John Raitt & Jan Clayton Perform "If I Loved You" | General Foods Special

On March 28, 1954, original Broadway cast members Jan Clayton (Julie Jordan) and John Raitt (Billy Bigelow) performed “If I Loved You” from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel in a two-hour TV special called “General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein.” The special was hosted by Groucho Marx, Mary Martin, Jack Benny, Ed Sullivan, and Edgar Bergen with his puppet Charlie McCarthy.
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ABOUT RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN
After long and highly distinguished careers with other collaborators, Richard Rodgers (Composer, 1902-1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (Librettist/Lyricist, 1895-1960) joined forces in 1943 to create the most successful partnership in American musical theater. Prior to joining forces, Rodgers collaborated with lyricist Lorenz Hart on musical comedies that epitomized wit and sophistication (Pal Joey, On Your Toes, Babes In Arms and more), while Hammerstein brought new life to operetta and created the classic Show Boat with Jerome Kern. Oklahoma!, the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, introduced an integrated form that became known as “the musical play.” Their shows that followed included Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. Collectively, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals have earned Tony, Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, Pulitzer, and Olivier Awards. The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization is a Concord Company, www.concord.com.
#Broadway #Theater #Theatre #MusicalTheater #MusicalTheatre #Musical #RodgersAndHammerstein #RichardRodgers #OscarHammerstein #Rodgers #Hammerstein #IfILovedYou #Carousel #CarouselMusical

[@bobashby3106]

As a teenager in the 1960s, I was an intern at a summer stock tent theater in North Tonawanda NY at which Raitt played Billy. Amazing to hear him 20 years after the original production, still with that brilliant but somewhat unusual voice -- carrying a baritone sound well into the tenor range. (In a sign of the continuing decline of civilization, the site of that theater is now occupied by a Wal Mart.)

[@ruthg.6431]

Wow. We are really lucky that this exists. Incredible.

[@jaymorgenthal9479]

I saw a revival of Carousel in 1965 at the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center and John Raitt played Billy. I was almost 14 but I never forgot the sound of his magnificent voice.

[@DominicR-y5d]

Never tired of hearing the most beautiful song ever---from the best musical ever!

[@lisaleotta7373]

Outstanding performance by both

[@JAMESDOWDELL-dv9se]

Intelligent and beautiful performance from the talented woman who is about to become Lassie's mother and so achieve eternal international recognition.

[@ruthg.6431]

with Bonnie Raitt's dad!

[@CatFromSac]

I had a crush on John Raitt when I was 15. I am 81, and I still have it. I always will.

[@MCiliberti1]

Good choice. He is Billy Bigalow.

[@lyudmila2882]

Glorious duet, with fabulous ending. Someone said this was one of the great stage kisses.

[@MCiliberti1]

Carousel is the best of Broadway ever. Rogers and Hammerstein were amazing. Not only is the music beautiful but the words touch your heart.

[@lindadeal3344]

No one does it better than Rodgers and Hammerstein!!!

[@Juliaflo]

The BIG Ampersand.

[@mishagriffith5518]

So beautiful ❤️. It surprises me that Carousel 🎠 is not performed more. Although the story is bittersweet, the music is some of Richard Rodgers' most lovely. The Carousel Overture alone is stunning.

[@Arkelk2010]

I think in order for Carousel to have a big revival, they'd have to clean out the domestic abuse sub- thread in the story. Not sure how they would explain Billy being in his neither Heaven nor Hell status though. But yes, hard story, glorious music.

[@Shellison1]

John Raitt was not as good-looking nor as good an actor as Gordon MacRae, but no one can beat his heart-rending and beautifully phrased singing chops! Bonnie got her start from the best.

[@sammyjo8109]

It makes regular rounds in summer theater.

[@Shellison1]

@@Arkelk2010 I mean, why do they have to explain it? This is the pop cultural era of parallel universes and unexplained time warps. Besides, it's worth remembering that not everyone carries the traditional Christian belief in Heaven vs Hell. And what about the plot of the movie "Soul"? Lots of temporary purgatory there but sugar-coated for kids so it went right down. IMO, viewers can and should be entrusted with their own personal explanations or to choose not to try to explain it at all, for that matter. And those it bothers are free to speak their minds, as long as we stay a free nation. As for the implied domestic abuse, yeah, not acceptable but it wasn't when Carousel debuted, either. This musical is definitely not a sugar-coated fairy tale, but it doesn't pretend to be. It can be recognized as an artistic reflection of something that is still unacceptable but still exists.

[@Arkelk2010]

@@Shellison1 I don't know how the play goes as I've never seen it on the stage. The abuse was fairly well cleaned away in the movie--some mentions, but subtle unless you were listening for them. Kind of makes me wonder about the book on which this work was based. It must have been pretty harsh.

[@joybreeden366]

So thankful for the film/tv library keepers. American Treasures

[@vincentarcaro1353]

Ageless great music and voices unbelievable beautiful melodies ❤❤

[@roblewis3565]

One of the great American operas.

[@213LotusBlossom]

My favorite!

[@lisaleotta7373]

Fantastic voice I love this so much 😊

[@SlotMachineBonus]

it doesn't get any better than this.

[@steveseifer6784]

I can't decide who I would rather have been when I was younger, John Raitt or Gordon MacRae

[@lennon1252]

GORDON was the best Billy Bigelow there was or ever will be.

[@wmperkins25]

Always been a big fan of both - listened to John Raitt on our album of the soundtrack of Showboat growing up and loved his voice then saw Gordon MacRae in Carousel and thought the same - both are great !

[@Ageless-yh7gv]

@@wmperkins25 Difference was small, but discernible --- Raitt had the better voice, MacRae acted it better. But the differences were small, and both sang and acted the hell out of "If I Loved You". The song is one of the most beautiful ever written for the stage --- including the dialogue interspersed within the song.

[@patrickhamilton6207]

Well, for my money, John Raitt edges out Gordon MacRae in the voice department. He also kept his voice in good shape for a long time. MacRae did not. I saw Raitt in his club act in 1980/81 at Ted Hooks On Stage on Restaurant Row. He was then 63 and sounded fantastic. He sang Soliloquy in that little club, and brought the house down. Not a dry eye left. An old family friend shared the same vocal coach as Raitt (Mr. Chambers..or something like that) who had a studio in The Osborne at 57th & 7th. My friend said that this coach taught his pupils to keep their tone forward and clear. He said- I want to be able to pluck it right out of the front of your mouth. Raitt had that beautiful "forward" clear tone that one doesn't see much anymore. Alfred Drake had a "hooty" sound and "covered" his high notes. This clip is a real gem.

[@davidrichie9570]

Why not both?

[@lennon1252]

A little trivia: Jan Clayton who played Julie Jordan, stared in the first Lassie tv series 'Jeff's Collie" as Ellen Miller, Jeff's mother. 1954 to 1957.

[@bobashby3106]

Many years later,in the 1980s, I directed a community theater production of Carousel. Julie remains a "problem" character. As another character says at one point, "Julie never changes." How does an actor play that? And them of, course, her telling herself and her daughter that Billy's slap doesn't really hurt at all is increasingly difficult to make believable. That line ends Molnar's Lilliom, the 1909 play that was source material for Carousel (R&H added the graduation scene following it, perhaps to soften the darker ending of Lilliom). So we have a response to a woman to a slap -- and the underlying assumptions about husband-wife relationships - from a 1909 play carried forward into 1945, when Carousel opened. I'm not sure, despite its lovely score, whether Carousel could be played successfully today.

[@AnnetteHollander]

This was my favorite as a young girl!

[@brianprager8050]

Magical!

[@jmathewsrph72]

I remember Jan Clayton as being Jeff's mother on the original Lassie but also I remember her singing The haunting song called Going Home from the Olivia de Havilland film about the insane asylum The Snake Pit

[@antonmarino6568]

Never knew she could sing.

[@lisaleotta7373]

Fall in love all over

[@Juliaflo]

Kudos to his daughter on her Kennedy Center Honor.

[@garypaquin9571]

I look at John’s face and I see Bonnie.

[@kenneth7027]

Great! Remember Jan as Timmy's mom on Lassie?

[@Juliaflo]

She was Jeff's mother--Timmy came later.

[@kenneth7027]

@@Juliaflo Correct, between 1954-1957

[@islgrl292]

I had no idea Jan Clayton was a singer, much less on this level. To me she was Jeff & Lassie’s Mom!

[@PhilAlumb]

Gorfon MacCrae was my Favorite.

[@timothysmith7888]

Look how Mary Martin plays to the studio audience!

[@danicasoriano9249]

I think that's Jan Clayton

[@PhilippaWood-w5v]

Why does she say "longing " strangely ? She swallows the ending.

[@cochva]

R.I.P Olivia Sopranos, you had a horrible life, no wonder why nobody had even one good memory of you.

[@margaretjudice8944]

Too funny!

[@joep8787]

The problem with the show is that as written, Billy is a gigolo who looks down on those who work real jobs. So he marries Julie and out of self hatred for not having a job, takes it out on Julie with physical abuse. So he decides to become a thief. Julie isn't much better. Despite knowing that Billy's no good, she falls for him and stays with him despite his physical abuse and says stupid stuff like when someone who loves you hits you it doesn't hurt! She's a doormat! We don't see this because they get to sing some of the greatest songs ever written. Even after Billy's dead and given the chance to go back to earth, what does he do? He steals a star! Julie passes along to their daughter the same stupid idea that somehow an abuser's slap doesn't hurt if he loves you! John Raitt is too handsome and positive looking for the character he plays. As written, the character of Billy should've been played by someone like a young Lee Marvin or Robert Ryan.

[@eNigma011]

If they were happily married and no spousal abuse occurred the story would never have worked. It works because it's about real life with all its imperfections...happiness, sadness, love, violence. The setting is a fishing village with sub standard conditions in New England. With this as the backdrop, you see 2 people struggling to make something of their lives. Billy is the stereotypical "looser" who failes at everything he tries while making poor choices along the way. He finally resorts to crime to solve his problems which only makes things worse. I'd say that's a slice if real life, which is my point and why so many can relate to the storyline. It's a story of real people not a fairytale.

[@Ageless-yh7gv]

@@eNigma011 It answers the question "how can they stay with each other?" Sometimes people are just mad for each other ---- warts and all. It's what makes the story line greater than most musicals. It's dark, but sometimes love doesn't care --- or.... it's just too strong..

[@MCiliberti1]

I love the story. It isn’t about now but a generation or two ago.

[@joep8787]

@@eNigma011People who succeed, people who learn from their mistakes, people who have an arc in their lives are real people too. Guys and Dolls was also a story about people stuck in a rut but they made each other happier than if they'd never met. It just doesn't seem like Julie and Bigelow were better off after having met than before they met. Take away the incredible songs, and you have a very depressing story.