VA - Li'l Abner (Music From The Original 1956 Broadway Musical)
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Genre................: Soundtrack
Year.................: 2002
Codec................: Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
Version..............: reference libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917
Quality..............: Lossless, (avg. compression: 38 %)
Channels.............: Stereo / 44100 HZ / 16 Bit
 
http://www.allmusic.com/album/lil-abner-original-broadway-cast-recording-mw0000269541

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Tracklisting
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01 - Overture
02 - It's A Typical Day
03 - If I Had My Druthers
04 - Jubilation T. Cornpone
05 - Rag Offen The Bush
06 - Namely You
07 - Unnecessary Town
08 - What's Good For General Bullmoose
09 - The Country's In The Very Best Of Hands
10 - Sadie Hawkins Day Ballet
11 - Oh, Happy Day
12 - I'm Past My Prime
13 - Love In A Home
14 - Progress Is The Root Of All Evil
15 - Put 'Em Back
16 - The Matrimonial Stomp
17 - There's Room Enough For Us
18 - The Way To A Man's Heart
19 - It's A Nuisance Having You Around
20 - Overture (Reprise)

Playing Time.........: 01:12:10
Total Size...........: 284.98 MB

Songwriter Johnny Mercer did not have much luck writing for Broadway, but the exception was Lil' Abner, based on the satiric Al Capp comic strip about the rural residents of Dogpatch. Mercer wrote the song lyrics to music by Gene DePaul, with whom he had worked on the movie musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. After the show opened on November 15, 1956, it became the only stage work with which Mercer was associated to turn a profit, running 693 performances. Actually, the score isn't as strong as that for one of Mercer's flops, St. Louis Woman, but it is appropriate to the subject matter. The songs "Jubilation T. Cornpone," "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands," and "Progress Is the Root of All Evil" wittily capture Capp's sense of humor and dim view of politics. There are also some attractive romantic ballads, notably "Namely You" and "Love in a Home," both of which became minor hits. Edith "Edie" Adams and Stubby Kaye lead a cast of unknowns who give their all to the show's broad comedy. A key element of Lil' Abner's success was the staging and choreography of director Michael Kidd, not available on record, although the 2002 reissue adds the main dance number, "Sadie Hawkins Day Ballet." The disc is, in fact, full of new material, including a stereo version of the "Overture" (Li'l Abner was Columbia Records' last cast album not recorded in stereo, but the label was experimenting); the previously unreleased song "What's Good for General Bullmoose"; an expanded version of the finale, "The Matrimonial Stomp"; "There's Room Enough for Us," from the 1959 soundtrack album; and pop versions of two songs cut from the score, Percy Faith's "The Way to a Man's Heart" and Rosemary Clooney's "It's a Nuisance Having You Around."