Tom Sawyer (1973 Movie Soundtrack) [SOUNDTRACK]

Johnny Whitaker (Composer), Richard M. Sherman (Composer), Robert B. Sherman (Artist), John Williams (Artist)

Product Details

• Composer: Johnny Whitaker, Richard M. Sherman
• Audio CD (August 31, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B0002M5T3Y
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,235 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sherman Brothers and John Williams, September 14, 2004

By	Staysun "staysun" (Downers Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews

After 30 years of oblivion, the Sherman Brothers' musical film versions of two Mark Twain classics comes to CD, thanks to the visionaries at Varese Sarabande. The 1973 version was intended as a return of the live-action family musical and was very successful at the box office. John Williams was fresh from his Oscar win for the spectacular adaptation of the songs from "Fiddler on the Roof". Williams provided the same pristine, dramatic arrangements for the Sherman Brothers songs which sound Broadway-worthy in the splendid, catchy orchestrations that Williams provided. The music sounded so good that Williams and the Sherman Brothers picked up an Oscar nomination. At closer inspection, the songs appear inspired by Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" but the lyrics are sometimes awkward and ill-fitting. The tunes are all terrific, especially "Gratifaction" and "Freebootin'". "The River Song" bears a connection to Jerome Kern's "Old Man River" and while it may seem trifling at first hearing, it deserves additional attention as a carefully crafted melancholy song that sets the tone for the whole score. Hopefully, the Sherman Brothers will dust off the rejected songs and expand this score for the stage (as they recently did for "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") so that we can fully appreciate what is probably a much larger and more varied and interesting series of songs.
The 1974 "Huckleberry Finn" was a financial and critical disaster and brought a quick end to the idea of a series of Reader's Digest sponsored family musicals. This was most unfortunate since it starred the great Jeff East who would have brought depth and excellence to a better film version. The Sherman Brothers were rushed and the entire project seems half-baked and overwhelmed by the complexity of the material. Nevertheless, the songs are fun, especially "Cairo, Illinois" and the terrific song for Jeff East, "What's Right, What's Wrong". John Williams did not participate in this production. This CD set includes all the released songs and the lyrics to the "Tom Sawyer" songs are included in the liner notes as they were in the original LP.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Tom Sawyer" songs sound great 30 years later!, September 10, 2004

By	Darryl M. Haase "dothehucklebuck" (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's easy to pigeonhole any family movie musical which cannot compete with the classics like "Wizard of Oz" and "Mary Poppins". Despite its occasional mediocrity, "Tom Sawyer" has some incredibly catchy tunes by the Sherman Brothers. The Shermans definitely had their own style and synchopation, and you can immediately tell a score of theirs after you listen to enough of them. "Huckleberry Finn" seems to have the most forgettable songs, but I'd like to see the movie again to judge more fairly. I hope these two movies will be put out on DVD soon, fully restored, letterboxed and in a double feature pack. Now that would be GRATIFACTION!

4.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgia, June 23, 2009

By	tenor fanatic (Florida) - See all my reviews

Unless you saw these two movies as a child, or with a child, or in a feeling of childishness, you will probably not care for this recording. However, I saw the movies with my children and still have happy memories of reading the books as a child. So, I have a fondness for this music.
As other reviewers have noted, the score for "Tom Sawyer" is much better than that for "Huckleberry Finn." And, HF is lacking the orchestrations of John Williams.
My suggestion, if you have an interest in this recording, is that you find the movies and watch them. I am not familiar with the available DVDs, although other reviewers are quite negative about them. I am still watching on VHS recorded from the Disney Channel when they were showing complete movies without commercial breaks.
Some highlights to me--Charlie Pride on the river song of TS, and Roberta Flack with "Freedom" on HF.