Oliver! (1968 Film Soundtrack) [Soundtrack, Original recording remastered]

Mark Lester, Harry Secombe, Lionel Bart, Sheila White, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver! (Related Recordings) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack, Original recording remastered
• Label: American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
• ASIN: B000002W8R
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,860 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Overture - LIONEL BART

2. Food, Glorious Food - LIONEL BART

3. Boy For Sale - LIONEL BART

4. Where Is Love? - Mark Lester

5. You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two - Ron Moody

6. Consider Yourself - Jack Wild,Mark Lester and Ensamble

7. I'd Do Anything - Jack Wild,Shani Wallis,Sheila White,Mark Lester,Ro

8. Be Back Soon - Ron Moody and Boys

9. As Long As He Needs Me - Shani Wallis

10. Who Will Buy? - Mark Lester and Ensamble

11. It's A Fine Life - Shani Wallis,Sheila White and 'The Three Cripples'

12. Reviewing the Situation - Ron Moody

13. Oom-Pah-Pah - Shani Wallis and 'The Three Cripples'Crowd

14. Finale(Where Is Love?/Consider Yourself) - Orchestra and Ensamble

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lyrically, Musical, A Fine Soundtrack, March 19, 2004

By 

A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com "What should ... (Glen Ellyn, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Oliver! (1968 Film Soundtrack) (Audio CD)

There have been a few remakes over the years, and even this, too, is a remake. In general, due to the musical power of Lionel Bart, they all work. However, this is the one which won the awards and the hearts of listeners.

Why?

It sounds like it is fresh out of the box, without that contrived, "trying to sound like Broadway" vocalized music. These guys are singing, not just putting notes to words. Their accents are believable and never forced.

I first had "Oliver!" in LP form when I was a child, back when vinyl was the thing. The CD is great, but could be brighter. Hopefully, a better version is on its way. If they can fix that, my four stars will become six.

"Food, Glorious Food/Oliver!" -- This is the famous song about wanting what rich man have, indigestion!

"Boy for Sale" -- It is what you think, child slavery in Merry Ol' England. It is sing somber, cold and bitter.

"Where Is Love?" -- Oliver asks the eternal question, wandering empty and missing the family he never had. You can feel his pain and loneliness, a theme known by every character from Fagin to the Dodger.

"Pick a Pocket or Two" -- Fagin remarks his angst against society, and his response to poverty. He's half Pied Piper, half Robin Hood, and half mob boss and 100% bad. His voice is rich and layered.

"Consider Yourself" -- The Artful Dodger lets Oliver knows that family is family, even when they aren't family. Catchy song.

"I'd Do Anything" -- The Dodger and Nancy declare their bond of friendship, and Oliver and Fagin chime in.

"Be Back Soon" -- The song seems at first like it was tossed in, but Moody's elocution is perfect.

"As Long as He Needs Me" -- Nancy sings about her love for her thieving, deceitful man, Bill. Her love is buoyed by codependency and insecurity.

"Who Will Buy?" -- Mark Lester's quiet, meek voice is perfect for the role of Oliver Twist.

"It's a Fine Life" -- How living the simple life is not as bad as it seems, but aren't sure things couldn't be better. Fagin and Nancy, and the cast of children dialogue through song. "If you don't mind having to deal with Fagin. It's a fine life!"

"Reviewing the Situation" -- Fagin asks, "I'm reviewing the situation. Can a fellow be a villain all his life?"

"Oom-Pah-Pah" -- Nancy leads the chorus in a beer lifting song that is fun all the way through.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellently sung, but could certainly stand remastering, July 3, 2001

By 

albertatamazon (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oliver! (1968 Film Soundtrack) (Audio CD)

I have had this CD for years now, and among all my motion picture soundtrack CD's, I would have to say that the sound quality on this so-called "remastering" is unimpressive. This may partly be the fault of the film. I remember that when I first saw it at an old-fashioned movie palace on its original roadshow release, the sound was impressive, but not as impressive as it could have been, even in a huge theatre. I wasn't as overwhelmed by the stereo and the sheer majesty of the sound as I was when I saw similarly shown films like "The Sound of Music" and "Camelot", or "Ben-Hur" upon its 10th anniversary re-release. And even on its VHS releases, the stereo in "Oliver!" does not sound as "bright" or "spectacular" as other similarly recorded films.

However, remastering SHOULD improve the sound. Instead, the sound on this CD leaves you with a feeling of "Why did they bother?" It isn't BAD sound, really, just not nearly as good as it could have been, especially with the technological advances of the last twenty years, and ESPECIALLY in view of the fact the three greatest Rodgers and Hammerstein soundtrack albums, all made more than a decade before "Oliver!" have all been recently re-mastered so that they now sound as good or better than "Oliver!" And it would help greatly if an expanded version of the "Oliver!" soundtrack were released, especially since this version commits the unpardonable sin of leaving out some of the actual song verses to accomodate the dance music into an album that plays 50 minutes.

The actual performances on this album, however, are excellent, especially Ron Moody as Fagin and Shani Wallis as Nancy.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still A Great Soundtrack CD Regardless Of The Nit-Picking!, April 8, 2005

By 

Steve Stalzle (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oliver! (1968 Film Soundtrack) (Audio CD)

Stop with the nit-picking and just enjoy the CD!

I swear, some people just aren't happy! We are so lucky to have a CD soundtrack of this film! Why must you say it doesn't sound good? How good CAN it sound considering the source materials from 1968??

I think it sounds damn good considering the age of the recordings.
There isn't anything wrong with the way it sounds, as far as I can tell, and I'm an audiophile! I have heard so much worse recordings when albums are finally 'remixed' & 'remastered' for CD!
As far as verses being left out, well,...I guess you'll have to listen to the original London stage cast recordings?

I had this on LP as a child in 1968 and played it almost to death, and I'm excited to finally get it on CD!!
These songs are so special to me because I listened to the record so much. I still know most of the lyrics!
My next Amazon.com purchase is the DVD!!

These are great songs, and this album still holds up well after
all these years.
If you like soundtrack recordings, you'll probably like this CD.

Yes, it may have flaws and 'missing' lyrics, but just enjoy it!

It could be worse--we might not even have this CD available at all!