Judy Garland - "Swanee"

[MrDACooling]

you go girl, give your all

[rossgardiner]

This was lipsynced but not because Judy wasn't up to it. It was because this is live television and with all that dancing there wouldn't have been a way to capture the sound adequately. This is what happened with some of her opening numbers on her weekly show too. But we can bet she pre recorded the song in one take!!

[sarakat76]

she is not slim but She Joey had from 6 month! march 1955.... This performance is fantastic! Judy the best! (sorry for my english)

[jklein9823]

Wow, I've never seen her sing "Swanee" with the intro. This was cool. Thanks for posting it!

[DebsTasha45]

One word: perfection.

[Herestome2]

Thank you, Thank you, and thank you! Ahhh, it's always good to see and hear the Queen, Judy.

[rileyrossi]

who the hell cares if its lip synched? (its not) I watch it for the music and the wonderful woman who is performing, not whether it is live or not.

[xander7ful]

@rileyrossi It wasn't lip synched. At her last note, when she can't hold it to the end, she just smiles and there's no more sound. That's nonsense - lip synched. This was LIVE television. If they made a mistake, everybody heard it.

[you0107]

Fantastic performance...Judy Garland was a tremendously talented woman and people should stop looking for imperfections and arguing about her personal problems. Nobody is perfect and sure as hell nobody is as versatile as she was! She gave everything to the entertainment industry and that took a toll on her health, no doubt. It's sad to see her personal problems overshadow her abilities and the joy she brought (and still brings) to many.

[megchristie1]

Oh Judy, as perfect as always.

[terrryc]

OK. It's corny. Now you try and do it better. What's the matter, can't cut it? I thought so, too. She was incredible....

[grai]

Anyone thinking this was lip-synched completely under-estimate Judy Garland's talent

[cobolsaurus]

@grai lip-synched. That's silly. This is direct sound.

[ja3399]

Nobody like her before or since. She left us far too soon.

[Jeannekm126]

Judy 4ever :D

[NicoleLeighKarbowski]

I think its stupid how people are saying she looked fat in this video. She doesn't even look fat. she looks good considering she just had a baby in march. and if you think shes fat then y'all must be twigs because she not even big. and one of the reasons she was on drugs was because people (like some of you) thought she was fat. she is perfect!

[east215]

@NicoleLeighKarbowski she had a few extra pounds, but not fat.

[NicoleLeighKarbowski]

@east215 i never said she was fat. try reading it again because never did i say she was fat. i was standing up for her because people were leaving comments saying she looked fat. when shes not. read my comment again

[IHEARTTHEWIZARDOFOZ]

JUDY GARLAND ARMY FOREVER

i hope the b******* that made you suffer are suffering 100 times worse now

we all still love you Judy

NEVER FORGET JUDY GARLAND = REAL TALENT

[filmfanatic128]

how on earth is she able do dance like she is just walking, doing somehting naturally? she must just be doing what comes naturally...sorry for the annie get your gun pun joots

[Moonbeamstars]

She looks doped up a bit poor thing still a great performance

[AntinousIsGod1]

Isn't it amazing how much Judy's weight fluctuated over the years? She looks cute here :). She's fat, but as she herself said on her Carnegie Hall concert tour "she's fat but she's jolly and when she laughs it lights up the room!" :).

I am a huge Judy Garland fan, I love her to bits. She's my second favourite star ever (my first being Marilyn Monroe). This looks like a great show and i'm going to buy it on DVD. It's a shame that this is the best quality it is. They should have used film :(.

[NFitalianGuy]

Judy looked adroable here and she made friends with tv that night when she admitted it was her first time in front of the tv instead being at home watching it..

[iLoveLucyXo]

kinda big but is kk i still luv her no madder what lol sings so good

[Vengeance509]

Blessed Mother of Jesus--that is real talent.

[muirhouseterrace]

No mics visible and a big orchestra. How did they do it? The intro was live. Did they switch to mime?

[phlashba]

This particular number had been pre-recorded.

[SariaLink987]

@muirhouseterrace This was lip-synced.

[ilovejudytoo]

She is the greatest so full of life and personality.

[1dpoppyman]

Fantastic!

[Simplysims001]

Omg LOVE Judy to bits and pieces!!!!! I always have, ever since I was 6 years old! I used to always watch her movies on Saturday mornings!

[pat7893]

This was during her television show sometime in 1962. She died shortly thereafter.

[AbeNW11]

@pat7893 This was in the 1950's. The famous television shows you are referring to was 1963/4. Judy died in 1969. 

[phlashba]

It's 1955: Ford Star Jubilee

[arnaudkip]

plus grande chanteuse américaine , et de loin.

[rossgardiner]

Amazing! This was broadcasting totally LIVE and she did well! To us that know what was going on behind the scenes no the day of this show, it just shows what a fantastic performer she was - you wouldn't know of all the drama leading up to the last minute :) Genius, Legend, One of a kind.

[johndooberman]

Judy was a rocker!! She changed the world.

[opinion1234]

I almost didn't recognize her.....but you can't mistake that voice......so rich....

[Hunterunc]

Fun to see this, thanks for posting. Interesting how primitive the broadcast was compared to 1963 with Judy's series. That was photographed beautifully and the sets were fabulous.

[zacvonbaker]

what she mean when she says she always is on there side of t.v. shes the one one the t.v. right?? she looks a lil heavyer here... i like judy thinner, shows off her face better!!! much love!

[pandarew64]

She meant that she was always watching tv prior to this - she was a viewer. She had never appeared/performed on tv before.

[KimLoveJulie]

She probably was a little heavier because Joey was born in March 1955

[aeiou88]

There are no singers like her any more.

[cobolsaurus]

I don't know what it is but everytime I listen to Judy it hit me hard... She really gets to me.

[NFitalianGuy]

Let Brintey and the other Bubble heads try to sing a song live let alone try to lip sync to their own songs. Judy was hoarse here and still Knocks us out of the freakin' PARK like a grand slam!

[xander7ful]

Thank you for this one. I've read about this performance but never have seen it.

There's a story to this one. Judy accidentally took too many pills a few hours before this show and her husband, Sid, sent out for Chinese food and kept making pots of coffee. Judy was almost comatose but he brought her back. That's why it looks like she can barely open her eyes.

God bless her though. She got through it - and on LIVE television. Amazing.

[Garlandfan94]

I've also read that in "Get Happy", she really could pull through! Nobody will ever be the same.

God bless indeed!

[Readna]

i love her smile just at the beginning :)

[Corrie121]

A great performance from the consummate entertainer.

Thanks for sharing.

[Edhallick]

They didn`t have crack back then which is why she never really lost her voice unlike Whitney Houston. My god that womans career is over. I saw her in Central park a few weeks ago and it was obvious as hell. She can still put out albums I guess with all the electronic gimmickry they got, but forget performing live. She can`t breathe, her lungs are shot.

[oysterjoe]

Judy died while perched on the loo at Heathrow.

Ah---to die in England.

[NFitalianGuy]

Judy was not sad she was not a walking tragedy either. She had problems but all who knew her said she was the nicest and funniest person they ver met. I wish everyone would stop saying "poor Judy". The woman was dynamite and sai dit herself " it's all part of the Myth".

[ClefDeDavid88]

@NFitalianGuy You are delusional if you believe that. Her happy face was what she showed everyone. But underneath she was a tormented lost soul.

[mlbj30]

@NFitalianGuy That's actually not true, I love and respect her, but a lot of her friends, even the closest ones turned away from her because she became almost impossible to be around. At her worst, she would lock herselves in friends' bathrooms and raid their medicine cabinents. She was an amazing person and performer, but she was also very troubled.

[thekingzliar]

poor judy:( her life was so bad. I feel so sorry for her, but she is great singer and actor!:)

[MiiZzJ0kEr]

i love herrrrr

[helenajesstarzak]

I love judy!

[donnaoday]

What a beautifully staged number.

[ipmoic]

One of George Gershwin's first hits. Sung by the best!

Many, many thanks for this.

[VIDMAX008]

This is the wonderful quality Judy possessed. She may have been nervous or whatever, but as soon as she hit that stage, she burst out and smiled, all the time!

[NFitalianGuy]

She was terrified of doing TV for the first time. It took a long time 2 get her to agree & with all that went on & her throat prob it was the highest rated Tv special for yrs to come. Her weight was not a lot but TV add 10 lbs to a person. she was tiny @ 4'11'' Also this was the beginning of her getting ACUTE Hepatitus & then by 1958/59 she ballooned to 180lbs. She also carried weight differently. Notice she had a very short torso & long legs so when she gained it really was more noticeable.

[aronpedersen]

would you have an mp3 of this song

[Mwahohoho]

Her voice was beautiful. Now when I watch Wizard of Oz I can't believe how mature she sounded for her age. Amazing

[MerleOberon]

This was broadcast in color, but only recorded in B&W, wish we could see it as originally broadcast!

[MoontideJM]

she didnt try to commit suicide before the show. Jeez. She took too many sleeping pills over a short period of time because she had been up for many, many hours with nerves about the live show , and Sid was pouring the coffee into her before the show.

[defundthewar]

Notice that Judy is slow & slurred when introducing the number, but the singing is fine. It was pre-recorded. The reviewers the next day picked up the uneven quality of her numbers, not aware that some were recorded before her overdose, some were done live. Judy was a nervous wreck and did try to commit suicide before the show, knowing that the huge TV audience had never seen her fat, & the critics would trash her weight & costumes. Jackie Susann would later put this in Valley of the Dolls.

[Jeffluvs80s]

1:51

[dm5401]

This was done during a terrible time in her life and she still has that wonderful magic that made her who she was. She could put it together.

[Jeffluvs80s]

I forget...What was going on? Was it the divorce from sid??

[dm5401]

I thought it was from a miscarriage, but it wasn't. It could have been marriage problems. What I find truly sad was that hideous costume they had for her to wear. I am surprised she agreed to don it for the performance.

[Jeffluvs80s]

Yeah, It is awful.

[Marisuka44]

shit ur awful

[KokoPuffs52]

@dm5401 I actually think the outfit she wears here is smart and sassy. She looks great!

[meaghanmacabre]

fuck, her voice gives me orgasms.

[Marisuka44]

whats that all about??

[meaghanmacabre]

ie it effing amazingg. like possibly the most amazing voice i have ever heard, haha it jsut an expression for me to say how much i love it.

[swanthedeadlyangel]

lol ok .i was like that person was like her voice gives me orgasms i was about to say .This person best be not saying she sucks lol.Cuz this woman gots one of the best voices there ever was. Really Beautiful.

[Jeffluvs80s]

I like it. Yeah...All gays Like Judy, Everyong knows that...I also have her addictions too.LOL

[fedurosan]

Is this show digitally remastered on DVD????? Please Tell me someone!

[fedurosan]

Incredible Introduction!!! Bravaaaaa Judy!!!! you swing out Swanee!!!!

[mrspatrickcampbell]

Was she lip synching to a pre-recording? it looks like it

[bvheath]

Even when she wasn't at her best, she was better than 99.9 percent of other entertainers.

[tedsgarage]

As a performer, Judy Garland could do no wrong.

[RivaJane]

There is no doubt about it - she was special

[NFitalianGuy]

Judy was at death's door but they show was the number 1 rated special ever on tv. GO JUDY! A STAR OF SUCH MAGNITUDE should always be regarded and treasured. we all LOVE you Judy

[alaric59]

Ah, Judy Garland. No one is like this today. How I wish we had done better by her, the true tripple threat. No one can perfomr the way she did. Can you imagine being near deaths door the night before and then commanding an audiance's adoring applause the very next night? Outstanding I say. You can all take the britneys and london based druggies and stuff them. I want another JUDY!

[PlaidLaiden]

Refresh my memory: what happened the night before?

[alaric59]

From what I have heard she had attempted suicide the night before and had to have her stomach pumped and the reason for her hoarse voice was do to the tube and the effects of seconal. I might be ill informed, but in any case, she was at the top of her game when she willed herself to be.

[cmtingen]

She actually just accidentally took too many sleeping pills because she was dreadfully nervous about being on TV and wanted to catch a wink of sleep. She was beginning to get laryngitis and her medication had destroyed her voice, but she sang over it, regardless. Her throat doctor gave her Chinese food and iced tea to help her voice bounce back quickly from the medication.

[alaric59]

Thanks for the information

[Jayee123]

"Tonight I'm on this side and--here we go!" The way she covers for the orchestra coming in too soon and the trouble in getting off her coat is completely disarming. Then she sings!

[MikeMiller]

Good catch. I noticed this too but didn't realize until you said it that she really was covering for the orchestra.

[eac1027]

Judy rocks.

[tenniseeum]

Incroyable. How privileged we all are to live at a time when these memories can be lived for the first time before they're gone forever.

A moment, a privilege. A JOY

[LovesJudyGarland]

Nothing but talent!

The BEST in the world! <3 :)

[ILoveGracieAllen]

Judy has been my favorite singer since i was two, and she always will be. She's the only person i know who sounds better without back up singers :) <3

[Musicstarrobertellis]

she had had an accidental overdose the night before and seconal made the lining of her vocal chords swell. The doctors proscribed chinese food to soak up the remainder of the medication and lots of sweet tea to flood it out. This was pre-recorded unlike the rest of the show, because judy had to dance during it{ its really hard to keep your breath dancing and singing you know} :) she is the most wonderful,amazing, yet tragic performers in history!

[damone77]

I don't know if tragic is the correct word. I think that she led a troubled life, and yet she gave so much of herself that it was a glorious life. She had to have known how much joy that she brought to people imho. Thanks for the info though~very pertinent to why she is hoarse during most of the show

DK

[NFitalianGuy]

this was the highest rated tv special at the time. and why not? it is JUDY GARLAND!

[damone77]

I also love "De-Lovely" from this and of course "Over the Rainbow"!

[sigm86]

marvelous, as Judy might say; while we're all certainly familiar with the early '60s Judy and a little bit of the late '50s, this was a GREAT representation of mid-50s -- and, man, don't her dancers ADORE her :)

[mackmic90]

amazingly judy was suffering from laryngitis during this performance.

[elsangrecaliente]

Have never heard of the Ford Star Jubilee. But didn't she have talent? Great clip, very nice to see this.

[carlosmiller]

Judy was the best entertainer ever, without a dout!

[francescaemc2]

Just that vibrato....Thank you.

[THERIGHTREVEREND]

The 60's version is hot. But this, her original version, is great too. It's a more youthful Judy.

[punisher21200]

Great Garland song!!

[whurdsderodan]

Any more of this Ford Star Jubilee? Love to see more! I want more!

[JudyEthelGummGarland]

pills or no pills, shes the greatest entertainer who ever lived. period.there never has been and never will be an equivalent to Judy Garland.

[furryknight]

I thought this was a warm and energetic performance by her and really shows us how erratic her weight was back in the 50's after A Star Is Born.....but she sounds absulutely wonderful. Sometimes having a little girth can help the voice as heard here. This is a rare gem! Bravo

[damone77]

Brilliant editing job between the two kines! Thank you so much!

[luvevearden]

Just TREMENDOUS!! The FULL version, which most JUDY fans for life have only seen half of, as the kinescope was clipped. Here's to the uploader who has given so much joy to us, and the world. Nobody like JUDY ever!!

[gmlch]

OOPS, i meant what a singer!

[gmlch]

'ישא ש דןמעקר!

[defundthewar]

This glorious sounding audio was pre-recorded and Judy is lip-synching. Knowing that reviewers would call her fat and badly dressed, she OD-ed mere hours before the live show. (She was roused with pep pills.) TV producer Irving Mansfield knew what happened and told his wife, Jackie Susann, who later put it in her smash bestseller Valley of the Dolls.

[Montavani]

Exactly defundthewar. This was one of the Ford Star Jubilee specials I believe . . .

[dm5401]

To bad by the time they filmed "Valley of the Dolls" it was to great a risk to let Garland do the actual role.

[defundthewar]

It's still a big debate among her fans- did Judy purposely ruin her VOTD work because she realized the script/project was below par? Or dirty? Because she found out it was really about her? Or because she was nervous and taking too much meds? There's no question, to me, from all the evidence, the answer is the last one, and not any combination of the others. On the bright side, she didn't ruin her film legacy by being in that laughably bad film.

[dm5401]

At least they had no problem with the costuming for the character. They just remade all the costumes in Susan Hayward's size.

[defundthewar]

The costumes were the film's least problem. Travilla, who made the Garland-Hayward wardrobe, had earlier created Marilyn Monroe's dress in "7-Yr Itch." Y'know, the one that puffed all the way up when she stood on the subway grating.

[dm5401]

I have seen some films that were not bad because of the influence of one of the stars. Something clicked and suddenly there was a realism there that wouldn't have been with another cast. What is really sad is for some people, that movie is genuinely what their lives were really like at the time. In the book itself, there was no happy ending. they just kept taking the drugs.

[dm5401]

The pills are great-lol-you do what you have to with direction and look great. It's only when you walk into the wall without thinking when you realize how out of control you are with them. Forgive my cynical somment-it's been a long day.

[johnmana93]

I really want to buy this, but is like $30 used on amazon. And I don't know if the program is that good.

[CJluvsdance]

She looks different here but gee what a Legend. where did u get this?

[talewis69]

Can't remember where...but there is an abridged out-of-print video of her performance on this program. I love this lady!