Camelot (Original Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Camelot (Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: What was and never can be again
Hit: 5 Stars
As we all know, this recording dates from the vinyl era. Everything had to fit on a 33 1/3 rpm vinyl record. That meant about 45 minutes of music. Period.
Things had to be cut. Such is the unfortunate case here. This is, obviously, not a complete recording. However, it is the best we've got and for that we must give thanks.
Camelot was a problematic musical from the get go. Those problems were never completely ironed out, not even when it was eventually transferred to the screen, with Alan Jay Lerner scrapping his original book, starting over, and writing an entirely new screenplay that had its' own set of problems.
But one of those problems was never the score. It goes from strength to strength to strength. It is almost an embarrassment of riches.
The recorded sound, while a bit tweaky at times, is perfectly fine for 1960.
I had the mixed pleasure of seeing Mr. Burton perform this, his signature role, many years later, toward the end of his career (actually, not too long before his demise). He had stripped the characterization down to the bare elements and had turned Arthur into a tragic hero of nearly Shakespearian diminsions. His (miked) voice was raspy and weak, a victim of the years and of the final illness, we would later learn, he suffered in silence. Some thought he was merely "walking through" the role. Others of us saw the nobility of a tragic man who had lived his life as he wished and was now awaiting its' end. Where Burton the man became Arthur the character is hard to determine. The line was blurred. But I can tell you in all honesty many of us left the theater, sobbing, knowing we had witnessed greatness that would not come our way again.
This recording, made in Richard Burton's youth, with the mysteries of the future still ahead of him, is his epitath. We should all be so lucky.
Free Music Review: Cast album is even better than the show
Hit: 5 Stars
CAMELOT was a problematic show and despite many revisions for revivals over the years, it has never really worked on stage or screen.But it DOES work as a recording. Richard Burton and Robert Goulet are perfectly cast and handle their musical numbers well. Julie Andrews provides the spark and sparkle that elevate this show. Guenevere is her richest part: She goes from an immature girl ("Simple Joys of Maidenhood"); to a petty young queen ("Then You May Take Me to the Fair"); through awakening emotions ("Before I Gaze at You Again"); unhappiness ("What DO theSimple Folk Do") and finally heartbroken resignation ("I Loved You Once in Silence.") Julie manages to display this huge range of emotions on the record using just her voice. Today we can only listen and imagine what a wonderful stage performance she gave.
CAMELOT ws not well recieved by the critics. It was ignored by the 1961 Tony awards (BYE BYE BIRDIE won that year.) This original cast recording was so well produced that it, along with several scenes showcased on the ED SULLIVAN HOUR helped turn the show into a box office hit.
Columbia's deluxe Lp is reproduced here with outstanding sound and generous notes. (The many colour pictures that decorated the Lp cover are reproduced here in black & white!) The note reveal some interesting trvia: the voice of Nimue on this recording is actually the understudy as the actress who created the role on stage was too ill to make the recording.
For years rumours persisted that "The Jousts" and "The Persuassion" had been recorded because the original Lp cover listed the songs. This proved to be false, and all the recorded numbers were used on the finished Lp. The CD has no bonus tracks but does correct the track order to follow the order the songs are heard in the show.
Free Music Review: Remastered CD is a must have!
Hit: 5 Stars
I held off on buying the CD of this much-loved album until it had been remastered. I'd heard the earlier CD version, and found the sound quality to be no better than the LPs. But this remastered recording absolutely glistens! This is what CDs were made for! The only disappointment is the insert. While the photos of Burton and Andrews during the recording sessions are nice additions, most of the photos inside the insert are extremely dark, blurred, black and white versions of photos that appeared on the original (1960) gatefold album jacket larger and in color. I know that B&W publicity photos were done for this show. But, the editors of the insert took the easy route, and it shows. So, I'm saving my orginal gatefold album for the pictures and original commentary, but these days the version I'm listening to is the remastered CD.
Incidentally, others have mentioned that John Cullum appears on this album as one of the knights. This was his first Broadway show, and he was understudy to Richard Burton and Roddy McDowell. He reportedly went on four times for Burton, and accounted himself well. He later took over the role of Mordred when Roddy McDowell left the show.
Listen for Cullum (with Andrews) on the third verse of "You May Take Me To the Fair" and in the chorus to that song. He can also be heard in "Fie on Goodness" lamenting that "virgins may wander unmolested!" He'd later do two more shows with Burton (Hamlet and Private Lives) and a movie with Andrews (Hawaii). By 1965 he was in his first starring role on Broadway (On a Clear Day...), and in the 1970s he'd earn two Tonys (Shenandoah, On the Twentieth Century) before going on to TV stardom in the '90s in Northern Exposure.
Free Music Review: Fantastic lesser known musical...
Hit: 5 Stars
Most people associate Julie Andrews with The Sound of Music. But before she ever became Maria she was Guenevere in Camelot on Broadway. Her beutiful soprano voice is as in as good form as ever and in numbers like The simple Joys of Maidenhood, The Lusty Month of may, Before I gaze at you again and I loved you once in silence she shines. :)
Richard Burton is probably best remembered for movies like Cleopatra, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Anne of the Thousand Days and for being married to Elizabeth Taylor. But as King Arthur he shows us he had a hidden talent. He could actually sing. My favourite track with Burton on the CD is How to Handle a Woman, albeit the song that most often stucks on my mind after listening is the title track Camelot. :)
But also the What Do the Simple Folk Do? that Richard Burton sings in duet with Julie Andrews is a catchy tune and their voices actually blends nice although they contrasts each other.
I think the only reason why this musical is not as memorable as other huge musicals from that era as The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, West Side Story etc. is because they did not keep the original cast when the made a movie out of this musical a few years later. But fortunately the soundtrack from the original recording is still there for us to enjoy.
Free Music Review: Julie Andrews and Richard Burton in fine voice
Hit: 5 Stars
CAMELOT, the ravishing musical re-telling of the King Arthur legend by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, has never sounded better than in the original 1960 Broadway cast album, now happily reissued on the Columbia Broadway Masterworks label. Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet lead the cast as the troubled love-triangle of King Arthur, Queen Guenevere and Sir Lancelot.
Julie Andrews, fresh from the London production of MY FAIR LADY, is in glorious voice and sings some of the score's best numbers like "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood", "The Lusty Month of May", "Then You May Take Me to the Fair" and the achingly-poignant "I Loved You Once in Silence". Richard Burton has an attractive singing voice (remember, he was a Welshman!), and has a ball with numbers like "I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight?" and the Title Song. Robert Goulet delivers the definitive "If Ever I Would Leave You".
CAMELOT enjoyed a modest run of 873 performances (modest in that the composers had hoped to outdo their MY FAIR LADY success, and MFL ended up clocking in over 2,000 performances on Broadway alone). Out of the myriad of CAMELOT cast albums available, this is still the best of the bunch.