Randy Thornton
Member
As some of you have posted, the release of a few new soundtracks is not too far off. I confirm that it is true. Three remastered soundtracks will hit the streets August 13th ? "Bedknobs and Broomsticks", "The Happiest Millionaire" and, finally, the first ?real? release of the original "101 Dalmatians".
Here?s the scoop ?
101 Dalmatians is the same master I restored for The Disney Stores some years back.
The new masters for Bedknobs and Millionaire follow the lead of Mary Poppins ? just the songs. Though I too would have loved to have a double CDs, complete with underscore, the films from mid 1960 on present some union issues that cannot be avoided (especially when it was never written in the contract to release the score on record). However, I still managed to get a few surprises on the new releases.
Bedknobs includes all of the songs. The new remix of "Nobody?s Problems" indeed was a problem, so instead Ms. Lansbury?s original demo was added to the soundtrack as one of the bonus tracks. In addition to that demo, I have two others performed by Mr. Richard Sherman ? "Solid Citizen" and "The Fundamental Element", the latter which actually makes a brief appearance in one of the songs that did make it into the film. The material was De-Noised and remastered. The original source material was in relatively good condition so little work needed to be done ? just some new EQ and a little patching here and there.
On Millionaire, that was where most of the work was done. I?m sure you may have noticed, I have not released many of these songs on the compilation albums. As a matter of fact, only two of Millionaire?s songs have been released on CD ? "Fortuosity" on Legacy In Song and "Are We Dancing" on Classic Disney Volume III. The reason for this is that the only master I had available to me was the original album master. This master was so bad that I?d rather not have any of these songs out there at all than in the condition they were in. This album has been totally remixed from the original 1" 8 Track master. I have a little story about my final result in my wrap-up at the end of this post. And YES "It Won?t Be Long ?Til Christmas" is indeed on the album. However, due to a few issues, as mentioned above, I could not include the original film version. But, after hearing the original, the Anne Shelton version (that I used on the 75th set) is pretty darn close to the original (minus the special intro especially written for this version). Even Anne Shelton sounds like Greer Garson. In addition, I also included the demo of the Shermans? original opening number "Off Rittenhouse Square" that was later replaced by "Fortuosity".
When I work on this type of material, I try to get the original composers in the studio with me. Obviously with the older soundtracks, that was impossible. But I?ve managed to work with Richard and Robert Sherman many, many times. Unfortunately, when I began work on Bedknobs and Millionaire, both Richard and Robert were in England (recording the cast album for their stage version of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"). However, I got a call at home the moment Richard arrived back in the States and was excited to hear what I?ve done. A few days later he was in my office and we listed to both soundtracks from beginning to end. When he heard Millionaire, he couldn?t believe it. He HATED the original release. It was sooo drenched in reverb that it was truly unlistenable. And horrible reverb at that. "I hated it! I couldn?t even listen to it once!" is what he said to me. "Now I can finally listen to my music!". Believe me, there is nothing better in this world that being able to please the people who, through their own creativity, have pleased you countless times!! It?s a great honor to be able to bring these records to light again, and I hope you enjoy them too!
Here?s the scoop ?
101 Dalmatians is the same master I restored for The Disney Stores some years back.
The new masters for Bedknobs and Millionaire follow the lead of Mary Poppins ? just the songs. Though I too would have loved to have a double CDs, complete with underscore, the films from mid 1960 on present some union issues that cannot be avoided (especially when it was never written in the contract to release the score on record). However, I still managed to get a few surprises on the new releases.
Bedknobs includes all of the songs. The new remix of "Nobody?s Problems" indeed was a problem, so instead Ms. Lansbury?s original demo was added to the soundtrack as one of the bonus tracks. In addition to that demo, I have two others performed by Mr. Richard Sherman ? "Solid Citizen" and "The Fundamental Element", the latter which actually makes a brief appearance in one of the songs that did make it into the film. The material was De-Noised and remastered. The original source material was in relatively good condition so little work needed to be done ? just some new EQ and a little patching here and there.
On Millionaire, that was where most of the work was done. I?m sure you may have noticed, I have not released many of these songs on the compilation albums. As a matter of fact, only two of Millionaire?s songs have been released on CD ? "Fortuosity" on Legacy In Song and "Are We Dancing" on Classic Disney Volume III. The reason for this is that the only master I had available to me was the original album master. This master was so bad that I?d rather not have any of these songs out there at all than in the condition they were in. This album has been totally remixed from the original 1" 8 Track master. I have a little story about my final result in my wrap-up at the end of this post. And YES "It Won?t Be Long ?Til Christmas" is indeed on the album. However, due to a few issues, as mentioned above, I could not include the original film version. But, after hearing the original, the Anne Shelton version (that I used on the 75th set) is pretty darn close to the original (minus the special intro especially written for this version). Even Anne Shelton sounds like Greer Garson. In addition, I also included the demo of the Shermans? original opening number "Off Rittenhouse Square" that was later replaced by "Fortuosity".
When I work on this type of material, I try to get the original composers in the studio with me. Obviously with the older soundtracks, that was impossible. But I?ve managed to work with Richard and Robert Sherman many, many times. Unfortunately, when I began work on Bedknobs and Millionaire, both Richard and Robert were in England (recording the cast album for their stage version of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"). However, I got a call at home the moment Richard arrived back in the States and was excited to hear what I?ve done. A few days later he was in my office and we listed to both soundtracks from beginning to end. When he heard Millionaire, he couldn?t believe it. He HATED the original release. It was sooo drenched in reverb that it was truly unlistenable. And horrible reverb at that. "I hated it! I couldn?t even listen to it once!" is what he said to me. "Now I can finally listen to my music!". Believe me, there is nothing better in this world that being able to please the people who, through their own creativity, have pleased you countless times!! It?s a great honor to be able to bring these records to light again, and I hope you enjoy them too!
And how wonderful that I'll finally be able to hear "Off Rittenhouse Square" - I'm really excited about that!