Saturday, June 23, 2007

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 1

With the Tony Awards coming up (well, I'm not really sure when I'm going to post this, so it might already have come and gone), I thought I'd post these. Actually, I didn't realize the Tony's were coming up until about a week ago, so Volumes 1, 2, & 6 were only made up in the last few days so these are the ultimate rush jobs! I know I'm probably the only one who cares about such things, but I didn't get the chance to give them as much thematic consistency as I would normally like to, so I had to settle for what little musical consistency they have.

[Update: Well, as you can tell, I didn't end up coming in until well after the Tony's, so I guess I did all that last minute rushing for nothing. But I'm pretty sure the music still sounds good anyway. Just think of it as being in time for next year's Tony's.]

I usually like to give these compilations a little more narrative flow, but I wanted to post them before the telecast on Sunday rather than hang on to them (though, to be honest, I wanted to watch The French Open this weekend, so I may end up posting this after the fact rather than spending hours chained to a library computer on the weekend). Still, I think they're pretty good listening anyway. (And I didn't have time to double-check the years or origins on some of these, so please excuse any lapses in accuracy! I think all the origins are right though, but sometimes my mind doesn't work as well as it should. Let me know if you see anything off. Thanks!)

I can't believe it's already been a year since I posted Volumes 3-5. Well, I know the stage music I post has a pretty limited audience on the blog, but I keep meaning to post more of it anyway, but I never get around to it. I can't believe Volumes 3-5 were (more or less) the 4th posts on the blog! It doesn't seem that long ago! Well, I've been meaning to get around to making up Volumes 1 & 2, but have only gotten around to it now. I guess that annual reminder of the Tony awards gets me motivated. It's always that way with those award show things. Same thing happened with the Oscar Winning Scores compilations; I don't think I realized the Oscars were coming up either until a week or two before. Talk about rush jobs. Well, there always seems to be more than enough to do without thinking about what's coming up.

Back when I said I was leaving a space for Volumes 1 & 2 (on the Alt Stage Music, Vols. 3-5 post), I mentioned that it was originally a tape compilation that I always wanted to do a digital update of. Well, so many of the tracks I used on that original tape are in storage that I had to re-do these things from scratch. Practically all the tracks are different from the ones I used on the original tape, so this pretty much qualifies as a brand new comp. And there's so much potential material that I could literally make up 10 volumes, but I thought I'd better limit it to 3 new ones for now (especially if I wanted to avoid the nervous breakdown).

The basic concept of these 'Alternative Stage Music' comps (or really any of the comps designated as 'Alternative') is to feature the music in styles or themes that are generally different from their originals. In this case, styles that sound different from the original stage versions. Of course, that could apply to almost any pop or jazz version so it's a bit of a cheat in this case, but I tried to concentrate on versions that you wouldn't normally associate with their stage counterparts. Still, I ended up using a few that sound pretty similar anyway (probably a factor of that whole 'rush job' thing).

Because there were so many possibilities, the selections seemed to cluster in the various volumes. Volume 1 seemed to have more rock and pop, Volume 2 centered around lounge & jazz, and Volume 6 ended up with a lot of doo wop, vocal harmony, and 1960's rock and pop. The original tape's Side B had mostly Motown, but so much of that seems to be in storage that I didn't get around to doing that one. Maybe one day that'll be Volume 8 or 9 (as if anyone but me cares at this point!).

So much of popular music used to come from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway that you really have an endless selection to choose from and many of the selections tend to skew to older ones; there don't seem to be as many rock bands today willing to do cover versions of songs from Spring Awakening, Grey Gardens, or Les Miserables, I guess. It's a real shame that pop music has strayed so far from the stage and vice versa. Although I suppose people would argue that a lot of stage music today has really moved more towards contemporary rock and pop, but not so that people would play it on the radio or that it would register on the Top 40 like it once did. Considering what the Top 40 looks like though, that could either be a good or a bad thing, I suppose.

If someone did a version of 'Mack The Knife' or 'Summertime' today would it become a big hit? Well, I guess it would depend on who did it, but it seems doubtful (not unless they added a lot of new lyrics like say, Gwen Stefani or Jay-Z did when they had their own 'stage' hits with songs like 'Rich Girl' or 'Hard Knock Life'). I suspect if somebody did a version of 'Summertime' today it would be considered more of a novelty rather than a legitimate bid at chart-topping (at least one that could be played on the radio or that might get a lot of downloads).

Still, there are an awful lot of people who did (and continue to do) cover versions of stage music. So, there's still an awful lot to enjoy. And you can always enjoy these as well (I hope)! Happy listening to all (assuming anyone is still out there who checks this blog!).

Track List:

ASM, Vol. 1 - 01 - Sammy Davis, Jr .with Buddy Rich - Come Back To Me (1966) - [from the stage show, 'On A Clear Day You Can See Forever' (1966) (Lerner & Lane)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 02 - The Supremes - I Am Woman - [from the stage show, 'Funny Girl' (1964) (Jule Styne & Bob Merrill)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 03 - Louis Prima & Keely Smith - I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face - [from the stage show, 'My Fair Lady' (1956) (Lerner & Loewe)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 04 - Dolly Parton - I Get A Kick Out Of You - [from the stage show, 'Anything Goes' (1934) (Cole Porter)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 05 - Los Indios Tabajaras - Begin The Beguine (instr.) - [from the stage show, 'Jubilee' (1935) (Cole Porter)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 06 - The Beatles - Till There Was You - [from the stage show, 'The Music Man' (1957) (Meredith Willson)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 07 - Linda Scott - I've Told Ev'ry Little Star (1961) - [from the stage show, 'Music In The Air' (1932) (Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 08 - Splitsville - I'll Never Fall In Love Again - [from the stage show, 'Promises, Promises' (1968) (Burt Bacharach & Hal David)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 09 - Ronnie Dyson - Why Can't I Touch You (1970) - [from the Off-Broadway stage show, 'Salvation' (1970) (C.C. Courtney & Peter Link)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 10 - Love Generation - She Touched Me - [from the stage show, 'Drat! The Cat' (1965) (Ira Levin & Milton Schafer)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 11 - Jacki Bond - Reviewing The Situation (1967) - [from the stage show, 'Oliver!' (1963) (Lionel Bart)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 12 - Bobby Darin - Mack The Knife - [from the stage show, 'The Threepenny Opera' (1928) (Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, & Marc Blitzstein)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 13 - The Doors - Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) - [from the stage show, 'The Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny' (1930) (Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 14 - Captain Sensible - Happy Talk - [from the stage show, 'South Pacific' (1949) (Rodgers & Hammerstein)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 15 - Hi-Skool - Summer Nights - [from the stage show, 'Grease' (1972) (Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 16 - Erasure - Too Darn Hot - [from the stage show, 'Kiss Me, Kate' (1949) (Cole Porter)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 17 - The Fifth Dimension - Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) - [from the stage show, 'Hair' (1969) (Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, & James Rado)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 18 - Big Mama Thornton - Summertime - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George Gershwin & DuBose Heyward)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 19 - Janis Joplin - Summertime - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George Gershwin & DuBose Heyward)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 20 - Billy Stewart - Summertime - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George Gershwin & DuBose Heyward)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 21 - Cher - It Ain't Necessarily So - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George & Ira Gershwin)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 22 - Ray Charles & Cleo Laine - Bess, You Is My Woman - [from the stage show, 'Porgy & Bess' (1935) (George & Ira Gershwin & DuBose Heyward)]
ASM, Vol. 1 - 23 - Little Richard - I Feel Pretty - [from the stage show, 'West Side Story' (1957) (Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim)]

pw = youdont

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 1 - Part 1 (Rapidshare) (around 70 MB)

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 1 - Part 2 (Rapidshare) (around 54 MB)

OR

Alternative Stage Music, Vol. 1 (Megaupload)


around 124 MB

Comments:
Oh My God.

This is fantastic. Please, please tell me the links to Volumes you posted earlier.

Again. Thanks.
 
Awesome! You are, quite simply, the king of compilations. I am really enjoying this one. Thanks!
 
nomwl1, You are my hero. Don't let 'em get you down Bud! Timbo
 
Hi Ruggo!

Thanks for saying such nice things! I'm not sure what you meant by the volumes I posted earlier. Those were Volumes 3-5 that I reposted above these posts. They were foreign language stage musicals. Let me know if you wanted to know something else besides that. :)) And it's so good hearing from you again, by the way!!

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Hi First Moon!

That 'good hearing from you' goes for you too, FM!! :)) I am so glad you're enjoying this comp! You are very welcome!

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Hi Timbo!

And I'm so glad to hear from you too! (Okay, I'm getting repetitive.) And you're my hero! I'll try not to let them get me down (and that goes for you too!). :))

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Well, Greg, that's about the kind of response I would expect from you. :((

And 'Anality of Evil'.....very original comment, by the way.

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Hello,nice post thanks for sharing?. I just joined and I am going to catch up by reading for a while. I hope I can join in soon.
 
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