The Graduate (1967 Film) [Soundtrack]

Dave Grusin, Simon & Garfunkel | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000024PC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,965 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

According to a recent article in Variety magazine, director Mike Nichols was obsessed with Simon & Garfunkel while shooting the film; the nation would follow him in that folk-rock obsession when Mrs. Robinson rose to the top of the charts in '68. The film version of that tune appears here alongside The Sound of Silence; Scarborough Fair/Canticle (Interlude); The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine; April Come She Will , plus a handful of Dave Grusin instrumentals. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A captivating time capsule of music from a classic film, May 27, 2000

By 

David Kenner (Fort Worth, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Graduate (1967 Film) (Audio CD)

If you're looking for a good collection of Simon & Garfunkel tunes, you probably want to pass this by. Although there are a few S&G favorites here like The Sound of Silence, April Come She Will and Scarborough Fair, most of the other S&G songs are special film versions that don't always work on their own. They were marvelous in the context of the film however, and if you enjoyed the movie, you will enjoy them on this disc. The other half of the soundtrack employs a delightful lounge-type orchestral score by jazz musician and composer Dave Grusin. These instrumental tracks, consisting of fox trots, cha cha's and the like, when used in the film, represent the world of the adults while the S&G tunes represent the fears, frustrations and concerns of the younger generation. However, the Grusin tracks do work well on their own. They are bouncy, infectious and a lot of fun. The sequencing of the tracks on the album works really well and makes for a truly memorable listening experience. The sound quality is suprisingly good for a disc that hasn't been remastered in over a decade.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's More Here Than 'Koo-Koo-Ka-Choo', March 24, 2001

By 

Sandy McLendon (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Graduate (1967 Film) (Audio CD)

We all know and love the Simon & Garfunkel music for 'The Graduate', but there's much more on this album. Dave Grusin (who was totally uncredited on the original LP release of this material) contributed music, as well. The S & G tracks speak volumes for Benjamin Braddock, but Grusin speaks for Mrs. Robinson's generation, and he does it with a sly wit seldom heard in movie music. The best Grusin track on this CD is 'Sunporch Cha-Cha-Cha', a delicious spoof of all the Henry Mancini/ Frank DeVol movie music so popular with adults in the early 60's. If you're familiar with that genre, you'll laugh out loud at Grusin's ever-so-slightly overblown cha-cha, with its organ notes and woodwinds. It starts out brightly attractive, and when it's over, you realise you've been had: it's totally empty, meaningless music- perfect listening for Mrs. Robinson. This track is expertly performed; the orchestra obviously had a grand time stressing the deliberate vacuousness of Grusin's composition. One note for Simon & Garfunkel addicts: the versions of 'Mrs. Robinson' heard here are not anything like the version you're familiar with. The film used only an instrumental version; film director Mike Nichols commissioned the version with lyrics from Paul Simon after the movie's completion in hopes it would become a successful tie-up for the movie. He guessed right. This one is a must for your S & G collection, but there are other delights in store for you. Trust me.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars '60s SOUNDTRACK, August 20, 2005

By 

Guy De Federicis (east of here) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Graduate (1967 Film) (Audio CD)

Whimsical soundtrack to the 1967 Mike Nichol's film blends the foxtrot generation with the soft-core hippie music of '60s Simon and Garfunkel. Hence, you get the folkish and electric versions of "Sounds of Silence" alongside '40s cocktail lounge big band that sounds like your local TV station holding a telethon, and a hot striptease blues number, (in the film it's when Dustin Hoffman takes Katharine Ross to a strip joint), with blazing sax and rolling drum solo. The centerpiece here is Simon's traditional English folk, "Scarborough Fair", with it's precise musicbox harpsichord sounding impossibly perfect. And, where have you gone, "Mrs. Robinson"? Only the first altered stanza is found here, as it was in the movie.