I had this album on cassette so I was familiar with many of the alternates, then I had the truncated CD until the fantastic Arista box set (which was still missing "this is not a cave." A friend of mine had the two LP version, but one of the discs was destroyed and the other was almost destroyed. This thread has inspired me to seek out a copy of the LP, however.
I had this album on cassette so I was familiar with many of the alternates, then I had the truncated CD until the fantastic Arista box set (which was still missing "this is not a cave." A friend of mine had the two LP version, but one of the discs was destroyed and the other was almost destroyed. This thread has inspired me to seek out a copy of the LP, however.
Perhaps you should create a JW LP arrangement compilation set with tracks that never came to CD
Well this is a somewhat aged thread, but I just edited together "The Heroics of Luke and Han". I'm reasonably pleased with the results. I'm sure it's not perfect, but it will do until the LLL / Intrada / Whoever SUPER GENIUS EDITION of the Star Wars Trilogy complete with original LP mixes. Right?
Christmas 1980 When I was 11 years old I received both tapes of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back along with a small mono handheld tape recorder for playback. Probably one of the best Xmas gifts I ever received. Then when I was 19 quite by chance I bought a 2nd hand copy of the 2 LP set of Empire in a 2nd hand music shop on Jamaica St near the river Clyde. I was unaware this double album existed and hearing the equivalent of a whole extra LP of Empire Music really rocked my boat. I set about committing the entire double album to C90 tape and for a good few years it was a favourite on my Walkman. By the time I was 27 I was studying at the Royal College of Music in London and I walked into Tower Records Piccadilly and happened to notice an oblong box set with the Star Wars poster on the cover. Could this include what I had been hoping to find for years? Namely a CD release of the Empire double LP? Although I was a student with little spare cash I immediately splashed out and bought the Arista box and I got more than I had bargained for! This was at the very dawn of the internet for me so I found out about the Arista release the old fashioned way... by rummaging! I remember I kept on asking the sales assistant if this was indeed the actual CD release of the 2LP Empire set. He didn't know what I was talking about. I couldn't believe my luck! Finally two years later at the age of 29 I bought the three RCA complete releases which coincided happily with my first singing job on a film soundtrack. At the time I was singing in Extra Chorus for Die Meistersingers at Covent Garden and Terry Edwards approached me one day after a rehearsal and asked quite casually if I would like to take part in the sessions with London Voices for Phantom Menace the following Sunday at Abbey Road. I nearly fainted and went on to sing in a similar capacity on AOTC and ROTS. I still have the treasured framed photo of myself standing with John Williams in Abbey Road which hangs proudly on my living room wall. So in this way the music of Star Wars came to me (and all of us) in "dribs and drabs" but in a way I'm glad the releases were staggered in this way. For some reason it made all of the music feel at once nostalgic and totally fresh all at the same time. I can't really explain it. I still have my three old tapes of the original soundtracks which now decorate one of my CD shelves. Those little tapes were life changing because effectively they made me love the sound of the orchestra and I went on to devour the entire canon of 20th century classical music as well as becoming an opera singer... In large part due to the music of Star Wars. Just one question. When first I played the RCA Empire set I noticed a glaring anomaly not present on the double LP. There is a prominent solo for alto flute within the cue entitled "Departure of Boba Fett" and it appears from 8:44-9:11 on "Carbon Freeze/Darth Vader's Trap/Departure of Boba Fett" on the RCA complete reissue. However this flute passage is hardly audible on the RCA release whereas it seemed very prominent on the old double LP. Has anyone else noticed this? Is this a mixing issue?
Christmas 1980 When I was 11 years old I received both tapes of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back along with a small mono handheld tape recorder for playback. Probably one of the best Xmas gifts I ever received. Then when I was 19 quite by chance I bought a 2nd hand copy of the 2 LP set of Empire in a 2nd hand music shop on Jamaica St near the river Clyde. I was unaware this double album existed and hearing the equivalent of a whole extra LP of Empire Music really rocked my boat. I set about committing the entire double album to C90 tape and for a good few years it was a favourite on my Walkman. By the time I was 27 I was studying at the Royal College of Music in London and I walked into Tower Records Piccadilly and happened to notice an oblong box set with the Star Wars poster on the cover. Could this include what I had been hoping to find for years? Namely a CD release of the Empire double LP? Although I was a student with little spare cash I immediately splashed out and bought the Arista box and I got more than I had bargained for! This was at the very dawn of the internet for me so I found out about the Arista release the old fashioned way... by rummaging! I remember I kept on asking the sales assistant if this was indeed the actual CD release of the 2LP Empire set. He didn't know what I was talking about. I couldn't believe my luck! Finally two years later at the age of 29 I bought the three RCA complete releases which coincided happily with my first singing job on a film soundtrack. At the time I was singing in Extra Chorus for Die Meistersingers at Covent Garden and Terry Edwards approached me one day after a rehearsal and asked quite casually if I would like to take part in the sessions with London Voices for Phantom Menace the following Sunday at Abbey Road. I nearly fainted and went on to sing in a similar capacity on AOTC and ROTS. I still have the treasured framed photo of myself standing with John Williams in Abbey Road which hangs proudly on my living room wall. So in this way the music of Star Wars came to me (and all of us) in "dribs and drabs" but in a way I'm glad the releases were staggered in this way. For some reason it made all of the music feel at once nostalgic and totally fresh all at the same time. I can't really explain it. I still have my three old tapes of the original soundtracks which now decorate one of my CD shelves. Those little tapes were life changing because effectively they made me love the sound of the orchestra and I went on to devour the entire canon of 20th century classical music as well as becoming an opera singer... In large part due to the music of Star Wars. Just one question. When first I played the RCA Empire set I noticed a glaring anomaly not present on the double LP. There is a prominent solo for alto flute within the cue entitled "Departure of Boba Fett" and it appears from 8:44-9:11 on "Carbon Freeze/Darth Vader's Trap/Departure of Boba Fett" on the RCA complete reissue. However this flute passage is hardly audible on the RCA release whereas it seemed very prominent on the old double LP. Has anyone else noticed this? Is this a mixing issue?
Great story - thanks for sharing. Small world, but I bought mine from that very same Tower Records store too, back in 1993. Still remember the thrill of just seeing it there unexpectedly, pre-internet-hype era! My hands were almost shaking with excitement at the prospect of all the musical treasures within! Likewise I was a student too and really should have been saving my money, but - well it was a must have wasn't it! Still have mine and listen to it often. Hard to believe it's 20 years old now...
As for the differences, I think it's partially the mixing (I much prefer the LP mixes to the RCA sets) and in some cases different takes. I'm sure the experts will be along shortly to confirm/deny that
