alternates on recordings instead of the main actor- Page 2

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 9:38pm

Thank you, justoldbill. I do remember how popular Dinah Shore was, because her TV show (just a few years after the CALL ME MADAM recording) was required viewing in my house when I was a child.

I suppose Shore singing Merman is no odder than Doris Day (PAJAMA GAME film) singing a score written for Janis Paige, but it always surprises me that executives/producers can be so indifferent to a difference as big as that between belting and crooning.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 9:39pm

I do not know if this qualifies but Larry Kert in Company.The role was originated by Dean Jones but Kert is on the OBC album

No, that's Jones. The CD does have a bonus track of Larry singing "Being Alive", but if there's a version where Larry sings the full role, I haven't heard it.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 9:40pm

Technically incorrect in regards to Larry Kert. Kert's vocals were superimposed on the OBC of COMPANY for a "London Cast" release on CBS in the UK and later on CD by Sony West End. He replaced no one at the original recording sessions. Susan Browning's vocals in "Barcelona" were also redone in London for that release.

Updated On: 5/13/12 at 09:40 PM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 9:43pm

I honestly missed the post where After Eight announced he was no longer speaking to me. That is certainly his prerogative, as it is mine to address whom I choose.

In this case, I was only trying to be respectful. I thought I had found a subject where he and I could converse civilly. Now it appears I was mistaken, but I do appreciate the answer to my question about the Dinah Shore recording.

(And thanks for catching me up, Eric.)

Updated On: 5/13/12 at 09:43 PM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 9:47pm

Thank you, justoldbill. I didn't know all that, I just knew about the bonus track on my CD and have long wondered when it was recorded.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 9:57pm

Those Sony West End recordings were briefly especially easy to find here in Canada (I was told they always were more obscure in the US), but now largely seem to be very rare indeed. As mentioned the Kert Company only had one fully recorded new track--Barcelona--and otherwise just has his vocals superimposed. As you can here on Being Alive if you listen closely, you can distinctly still here Jones deep in the background of the mix which is a bit annoying, but I still like having Kert's perhaps less touching but more Broadway take on the role as an alternative.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 10:00pm

And I think your intention in your original post came through more than clearly, Gaveston--it confounds me when people come on a discussion forum and then resent someone wanting to civilly discuss something they both share an interest in, but so be it.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 10:09pm

A note about Norm Lewis on the "A New Brain" recording- Lewis took over the role during the course of the run. I don't know when the recording was made in relation to the production, but seeing as Lewis played the role on stage for several weeks to end the run perhaps they just allowed him to be on the recording.

I don't think anyone has mentioned "O Captain!" yet. Abbe Lane had a recording company conflict and Columbia brought in the brilliant Eileen Rodgers to record the role. I've listen to "Femininity" so many times I can't imagine anyone other than Rodgers singing it.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 10:14pm

Oh Captain!

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 10:15pm

Thought of another! Kitty Carlisle replaced Irra Petina on the "Song of Norway" recording. I love Carlisle's campy line readings and "Now" is thrilling, but I've always wanted to hear what Petina sounded like. She is one of my favorite flop queens. Does anyone know if she recorded her songs on her own label?

[justoldbill]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 10:34pm

"Eileen Rodgers as Bobo", of course!!! Which leads me to the soundtrack of PORGY AND BESS where Cab Calloway replaces Sammy Davis, Jr. on the album for contract purposes, probably one of the most famous such instances we have. And, yes, Irra Petina did record some SONG OF NORWAY sides of her own, but I don't know if they ever made it to LP, much less CD.

Updated On: 5/13/12 at 10:34 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 10:44pm

I still like having Kert's perhaps less touching but more Broadway take on the role as an alternative.

I've said this a million time but having seen Dean Jones once and Larry Kert 4 times, Larry Kert was MUCH more moving as Bobby.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 10:44pm

On the cast album of Oklahoma!, Alfred Drake replaced Howard Da Silva on "Lonely Room."

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 10:46pm

PJ,

Can't agree there.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 10:48pm

Technicality??? The "Lonely Room" side was recorded separately from the main body of the original cast album and released separately and later as a single, along with the second half of "The Farmer And The Cowman", Drake being connected with Decca on his own.

Updated On: 5/13/12 at 10:48 PM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 11:22pm

Ty Taylor subbed for Billy Porter on the Songs for a New World cast recording because Porter had contractual obligations with another record company that would not allow him to do it.

I remember reading that this was also why Joan Jett didn't do the Rocky Horror recording, but maybe that was just P.R. management if that stuff about her monetary and creative control demands is true.

[tim10086]

Posted: 5/13/12 at 11:39pm

Any insight into the OLC of The Secret Garden, and why Peter Polycarpou didn't record the role of Neville? (Alastair Harvey did it in his place).

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/14/12 at 1:00am

"maybe that was just P.R. management if that stuff about her monetary and creative control demands is true."

Yes, I think the "record label refusing to let her perform" excuse is kinda like "artistic differences", or "vocal problems", The Distinctive Baritone. Phrases that are sometimes used to save face.

Her manager, Kenny Laguna, said a lot of things at the time that displayed an inflated sense of ego. Things like they wanted control over the recording so they could be sure it was "up to her standards". Can you imagine any other actor in a small role whose contribution on the recording consisted of only a short guitar solo, and only a handful of her own lines making such demands?

The official line in the end was that they "could not come to terms" with the producers. I think Laguna did not serve her well in this case. She came off looking like a spoiled prima donna.
Playbill story.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/14/12 at 1:47am

^Whatever the reason I do miss the guitar solo on the album. I sort of wish they could have still included it even if Joan didn't play it.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/14/12 at 2:11am

I wasn't able to see the production... what guitar solo?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/14/12 at 2:15am

I had no idea that Lonely Room was released as a single--what an odd single choice, as much as I do like the song (and feel the movie should have included it). I always found it odd when Decca went back to do Vol Two of the Oklahoma! cast album (I think a year into the run)--I know they released it on two 78rpms, with Farmer and the Cowmen taking two sides of one and I guess Drake didn't have any solos in it or Scandal/Outrage so they gave him the song...

[K8eeyore]

Posted: 5/14/12 at 5:08am

Kind of an odd one, but The Artful Dodger on the OBC recording is not Davy Jones, who originated the role on Broadway. There was another kid, Michael Goodman, who did the pre-Broadway tour but was replaced before the show got to NYC. But they recorded the cast album during the tour, so Goodman's Artful Dodger got saved for posterity.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/14/12 at 6:39am

"Whatever the reason I do miss the guitar solo on the album. I sort of wish they could have still included it even if Joan didn't play it."

"I wasn't able to see the production... what guitar solo?"

Joan Jett's Columbia in Rocky Horror was re-imagined and tailored for her skill set. She was bald, her clothing punk-like. In place of Little Nell's iconic tap dance break, a stage hand brought out a guitar, and Ms Jett played a brief (and quite remarkable) solo.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/14/12 at 8:46am

BTW, is it really Alfred Drake singing "Lonely Room" on the OBC? That kinda blows my mind.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 5/14/12 at 9:09am

After Eight: I guess it's none of my business, but you have picked on Gaveston2 to a ridiculous degree. She is one of the politest and most knowledgeable posters on here. You appear to enjoy being the "bad boy" on this Board.