Judy Garland - Why Can't I? (Live)

From The Judy Garland Show #25, 1964.

[@wildsmiley]

Every song she sang, she inhabited, she owned. And then reflected your own heart back at you, a comforting feeling no other singer could touch. Pure, diamond-perfect artistry.

[@ALJarman1]

This wasn't part of her concert repertoire; it was one of the many songs that she visited only briefly, during the year that her weekly TV series added dozens of great standards to the Garland repertoire. As so often happened, she would do it once, and there you had it, the definitive version of a great song that seemed to have been written for her. The world of music was so lucky to have that TV show!

[@elizabethdacosta5601]

Alan Jarman: Well said and so true.

[@pal035s]

You got it right on !

[@albertofernandezcarbajal7705]

You’re right about how she inhabits the song but she *did* record this song before in a concert, even if it was a one-off. After the huge success at Carnegie Hall, Capitol realised what the 1960s Judy was a real asset and booked a recording session called “Judy Takes Broadway” with a selected live audience at the Manhattan Center in 1962. Unfortunately Judy was suffering from laryngitis at the time and the album wasn’t released at the time, although various tracks did percolate in various compilations over time. That concert, arranged and conducted by Mort Lindsey, gave us Judy’s famous versions of Just in Time, Sail Away, Some People, and also this little gem. If you get past the vocal imperfections, they’re electrifying performances. She eventually performed most of the songs from this discarded album in her TV series, so at least she got to share them during her lifetime. I’m amazed by how close this rendition is to the one from the Manhattan Center, but I still find the original one really moving because she’s singing it almost fully hoarse, with a wisp of a voice, which makes the song even more moving.

[@ton4347]

I will keep on asking for a million views for this special lady!!

[@dylanwashington2419]

Doris Day and Martha Raye sung this song in the movie Billy Rose's Jumbo. Judy Garland brings this song home for me though

[@thomasdearcos7657]

I agree! Wholeheartedly 😌

[@mariagalante821]

Wonderful... Judy Garland...

[@elizabethdacosta5601]

She sings this beautifully, but it’s too sad, especially since she apparently never found the right man.

[@michelinelalonde2217]

Lovely

[@Marasquinband]

Simply beautiful!!

[@russellcandy9850]

I'm trying to think of who it was made this song popular. Anybody know??? Let me know, please. Judy does a wonderful job as usual!!

[@MokeleMbembeLives]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@peterholwill1170]

Judy was past her vocal peak by the mid 60's and the voice was showing the result of her life style.That said her rendition of this sadly neglected song is outstanding. She conveys the feeling of yearning, sadness, with heartfelt emotion the lyrics require at a level few singers could match.

[@j3everal]

Her dress is just too much for the camera