Rufus Does Judy Frankenstein Playlist

Back in 2006 Rufus Wainwright got to live every red-blooded North American boy's dream: making awkward jokes at Bucky Pizzarelli's expense in front of thousands of people.

Wait, no, that's mostly just my dream. What Rufus did was to recreate Judy Garland's 1961 Carnegie Hall concert in its entirety on the same stage some forty five years later.

The recording of this singular event came into the Rhapsody catalog last month, and has had us perpendicular, hanging on a cable car ever since. Today, we exploit the Rhaplink form for our own nefarious purposes, and doctor up a playlist where Judy and Rufus trade tracks for the whole concert across the aether of the decades. Heretical nonsense, or a joyous musical journey? You make the call.

Unfortunately, the duet and family tracks on the Rufus version got turned off in Rhapsody at some point, so we've had to monkey things around a little bit near the end. In another technical note (if only to myself six months from now), the sound levels for the Rufus recording are just a smidge higher than Judy Garland's. So don't twist the volume too high during a Judy song or you might get a little shock when the next track comes up. The playlist starts on a Rufus track to avoid this by default...

Rufus Does Judy Frankenstein Playlist [Rhapsody Online Version]

1. Overture: The Trolley Song/Over The Rainbow/The Man That Got Away (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
2. When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You) - Judy Garland
3. Medley: Almost Like Being In Love/This Can't Be Love (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
4. Do It Again - Judy Garland
5. You Go To My Head (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
6. Alone Together - Judy Garland
7. Who Cares? (So Long As You Care For Me) (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
8. Puttin' On The Ritz - Judy Garland
9. How Long Has This Been Going On (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
10. Just You, Just Me - Judy Garland
11. The Man That Got Away (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
12. San Francisco - Judy Garland
13. That's Entertainment (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
14. I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Judy Garland
15. Come Rain Or Come Shine (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
16. You're Nearer - Judy Garland
17. A Foggy Day (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
18. If Love Were All - Judy Garland
19. Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
20. Stormy Weather - Judy Garland
21. Medley: You Made Me Love You/For Me And My Gal/The Trolley Song (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
22. Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody - Judy Garland
23. Over The Rainbow - Judy Garland
24. Swanee (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright
25. After You've Gone - Judy Garland
26. Chicago (Live At Carnegie Hall) - Rufus Wainwright

Gee-whiz Reference section: Here's a first-hand account [My Husband Betty] of the first night of the Rufus recreation, that includes text of the next-day New York Times review of the original Judy concert in the comments.