Recordings

Smokey Joe's Cafe » Original Broadway Cast

Show Details

Show: Smokey Joe's Cafe (3)
Music: Jerry Leiber (6), Mike Stoller (5)
Lyrics: Jerry Leiber (6), Mike Stoller (5)

Recording Details

Date: 1995
Type: Audio / Stage Cast
Language: English
Location: US / NY / New York
Orchestrations: Steven Margoshes (12)
Conductor: Louis St. Louis (14)
Vocal Arrangements: Chapman Roberts (5), Louis St. Louis (14)
Producer: Jerry Leiber (6), Arif Mardin (12), Mike Stoller (5)
Liner Notes: Jerry Leiber (6), Arif Mardin (12), Mike Stoller (5), John Swenson (2)
Performer: Ken Ard (4), Kenny Ard (2), Adrian Bailey (7), Brenda Braxton (4), Victor Trent Cook (5), B.J. Crosby (5), Pattie Darcy Jones, David Keyes, DeLee Lively (2), Frederick B. Owens (5), Michael Park (6), Louis St. Louis (14)
Added by: hitormiss

Recording Releases

Format: 2-CD
Label: Atlantic 82765
Released: 1995-05-30
Barcode: 0075678276521
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Tracks: Disc 1:
1. Neighborhood
2. Young Blood
3. Falling
4. Ruby Baby
5. Dance With Me
6. Neighborhood (reprise)
7. Keep On Rollin'
8. Searchin'
9. Kansas City
10. Trouble
11. Love Me / Don't
12. Fools Fall in Love
13. Poison Ivy
14. Don Juan
15. Shoppin' For Clothes
16. I Keep Forgettin'
17. On Broadway
18. D. W. Washburn
19. Saved
Disc 2:
1. Baby, That Is Rock & Roll
2. Yakety Yak
3. Charlie Brown
4. Stay a While
5. Pearl's a Singer
6. Teach Me How To Shimmy
7. You're the Boss
8. Loving You
9. Treat Me Nice
10. Hound Dog
11. Little Egypt
12. I'm A Woman
13. There Goes My Baby
14. Love Potion #9
15. Some Cats Know
16. Jailhouse Rock
17. Fools Fall In Love (reprise)
18. Spanish Harlem
19. I (Who Have Nothing)
20. Neighborhood (reprise)
21. Stand By Me

Format: CD
Label: Atlantic PRCD 6221
Released: 1995
Notes: Promo copy
Added by: ross Recollector
Tracks: Act I
1. Young Blood
2. Ruby Baby
3. Keep On Rollin'
4. Searchin'
5. Trouble
6. Love Me/Don't
7. Fools Fall In Love
8. Shoppin' For Clothes
9. On Broadway
10. Saved
Act II
11. Baby, That's Rock & Roll
12. Yakety Yak
13. Charlie Brown
14. Pearl's A Singer
15. Loving You
16. Treat Me Nice
17. Hound Dog
18. I'm A Woman
19. There Goes My Baby
20. Love Potion No.9
21. Some Cats Know
22. Fools Fall In Love
23. Spanish Harlem
24. I (Who Have Nothing)
25. Stand By Me

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Posted 2007-08-05 20:52:46:
Amazon.com Editoral Review: As good as Pomus and Gordy were, they can't compare with the premier rock & roll songwriters of the pre-Beatles era: Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Chuck Berry, and Percy Mayfield. The team of Leiber (the lyricist) and Stoller (the composer) created such enduring standards as "Kansas City," "Hound Dog," "Stand By Me," "Spanish Harlem," "Jailhouse Rock," and many more. Those songs and 33 more were assembled into a bookless Broadway musical called Smokey Joe's Cafe, which was nominated for eight Tony Awards. If this soundtrack album is any indication, the show was an abomination, an act of self-betrayal by Leiber and Stoller, who not only participated in putting the show together but also co-produced the album with Arif Mardin. Instead of remaining true to the songs' rock & roll roots, the soundtrack producers have allowed the obscure stage performers to commit Broadway's worst sins: excessive earnestness, undernourished rhythms, and bombastic over-singing. Everyone in the cast has a good singing voice, but no one has a distinctive musical personality. Michael Park's Presley parody on "Jailhouse Rock," B.J. Crosby's confusion of vocal power for vocal attitude on "Hound Dog," and Victor Trent Cook's syrupy version of "I (Who Have Nothing)" prove Broadway chorus dancers are no substitute for real rock & roll singers. --Geoffrey Himes

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