Which Company Recording? — Page 2

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#26

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:03pm

OBC, certainly. I'd recommend all of his OBC's, except Follies.
I like both Merrily recordings, but I tend to listen to the original slightly more, just because I'm not too fond of the Mary on the revival.

#27

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:05pm

Yay, Gov! I was starting to be scared I would be in the minority on this one, and I just don't get how that's possible. The Broadway revival is just lifeless compared with the OBC. And even if the latter's orchestrations are kind of hokey, it's part of the piece's period feel.

#28

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:07pm

Get the one with this cover!! ^^^
and make sure your copy includes the bonus track of Larry Kert singing "Being Alive".

#29

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:13pm

Yep, I love the orchestrations on the original. As you said, very 70's.
And not even Carol Burnett's "Ladies" can compare with Stritch's. :)

#30

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:15pm

While I LOVE Elaine's version of "Ladies Who Lunch" (and no one will be able to replace her), I have to go with the 90's revival cast recording. The singers as a whole are a lot better.

"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2

#31

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:16pm

Damn, spider. Once again we can't agree. :P

#32

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:18pm

HAHA. I love both recordings so whichever one you choose, it is still a great show. And Plum, I will still love you even if we tend to disagree.

"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2

#33

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:20pm

I just find it hilarious that as a general rule, we'll have opposite opinions on every recording.

#34

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:23pm

Aw, well it can't be EVERY recording. There has to be something out there we both agree on. Think positive.

"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2

#35

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:25pm

Personally, I love the Follies OBC. So many of the performers are definitive and helped Sondheim in the creation of the score (Yvonne deCarlo's personal bio -- along with that of Joan Crawford -- inspired the creation of "I'm Still Here"). Then there are folks like Ethel Shutta who actually were in the real Ziegfeld Follies and add a certain versimilitude to the proceedings. While, to be sure, there are some outstanding performances on the various other recordings (Barbara Cook, Diana Rigg, Donna McKechnie, Dolores Gray ....), there are some awful ones as well (Mandy Patinkin, for one, makes me want to hit him with a tranquilizer pellet and smother him with a pillow during "Buddy's Blues"). While the Follies OBC, unfortunately, is an incomplete rendering of the score, it's nonetheless a landmark and should be in everyone's collection.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#36

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:32pm

Just to clear up... I do like the 96 London revival. I think it has some interesting things. I mean, Sam Mendes, c'mon... It's definitely darker and a bit more seedy in tone, but the sound quality seemed weak to me, and it's really a highlights CD in comparison to the others so, it's definitely not the one to buy for your first run in with the score as it is missing tick-tock... for shame!!!

In the end I go for the 95 revival because it is most complete.

Updated On: 12/19/04 at 07:32 PM

#37

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:38pm

Maybe it's my earphones, but even the sound quality in the OBC of Follies seems to be problematic. That said, the performances are great on a more consistent basis than they are in the concert CDs- it's the way they were recorded that seems to be at fault.

#38

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/19/04 at 7:42pm

All right, I'd agree with that. The London recording is definitely something I like, but I DEFINITELY don't recommend it if it's going to be your only Company resource. It's a nice complement to the other two, though.

I still say, if you can, go for the OBC AND the '95 revival. I probably wouldn't be able to appreciate the revival the way I do if I didn't have the (awesome) OBC to compare it to. And vice-verse, possibly.

#39

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 8:48am

The OBC. Hands down. the revival is too "clean". Yes its well sung but it doesn't have the raw energy of the OBC. No one can touch Stritch on "Lunch". it is a document of its time and the orchestrations should be relished for what they accomplished. it also sounds like a true live performance of the show, vs. the revival which sounds too "studio." Enjoy!

#40

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 9:55am

I agree with JBSinger. The 95 recording is just too antiseptic and doesn't have the energy and vitality of the OBC. You can really hear the spirit of the show and the personality of the characters on the OBC. Beth Howland's Not Getting Married really can't be beat and Stritch's Ladies Who Lunch is legendary. If you only get one recording, I don't see why anyone wouldn't choose it. The Company OBC is a landmark recording of a landmark show.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#41

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 12:01pm

Boyd Gaines sings "Being Alive" a third lower than the original key, and it really just kinda lays there.

#42

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 12:39pm

Buy the original Broadway cast recording, without fail. I think both the Broadway revival and the London recording are almost completely virtueless, with their brutally pared down orchestrations, and generally inferior performances almost across the board.

No one sings Bobby with a greater sense of longing and fear than Dean Jones. No other recorded Marta seems to get "Another Hundred People" and tap its theme of lonliness the way Pamela Myers did. (La Chanze smiled through it onstage, which was SO the wrong idea). Susan Browning breaks your heart. It's nice to hear Veanne Cox sing the actual melody line of "Getting Married Today," but I prefer Beth Howland's complete emotional abandon. Elaine Stritch's "Ladies Who Lunch" is legendary and unsurpassed. The rest of the cast is one of those groups of actors that come together once in a lifetime, and the recording features great work from Barbara Barrie, Charles Braswell, Teri Ralston, John Cunningham, Steve Elmore and George Coe.

The OBCR Company is also blessed as one of the finest engineered and mixed recordings ever. It was made by Thomas Shepard at the absolute top of his form. It sounds not only the way Company should sound, but the way any Broadway cast recording should sound, without the harsh, brittle digital sheen that is so prevalent today. It's an essential album.

"Gif me the cobra jool!"

Updated On: 12/20/04 at 12:39 PM

#43

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 12:47pm

Not only should you chose the OBCR over the Revival or the London, but it should be at the top of anyone's list of cast recordings.

There is not a more exciting recording around. And YES, THANK YOU, MAGRUDER for recognizing Dean 'I Love Jesus' Jones' heartbreaking work on the album.

I'm counting down the days till Xmas. I'm getting the dvd of the Company cast recording documentary (as well as the Sondheim collection).

God, I'm just gay.

"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."

#44

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 12:47pm

Though on all technical aspects, the '95 Revival Recording is superior to the OBCR, it just doens't compete.

The OBCR has many technical problems, but is for sure the definitive COMPANY Recording.

If only Larry Kert had done the Recording instead of Dean Jones.

"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."

The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.

#45

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 1:02pm

I so disagree about Larry Kert vs. Dean Jones. I also have that London recording with Kert's vocals replacing Jones's. And while Kert technically has the better voice, there's just nothing there. No desperation. No anxiety. No terror. There's a difference in singing something well, and truly bringing something extra to the plate in his recorded performance the way Jones did.

And sure, there are some missed and flat notes not to mention whatever the hell Stritch is singing during that extended "LOOOOOOOVE" in the opening number, but I'd say the original is a much better album in its technical aspects than the revival recording as well. I can't even give that to the revival recording.

"Gif me the cobra jool!"

#46

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 1:07pm

I don't know why, I've just never warmed to Jones' voice.
It just bothers me.

Though he does make for some good entertainment on the 'Company: Original Cast Album' DVD. "I can't spit, let alone sing...."

But, despite Jones, the OBCR soars past any other Comaony Recording if for no other reason than Myer's 'Another Hundred People' and Stritch's 'Ladies Who Lunch'

Both are worth the price of the CD alone.

"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."

The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.

#47

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 1:09pm

I agree, the OBC of Company captures the overall mood and atmosphere of the show. I think the recording is well produced, and captures the rawness and fell of the show. The Revival (while it has its benefits-again, the underated Veanne Cox)has a processed, more modern feel to it, which I feel, just doesn't work for Company. Our ears today may want to hear crisp-clear recordings, but in the case of Company, there is a certain rawness necessary.

#48

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 1:09pm

Priest, you'll feel differently in about 15 years.

"Gif me the cobra jool!"

Updated On: 12/20/04 at 01:09 PM

#49

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 1:13pm

I'm in complete and utter shock the revival recording is being recommended AT ALL, let alone over the original.

It sounds like a children's show, for God's sake.

Perhaps that's its appeal amongst some of the young'uns.

"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."

#50

re: Which Company Recording?

Posted: 12/20/04 at 1:18pm

It's funny, when I first saw the thread title, my first thought was "There's more than one?" To me there's only the OBC and I had completely blocked the other ones out of my mind as dismal and quickly-forgotten "experiments" (that I had listened to, given away and quickly forgotten years ago).

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

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