More McCartney: "The Family Way" Soundtrack Coming From Varese

More McCartney: “The Family Way” Soundtrack Coming From Varese

“The directors, the Boulting Brothers, actually approached me, one of them, Roy, and he was interested in some of the music we’ve been writing. He said, ‘Would you be interested in actually writing something for film?’ I said, ‘Wow, great honour.’ And they’re very good directors, quite famous English directors, so I knew they’d be good and the film would be good, and a very good cast with John Mills and Hayley Mills and Hywell Bennett. So I said, ‘Yeah, okay!'” So told Paul McCartney to Michel Laverdiere when recounting the genesis of his soundtrack to the 1966 film The Family Way.

For The Family Way, McCartney composed a central theme to the comedy/drama and George Martin produced and arranged the score, the first time McCartney composed outside of the Lennon/McCartney credit. Its soundtrack recording makes its American CD debut from Varese Vintage on July 26, following the June 14 release of McCartney and McCartney II, part of the deluxe reissue campaign at Concord/Hear Music. The original 1967 soundtrack recording to The Family Way begins with McCartney’s theme, “Love in the Open Air,” and contains twelve more (untitled) score cues suited to the onscreen action. For his composition, McCartney was initially inspired by the sound of brass bands, familiar to his childhood in the North of England. Under Martin’s direction, the score was recorded at CTS Studios in November 1966.

Varese’s reissue will be mastered from the original ~~mono~~ stereo master tapes, and features one bonus track, “Theme From The Family Way,” as recorded by The Tudor Minstrels for single release. A previous 2003 release of the soundtrack album (which also contained a 1995 re-recording and 1999 theme variations) on the Disques XXI-21 label is long out-of-print, so Varese’s surprise release of this lost McCartney gem makes a welcome addition to the catalogue! Hit the jump for the track listing with discographical information! A pre-order link is not currently available; watch this space!

The George Martin Orchestra, Music by Paul McCartney, The Family Way: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Decca 82007, 1967 – reissued Varese Vintage, 2011)

Love In The Open Air
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Family Way Cue
Theme from The Family Way (Decca U.K. single F-12536, 1967)

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

0 thoughts on “More McCartney: “The Family Way” Soundtrack Coming From Varese”

Richard Moore
May 12, 2011 at 8:12 am

Shame that its the mono masters – It was recorded in Stereo and issued that way too (I have the US Reel to Reel)

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