Inside U.S.A. / The Band Wagon
Original Broadway Cast Recording

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At a time when revue was still a major entertainment force composers Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz collaborated on Inside U.S.A., suggested by John Gunther’s book of the same name with the sketches developed by the likes of Moss Hart etc. The show opened on Broadway in April 1948 with Beatrice Lillie and Jack Haley in the leads and ran for 399 performances. Most of the songs were recorded but what was unusual about this “cast” recording is that the recording took place before it’s Broadway opening in order to beat the ASCAP strike, which silenced all commercial recordings for much of 1948. As a result, Lillie and Haley got to record their numbers including Atlanta, a track that was later dropped from the show, but songs written for the supporting cast members were recorded not by the actors but by “pop” singers Perry Como and Billy Williams who were contracted to the record label at the time, and presumably because the supporting roles had not been cast at the time of recording. Como charted with Haunted Heart , the hit ballad from the show. The Bea Lillie and Jack Haley tracks are on CD for the first time. A cover recording of highlights from the show was made by Buddy Clark and Pearl Bailey for another label, also recorded before the show opened and these six songs are included here.

An earlier revue by the Schwartz and Dietz team was The Band Wagon which opened on Broadway in 1931 starring Fred and Adele Astaire, in their last show together before Adele left to marry, and Fred was only to appear in one more show before he diverted to the silver screen. The film version was made by MGM in 1953 starring Fred Astaire, Nanette Fabray and England’s Jack Buchanan.. On this CD we have included highlights from the show recorded by The Astaires, a selection from the film soundtrack, and four rare studio cast tracks on CD for the first time performed by Broadway veterans Harold Lang, George Britton and Edith Adams.