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| Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) |
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| Music by Leslie Bricusse, John Williams |
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| Click to enlarge images. |
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| Line: Silver Age |
| CD Release:
March 2006
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| Catalog #: Vol. 9, No. 6 |
| # of Discs: 3 |
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Released by Special Arrangement With Turner Classic Movies Music.
FSM releases its first film musical in a spectacular and unprecedented 3CD edition: Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), featuring songs and music by Leslie Bricusse, conducted and supervised by John Williams.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips was Arthur P. Jacobs's musical remake of M-G-M's acclaimed 1939 drama, based on a novel by James Hilton about a stuffy British schoolmaster and the woman who brings love to his life. Peter O'Toole starred as Mr. Chips, alongside formidible musical talent Petula Clark as Mrs. Chips. The film was unconventional in that the characters do not "break out into song," but perform as a kind of psychological counterpoint to the story.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips was the first of John Williams's three large-scale musical adaptations (the others being Fiddler on the Roof and Tom Sawyer), a massive creative undertaking in which he was solely responsible for the film's underscore, conducting, orchestrations and source music. For Williams, this was an all-encompassing effort which helped forge his legendary "blockbuster" sound familiar on such later films as Superman and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
Although the Goodbye, Mr. Chips production came in under-budget, it had a long and colorful history of "development hell" in which multiple composers, directors, and stars were attached—and a wealth of music generated. This comprehensive 3CD set focuses on Bricusse's and Williams's involvement with a definitive chronicle of their recordings:
Disc one features the complete score as it was intended for the finished film (including several unused Williams score cues).
Disc two features an "alternate narrative" of the story through different versions of the songs (many of which were included on a "demo" LP of the soundtrack), source cues, score alternates, and promotional interviews given by the film's stars.
Disc three features the original 1969 soundtrack album, followed by yet more demo and alternate versions of songs, including "Tomorrow With Me," sung by Petula Clark and orchestrated by Williams and one of Bricusse's favorite unused songs.
The 48-page booklet features a definitive account of the movie and soundtrack's creation, written by album producer Michael Matessino (of the Star Wars Trilogy Special Editions and other Williams CD restorations).
The album is almost entirely in stereo, with interview tracks and a few source and demo cues in mono.
If you do not have any movie musicals in your collection, Goodbye, Mr. Chips is an ideal first purchase: the soundtrack was a major project for John Williams, and foreshadows his famous "epic" sound. For fans of the film, this 3CD set is a definitive presentation of the many songs and alternate versions that have been in circulation since 1969. |
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| Leslie Bricusse Scores on FSM |
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| About the Composer |
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Leslie Bricusse (b. 1931) is a British composer, lyricist and songwriter renowned for many classic songs, Broadway shows and collaborations. For film, he is best known for his movie musicals Doctor Dolittle, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Scrooge and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as well as lyrics for songs such as James Bond themes "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice" and several projects with John Williams (including Penelope and Superman: The Movie). IMDB |
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| John Williams Scores on FSM |
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| About the Composer |
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John Williams (b. 1932) is not only the composer of most of the biggest blockbusters of all time—including Star Wars, E.T., Jaws, the Indiana Jones films, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and many more, many of them directed by Steven Spielberg—but he has transcended film music to become the world's most famous living composer, and an American institution. His popular symphonic scores are so iconic that they often overshadow the fact that he has been equally proficient at sophisticated, adult fare (Schindler's List, Images) and had a successful career in composing (for television and often comedy features), arranging and performing well before he even met Steven Spielberg. FSM, like most labels, will release everything it can of Williams's music, and has concentrated (for reasons of availability) on his early years as "Johnny" Williams when he was doing sterling work on relatively little-known television and films—always with an amazing attention to melody and detail. In fact, his early works are fascinating for the ways in which they foreshadow his later, world-renowned efforts. IMDB |
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