Camelot [Original Soundtrack]

by Camelot / O.s.t.

Overview

Just as Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's 1960 Broadway musical Camelot was judged in the shadow of its predecessor, the same team's 1956 blockbuster My Fair Lady, and found wanting, the 1967 film adaptation of Camelot came in the wake of the 1964 movie of My Fair Lady, an eight-time Oscar winner, and again fell well short. Despite the three-hour running time, there wasn't time for half a dozen songs, which have been deleted, leaving the highlights, such as the title song and "If Ever I Would Leave You." The Broadway cast of Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet has been replaced for the screen by Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, and Franco Nero (whose singing voice is dubbed by Gene Merlino), a considerable step down. Harris is a much more demonstrative King Arthur than Burton, overplaying his role as if he's trying to be a royal Henry Higgins, as played by Rex Harrison (in My Fair Lady), on tracks such as "How to Handle a Woman." Redgrave has the impossible task of replacing Andrews (who must not have been available to play Guenevere), and she doesn't even come close; in fact, she can't sing. Merlino sings Lancelot as a tenor. He has a good voice, but he's not a patch on Goulet. The result is a mediocre soundtrack album that really doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as the original broadway cast recording. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	10/25/1990
Label:	Warner Bros. / Warner Music
UPC:	0075992732529
Rank:	44097

Tracks

1. Camelot~Prelude and Overture
2. Camelot~I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight
3. Camelot~The Simple Joys of Maidenhood
4. Camelot~Camelot / The Wedding Ceremony
5. Camelot~C'Est Moi
6. Camelot~The Lusty Month of May
7. Camelot~Follow Me / Children's Chorus
8. Camelot~How to Handle a Woman
9. Camelot~Take Me to the Fair
10. Camelot~If Ever I Would Leave You -- Love Montage
11. Camelot~What Do the Simple Folk Do?
12. Camelot~I Loved You Once in Silence
13. Camelot~Guenevere
14. Camelot~Finale Ultimo

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Vanessa Redgrave   Primary Artist
Gene Merlino   Primary Artist
Richard Harris   Primary Artist
Franco Nero   Primary Artist
Alfred Newman   Conductor

Technical Credits

Gene Merlino   Cast
David Hemmings   Cast
Vanessa Redgrave   Cast
Richard Harris   Performer
Dan Wallin   Mixing
Sonny Burke   Producer
Lee Herschberg   Remixing
Lowell Frank   Engineer
Lionel Jeffries   Cast
Ed Thrasher   Art Direction
Alan Jay Lerner   Liner Notes,Composer
Jack Warner   Liner Notes
Frederick Loewe   Composer