Is "The Graduate" soundtrack essential?

The easiest place to hear it is the end of Mrs. Robinson. On the stereo mix, the guitar is hard in one channel while the opposite channel is essentially silent. With the added reverb, the guitar can easily be heard in the opposite channel.

 

Okay. I'll try it. I found an audio sample of "The Boxer" floating around from the box set and it didn't sound too bad for me. The one thing I noticdd was really quiet volume and a little less sonic than the iTunes sample. I'll run more comparisons when I get the full set.

 

I just checked Amazon and they want $17.99 for the single disc remaster of Bridge Over Troubled Water! That is insane!

 

This is the set to get. It includes all the albums on "Collected Works" remastered with bonus tracks for just over $40. I also got the "Old Friends" box. It includes the same remastered sound but is not complete. Unfortunately, you need BOTH boxes to get all the bonus tracks. I found it at a really good price.

 

OK, thanks Luke...IIRC, I could have sworn I read here on the forum years back ppl stating that there was a few editions of Collected Works...one at least without the added reverb.

 

Friends IIRC had remixes...

 

I recall people saying they weren't hearing any reverb, but I didn't think anything actually progressed to there being multiple versions identified.

 

Both Old Friends and the Columbia Studio Recordings box had remixes for the first 3 albums. The last 2 were taken from the stereo master tapes.

 

can you post info on this? Matrix, etc...

 

thanks, I thought so.

 

Jackson posted he had a copy without reverb...I asked him to post info on his set...what we need is a sample track. I'd love to hear the difference if any.

 

This is more difficult than I thought it would be! It looks to me that there are no perfect versions of these albums on cds. I can't say which one should sound right because I've never heard the vinyls. So it either comes down to sacrificing the remixes for the cleaner sound or getting the original mixes on Collected Works with the reverb added (which in a way is sort of like remixing anyway) and the duller sound. Not too sure which way to go. What I would probably want to go with is whatever sounds closest to the vinyls.

 

For some reason, I never got around to seeing The Graduate. Don't know why, it just didn't happen. It was revived at Chicagos Music Box theater last year, so I finally got the opportunity.

I hated it. Didn't like any of the characters, didn't find the jokes funny, but the worst part was the score - the same three songs, played over and over and over again! I found myself gritting my teeth every time freaking Scarborough Fair played. They didn't write a soundtrack, they submitted three songs.

I love other old films, and other films of that era. Just this one did not work.

 

What are ya then? You're not one of those outside agitators?

 

Apparently so. I like the actors, the director and Simon and Garfunkel, but the movie just didn't work for me. I know it's a piece of it's time, but I love many films from that year - Cool Hand Luke, Bonnie and Clyde, Bedazzled - but I guess the "topical" humor didn't age well. But it was mostly the very skimpy soundtrack.

Interestingly, occasional Hoffman Forums poster Janis Ian said she was approached the write the soundtrack before Simon and Garfunkel were.

Mistake # 1
The scenario: An office at The William Morris Agency, circa 1967.

The players: Myself, my former manager, and my agents David Geffen and Hal Ray.

My situation: "Society's Child", written and sung by me, is top ten on the Billboard Chart; my album is also top ten. I'm fifteen years old, and very much in demand.

The issue at hand: Whether to accept a three-month project scoring an as-yet-unnamed film for very little money.

The discussion: The agents: "This film stars some short, big-nosed unknown kid with bad hair; it's got an untried director as well. The story line is silly - Up With People guy graduates, has an affair with his mother's close friend and neighbor, falls in love with the neighbor's daughter, and runs away with her on a bus after breaking into the church where her wedding's being held. Oh, and he locks everyone else inside the church with a big cross, while he and the chick make their escape by bus.'

The decision: Pass. Doesn't sound like a winner.

The result: The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, comes out and breaks all box office records. I, meanwhile, go off to Spain and score a film called Four Rode Out, which is occasionally shown on late-night Turkish television.

The consequences: Paul Simon goes on to win a multitude of Grammys for his work. I win a multitude of Grammy nominations for my work.

What I'd do now: Insist on seeing a rough cut of the film, ignore my agents and manager, and take the project precisely because it was so full of unknowns.


My current take: Maybe I could have written "Bridge Over Troubled Water", but it's doubtful.

 

You might want to go the expensive route:

Audio Fidelity versions of Sounds Of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme
MFSL Bookends
Mastersound Bridge Over Troubled Water

 

I would love to hear the MFSL Bookends that everybody raves about but I'm on a tight budget Aside from that, I never thought that a cd should ever be worth that much, no matter how good it sounds. This is a matter of authenticity/originality vs sound/closeness to vinyl in an affordable and easy to collect way.

I appreciate all help and opinions so far. As soon as I saw so many divided opinions I had to ask the best way to get started.

 

I hate that......I won't stand for that.

I want you out of here..........because I don't like you!

Good thing MRS. Roper eventually came along and calmed him down a bit!

 

I paid $100 for my MFSL Bookends, and it is worth every penny. Hopefully you will get to hear it someday.

 

I think that, knowing how seriously the remasters were taken and how well they were observed and handled, I'm leaning that way right now. Perhaps I'll move onto something else for now while I think it over. The story of Collected Works sounds to me like it was just a bad night at the office for Halee!

Is the Paul Simon "Complete Columbia Recordings" as good as the S&G one?

 

It's good, but the stock remaster is arguably quite good as well.

 

Album's definitely worth it for aficionados. In addition to the rare remake of "Bright Green Pleasure Machine" and "Mrs. Robinson" embryos, you get work-in-progress bits of "Overs" guitar accompaniment--not that you fall in love with it or anything. It's more like...shaking hands.

 

loved it! "Plastics" is the future...Mrs.. Robinson are you trying to seduce me? priceless...

 

thankfully I bought it on street date...it's worth the hundred though...

 

You can't go wrong with the remasters. The Paul Simon Complete Columbia Recordings is very good, but not as good as the S&G. It is also only has a demo version of "Slip Sliding Away", so it isn't complete, either.