| Product Summary | | Label: Bmg/rca Victor | | UPC: 00090266270729 | | Release Date: 1/30/1996 | | Buy.com Sku: 60155693 | | Item#: M7YR7S | Format:  CD |
|
|
|
|
| Song Listing |  |
|
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Proceeds from this album will be donated to NARAS Foundation, Inc., and the Leonard Bernstein education through The Arts Fund, Inc. and The Leonard Bernstein Center/Nashville. | | The Jerky Boys: Johnny Brennan, Kamal. | | Steve Vai's Monsters: Steve Vai (guitar); David Paich, Greg Phillinganes (synthesizer); John Pena (bass); Simon Phillips (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion). | | Chick Corea's Elektric Band: Chick Corea (Rhodes, synthesizer); Eric Marienthal (saxophone); Frank Gambale (guitar); James Earl (bass); David Weckl (drums); Joe Porcaro (percussion). | | Engineers: Allen Sides, Barry Rudolph, Warren Peterson. | | Includes liner notes by David Pack. | | Star-packed and vibrant, THE SONGS OF WEST SIDE STORY aims to introduce the trailblazing Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim show-tunes to a new generation of listeners. It does so by recruiting the cream of today's chart-topping crop of musicians to update the songs in thoroughly contemporary styles. | | This grand experiment works, even though the genre-hopping concept may initially strike the listener as overreaching. Among the many highlights are Phil Collins' "Somewhere," Selena's "I Feel Pretty," and charismatic spins by Aretha Franklin and All-4-one. THE SONGS OF WEST SIDE STORY makes for an interesting concept that's truly musical, stylistically up-to-date, and a lot of fun. | | Personnel: Delious, Aretha Franklin (vocals); Tim Pierce (guitar, slide guitar); David Pack (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, drums, percussion, background vocals); Brian Setzer (guitar, background vocals); Frank Gambale, Grant Geissman, Steve Vai (guitar); Billy Joe Walker, Jr. (acoustic guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Dean Parks (classical guitar); Lili Haydn (violin); Melissa "Missy" Hasin (cello); David Benoit (strings, synthesizer); Daniel Fornero, Michael Acosta, Eric Marienthal, George Shelby, Bob Sandman, Steve Fowler, John Fumo, Don Roberts (saxophone); Vince Denham, Branford Marsalis (soprano saxophone); Dan Higgins (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Gary Grant, Jerry Hey (trumpet, flugelhorn); Stan Watkins, Sal Cracchiolo (trumpet); Robert Hioki, Michael Vlatkovitch, Andy Martin, George McMullen, William Reichenbach (trombone); Greg Phillinganes (piano, keyboards, synthesizer); Randy Waldman (piano, synthesizer); Pat Coil, Roger Burn, Bruce Hornsby (piano); Chick Corea (Fender Rhodes piano, synthesizer); David Frank (organ); George Duke, Jon "JD" Dickson (keyboards); Oliver Leiber (synthesizer, drums); Richard Ruttenberg, Steve Nathan (synthesizer); Joe Porcaro (xylophone, drums, timbales, percussion); John "J.R." Robinson , Dave Wecki, Simon Phillips, Steve Brewster, Bernie Dresel, Vinnie Colaiuta (drums); Lenny Castro, Paulinho Da Costa, Sheila E., Sam Bacco, Brian Kilgore (percussion); Def Jef, Alison, Bob McChesney (programming); Joe Puerta, Burleigh Drummond, Pamela Sheyne, Natalie Jackson, Paul Marr, Tollack Olstad, Karla Bonoff, Maxi Anderson, The Jerky Boys, Marlena Jeter, Christopher North (background vocals). | | Audio Mixers: Jon Gass; Allen Sides. | | Recording information: 29th Street Studios, Torrance, CA; Big Javelina, Nashville, TN; Capitol, Hollywood, CA; Oceanway, Hollwood, CA; O'Henry's Sound Studios, Burbank, CA; Packs Place Studio, Shadow Hills, CA; Phil's Home Studio, Geneva, Switzerland; Sorcerer SOund, New York, NY; Vanguard Studios, Detroit, MI. | | Unknown Contributor Roles: Chick Corea; James Getzoff; Brian Setzer Orchestra. | | Arrangers: Michael Acosta; David Pack; Marty Paich; Mervyn Warren; Brian Setzer. | | This collection of pop artists bludgeoning the songs of West Side Story could hardly be considered a tribute to the late conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein and his collaborator Stephen Sondheim. Brian Setzer and his Orchestra come up with a successfully skewed treatment of "Jet Song," while Chick Corea and Steve Vai's instrumental "The Rumble" are both reverential enough. But the original music was not conceived for synthesizer and the rest of the collection is dominated by the kind of computerized keyboard and drum dreck than even lite-rock stations would reject-Kenny Loggins and Wynonna bungling "Tonight;" Michael McDonald and James Ingram messing with "Maria." Even Little Richard's "I Feel Pretty," an inspired pairing of artist to song, fails to deliver. Including two versions of the showpiece "Somewhere," (a mediocre version by Aretha Franklin and a hideous version by schlockmeister Phil Collins) is absolutely unforgivable. ~ Denise Sullivan | | In 1992, AIDS Project Los Angeles staged an all-star benefit concert in which contemporary artists performed songs from West Side Story. It was a cute one-shot idea and well-received (especially with such inspired choices as having Elton John sing "I Feel Pretty"). That should have been the end of it, but several years later, producer David Pack organized this recorded version, and the cute idea has become a multi-artist embarrassment. Pack has enlisted a cast of middle-level stars with the intention of contemporizing the Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim score. So, naturally, "Gee, Officer Krupke!" becomes a rap song performed by Salt-N-Pepa and others, and "A Boy Like That" is rendered with a new jack/Latin vibe by Selena. At least such tracks are amusing one-time listens, but most of the music has been transferred into facile, faceless L.A. studio pop sung by such practitioners of the style as James Ingram, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Natalie Cole, and Tevin Campbell, and played by session regulars like Greg Phillinganes. It isn't all terrible. Brian Setzer turns in a sizzling "Prologue/Jet Song," indicating that unlike most of the participants, he didn't hear the music for the first time when Pack sent him a tape. A version of "Cool" featuring Patti Austin, Bruce Hornsby, and Branford Marsalis captures the song's feel in a jazz context. But more often, the performances are way off target, sometimes more because of context than talent. Aretha Franklin and Little Richard are themselves at all times, but they bring little or nothing to this music, at least in these arrangements. Phil Collins no doubt loves the music, but he has no business singing it. Of course, the truth is that Leonard Bernstein, a card-carrying eclectic and media maven, would have loved this record. He also would have loved a Merseybeat version in 1966, a disco version in 1976, and a synth pop version in 1986, and this one will sound just as silly in years to come as those would have. Almost as silly as it sounds right now. ~ William Ruhlmann |
Producer: David Pack |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 01/30/1996 | | Original Release Date : 1996 | | Catalog ID : 62707 | | Label : RCA Victor Records (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Runtime : 73m : 53s | | Studio/Live : Mixed | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00090266270729 |
|
| | Professional Reviews | | Entertainment Weekly (2/2/96, p.58)
- Rating: B |
|
| |
|
|
