West Side Story (soundtrack)

West Side Story
Soundtrack album by Various
Released	October 1961
Recorded	1960–1961
Genre	soundtrack
Length	75:42
Label	Columbia Masterworks (LP) Sony Classical (CD)
Producer	Didier Deutsch

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

West Side Story is the soundtrack to the 1961 film West Side Story. Released in 1961, the soundtrack spent 54 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's album charts, giving it the longest run at No. 1 of any album in history,^[2] although some lists instead credit Michael Jackson's Thriller, on the grounds that West Side Story was listed on a chart for stereo albums only at a time when many albums were recorded in mono.^[3] In 1962, it won a Grammy award for "Best Sound Track Album – Original Cast" and Johnny Richards orchestrations of the movie score (on Kenton's West Side Story) also winning a Grammy in 1962 for "Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album" further bolstering the popularity of the movie and soundtrack. In the United States, it was the best-selling album of the 1960s,^[4] certifying three times platinum by the RIAA on November 21, 1986.

Though the album was released just a few years after the release of the original broadway cast recording, it is according to Broadway Babies preferred by some to the earlier version both sentimentally, as the film succeeded in establishing the musical as a "popular masterpiece", and musically, as it contains "beefier orchestration".^[5]

Dubbing

In her autobiography, I Could Have Sung All Night, Marni Nixon spoke of singing the role of Maria and of her observations of some of the other singers whose voices were dubbed into the film. According to Nixon, very little of the singing on the soundtrack was contributed by the on-screen top-billing stars of the film; while George Chakiris provided vocals for the character of Bernardo, Nixon claims, even Russ Tamblyn's voice was dubbed over by Tucker Smith because Tamblyn had contractual obligations with MGM Records.^[6] (While the film was released by United Artists, the soundtrack album was produced by Columbia Records as part of rights it acquired in producing the Broadway cast album.)^[7] Final determination of which voices would be used and how much for the film's songs was left to producer Saul Chaplin, who at various times told Nixon that her voice would be used to supplement or extend that of actress Natalie Wood or to replace it altogether.^[6] After filming was complete, Nixon recorded several songs while watching film loops so that she could synchronize her voice to Wood's action.^[8] Nixon also dubbed several lines for Wood and contributed co-dubber Betty Wand's part to the song now called "Tonight".^[9] Although it was not industry standard at the time, Nixon arranged to receive a small percentage of the royalties for sales of the soundtrack, which, as she did not receive credit for her performance on the album, she indicates helped "salve any wounds".^[10]

Track listing

All music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Vocal performers listed parenthetically after song title.

CD version

1. "Overture" – 4:39
2. "Prologue" – 6:37
3. "Jet Song" (Tucker Smith, Jets) – 2:06
4. "Something's Coming" (Jim Bryant) – 2:32
5. "Dance at the Gym" (Blues, Promenade, Mambo, Cha-cha, film dialogue, and Jump) – 9:24^[11]
6. "Maria" (Bryant) – 2:34
7. "America" (Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Sharks & Girls) – 4:59
8. "Tonight" (Jim Bryant, Marni Nixon) – 5:43
9. "Gee, Officer Krupke" (Russ Tamblyn, Jets) – 4:14
10. "Intermission" – 1:30^[12]
11. "I Feel Pretty" (Nixon, Yvonne Othon, Suzie Kaye) – 3:35
12. "One Hand, One Heart" (Bryant, Nixon) – 3:02
13. "Tonight Quintet" (Bryant, Nixon, Moreno, Jets, Sharks. "The counterpoint section of Anita's vocals are performed here by Nixon") – 3:22
14. "The Rumble" – 2:39
15. "Somewhere" (Bryant, Nixon) – 2:03
16. "Cool" (Tucker Smith, Jets) – 4:21
17. "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" (Betty Wand, Nixon) – 4:28
18. "Finale" (Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer) – 4:20
19. "End Credits (Instrumental) - 5:09

Side 1

1. "Prologue" - 5:39
2. "Jet Song" - 2:11
3. "Something's Coming" - 2:38
4. "Dance at the Gym" (Blues, Promenade, and Jump) - 3:37
5. "Maria" - 2:40
6. "America" - 5:05
7. "Tonight" - 3:35

Side 2

1. "Gee, Officer Krupke" - 4:11
2. "I Feel Pretty" - 2:50
3. "One Hand, One Heart" - 2:03
4. "Quintet" - 3:27
5. "The Rumble" - 2:32
6. "Cool" - 4:27
7. "A Boy Like That / I Have a Love" - 4:34
8. "Somewhere" - 2:03

Chart positions

Personnel

Performance

• Richard Beymer – performer
• Jim Bryant – performer
• George Chakiris – performer
• The Jets – performers
• Suzie Kaye – performer
• Jo Anne Miya – performer
• Rita Moreno – performer
• Marni Nixon – performer
• Yvonne Othon – performer
• Sharks – performers
• Tucker Smith – performer
• Russ Tamblyn – performer
• Betty Wand – performer
• Natalie Wood – performer

Production

• Mark Cetts – engineer
• Saul Chaplin – musical director, assistant producer
• Didier C. Deutsch – producer
• John Green – conductor, musical director
• Roy Hemming – liner notes
• Bill Ivie – engineer
• Irwin Kostal – musical director, orchestrator
• Ernest Lehman – screenplay
• Boris Leven – production design
• Sid Ramin – musical director, orchestrator
• Jerome Robbins – director, choreographer
• Robert Wise – director

References