Five years into her tenure at Capitol,
Judy Garland had slipped from the top rung of the label's concerns. After her first three Capitol LPs all figured in the charts, her next three did not, and when she came to record her sixth studio album and seventh release overall, her sessions were no longer being overseen by heavyweight arranger/conductors
Nelson Riddle or
Gordon Jenkins, who had handled her last four. This time, the arrangements were farmed out and
Jack Marshall conducted. Nevertheless, the results were engaging. Twelve songs
Garland had never before recorded were chosen, including a good newly written tune by
André Previn and
Dory Langdon, "Yes." The rest came from the treasure chest of pop standards written for Broadway and the movies in the 1920s, '30s, and '40s (plus the 1953 title song), by such songwriters as
Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Dietz & Schwartz, and
Garland's personal favorites, Arlen & Harburg.
Marshall and his arrangers mixed up the styles, from full-scale orchestral settings to the bluesy small-band accompaniment to "How Long Has This Been Going On?" and
Marshall's own piano on
Kurt Weill's "It Never Was You."
Garland was in good voice and sang with assurance, resulting in another terrific collection. Unfortunately, she was touring in Europe when the album was released and, lacking any real promotion, it didn't sell. The following year, however,
Garland used the material as the basis of her stage show, singing five of the songs at the performance that produced her chart-topping, Grammy-winning comeback album Judy at Carnegie Hall, so
That's Entertainment! serves as something of a curtain raiser to that collection. ~ William Ruhlmann