Poter : Kiss Me, Kate

New York Times - "A sumptious recording."

British budget reissue label Prism Leisure takes advantage of European copyright law, which releases recordings more than 50 years old into the public domain, to put out its own version of the original Broadway cast album of Kiss Me, Kate, originally issued on Columbia Records in early 1949 and still claimed by Sony for the U.S. (Notwithstanding this legality, the Prism Leisure set was easily available from American mail-order companies upon release, listing for only about $8.00) Sonically and in terms of annotations, this album is no competition to the still-in-print Columbia version; the sound is not bad, but clearly does not come from original sources, and Tony Watts' brief liner notes are rudimentary. What may interest musical theater buffs, however, are the bonus tracks, eight songs from the show recorded by members of the original London cast in 1951. Julie Wilson and Patricia Morison reprise their performances in the Broadway show, and Bill Johnson makes a good, if not equal substitute for Broadway's Alfred Drake. Since these recordings previously only turned up on British 78s, then collected on the long-out-of-print U.K. LP Cole Porter in London (World Records SHB-26), they are a welcome addition, especially at the budget price, and American Porter fans may want to snap up this album just for them. Otherwise, the Columbia disc is far superior, as it should be with its much higher price. ~ William Ruhlmann|