Alice in Wonderland LP question DQ-1208


Gurgitoy2

Active Member
I've been looking around for info about this LP, and all I could find was that it was released in 1963, and again in 1968 as the same catalogue number. The later one has a blue background with a large, sitting Alice. The White Rabbit is standing beside her with his stopwatch. What I really want to know is what is on this LP? It says that it's the soundtrack, but is it the actual film music, or was it newly recorded stuff like the Darlene Gillespie album?

This is why I wish the "Golden Age of Walt Disney Records" book had track listings too!
 

musicrazy

Member
The Alice albums you were referring to are the Darlene Gillespie recordings now available through Wonderland Music CD on Demand. There was also the original 1959 release of the same album.
The album states that it is music from the soundtrack, but it is not the soundtrack but a studio recording by the Camarata Orchestra.
The Alice soundtrackwas not available in until the 1990's restoration.
The DQ - 1208 album (when I purchased a 1963 version a few years back) was not complete. Though the cover listed Caucus Race, Walrus and the Carpenter, and How Do Y'Do, these were not even on the album. They were, however, available through the Japanese Pony Canyon Label.
I am interested, has anyone noted this tendency on the 1959, 1963, or 1968 versions of this album?
 

X-S Tech

Active Member
I had a version of this album (don't know which year) which I bought just for the song "March of the Cards" and it wasn't on the album at all, not even as BG Music with dialogue over it.
 

Rich T.

New Member
Okay, I have my copy of good ol' 1208 propped up by my computer right now so I can get the track list right. I bought it during the 70's re-release of the film, & I know all the following listed tracks are on the LP, as I've listened to it about a hundred billion times :). This should be the version that's now available at Wonderland Music.

Track Listing:

SIDE 1

1. Alice In Wonderland (includes an overture)
2. In a World of My Own
3. I'm Late/The Caucus Race
4. How D'Ye Do and Shake Hands
5. The Walrus and the Carpenter
6. All In the Golden Afternoon

SIDE 2

1. Alice in Wonderland (instrumental)/T'was Brillig
2. Very Good Advice
3. Unbirthday Song
4. March of the Cards

Although it's unlisted, March of the Cards leads into another rendition of Alice In Wonderland to bring the album to a proper finale.

For me, the real gem of this collection is the instrumental version of Alice in Wonderland - It's brilliantly, imaginatively arranged. Apparently, the Imagineers thought so, too, because they included this one track from LP in the area music loop for DL's Alice dark ride when it re-opened in '84.

I love this LP - It's one of the few childhood records I still have. It's designed to play like an Alice concert, with the title theme reappearing here and there to provide segues between songs - There's even an instrumental "falling down the rabbit hole" effect leading from "I'm Late" to "The Caucus Race."

I'm very glad this LP was chosen for restoration! :) Way to go, Randy!

P.S. ...on the back of the LP, the Album is presented as

Walt Disney's Alice In Wonderland

All the Music From the Motion Picture Score
Featuring the Chorus and Orchestra of Camarata with solos by Darlene Gillespie

P.P.S

Mine is the 1968 version
 
W

wondergreg

This is my all time favorite record album, and it is also a very important one in Disney records history, so Tim Hollis and I are featuring it prominently in our STORY OF DISNEYLAND RECORDS book.

It was originally released in 1956 with a beautiful cover showing Alice in a tree with Dinah and lots of characters all around. This very rare WDL series LP also consisted of several medleys rather than separate songs.

In 1959, the songs were edited to be individual (with a few exceptions). The cover was red with a brown-haired Alice standing proudly next to little rows of characters. The record inside was the one most people heard through the years.

In 1968, the cover was again redesigned with the blue background and Alice looking startled as the White Rabbit runs by. There may have been further edits to the songs since then, because that is what happened to other LP's such as Snow White and Pinocchio, which got shorter and shorter.

The CD was released in Japan with the blue cover art and has never been available until Randy (God Bless Him!) made more dreams come true by getting into the Wonderland system. Randy was also responsible for finally producing the actual soundtrack in the 90's. The soundtrack was never done earlier because Decca Records owned the soundtrack rights and never released an album because the film tanked in its first release in 1951 (it was never released again until 1974, but the Camarata LP was available for all those years).

Tutti Camarata himself is very proud of the album, Richard Sherman expresses enthusiasm about it too. And though Darlene Gillespie's been through many personal trials in the years since, it remains a remarkable vocal showcase for her depth as a singer (and her versatility too -- that's also Darlene singing like a goofball in "How D'ye Do and Shake Hands).

It's great that this masterpiece is getting heard and appreciated again!
 
Just to prove that great minds think alike, Mister Ehrbar got in here ahead of me and said the same things I was going to say about this discussion. That's one reason THE DISNEYLAND RECORDS STORY is going to sound as if it were written by one person instead of two! So, for now I will just add that I have passed along these comments to Tutti Camarata himself, and we are sure he will be most gratified to know that his work is capable of making fans all over again.
 
Thanks to everyone for a great discussion--this is the type of information that I've been hoping could be included in the Wonderland Music releases, but apparently and thankfully will be in Tim and Greg's book! Add this CD to my order!

Just to clarify--is the CD on Wonderland the original unedited 1956 release?

Mike
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
Also, is the Pony Canyon, Japanese release of this album the full release as well? I'm hoping it's not the edited down version that was used in later years.
 
W

wondergreg

I have two different Japanese releases of DQ-1208 and they are complete. The songs are still mostly separated, unlike the original WDL album. I have not purchased the Wonderland Music CD yet, but Randy told me it would be just like the WDL version, in which most of the songs are connected. You can also simulate the medley effect with the disconnected album by feeding it into iTunes and letting the computer crossfade for you. I tried it and it's pretty neat.
 
As my pals Greg and Tim mentioned, it is the unedited, unaltered WDL version that is available at The Wonderland Music Store ? complete with the original green cover.

FYI- I will ALWAYS use the WDL version of these recordings. Only if the WDL version is lost or unplayable will I even look at the DQ version. I'll only use the DQ version to repair and patch the WDL version if push came to shove.

Randy Thornton
 
Thank you for the help, all--and Randy, thank you for your uncompromising work, and the impeccable selections for the Wonderland Music series.

I'm really looking forward to Meet Me Down On Main Street, and A Musical Tour Of France With Maurice Chevalier.

Michael.
 

musicrazy

Member
Long live DQ's! What I hope and look for is
DQ-1236 All the Songs from the Sword in the Stone_
and
DQ-1210 Goofy's Dance Party_
 

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