Mary Martin - One Touch of Venus/Lute Song (CD)

All Music Guide

Although this reissue is credited to Mary Martin, it combines two early Broadway cast recordings: One Touch of Venus was originally released as an album of 78-rpm records by Decca (A-361) on February 10, 1944; Lute Song (Decca A-445) originally appeared on May 6, 1946. Both shows starred Martin, and only her voice is heard in the tracks from Lute Song, which include the standard "Mountain High, Valley Low." But Martin's co-star in One Touch of Venus, Kenny Baker, was given a prominent role in the recording (other cast members were eliminated), dueling with Martin on the show's best-known number, "Speak Low (When You Speak Love)." Martin handled such memorable songs as "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" and "That's Him" by herself, however. Given Martin's participation in such chart-topping cast albums as South Pacific and The Sound of Music, it's surprising that these early efforts should have been allowed to languish so long in out-of-print obscurity, especially since Kurt Weill's Venus sco...re, with lyrics by poet Ogden Nash, is among his best. - William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read more Less