Casino Royale 1967 and Never Say Never, the Rogue Bond soundtracks (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

I’ve often posted on the James Bond threads discussing the soundtrack albums. I’ve collected all the releases I can of all the Connery, Roger Moore, Lazenby, Dalton and Brosnan films. And two of the Craig films. But up till now, I never considered adding the 1967 Casino Royale Burt Bacharach soundtrack! I’ve heard the title track and it’s a great title track. It’s as good as the official Bond films. And the Dusty Springfield song too. 1967 was a great year for a lot of music types.

So I set about doing some research on the Casino Royale soundtrack releases and discovered the horrible past that the master tapes were damaged while under the care of Varese Sarabande if I understand the story correctly. The tape has lost some oxide from high speed re-winding. And their release was flawed because of that. But I read that a company called Kritzerland had later done some remarkable work to digitally repair the drop-outs and other issues with the tape and released a pretty good CD. It also included a needle drop of a pristine vinyl copy of the original soundtrack album. I’m reading that the original vinyl album was quite a audiophile release. But this Kritzerland version is very hard to find now.

So I heard about the 50th Anniversary release from Quartet. This is quite a good release I’ve read and has some tracks in their original mono. ( though I’ve read some mixed reviews of it. ). So I’ll be setting out to buy this. It’s a single CD release and it’s the most easily obtainable.

I see there’s quite a few other releases of this album including two from Varese Sarabande and an earlier two disc version from Quartet. Plus one from MGM from 2002 I believe. Plus the vinyl editions. I’d be curious about what you guys think are the better CD versions to collect. I’d heard the Sarabande editions should be avoided, it I don’t know.

And to round out the collection, i’m also picking up the soundtrack for Never Say Never. It’s from Silva Screen. I have no background information on this soundtrack. I’m simply grabbing it while I can.

Plus I realized I didn’t have the Blu Ray of the 1967 Casino Royale, just the MGM DVD. So that’s being ordered as well. It’s not a film I could ever get into. Maybe because I’m too much a purist when it comes to a James Bond film. And I don’t always get spoofs. But I might give it another chance.

 

[Bernard McNair]

I really enjoy the Casino Royale soundtrack by Burt Bacharach. The music is catchy and sits well with the onscreen images. The movie is a real mess, but some of it brings a smile to my face.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I'm a pretty big fan of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, so I've always enjoyed the soundtrack to Casino Royale. Other elements of the soundtrack are quite enjoyable as well to me - particularly Dusty Springfield's rendition of The Look of Love which accompanies a segment featuring Peter Sellers and the gorgeous Ursula Andress. (Yeah, the photogenic woman of Casino Royale (like any other Bond film) are one of the attractions. )

The film is one of my guilty pleasures. I can't defend it as a particularly 'good' film, but the use of so many actors and the time capsule nature of the film (certainly in terms of fashion) have always helped me appreciate it on some level. I don't mind the spoof nature of the film. The 1967 Casino Royale is an interesting companion piece to Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. I know that Mike Myers was/is a big fan of Peter Sellers and you see direct homages of segments of the earlier Casino Royale film in the first Austin Powers film.

- Walter.

 

[Bob Cashill]

I have an SACD of the original soundtrack, the Kritzerland, and the Quartet. Get the Quartet if it’s what’s available and you’re good; it’s a delightful soundtrack and by far the most successful element of Casino Royale 67.

Never was something of a rush job for Legrand, whose time was consumed by Yentl. The score doesn’t make much of an impression, but I’ve grown to appreciate Lani Hall—fine singer, weak song.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks for the replies guys. The Quartet CD is on the way, as is the Never Say Never disc and the movie on Blu Ray. . I’ll see how I like the soundtrack before considering another version.

I’ll see how I like the Legrand Never Say Never soundtrack too. I’m not expecting much, but I did want to have it in the collection.

 

[Worth]

Apparently, we have Connery to thank for the lousy Never Say Never score. Kershner and the producers evidently wanted James Horner, but Connery nixed that idea and insisted on Legrand.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Apparently, we have Connery to thank for the lousy Never Say Never score. Kershner and the producers evidently wanted James Horner, but Connery nixed that idea and insisted on Legrand.

I listened to Legrand's score on iTunes and, yeah, never again. His score for ICE STATION ZEBRA is excellent and he was proficient at light action comedy but whatever the circumstances this simply wasn't the late maestro's thing--lots of lite jazz and some Jamaican steel drum band music that noodles around the movie instead of helping to define it, and the big action moments are letdowns. Horner would've nailed it.

 

[Worth]

I don't remember what it sounded like in the cinema, but every video incarnation of Never Say Never has sounded muddy, which doesn't do the score any favours, either.

 

[Nelson Au]

I haven’t seen Never Say Never in a while. I remember on my first theatrical viewing how generic and plain the music was compared to the EON films. I’ll probably watch the Blu Ray as all this talk has me kind of interested in revisiting it.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

My dream is to track Never Say Never Again with Barry's unused score to The Golden Child.

Also, both CR (1967) and NSNA utilize the talents of Herb Alpert.

 

[Nelson Au]

My copy of the Quartet 50th Anniversary Casino Royale soundtrack CD arrived. I hope to listen to it tonight. It made me remember, this must have been one of three scores that were hits in the 1960’s. What’s New Pussycat comes to mind. Not sure I recall the other. Also so much cross connections or influence on and from the EON bond films and titles design. The height of the psychedelic era perhaps.

 

[Nelson Au]

Neil, I’ve never seen the Golden Child. Your post had me curious and I found on YouTube a sample of Barry’s unused score. The track was called The Child Is Taken and it sounds so much like a track from Octopussy. It is very Bondian in how it sounds! Would be curious to hear what you come up with.

 

[Osato]

Great discussion.

I’m not a fan of either films.

I did watch never say never again a lot growing up.

I never bothered with it in dvd or Blu Ray.

Apparently the Blu Ray is now out of print. Very odd!!

 

[Nelson Au]

Osato, I’m not a big fan of either film as well. But the score for Casino Royale came up the other day. I’ve been in such a soundtrack collecting mode I decided I should have a copy for the Bond collection. The title track is great.

I’m going to give both films another look soon. Though because Connery is in NSNA, and it’s a traditional Bond adventure and it’s a remake of Thunderball, I know I will enjoy it on those merits. The spoofy nature of Casino Royale has not worked for me. I probably need to relax and just watch it for what it is.

 

[Osato]

Osato, I’m not a big fan of either film as well. But the score for Casino Royale came up the other day. I’ve been in such a soundtrack collecting mode I decided I should have a copy for the Bond collection. The title track is great.

I’m going to give both films another look soon. Though because Connery is in NSNA, and it’s a traditional Bond adventure and it’s a remake of Thunderball, I know I will enjoy it on those merits. The spoofy nature of Casino Royale has not worked for me. I probably need to relax and just watch it for what it is.

Casino Royale is hard to watch. It’s a mess.
I have the score but rarely listen to it.
Never say never again just reminds me how much better Thunderball is.
I have the score of that one as well. It has some nice moments but again not one I listen to very much.

I just received my free digital codes for both these films from the mgm settlement too!

I’ll probably check them out in the next few days to see how they look in hd.

 

[Nelson Au]

Osato, I managed to get the Blu Ray of Never Say Never Again when it was available. Later I stupidly forgot I had it and I bought a copy on eBay for a stupid amount of money. After it arrived I found my original copy. I plan to sell it.

 

[Osato]

Osato, I managed to get the Blu Ray of Never Say Never Again when it was available. Later I stupidly forgot I had it and I bought a copy on eBay for a stupid amount of money. After it arrived I found my original copy. I plan to sell it.

Wow! How did you miss that you had already bought it?

I just never bothered as it’s one I really don’t watch. I guess I’ll have a copy now though.

 

[Nelson Au]

Osato- I guess it had been a while since I last saw it and it wasn’t stored near my Bond 50th set. I should get an app so I can catalog all my discs!

I had a listen to Casino Royale today a couple of times. I think for the most part, it’s a great quality recording and good work. But as a Bond score, it’s just too goofy! There are so many tracks that are light and sounds like it’s from a Benny Hill episode. But some tracks are great like the Dusty Springfield track and the title track. The Mike Redway vocals are fun. But it’s not right to hear such tracks on a Bond film. Though I know this is a spoof.

Never Say Never Again arrived today. I’ll give it a listen.

 

[Osato]

Osato- I guess it had been a while since I last saw it and it wasn’t stored near my Bond 50th set. I should get an app so I can catalog all my discs!

I had a listen to Casino Royale today a couple of times. I think for the most part, it’s a great quality recording and good work. But as a Bond score, it’s just too goofy! There are so many tracks that are light and sounds like it’s from a Benny Hill episode. But some tracks are great like the Dusty Springfield track and the title track. The Mike Redway vocals are fun. But it’s not right to hear such tracks on a Bond film. Though I know this is a spoof.

Never Say Never Again arrived today. I’ll give it a listen.

I like the title track and the look of love.

 

[MielR]

So I set about doing some research on the Casino Royale soundtrack releases and discovered the horrible past that the master tapes were damaged while under the care of Varese Sarabande if I understand the story correctly. The tape has lost some oxide from high speed re-winding.

Hmm, that's too bad. I'm surprised as Varese Sarabande (I thought) had a pretty good reputation for the care of their catalog.