''The Letter'' is a 1959 concept album by American vocalist

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

arranged by

Gordon Jenkins Gordon Hill Jenkins (May 12, 1910 – May 1, 1984) was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Lo ...

. Chronicling a relationship, the album features

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by John Bush awarded the album three stars and said "Jenkins' ambitious concept was written well and executed perfectly, and no one was better than Garland for a dramatic romantic role encompassing hope and humor...''The Letter'' suffers, as all but the best concept albums do. Ireland is no match for Garland...and the few audio concepts on display tend toward gimmicks. In all, ''The Letter'' is a fair concept album, its interruptions annoying but its overall power raised by the twin talents of Garland and Jenkins...The original three-track stereo recording is exquisite, and upon its initial release, special copies of "the letter" were placed in envelopes and taped to the front of each record jacket".

Track listing

# "Beautiful Trouble" - 4:18 # "Love in the Village" - 4:32 # "Charley's Blues" - 3:27 # "The Worst Kind of Man" - 3:58 # "That's All There Is, There Isn't Any More" - 2:50 # "Love in Central Park" - 4:34 # "The Red Balloon" - 2:24 # "The Fight" - 3:34 # "At the Stroke of Midnight" - 4:30 # "Come Back" - 4:36 # "Beautiful Trouble ingle Version - 1:48 # "That's All There Is, There Isn't Any More" ingle Version- 2:26 # "The Worst Kind of Man" ingle Version- 2:19 # "The Red Balloon" ingle Version- 2:03 All music and lyrics written by

Personnel

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

- arranger * Charles LaVere -

on "Charley's Blues"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letter, The Capitol Records albums Albums arranged by Gordon Jenkins Concept albums Judy Garland albums 1959 albums