Here - Linda Eder

THE SONGS...
BY MYSELF
(Howard Dietz/Arthur Schwartz for Broadway's BETWEEN THE DEVIL, 1937)
Originally recorded by Judy in 1957 as a lighter ballad, the Garland arrangement Linda echoes here
was reconfigured in a much more bravura vocal style (by Saul Chaplin) and orchestration (by Mort
Lindsey) in 1962 for what would prove to be Judy's final film, I COULD GO ON SINGING. It was
Garland's self-declared "favorite of all time" in terms of her musical repertoire — and one of her
three favorite songs, along with Noel Coward's "If Love Were All" and (supremely) the Vincent
Youmans/Edward Heyman "Through The Years." Judy later sang this version of "By Myself" on five
television programs and in countless concerts.
Judy singing "Almost
Like Being In
Love/This Can't be
Love" in her 1963
CBS-TV special.
Judy with Margaret Hamilton
(original Wicked Witch of the
West) on The Merv Griffin Show in
1968. Judy once performed John
Meyer's "I'd Like To Hate Myself In
The Morning" live on the show.
ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE/THIS CAN'T BE LOVE
(Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe for Broadway's BRIGADOON, 1947/Lorenz
Hart/Richard Rodgers for Broadway's THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, 1938)
This vocal arrangement was assembled for Judy by her M-G-M coach,
Judy singing "By Myself"
accompanist, composer, lyricist, mentor, and surrogate father, Roger Edens. in I COULD GO ON
SINGING (1963).
He tied together the two tunes as a new addition to her repertoire for the
1959 "Opera House" tour (see biography timeline); she subsequently sang the chart on numerous
television shows and in her concert programs into 1968.
ME AND MY SHADOW
(Billy Rose/Dave Dreyer & Al Jolson, 1927)
Hauntingly orchestrated for Garland by Gordon Jenkins, this song was a
highlight of her moody Capitol concept album ALONE in 1957; it was a
concert staple for the rest of that season as well.
I'D LIKE TO HATE MYSELF IN THE MORNING
(John Meyer, 1968)
Dynamically introduced by Judy in one of her final United States
television appearances (on "The Merv Griffin Show" in December
1968), "Hate Myself" was charted by Mort Lindsey and included
by Garland in all her 1969 concert appearances. Meyer himself
Album cover of ALONE
(1957) on which Judy
recorded "Me And My
Shadow."
taught her the song and accompanied her in impromptu renditions of it in New York and
Boston cabarets prior to its television debut.
John Meyer comments... "I think it was in Casey's, a little bistro on West 10th Street. I
was drinking Chassagne Montrachet with my pal Fred, and we'd had a little too much
(didn't we always?). That's the trouble with these white Burgundies — when you hit a good
one, restraint goes out the window. At some point, Fred turned to me and said, 'I'm not
stopping, but we're gonna hate ourselves in the morning.'
The next morning his phrase was still buzzing around in my head (along with a few other
things) — and I thought… hang on, there's a great song idea here. When I'm lucky with an
idea, the melody rises up in my subconscious along with the words... and that happened
this time. I went to the piano and worked out the first sixteen bars — music and lyric — in
about forty minutes. The lyrics are always easier. I must be a left-brain person… I can
construct fitting words with much less effort than it takes to come up with original music.
I was introduced to Judy Garland because of this song, 'I'd Like To Hate Myself In The
Morning.' One of the customers heard me playing it at the little bar where I entertained,
and he introduced the two of us. Judy liked the song, and when she was booked on The
Merv Griffin Show, her ex-conductor, Mort Lindsey, wrote the orchestration (the 'chart').
Because he was familiar with Judy's style, he knew just how to arrange the tune to
showcase her vocal to maximum effect.