West Side Story (1961 soundtrack)

Last updated
West Side Story
WestSideStory(soundtrack).jpg
Soundtrack album by
Various
ReleasedOctober 1961
Recorded1960–1961
Genre Film soundtrack
Length75:42
Label Columbia Masterworks
Producer Didier Deutsch
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [1]

West Side Story is the soundtrack album to the 1961 film West Side Story , featuring music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Released in 1961, the soundtrack spent 54 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard 's stereo albums charts, giving it the longest run at No. 1 of any album in history, [2] although some lists instead credit Michael Jackson's Thriller , on the grounds that this run for West Side Story was on a chart for stereo albums only at a time when many albums were recorded in mono. [3] It did also spend 6 weeks at the top of the Billboard chart for mono albums. In 1962, it won a Grammy award for "Best Sound Track Album – Original Cast". In the United States, it was one of the best-selling albums of the 1960s, [4] certifying three times platinum by the RIAA on November 21, 1986.

Contents

Though the album was released just a few years after the release of the original broadway cast recording, it is according to musical theater historian Ethan Mordden preferred by some to the earlier version both sentimentally, as the film succeeded in establishing the musical as a "popular masterpiece", and musically, as it contains "beefier orchestration". [5]

Dubbing

In her autobiography, I Could Have Sung All Night, Marni Nixon writes about singing the role of Maria and of her observations of some of the other singers whose voices were dubbed into the film. [6] Very little of the singing in the finished film and on the soundtrack album was contributed by the on-screen stars of the film; while George Chakiris did all of his own singing for the few solo lines of his character Bernardo, Jim Bryant entirely dubbed the singing role of Tony for Richard Beymer, and Rita Moreno's singing as Anita was partly dubbed by Betty Wand (and by Nixon). According to Moreno herself, Wand dubbed all or part of her singing in "A Boy Like That", although it's not clear if that was the total extent of the dubbing she did. Russ Tamblyn, who plays Riff in the film, provided his own vocals for the song "Gee, Officer Krupke" and for a few lines in the "Tonight" ensemble, but in the "Jet Song" he was dubbed by Tucker Smith, who plays the role of Ice in the film. Smith himself sings his character's song "Cool" and his own lines in the "Tonight" ensemble.

Final determination of which voices would be used and to what extent for the film's songs was left to producer Saul Chaplin, who at various times told Nixon that her voice would be used to supplement or extend that of actress Natalie Wood or to replace it altogether. [6] According to various sources, Wood was assured throughout the recording and filming process that her vocals would be used for most of Maria's singing in the film, with Nixon's voice dubbed in only for the higher, more challenging vocal sections, and Wood did lip sync to her own pre-recorded tracks of the songs during filming. But after filming was complete, Nixon post-dubbed or "looped" all of Maria's songs while watching film loops. Nixon also dubbed several lines for Moreno in the latter part of the "Tonight" ensemble, because the range of that section was too high for both Moreno and Betty Wand. Although it was not industry standard at the time, Nixon arranged to receive a small percentage of the royalties for sales of the soundtrack, which, as she did not receive credit for her performance on the album, she indicates helped "salve any wounds". [7]

While the film was released by United Artists, the soundtrack album was produced and released by Columbia Masterworks Records as part of rights it acquired in producing the Broadway cast album. [8]

Track listing

All music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Vocal performers listed parenthetically after song title.

CD version

  1. "Overture" – 4:39
  2. "Prologue" – 6:37
  3. "Jet Song" (Tucker Smith, Jets) – 2:06
  4. "Something's Coming" (Jim Bryant) – 2:32
  5. "Dance at the Gym" (Blues, Promenade, Mambo, Cha-cha, film dialogue, and Jump) – 9:24 [9]
  6. "Maria" (Bryant) – 2:34
  7. "America" (Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Sharks & Girls) – 4:59
  8. "Tonight" (Jim Bryant, Marni Nixon) – 6:43
  9. "Gee, Officer Krupke" (Russ Tamblyn, Jets) – 4:14
  10. "Intermission" – 1:30 [10]
  11. "I Feel Pretty" (Nixon, Yvonne Wilder credited as Yvonne Othon, Suzie Kaye) – 3:35
  12. "One Hand, One Heart" (Bryant, Nixon) – 3:02
  13. "Tonight Quintet" (Bryant, Nixon, Moreno, Jets, Sharks; the counterpoint section of Anita's vocals are performed here by Nixon) – 3:22
  14. "The Rumble" – 2:39
  15. "Somewhere" (Bryant, Nixon) – 2:03
  16. "Cool" (Tucker Smith, Jets) – 4:21
  17. "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" (Betty Wand, Nixon) – 4:28
  18. "Finale" (Natalie Wood, Nixon, Richard Beymer) – 4:20
  19. "End Credits" (Instrumental) – 5:09

Original LP version

Side 1

  1. "Prologue" - 5:39
  2. "Jet Song" - 2:11
  3. "Something's Coming" - 2:38
  4. "Dance at the Gym" (Blues, Promenade, and Jump) - 3:37
  5. "Maria" - 2:40
  6. "America" - 5:05
  7. "Tonight" - 3:35

Side 2

  1. "Gee, Officer Krupke" – 4:14
  2. "I Feel Pretty" – 3:35
  3. "One Hand, One Heart" – 3:02
  4. "Tonight Quintet" – 3:22
  5. "The Rumble" – 2:39
  6. "Cool" – 4:21
  7. "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" – 4:28
  8. "Somewhere (Finale)" – 2:03

Film (1961) soundtrack song start times

Chart positions

YearLabel & numberChartPosition
1962Columbia OL 5670 (Mono) / OS 2070 (Stereo)Billboard Pop Albums (Billboard 200) (mono and stereo)1
UK Albums Chart [12]
1963Columbia OL 5670 (Mono) / OS 2070 (Stereo)Billboard Pop Albums (Billboard 200) (mono and stereo)
UK Albums Chart [12]

Personnel

Performance

Production

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria) [13] Platinum50,000*
France (SNEP) [14] Platinum300,000*
Germany (BVMI) [15] Gold250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI) [16] Gold50,000^
Norway—7,000 [17]
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [18] Platinum100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [19]
Original Soundtrack: 2012-2013 sales 		Gold100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [20]
Studio Cast Recording: 1985-1986 sales 		2× Platinum600,000^
United States (RIAA) [21] 3× Platinum3,000,000^
United States (RIAA) [22]
Original Cast 		Gold4,030,000 [23]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

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"Maria" is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story, sung by the lead character Tony. The music was written by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The song was published in 1956.

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West Side Story is a 1961 American musical romantic drama film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, written by Ernest Lehman, and produced by Wise. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same title, which in turn was inspired by Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris, and was photographed by Daniel L. Fapp in Super Panavision 70. The music was composed by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

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Gypsy is a 1962 American musical film produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Leonard Spigelgass is based on the book of the 1959 stage musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable by Arthur Laurents, which was adapted from the 1957 autobiography Gypsy: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee. Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics for songs composed by Jule Styne. The film was remade for television in 1993.

"Tonight" is a song from the 1957 musical West Side Story with music written by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was published in 1956.

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James Howard Bryant was an American singer, arranger and composer. He is best known for providing the singing voice of Tony in the 1961 film musical West Side Story. While he received no screen credit, he states that Beymer was "a nice guy, and every time he did an interview he would mention my name." He also sang for James Fox in the 1967 film musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, and sang in "The Telephone Hour" number in Bye Bye Birdie. He also sang in the group that performed the theme song of the TV series Batman.

"Something's Coming" is a song from the 1957 musical West Side Story. It was composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and is sung solo by the male lead character and tenor 'Tony'. The part of Tony was played by Larry Kert in the original Broadway production, Richard Beymer in the 1961 film and Ansel Elgort in the 2021 film.

"Somewhere", sometimes referred to as "Somewhere (There's a Place for Us)" or simply "There's a Place for Us", is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story that was made into films in 1961 and 2021. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

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"A Boy Like That/I Have A Love" is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. In the musical, the song is sung by the characters Anita and Maria. For the original Broadway cast recording, the song was performed by Chita Rivera (Anita) and Carol Lawrence (Maria). In the 1961 film version the roles were played by Rita Moreno and Natalie Wood, but the songs were dubbed by Betty Wand and Marni Nixon. However, the repeat of the two stanzas, sung by Anita, along with Maria's counterpoint of her defense, was omitted because of the complexity of the song, as well as to avoid the repetition, which would have slowed down the pace of the film. In the 2021 film, the roles were played by Ariana DeBose and Rachel Zegler.

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<i>West Side Story</i> (2021 film) 2021 film by Steven Spielberg

West Side Story is a 2021 American musical romantic drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Tony Kushner. The second feature-length adaptation of the 1957 stage musical of the same name, it stars Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler in her film debut with Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, and Rita Moreno in supporting roles. Moreno, who starred in the 1961 film adaptation, also served as an executive producer alongside Kushner. The film features music composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

References

  1. ↑ AllMusic review
  2. ↑ West Side Story at AllMusic
  3. ↑ Ash, Russell (2006). The Top 10 of Everything . Sterling Publishing. p.  112. ISBN   0-600-61557-X.
  4. ↑ Simpson, Paul (2003). The Rough Guide to Cult Pop. Rough Guides. p. 181. ISBN   1-84353-229-8.
  5. ↑ Mordden, Ethan (1983). Broadway babies: the people who made the American musical. Oxford University Press. p. 225. ISBN   0-19-505425-3.
  6. 1 2 Nixon, Marni; Stephen Cole; Marilyn Horne (2006). I Could Have Sung All Night. Billboard Books. p.  133. ISBN   0-8230-8365-9..
  7. ↑ Nixon, 137.
  8. ↑ Krasilovsky, M. William; Sidney Shemel; John M. Gross (2003). This Business of Music: The Definitive Guide to the Music Industry. Watson-Guptill. p. 232. ISBN   0-8230-7728-4.
  9. ↑ This song was released in a shorter three-part version on original lp pressings, omitting the "Mambo" and "Pas de Deux"; the complete five-part version was added for cd releases.
  10. ↑ This song was not present on original LP pressings, but was added for the 2004 CD re-release.
  11. ↑ All times from the 1961 film.
  12. 1 2 "The Official Charts Company - Original Soundtrack - West Side Story". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  13. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Soundtrack – West Side Story" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  14. ↑ "French album certifications – B.O.F. – West Side Story" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique . Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (O.S.T. - Various; 'Westside-Story')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – Soundtrack – West Side Story" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers . Retrieved May 6, 2019.Enter West Side Story in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1998 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  17. ↑ Erikson, Espen (May 25, 1963). "Norse Warm Up To Album Product". Billboard . Vol. 75, no. 21. p. 46. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  18. ↑ Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990 (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. 2005. ISBN   8480486392.
  19. ↑ "British album certifications – Original Soundtrack – West Side Story". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  20. ↑ "British album certifications – Studio Cast Recording – West Side Story - (Studio)". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  21. ↑ "American album certifications – Soundtrack – West Side Story". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  22. ↑ "American album certifications – Soundtrack – West Side Story". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Columbia Chart(er) Member". Billboard. May 15, 1965. p. 6. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
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