PROMISES, PROMISES - OCR NEW 2 CD SET HEAD'S UP — Page 4

Nope... "You've Got it All Wrong" wasn't at all in the original 1968 Broadway production (nor the current Broadway revival). I guess they chose to include it in both Encores! Concert Series productions (Los Angeles and New York).

Now... the song I wish WAS in the show (and used in the current Broadway revival) is "Tick Tock Goes the Clock", which was sung by the office men's 'other women'. It was only heard during the show's out-of-town tryout. All that survives from this cut number is a vamp section still heard in the Overture.

ya but.. some people are already turned off by the misogynist qualities of the plot and that song (tick tock goes the clock) is even more sexist then the material that stayed in.

For those who haven't heard the song, it's basically about how the time is ticking away that they will be able to get married. Not exactly a feminist notion.

By the by.. does anyone know how "Let's Pretend We're Grown Ups," also cut from the show, fit into the plot?

It's always bothered me that Orbach was flat on several of his songs. Seriously flat. Almost a half step, at times. I got more used to it with repeated listenings, but some of his held notes still make me wince.

So I was surprised and relieved at how wonderful the auto-tuned and remixed clips sounded on your site, bk. I ordered the CD right away today. At last! I don't have to have pitchaphobia anymore.

His performance was always wonderful. It was only the pitch that bothered me.

The clips of "Basketball" and "Half As Big As Life" sent me right to Paypal.

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bk, ordered mine on day 1 and am so excited that it has already been shipped!

Besty, thanks for the info. I haven't listened to the clips yet, but it's nice to hear that the correction of Orbach's pitch in places has been nicely done (I too shared your pitchaphobia!). Not that I would have expected otherwise, bk.

The timing turned out well - we were originally going to do it late last year but the Varese Sarabande license wasn't up until May - so we had to play that waiting game. As it happened, it was a good thing :)

I'm hoping to see mine in the mailbox today. Fingers crossed!

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My copy arrived today. I am almost finished listening to CD 2. All I can say is WOW. Bruce Kimmel, if you did nothing else of value in your life (and we know what a silly thing to say THAT is!), this CD would be enough.

One of my favorite scores, sounding better than ever .. THANK YOU!

(PS, if this sells out before you order it, BOY are you going to be sorry.)

Thanks, Phil!

I had such a blast doing the remix.

Front Row: Varese has six months to sell off their existing stock, although since it's not the original mix.I don't know why anyone would want it. :)

Thanks Bruce. My point was that in the next 6 months their remaining stock will be depleted and they cannot press any more. Your stick will be depleted and you can't press any more, so the OBCR of PROMISES, PROMISES will be unavailable.

Heads up everyone: You might want to buy an extra of the Kritzerland edition as an "investment."

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Oh man, Jill O' Hara really nailed that title song! What a treasure to have after all these years of only hearing about it!

I'll tell you a little story - as I've mentioned, I've had the tapes sitting here since last October, but we didn't actually start doing anything until about three months ago, at which point I actually went through each box - I had everything, the eight track edited session masters (from which the LP was mixed) and all the other eight track session tapes with all the other takes. And I had no idea how the thing was recorded and whether there'd be enough separation on the vocals to do what we needed to do for the pitch correction. Then I saw the Ryko digital remix tape, and that's when I first knew that they hadn't actually released the original album mix. By looking at those track sheets I saw the vocals were on a separate track, so I knew I was probably safe.

We then had everything transferred into Pro Tools. Then I said to my engineer, "Start with 'A Young Pretty Girl Like You' - if we can fix A. Larry Haines and Mr. Orbach in THAT song, then we can fix everything." So, he pitch-corrected that track, line by line and word by word, only doing notes that were off (the problem with using pitch correction is that you can't just turn it on and leave it on, like many do - that doesn't work), and I went over and listened - and burst into big stupid tears when I heard everything in that song on pitch for the first time ever. What a treat. And doing the rest was equally emotional because I love this show and score so much. Taking our time, moving the instrument placement in the sound field to get wider, more spacious sound and to give more clarity to things - all of it.

So, hearing people are enjoying it is making me REALLY happy! :)

Updated On: 7/2/10 at 07:00 PM

Okay, I've finished listening to both discs and even disc 1 is a significant improvement over the Ryko and Varese releases so I urge anyone who loves this show and loves this score to get your hands on this before they are history.

I am just amazed by what Kimmel was able to achieve with his mixes on disc 2. Everything sounds so crisp, the sound really breathes and the clarity of the orchestra and especially the pit singers...It's like listening to this for the first time.

With all due respect to the new cast, that recording cannot touch this original. This is the DEFINITIVE Promises, Promises recording to have, everything else is second best.

And yes philcrosby, Jill O'Hara *is* the DEFINITVE "Fran Kubelik", her vocal delivery evokes all the emotion of the character she is playing. No one, not even Kristin Chenoweth can hold a candle to her.

I saw the original production and it was so much fun. Naturally , I was looking forward to the cast album and was sorry to hear the audio problems. It really is wonderful to have both before and after. Thanks , Bruce. You might be able to answer my question . I heard the London cast once and remember it being very dynamic and well done. Was it , or is the memory playing tricks ? And is it available?