But if people love poetry, they love poets

Continuing my trip back through the 1968 album charts.

21/04/68 : Dr Zhivago OST - Maurice Jarre

I've never seen Dr Zhivago - should I?  It doesn't feel like my sort of film, but I guess I'll meet it on a list at some point.  I'm expecting the album to be Russian-ish, classical-ish - but let's face it, I've no idea.

Yeah, it's pretty classical and it is Russian-ish but, from my limited knowledge, there seems to be all sorts in there.  It's fine, but I've absolutely no idea why anyone would want to listen to it - it feels like the soundtrack to any number of films made during the 50s and 60s.  I was annoyed that the original version was only 34 minutes because the version I listened to was 69 minutes long, but at least mine had better track titles, including "Yuri Gazing Through A Tiny Open Hatch", "Yevgraf Snaps His Fingers" and, most alarmingly, "They Didn't Lock The Cottage".  I'm not convinced they spent too long designing the album cover though.

We're at #13 in the chart this week on its 86th week of a 101 (!) week run, having peaked at #3 in its 58th and 59th week - that's quite the slow burner.  The top five this week were Bob, best-ofs from Otis, The Supremes and The Four Tops and it's finished off, quite obviously, by The Incredible String Band - that's quite the mix!  The highest new entry was a best-of from Jimi Hendrix Experience and there are no new women in the charts this week.

Wikipedia doesn't have an awful lot on the album, but it does tell me that, despite The Byrds claiming to be one the first to use a Moog, Maurice got there almost two years earlier.  It's fair to say it doesn't take centre-stage though - he used a 110 piece orchestra and also had to borrow some balalaika players from a Russian Orthodox church.  It won the snappily titled Academy Award for Best Music Score - Substantially Original and also got to #1 in the US album charts - taking a mere year to get there.  Apparently Maurice won two other Oscars, both for other David Lean films - The Bridge Over The River Kwai and A Passage To India, spanning 22 years.

"Customers also listened to" the soundtracks to Spartacus, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill A Mockingbird and Ben-Hur.  I guess if you love a soundtrack, you love a soundtrack - but I'm afraid I just don't.  Why would you do that to yourself?  At least we've had a bit of a break from them though - things have calmed down from the soundtrack fest we had at the start of the year.

14/04/68 - An odd album
28/04/68 - Grudging respect

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