Company Original London Cast album

[SweeneyPhanatic]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 9:39pm

I was listening to the original London cast recording of Company today, and I was wondering if anyone knew if the rerecorded everything, or just dubbed new players over the existing tracks? Most of it sounds the same, so I'm thinking it was the latter, though I'm not sure.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 9:41pm

Same recording as OBC recording with Larry Kert's vocals replacing Dean Jone's.

[SweeneyPhanatic]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 9:42pm

Thanks! I knew it all sounded VERY familiar.

[into_the_woods2]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 9:44pm

do london shows do that often?
(use the OBC and dub a new voice in?)

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 9:51pm

No.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 9:53pm

I think this was a special case. Dean Jones was only in the cast for a month or so (I think) and most people who saw the original show saw Larry Kert. Jones had already recorded the OCR, so it was a way of memorializing the performance that most people saw.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/10/08 at 10:11pm

Unless the cast is noticeably different, most London productions didn't have a cast album. COMPANY basically had the same cast and they just overdubbed Larry Kert's vocals over Dean Jones'. Elaine Stritch was also in the cast, so no need to touch "The Ladies Who Lunch".

The London casts of BYE BYE BIRDIE and SWEET CHARITY did have brand-new cast recordings because they were completely new casts (aside from Chita in BIRDIE).

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 12:27am

I believe that the fact that they used the original Broadway cast tracks, just recording Larry Kert over Dean Jones, and called it the London Cast Album somehow pissed off British Actors' Equity and that album was originally available for a very short time. Before CDs, that album was a very rare one.

And if you listen to both albums, you'll hear that they brought Susan Browning in to re-record "Barcellona" because it was easier and cheaper to have Susan and Larry record it new, than to have Larry try to get Dean Jones' timing exact.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 4:11am

"Barcelona" was re-recorded. If you listen to any of Larry Kert's tracks you can hear Dean Jones faintly in the background. Larry Kert was obviously in a smaller studio - he sounds very removed from th rest of the cast.

The album was put together in New York in November 1970, but never released in the U.S. Only in London where it had a limited release. Sony West End issue it on CD in 1994, but only in the U.K. and Canada and it too was quickly deleted.

Some dealers charge unheard of amounts for this recording and frankly it is not worth it. Apply to collectors for CD-R copies.

[choitoy]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 4:57am

I was stupid, as I once saw this CD at a local Borders once, probably about 10-12 years ago (they used to import stuff occasionally, and used to have a fairly decent "Original Cast" section, but not anymore...). I could have got it for about $20. I did not know that this was/is/would be a rarity, and didn't pick it up, as I already had the OBC, and thought the only one different was Kert.

Cut to about 4 years ago when I got a job and wanted to collect every (official) Sondheim show recording. I think I ended up getting this one on eBay for about $60, which isn't too bad (I think), though the novelty is off a little since they included a couple of the Kert tracks as bonuses on the Broadway Masterworks OBC release.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 10:24am

The Broadway Masterworks re-issue of the Original Broadway Cast Recording only included Larry Kert's "Being Alive" track.

[choitoy]

Posted: 6/12/08 at 3:17pm

Oops, sorry, I kept thinking "Barcelona" was on there too for some reason. It's a shame they didn't release that one too on the Masterworks re-issue.

[monestere]

Posted: 6/13/08 at 4:02am

The Broadway Cast Album of "Company" was one of CBS' first recordings using their new SQ quadraphonic 4 channel process. The vocals were recorded on separate isolated tracks to achieve this mix. Since the London production of "Company" included virtually the same cast as the Broadway one, including the fabulous Larry Kert, who took over the role of Bobby very soon after the Broadway opening (and was even Tony nominated for his performance), the CBS engineers recorded Kert's vocals to and simply substituted them in place of Dean Jones (who opened the show and appears on the official Broadway Cast Album) on the existing Broadway orchestral tracks. At the time of Kert’s dubbing his vocals, it was decided that Barcelona had to be re-recorded completely because the timing on Kert’s delivery of the song could not be matched to that of Dean Jones’ track. This involved the participation of Susan Browning, who recorded the new vocal with Kert. Kert recorded his vocals at the same studio used for the original cast recording sessions under the supervision of the original album producer, Thomas Z Shepherd. The illusion of Kert appearing isolated from the other vocalists is an artifact of the SQ recording system and the fact that Kert was not allowed much leeway in interpretation as he had to match his voice to the pre-existing tracks recorded with the vastly inferior Dean Jones. This does not diminish the fact that, regardless of how it was accomplished, Kert's brilliant performances of the songs in Company both on stage and on this recording have never been surpassed, not even by Raul Esparza in the new 2006 Broadway revival production and the only record we have of Kert's definitive Bobby is the combination Broadway/London album, which deserves to be reissued by Sony on CD and made available worldwide. With Kert replacing the super dull Dean Jones, the combination Broadway Cast Recording of Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY is transformed into the finest recording of this score ever and as such is one of the greatest recordings of the 20th. Century.

In 1972 in London, another recording was made of Barcelona with Kert and Julia McKenzie, which was to replace the New York track with Browning. By the time this new recording of the song was completed, CBS had already released the so called London Cast LP with the Kert-Browning Barcelona track. The version with McKenzie has never been released to my knowledge, although McKenzie recorded the song again with David Kernan for “Side by Side by Sondheim in 1976.

Updated On: 6/13/08 at 04:02 AM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 11:54pm

Does anyone know if this album is available anywhere? Would love to hear it.

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 12:34am

TotallyEffed said: "Does anyone know if this album is available anywhere? Would love to hear it."

would like to know too

No luck on eBay

cannot find it on Spotify or apple music either

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 7:48am

Here’s Larry Kert’s “Being Alive”:

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 9:48am

The title number

 

Updated On: 12/27/21 at 09:48 AM

[IronMan]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 11:03am

I have the LP and enjoy it more than the OBC.  Because of its overdubbing, Bobby's vocals are much more prominent in the group numbers than the Dean Jones version (as you can hear in the title number posted above).  

[justoldbill]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 7:09pm

And yes, of course, Larry Kert and Susan Browning overlaid their dialogue track during TICK-TOCK.

A wonderful Susan Browning story goes here.  I waited at the stage door after the reunion concert at the Vivian Beaumont.  When Susan came out we chatted. and, through my tears, I expressed my disappointment at having missed COMPANY the first time around, but now I felt I had finally seen it.  She took my hand and said "Oh, honey, come with me".  She took me backstage and made sure I met everyone in the cast.  Even Elaine Stritch was nice and gracious. (I was with Susan and everyone assumed we were friends.)

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 7:18pm

I wish someone would discover the original instrumental track to Tick Tock without the “porno movie” dialogue inserts.

[bwwLA86]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 10:37pm

Is there a planned release for the Broadway cast?

[The8re phan]

Posted: 12/28/21 at 1:00pm

bwwLA86 said: "Is there a planned release for the Broadway cast?"

Lord, do I PRAY there is :/

[justoldbill]

Posted: 12/28/21 at 4:48pm

When did this thread change from the 1972 London Cast recording to the 2018 London Cast recording?

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/28/21 at 6:13pm

justoldbill said: "When did this thread change from the 1972 London Cast recording to the 2018 London Cast recording?"

Yesterday at 10:37 PM.