Coco - OBC Album

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/2/13 at 8:00pm

I was looking at the liner notes for the Coco cd and saw the following:

"An earlier version of the Coco original cast recording was issued and then recalled in 1970, allegedly due to Miss Hepburn's unhappiness with the recording."

Did any of the original albums get into the hands of consumers and are they now collector's items?

Does anyone know what Hepburn was unhappy about?

Was Rene Auberjonois royally pissed?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/2/13 at 8:06pm

With her voice, nothing would help.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/2/13 at 8:12pm

I hear Rex Harrison had to do some dubbing work for her. Bwhahahahahaha.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/2/13 at 8:52pm

That's a good one.

[morosco]

Posted: 12/2/13 at 9:22pm

Don't know how reliable this information is (the item about the way songs are numbered makes no sense) but I came across the following:

The original issue of this recording was later withdrawn and re-mixed before reissuing the album. There are so many varied matrix numbers on both issues that only the differences are listed here.

On the label of the original issue, each song is numbered and the numbers are uniform: 1 2 3. On the remixed/reissue, the numbers are staggered: 1 2 3.
On the first issue the overture fades directly into the first song. On the second issue there is a short pause between.
On the first issue "The Money Rings Out Like Freedom" has a long dance sequence. On the second issue this dance section has been cut.
On the first issue the monologue preceding "Gabrielle" has a silent background. On the second issue the monologue is underscored with the music of "Coco".
On the first issue "Orbach's, Bloomingdale's, Best and Saks" is missing a very short segment of dance music. On the second issue the short segment was reinstated but the long segment on the first issue was cut.


OVRTUR - Coco

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/2/13 at 10:08pm

I have the original recording on black vinyl. Miss Hepburn's voice aside, it is the worst quality cast album I have in my collection. I've said it before, but it sounds as though it was recorded in a tin can.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/2/13 at 10:19pm

I wanted Encores to do a concert version of Coco with Dixie Carter while she was still alive. However Encores thought the world needed another production of Bye Bye Birdie.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 12/3/13 at 2:11am

Wouldn't it be wonderful if our friends at Kritzerland could get their hands on this?

[MartyO49]

Posted: 12/3/13 at 12:10pm

Urban legend: If you play the finale of "Always Madamoiselle" on vinyl at 45RPM speed, Hepburn sounds like Donald Duck

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 6/4/18 at 4:22pm

I'm making a list of gay couples in musical theatre and I have a question for anyone familiar with the libretto to Coco. Rene Auberjonois played a gay man named Sebastian. Did Sebastian have a partner? Who appeared on stage?

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 6/4/18 at 4:49pm

Sally, from the boot I have, I don’t remember him having any romantic interests. If he did, it’s played as a joke - much like his character.

If BK sees this, please remaster Coco for Kritzerland! Or the OBC of Pacific Overtures, which is long overdue.

[msmp]

Posted: 6/4/18 at 5:01pm

Gothampc said: "I wanted Encores to do a concert version of Coco with Dixie Carter while she was still alive. However Encores thought the world needed another production of Bye Bye Birdie."

I'd like seeing an Encores version with Bebe Neuwirth now that Dixie Carter is no longer with us.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 12:44am

Neither incarnation of the album came out very well, although the second version was slightly better.  It was all rather like Sammy Davis, Jr. and the two albums of GOLDEN BOY, although Capitol was always using alternate tracks between stereo/mono versions of their show albums.

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 2:31am

Sally Durant Plummer said: "Sally, from the boot I have, I don’t remember him having any romantic interests. If he did, it’s played as a joke - much like his character.

If BK sees this, please remaster Coco for Kritzerland! Or the OBC of Pacific Overtures, which is long overdue."

I saw Coco in LA and I don't recall a partner either. One gay character was mind-blowing enough at the time. And, yes, they handled him terribly - but he was there goddamnit. Hard to believe that it was only five short years from Sebastian to Paul in A Chorus Line.

I'm curious why some here want a revival? My recollection was that the music was poor and the script dramatically creaky. Of course what made it worth seeing was Hepburn, and that was well worth the price of admission. And Michael Bennett's staging was glorious. But reviving the property hands you all of the bad bits and none of the positives.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 8:42am

It was revived several years ago at the York Theatre, and I felt it came off better than the first time. There were some good lines, and the songs sounded better. I'm particularly fond of  "A Brand New Dress," and liked it in the original as well.

I think that one of the problems with the original was its aura. The design was chic, but chilly. That was harmful, since neither the book nor the score exuded great warmth.

[noradesmond]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 5:18pm

Dollypop said: "I have the original recording on black vinyl. Miss Hepburn's voice aside, it is the worst quality cast album I have in my collection. I've said it before, but it sounds as though it was recorded in a tin can."

 

Absolutely agree!  A simply dreadful recording that has always bewildered me. Why was it so poorly done?

[noradesmond]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 5:22pm

MartyO49 said: "Urban legend: If you play the finale of "Always Madamoiselle" on vinyl at 45RPM speed, Hepburn sounds like Donald Duck"

Now, that is all I can hear. Donald Duck sqwawking ‘Whooo the devil ca-YUHS what a woman way-YUHS?’

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 7:09pm

Dollypop, you are so right! COCO has to be, hands down, the most poorly produced cast album of the modern age of stereo recording. The CD iteration is just as bad...

[markypoo]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 7:54pm

Just as an aside, as I was watching Hepburn perform her number on the 1970 Tony's, the laughter coming from the audience at various intervals was hard to ignore.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 8:04pm

MrsSallyAdams said: "I'm making a list of gay couples in musical theatre and I have a question for anyone familiar with the libretto to Coco.Rene Auberjonois played a gay man named Sebastian. Did Sebastian have a partner? Who appeared on stage?"

Sally, I seem to remember reading that Sebastian does have a partner who appears in the show, but can't presently find anything online supporting that. 

 

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 8:04pm

“Scan the hills! Rake the skies!”

[Jarethan]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 8:21pm

Sebastian did not have a boyfriend / lover / etc.  I am not sure that they even referred to his sexuality, although he was played as an over-the-top queen.  I remember being disgusted when Auberjunois (close enough) won the Tony.  

As for the album, I always enjoyed it and still play it fairly regularly on my iPhone.  The album has long since gone to damaged album heaven.  I thing the score has a number of enjoyable songs, e.g. The Money Rings Out Like Freedom, Always Mademoiselle, Coco, Orbachs etc.  

Although Applause won the Tony for its score, I think that Coco and Purlie had much better scores.  I don't disagree with those who feel that the recording itself is not good; that does not detract from my enjoyment.  I still listen to the original recordings of MFL, The Pajama Game, She Loves Me, and (a truncated version of) Bells Are Ringing, produced 10 - 15 years earlier and, to be honest, they don't sound any better to me.  I realize this was due more to the recording capabilities of the day, but the result is still the same...a less than ideal recording of what is for me a very enjoyable score.

 

[markypoo]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 8:45pm

Jarethan:

At some juncture, one of Coco's assistants asks of another:

"Is he homosexual?"

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 10:13pm

Just as an aside, as I was watching Hepburn perform her number on the 1970 Tony's, the laughter coming from the audience at various intervals was hard to ignore.

That’s a pre-recorded laugh track.  The COCO segment was pre-taped in advance, it wasn’t performed live.  That laugh track was inserted in post and obviously by someone who generously placed ALL those laughs wherever he wanted.  

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 10:54pm

"I'm making a list of gay couples in musical theatre and I have a question for anyone familiar with the libretto to Coco. Rene Auberjonois played a gay man named Sebastian. Did Sebastian have a partner? Who appeared on stage?"

Sorry to threadjack further, but I hope Sally Adams includes the gay couple from the last Lerner show, "DANCE A LITTLE CLOSER" in that list. Lerner had come quite a ways from 1969 to 1983, when Charles and Edward sang the duet "Why Can't the World Go and Leave Us Alone" while ice skating a pas-de-deux on the lexan "ice" floor of the set. Sure the show only played 1 official night on Bway following its 25 previews, but progress is progress.