Sorry, I'm still not clear on this. I haven't specifically read anywhere that the complete film masters are lost or anything to that effect. Not explicitly. What I have read is that "at last" we have a CD taken from the "album masters" (from the LP source then? - the content is identical). Member Warren addressed the issue on April 21. Bob DiMucci replied that if the previous Harkit release (sorry to mention them, but it's inevitable) had the film version of the song on it, then it came from a video of the film, not from the Paramount vaults. Onya said the same yesterday, adding that they'd come from a videotape that had been baked by the sun in a flea-market.
So, as a novice in the field, someone please explain the story to me as if I were a three-year-old. And why can't we get THIS on CD?
What I have read is that "at last" we have a CD taken from the "album masters" (from the LP source then? -
Did you see a question mark after the word THEN? To me that is a question or a FORM of a question that is why I wrote back to let folks know this did NOT come from an LP.
What I have read is that "at last" we have a CD taken from the "album masters" (from the LP source then? -
Did you see a question mark after the word THEN? To me that is a question or a FORM of a question that is why I wrote back to let folks know this did NOT come from an LP.
Well, I certainly didn't expect an exercise in dentistry. Let me try again -
Sorry, I'm still not clear on this. I haven't specifically read anywhere that the complete film masters are lost or anything to that effect. Not explicitly. What I have read is that "at last" we have a CD taken from the "album masters" (from the LP source then? - the content is identical). Member Warren addressed the issue on April 21. Bob DiMucci replied that if the previous Harkit release (sorry to mention them, but it's inevitable) had the film version of the song on it, then it came from a video of the film, not from the Paramount vaults. Onya said the same yesterday, adding that they'd come from a videotape that had been baked by the sun in a flea-market.
So, as a novice in the field, someone please explain the story to me as if I were a three-year-old. And why can't we get THIS on CD?
Hmm, let me try this again. Do excuse once more the "thick" assumptions and dumb questions (ah - but are they really questions, or is that what you merely infer that I'm implying, question mark) (?) -
I've got the "Dynovoice" (?) release. I believe that that was the original US release from 1968... Picked it up at 58 Dean Street records in about 1979/80. When I say "I've got" it, I really mean that my brother's now got it, because I left it at his house during my period of "no fixed abode" which began around 1982. He's still got it, the bugger, so I haven't actually heard it for 35 years - although my memory of olden times is still quite good, compared to the last few decades.
I seem to recall that in many cases the tracks merged into one another on that LP... (?). Were the little "bridges" actually part of the film soundtrack, or something created for the album? I think that it was Bob Crewe's label (?)... Did he produce the original record, select the material etc?
I don't know for sure, but I get the feeling that the music I still have in my head from that last hearing may have been the same as that heard in the film... It wasn't a re-recording, was it? And I think that it was just about complete (?)... I might be way off there.
So where did the material for the ancient original LP come from? And where exactly did the material for the new Varese come from? I've read about "the Paramount vaults", but I don't quite understand the details. Again I ask you to be patient with me. I know nothing about "masters", "tapes", "stems" and a long etceeeteraaaaaaaa.
If (and I know it's a long shot) the original material on the old vinyl WAS "as heard in the film", would the "editing-down" of the title track - while leaving the rest of the score as it was - be an anomolous situation in soundtrack history? Who took that decision? Why? Where's that missing music now?
And finally Cyril (and finally Esther), what do you think of this match of music and visuals? Personally I think it's absolutely fabulous, hypnotic, all 4m38secs of it. Red-blooded males, and good-natured lesbians, may stay tuned to catch glimpses of Jane Fonda's nipples, others just enjoy the wonderful Charles Fox (and Bob Crewe too?) music and dreamy imagery.
I seem to recall that in many cases the tracks merged into one another on that LP... (?). Were the little "bridges" actually part of the film soundtrack, or something created for the album?
The tracks do "bleed" into one another to some extent, but are still distinct enough that you can skip ahead to any track on the CD and it doesn't sound like you're jumping into the middle of a song. The album is a wonderful presentation -- even though it's a soundtrack, it seems designed to stand all on its own as an audio adventure. I don't think any of the "bridges" were created specifically for the album -- the underscore of the film contains a fair amount of psychedelic sounds, including a lot of Vinnie Bell guitar.
I think that it was Bob Crewe's label (?)... Did he produce the original record, select the material etc?
Dynovoice was Crewe's label. The liner notes to Varèse's release quote Charles Fox as saying Crewe "was not a musician, but would hum or sing ideas. Basically, I wrote the music and he wrote the lyrics. But it was a real collaboration. We really fused our individual talents in writing these songs." Crewe produced the album.
I don't know for sure, but I get the feeling that the music I still have in my head from that last hearing may have been the same as that heard in the film... It wasn't a re-recording, was it? And I think that it was just about complete (?)... I might be way off there.
If (and I know it's a long shot) the original material on the old vinyl WAS "as heard in the film", would the "editing-down" of the title track - while leaving the rest of the score as it was - be an anomolous situation in soundtrack history?
As I'm sure you know, it was common back in the 60s for "soundtrack" albums to be re-recordings, but Barbarella is not. The youtube clip of the opening titles is the same recording as on the album; except, as you say, it's been "edited down" on the album. I don't know why this decision might have been made. I have 2 promo 7" records on the Dynovoice label, one of "Barbarella"/"Love Drags Me Down" and one of "Black Queen's Beads"/"An Angel Is Love." These are the same recordings as they appear on the LP. Maybe they were hoping for some Top 40 chart action with these, and edited it to make it more "radio-friendly"?
I think the album does contain the bulk of the music in the film, though briefly skipping through the DVD I can find a few omissions -- right after the opening titles, there's a fanfare that plays just before Barbarella speaks to the President of Earth. It also seemed like "The Destruction of Sogo" track is longer in the film than on the record. And of course, Jane Fonda blissfully hums the theme after her encounter with "The Ice Man."
I revisited the original, unused Michel Magne score which was released on the Universal France label a few years back, and noticed that just a tiny bit of his score remains in the film. Alfie, her spaceship's computer, wakes her up early in the film by singing something like, "De-acceleration looks in line / Barbarella rise and shine." The tune seems to be the same as the beginning of the Magne track "L'envol Du Vaisseau" from the unused score.
Good stuff, purplemonkey! I had no idea of Vinnie Bell's involvement in the creation of the soundtrack. Agreed, it is an almost perfect listening experience on album - everything just seems to flow so well, and it's all so inventive that it never gets boring. No dull patches at all!
It's interesting that you say that the edited-down Main Title might have been done to make it more radio-friendly, in the hope of a hit single. That's plausible, but I just wish that Bob Crewe (if it was his decision) had put the complete version on the LP, and maybe have the shorter version set aside for airplay. As I mentioned before, I think it may be a real anomaly in soundtrack history - a "complete" original soundtrack (not re-recorded) which omits half of the Main Title music. I might be in the minority, but I love that music so much - as heard in the film - that I can't now listen to the first track on the LP/CD without being aware of the, admittedly professionally done, edits.
I glean from the responses so far that the full Main Title is not in the Paramount vaults, so it's as good as lost. Such a pity if that's the case. Mind you, it's still one of the most enjoyable soundtrack experiences in the history of the universe!
For some reason not reported anywhere else on the site, but, The Great Tyrant, Anita Pallenberg died a couple of days ago, aged 73 (well only half of the Great Tyrant, the voice was the actress Joan Greenwood).
I just got the Varese cd, and like others here, am disappointed that the full opening theme isn't on the Varese. I guess the only option is to get the Blu-ray BARBARELLA.
PS---this is the first cd I've heard that has no blank intervals between the tracks.
I thought it was something like that with all the tracks running into each other---it's really odd.
But it works. I simply cannot imagine listening to "Pygar's Persecution" and "The Black Queen's Beads" by themselves. They are for me one single track. (They are also the highlight of the album.)
"The Black Queen's Beads" is a fantastic track -- not just one of the highlights this album, but one of the highlights of my life! It found its way onto many a mixtape I made back in the day, when I still had the energy for such things.
Because the beginning and end of "Beads" sort of bleeds into the adjacent tracks, when I would make my mixtapes, I would try to artfully, manually fade in the beginning of the tune, and fade it out at the end, necessarily including some of the "psychedelic sounds" as it transitions to the next track, "Dead Duck." I actually sought out the 7" version because I hoped it would have a "clean" beginning and end and would be easier to incorporate into a mixtape. As it turns out, the beginning of the 7' is clean (just like if you jump ahead to this track on the Varèse CD), but the end of the 7" does the same as my manual "fade out" that includes the transition sounds.
Interestingly, the "Barbarella" theme 7" also does not end clean, but fades out on the psychedelic transition sounds that, on the CD, are at the beginning of the next track, "Goodnight Alfie."
dragon53, I do not have the 2011 Harkit release, but I do have the Harkit 2002 release, and the Harkit/Beatball 2007 release. These were definitely mastered from vinyl LP. Varèse has been a little cagey about revealing the source for their reissue, except to say that it is "not from an LP." Because they haven't been more explicit, I'm assuming they did not have access to multi-track master tapes, but maybe had the finalized, "mixed" master tape (or a reel-to-reel??) and were able to re-master it using modern digital technology -? If you are looking for the best-sounding CD release, I think the Varèse is absolutely the way to go. The Harkit has 3 radio spot commercials on it that the Varèse does not, but I found those to be fairly pedestrian -- a voiceover announcer urging you to see the movie, along with soundbites of dialog, underscored with the same music that is on both the Varèse and Harkit CDs.
For fun, here is Yellow 357's "Quelle Sensation Bizarre" from 1996, which is based -- pretty heavily if you ask me -- on sample(s) from "Black Queen Beads." I think they were trying to do something to replicate Dee-Lite's "Groove Is In The Heart," which had been a recent hit then.
Thanks for the info. The reason I'm interested in the 2011 Harkit is because I think it has the full opening credits "Barbarella" theme which is four minutes, 15 seconds as in the movie, but the Varese version is only 2 minutes, 40 seconds.
Ah! I see. Like I said, I do not have that specific 2011 release, so I'm unable to speak specifically to the quality of that track. It's not on the 2002 or 2007 releases.
I am 99% sure that this recording was sourced from DVD/BluRay disc, so the quality of the Harkit recording would not be any better than if you dubbed it from the DVD/BluRay yourself (assuming you have that capability).
IMHO I think the Varèse CD would still be the way to go for the main soundtrack. For the full version of the main theme, I cannot speak to the quality of the 2011 Harkit, but it is probably not an upgrade from a dub you could make yourself from the DVD/BluRay.
Thanks for the info. I might buy the Blu-ray BARBARELLA just to listen to the full theme----something I did for for the Blu-ray IN LIKE FLINT which has the full opening theme which the various cd releases don't have.
Maybe somebody who has the 2001 Harkit and the Varese can compare the audio quality between the two.
