It Amazes Me

It Amazes Me is Liza Minnelli's second solo studio album, released on May 10, 1965, by Capitol Records. It contained her interpretations of eleven pop standards.

After Liza Minnelli's first album for Capitol Records was released in September 1964, she kept busy with a tour (The Fantasticks with Elliott Gould), television appearances, and even co-starred alongside her mother Judy Garland in a series of concerts in London (Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli Live at the London Palladium). The record label wanted to capitalize on the exposure and record a new album that would achieve the success of its predecessor.

Recording sessions began in December 1964 and concluded in January 1965. The singer worked with the same team that helped her produce and create Liza! Liza! at Capitol Studios in New York, located at 151 West 46th Street. A bigger budget was also spent for a larger orchestra, with Peter Matz again responsible for the orchestral treatment given to the project.

On April 24, Billboard magazine published an advertisement from Capitol about Minnelli's second album to be released by the label. In the same announcement, it was revealed that its title would be It Amazes Me. On May 15 of the same year, Billboard announced that the release would take place that month.

The album cover boasts that it "sounds better than stereo has ever sounded before!" thanks to the "New improved Full Dimensional Sound". Although it was never released individually in the CD format, the eleven tracks, in the original order, appeared on two compilations released by Capitol Records, namely, "The Complete Capitol Collection" in 2006, which adopts the original cover of "Liza! Liza!"; and in the compilation "Finest" in 2009. The first mentioned compilation includes a song that was recorded during the "It Amazes Me" sessions but was excluded from the final tracklist: the medley "Walk Right In" / "How Come You Do Me Like You Do."

Critical reception
Reviews from music critics were favorable. William Ruhlmann from the AllMusic website rated the album with three and a half stars out of five. He wrote that the album was created to compete with singer and actress Barbra Streisand, to the point that the arrangements and song selection resembled the material Streisand was doing at that time. He noted that the tastes of producer Peter Matz were evident in the song choices, which prioritized obscure Broadway songs. He concluded by stating that "the LP as a whole was another solid effort by a young but clearly talented artist."

The music critic from High Fidelity magazine wrote that although Minnelli bears a resemblance to her mother, "she possesses her own way of emotional projection," which includes humor and a powerful voice. He pointed out that in the tracks "Wait Till You See Her" and "My Shining Hour," she recalls her mother but still manages to stand out and bring something new to the music. Finally, he wrote that if Minnelli can resist the "obvious temptation to model herself too closely after her mother," her potential would be limitless.

Comercial performance
Commercially, it did not achieve the success of its predecessor and failed to appear on the Billboard 200 chart.

Side one

 * 1) "Wait Till You See Him" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
 * 2) "My Shining Hour" (Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen)
 * 3) "I Like the Likes of You" (Vernon Duke, Yip Harburg)
 * 4) "It Amazes Me" (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh)
 * 5) "Looking at You" (Cole Porter)
 * 6) "I Never Has Seen Snow" (Harold Arlen, Truman Capote)

Side two

 * 1) "Plenty of Time" (John Kander, Fred Ebb)
 * 2) "For Every Man There's a Woman" (Harold Arlen, Leo Robin)
 * 3) "Lorelei" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
 * 4) "Shouldn't There Be Lightning?" (Larry Alexander, Billy Goldenberg)
 * 5) "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (Jimmy Cox)
 * 6) "Walk Right In" (Hosea Woods, Gus Cannon, Bill Svanoe, Erik Darling) / "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" (Gene Austin, Roy Bergere) (Medley)

Personnel

 * Producer: Si Rady
 * Orchestra arranged and conducted by Peter Matz
 * Harry J. Gittes - photography