Search - Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner :: Paint Your Wagon: Original Broadway Cast

A True "Gold Rush" Sound

Chrijeff | Scranton, PA | 10/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even if you own the video and 'track of the movie version of "PYW," you should get this CD of the original Broadway incarnation just for purposes of comparison. Several good songs that appear on it ("I'm On My Way," "What's Goin' On Here?," "How Can I Wait?," "In Between," "Carina Mia," "Another Autumn," "All For Him") were sacrificed to the necessities of the altered plot in the latter. There's also a nice liner pamphlet that tells the history of the play and gives a synopsis of the story.The best thing about this music is that it really *sounds* as if it took place during the Days of '49. Olga San Juan (Jennifer Rumson) has a raw, country-sounding voice that's nevertheless flexible and true, and Tony Bavar as her lover Julio sounds smooth and sophisticated. There's banjo and guitar in the orchestrations as well as traditional accompaniment. And, like all good show music, it spans the spectrum from the wistful ("I Still See Elisa") to the humorous ("Hand Me Down That Can o'Beans," "In Between") to the thrilling (the classic "They Call the Wind Maria"). This is a show disc that deserves to be better known."

When did they stop writing songs like this?

Chrijeff | 08/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"PAINT YOUR WAGON opened in 1951 and was Lerner & Loewe's first work after their sublime BRIGADOON (1947). It was also Lerner's first attempt at an entirely original script (since BRIGADOON clearly owed its origins to German legend whether Lerner would concede it or not). Alas, the book he produced was lumbering and dramatically weak. The score, however, he penned with Loewe was just superb.I think this is one of the best albums produced in the 1950's. It rings out as if it were made yesterday with a clarity that curiously one only ever got with a good mono recording. The performers are all top notch, from the veteran James Barton through to the exuberant Olga San Juan. PAINT YOUR WAGON produced standards of the very first water such as "They Call The Wind Maria", "Wandrin' Star", and "I Talk To The Trees", but all the songs are really quite wonderful. "How Can I Wait?" with San Juan and a very rich-sounding orchestra is a particular highlight, but the show's best number and its most moving must surely be "Another Autumn". Lerner & Loewe: songwriters of the most exceptional class."

Enjoyable but somewhat neglected Lerner & Loewe score

Mark Andrew Lawrence | Toronto | 03/02/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Even though the show was not a huge hit on stage, the original cast recording helped popularize the songs and RCA has kept it in circulation without interruption since 1951.The leads do not posess the most musical voices but they sound so right for the characters. The mens chorus gets to sing quite a bit and they sond properly robust. The recording has been laid out to include some bits of dialogue and these segments help give the disc some theatricality.The CD transfer has very good sound and comes with good background notes and a detailed synopsis.The boom for PAINT YOUR WAGON was the main problem which is why it has never been revived, but since the score contains such gems as "I Talk to the Trees"; "They Call the Wind Maria" and "Wand'rin' Star" it would seem an ideal candidate for Encores or some other group that specializes in concert stagings of forgotten shows."