Ethel Merman- The Ethel Merman Disco Album

DSCN3298This was in pricey range of $3.00. Normally, when I buy a record, it is at least a month or so before I post it. I bought this beauty on Tuesday. Scott Fix told me about the existence of this record. He probably told me how bad it was but I must have tuned out that part.

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Because I have been working as of late, I have fallen majorly behind on listing to stuff I have bought. I am generally hesitant right now to buy more albums until I have worked my backlog, but I had to get some Christmas records so I went shopping last weekend. The owner of Sig’s Lagoon told me he was getting a new shipment of cheap records in on Tuesday. Again, I was hesitant to go back knowing damn well I would buy more albums which I would not have time to listen to. Nonetheless, I decided to check it out. Indeed, I bought more records than I can handle but I did come out with this gem.Annie-get-your-gun-ethel1

Ethel Merman (1908-1984), oddly enough, was married to Ernest Borgnine for less than three months . Apparently, Merman found out during the honeymoon that Marty was broke. Borgnine said that he spent most of the marriage arguing. Merman, on the other hand, had a chapter on the marriage in her autobiography that consisted one a single blank page. There is a funny anecdote during their time together but since it involves profanity, the worst of which for that matter, I am not going to repeat it. If you want, you can read it at the link below.

Link to Anecdote above

27 Jun 1964, Los Angeles, California, USA --- Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine at Their Wedding --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

This album was released in 1979. Merman recorded 14 songs for it but they only used seven. The songs were recorded in one take and arranged vocally in a style consistent with her earlier work. The disco music was added afterwards.

Gypsy3650

A lot of people made disco albums in the 70’s. It should also be noted that Merman was 20 years past her prime when she made this. That all being said, this album is pretty bad but has tremendous camp value. I have seen copies on the Internets selling between $25 and $50. This copy is in pretty good shape. Musically, however, it is pretty bad.DSCN3299

For a sample, I was hard pressed to determine what was the best tune on the album. I like a lot of the original versions of the songs but there is not one that really jumps out as the best/ worst. I decided to go with “There’s No Business Like Show Business” because there are no people like show people.  I mean they smile, man, when they are low.I was going back and forth between this and “Some People”, but I actually prefer Rosalind Russell’s version which was apparently not 100% her own vocals. Please do not call be a heretic. Also was considering Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick Out of You”. Ethel_Merman03

Meh is probably wrong but I can not say this is a satisfactory record. Again, the camp value is totally worth it and the record sounds like one would imagine. However, it is just plain bad music if you like either Broadway, Disco, or both.

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