steviefromalaska
12-13-2015, 10:46 PM
Larry Kert seemed to have the total package for super stardom on the Great White Way: he was leading man handsome, a really good actor, he possessed a fantastically beautiful and expressive bari-tenor voice and he was a highly skilled dancer. He was already an established dancer in films and on the stage when he created the role of Tony in “West Side Story”. It would be three flops, a replacement stint in “Cabaret” and more than a decade later that he would star in a hit show again, Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” as the ultimate Bobby and he starred in the show when it moved to London’s West End after the Broadway run. I was lucky enough to have seen Kert in London in 1972; he certainly was the perfect embodiment of Bobby, and sang & acted the role better than anybody since, in my opinion.
Because the original Broadway cast album was recorded on multiple tracks to be mixed in CBS’ then new SQ quadraphonic process, the orchestral tracks were more isolated than usual for Cast Recordings which proved fortuitous for Larry Kert. Before the show moved to London, CBS was able to record Kert’s vocals using the original cast recording’s existing orchestral tracks and Susan Browning joined him and laid down a new duet of “Barcelona”. These new vocal tracks, combined with the rest of the Broadway Cast Recording, were released by CBS only in England on LP (and later briefly on CD) as the London Cast Recording, but this album has never been released in the US in any format, although Kert’s definitive vocal of “Being Alive” was included as a bonus track on the Sony Broadway CD release of the Broadway Cast Album. Several years ago I did a new mix of this recording from a � inch multi track tape copy of the recording sessions but I have always intended to try an alternate Quadraphonic mix of the album. The SQ 4 channel system is now obsolete making the gimmicky 4 channel mix of the Original Broadway Album not possible (and in my opinion not desirable.) I have instead remixed the recording for surround playback in the Dolby Pro Logic II music mode, which is available on the majority of Audio Video receivers & preamps today and uses logarithms similar to the old SQ process. This new 4 channel surround mix is nothing like the SQ one of the original Broadway album featuring Dean Jones as Bobby (although otherwise it is derived from the same recording sessions, except for Kert replacing Jones); the lead vocals are more centered but there is plenty of left/right action and the surrounds are used to increase the sound stage and for ambience. It sounds especially wonderful on headphones but also with 5 or even the usual 2 speaker stereo configuration. I sincerely hope that Masterworks Broadway will release this recording worldwide sometime soon and that lots of people will buy it, but in the meantime enjoy this Quadraphonic mix which, with Larry Kert as Bobby makes this version, in my opinion, the finest recording of Stephen Sondheim’s landmark score ever and as such is one of the greatest recordings of the 20th. Century. Please, out of respect for the artists involved, confine this download to your own personal use and do not publish this link on any other forum or anywhere else.
MP3 (320 kbps): http://www.mediafire.com/file/t2tm1j5eu5re6f3/CompKert%20SurrRM.zip
Musical Numbers:
Act One
1. "Company" - Larry Kert & Company
2. "The Little Things You Do Together" - Elaine Stritch, Charles Kimbrough & Company
3. "Sorry-Grateful" - Charles Kimbrough, George Coe & Charles Braswell
4. "Have I Got a Girl for You" - Charles Braswell, John Cunningham, Steve Elmore, George Coe & Charles Kimbrough
5. "Someone Is Waiting" - Larry Kert
6. "Another Hundred People" - Pamela Myers
7. "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" - Donna McKechnie, Pamela Myers & Susan Browning
8. "Getting Married Today" - Beth Howland, Steve Elmore, Teri Ralston & Company
Act Two
9. "Side by Side by Side" - Larry Kert & Company
10. "What Would We Do Without You?" - Larry Kert & Company
11. "Poor Baby" - Barbara Barrie, Teri Ralston, Merle Louise, Beth Howland & Elaine Stritch
12. “Happily Ever After” - Larry Kert; "Tick Tock" - Company
13. "Barcelona" - Larry Kert & Susan Browning
14. "The Ladies Who Lunch" - Elaine Stritch
15. "Being Alive" - Larry Kert
16. “Finale” - Larry Kert & Company
Musical Direction by Harold Hastings
Because the original Broadway cast album was recorded on multiple tracks to be mixed in CBS’ then new SQ quadraphonic process, the orchestral tracks were more isolated than usual for Cast Recordings which proved fortuitous for Larry Kert. Before the show moved to London, CBS was able to record Kert’s vocals using the original cast recording’s existing orchestral tracks and Susan Browning joined him and laid down a new duet of “Barcelona”. These new vocal tracks, combined with the rest of the Broadway Cast Recording, were released by CBS only in England on LP (and later briefly on CD) as the London Cast Recording, but this album has never been released in the US in any format, although Kert’s definitive vocal of “Being Alive” was included as a bonus track on the Sony Broadway CD release of the Broadway Cast Album. Several years ago I did a new mix of this recording from a � inch multi track tape copy of the recording sessions but I have always intended to try an alternate Quadraphonic mix of the album. The SQ 4 channel system is now obsolete making the gimmicky 4 channel mix of the Original Broadway Album not possible (and in my opinion not desirable.) I have instead remixed the recording for surround playback in the Dolby Pro Logic II music mode, which is available on the majority of Audio Video receivers & preamps today and uses logarithms similar to the old SQ process. This new 4 channel surround mix is nothing like the SQ one of the original Broadway album featuring Dean Jones as Bobby (although otherwise it is derived from the same recording sessions, except for Kert replacing Jones); the lead vocals are more centered but there is plenty of left/right action and the surrounds are used to increase the sound stage and for ambience. It sounds especially wonderful on headphones but also with 5 or even the usual 2 speaker stereo configuration. I sincerely hope that Masterworks Broadway will release this recording worldwide sometime soon and that lots of people will buy it, but in the meantime enjoy this Quadraphonic mix which, with Larry Kert as Bobby makes this version, in my opinion, the finest recording of Stephen Sondheim’s landmark score ever and as such is one of the greatest recordings of the 20th. Century. Please, out of respect for the artists involved, confine this download to your own personal use and do not publish this link on any other forum or anywhere else.
MP3 (320 kbps): http://www.mediafire.com/file/t2tm1j5eu5re6f3/CompKert%20SurrRM.zip
Musical Numbers:
Act One
1. "Company" - Larry Kert & Company
2. "The Little Things You Do Together" - Elaine Stritch, Charles Kimbrough & Company
3. "Sorry-Grateful" - Charles Kimbrough, George Coe & Charles Braswell
4. "Have I Got a Girl for You" - Charles Braswell, John Cunningham, Steve Elmore, George Coe & Charles Kimbrough
5. "Someone Is Waiting" - Larry Kert
6. "Another Hundred People" - Pamela Myers
7. "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" - Donna McKechnie, Pamela Myers & Susan Browning
8. "Getting Married Today" - Beth Howland, Steve Elmore, Teri Ralston & Company
Act Two
9. "Side by Side by Side" - Larry Kert & Company
10. "What Would We Do Without You?" - Larry Kert & Company
11. "Poor Baby" - Barbara Barrie, Teri Ralston, Merle Louise, Beth Howland & Elaine Stritch
12. “Happily Ever After” - Larry Kert; "Tick Tock" - Company
13. "Barcelona" - Larry Kert & Susan Browning
14. "The Ladies Who Lunch" - Elaine Stritch
15. "Being Alive" - Larry Kert
16. “Finale” - Larry Kert & Company
Musical Direction by Harold Hastings