Sunday Diva
Three From The Hip
Judy Garland
In my own personal big gay church, there is but one founding mother, The Mother of Us All: Judy Garland.
As a child, I, like many, was fascinated with the Wizard of Oz. It was a yearly television event and one I would never miss. Sitting, mesmerized, I watched as this little farm girl made her journey through a strange, dangerous, magical world.
And I remember I was in the backseat of my family's car, driving down this short hill into downtown Glenville, MN when the man on the radio announced that Judy Garland had died. Dumbstruck, I was eight years old and couldn't imagine why that little girl had died. Because that is how I thought of her... forever Dorothy - unchanged by time.
Throughout my early adolescence, I would spend hours alone, playing 45's my parents had bought through the years on an old vintage stereo they no longer used. In the collection was a paper-thin, black plastic square - a promotional recording from Time-Life publications advertising a Judy Garland album with snippets from one of her concerts. I played it over and over, thrilled each time she said..."I'll sing 'em all and we'll stay all night!"
Judy.
A big, big talent. Needy. Troubled. Immortal.
The original hot mess.
But she was our hot mess. We, as a community adored her, and she, in turn, adored us.
For, we shared the same dream. She sang of a magical land of love, acceptance and happiness that existed just over the rainbow... a place she, and we, wanted to believe in and desperately find.
Every time she sang that song? She would transport us there.
The gospel according to her?
Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.
The topic: Illusions...
"I've always taken 'The Wizard of Oz' very seriously, you know. I believe in the idea of the rainbow. And I've spent my entire life trying to get over it."
"We cast away priceless time in dreams, born of imagination, fed upon illusion, and put to death by reality."
"How strange when an illusion dies. It's as though you've lost a child."
Get Happy - Judy Garland
The Man That Got Away - Judy Garland
Over The Rainbow - Judy Garland
Final Performance
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6 comments:
I liked the Judy/Mickey Rooney movies that showed on "Dialing For Dollars" on afternoon TV. Those were her 'speed' days. But my strongest memory of Judy Garland was her interviews with Jack Paar.
oooooooooooooooooh, you picked my 3 fave songs of hers! her mom and the MGM studios did her wrong.
Grid your loins and clutch your pearls. I was never a fan of Judy. Or Liza for that matter. That said I do like the movie Meet Me in St Louis
One of my favorite Hollywood stories was the Arthur Freed party... Judy was so on edge by Tallulah Bankhead's presence, where she was well on way to getting lit, she could barely sing. She was so scared of Tallulah she was clutching the curve of the piano for balance. That party later became known of the night hurricane Tallulah hit. She was left a huge piled of broken tiffany glasses in the fireplace, where each ended up at the bottom of the drink, and then chucked into the fire. Hard to believe after seeing that , that Judy herself went on to enjoy the sauce.
One of the greats!
I love her voice!
I watched the original A Star is Born because of her.
XOXO
She was a true movie star!
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