture: "The Trolley Song"/"Over the Rainbow"/"The Man That Got Away" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin)/(Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg)/(Arlen, Ira Gershwin) – 3:39
2. "When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)" (Mark Fisher, Joe Goodwin, Larry Shay) – 3:19
3. "Day In, Day Out" (Rube Bloom, Johnny Mercer) – 3:11
4. "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh) – 5:02
5. "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" (James F. Hanley) – 4:10
6. "Purple People Eater" (Sheb Wooley) – 3:39
7. Medley: "You Made Me Love You"/"For Me and My Gal"/"The Trolley Song" (Joseph McCarthy, James V. Monaco, Roger Edens)/(George W. Meyer, Edgar Leslie, E. Ray Goetz) – 5:21
8. "Do It Again" (George Gershwin, Buddy DeSylva) – 3:47
9. "When the Sun Comes Out" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 3:11
10. "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" (Sam M. Lewis, Fred Schwartz, Joe Young) – 2:51
11. "Over the Rainbow" (Arlen, Yip Harburg) – 5:01
12. "After You've Gone" (Henry Creamer, Turner Layton) – 2:31
13. "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow" (Roger Edens, Traditional) – 2:41
14. "Swanee" (Irving Caesar, G. Gershwin) – 2:49

Personnel