WIWS Banner

The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

  • Home
  • News
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Features
    • Release Round-Up
    • Giveaways!
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Release Calendar
    • Coming Soon
    • Now Available
  • About
  • Second Disc Records
    • Full Catalog
  • Contact

/ News

If You Want to Sing Out: Cat Stevens' "Harold and Maude" Original Soundtrack Arrives in February

December 7, 2021 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Harold and Maude OST

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

It took time for audiences to come around to Harold and Maude.  The 1971 film, written by Colin Higgins (9 to 5, Foul Play) and directed by Hal Ashby (Shampoo, Being There), depicted the unlikely but ultimately powerful relationship between young, death-obsessed Harold (Bud Cort) and elderly, free-spirited Maude (Ruth Gordon).  Its blend of dark comedy and ironic uplift initially underwhelmed most critics and moviegoers.  Slowly but surely, however, it earned cult classic status.  One of the aspects that lingered most in the collective memory was Cat Stevens' memorable score.  Brought on after Elton John dropped out, the British troubadour provided seven "oldies" from his 1970 albums Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman and also composed two new songs: "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out."  Yet a full-length soundtrack was never released...until now.  On February 11, A&M/Cat-O-Log/UMe will release the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Harold and Maude in CD, 180-gram LP, and digital formats.

The road to a proper Harold and Maude soundtrack has been a long one.  A quasi-soundtrack came out in Japan in 1972, but it bizarrely omitted Stevens' two original songs and added older songs of his which weren't featured in the film.  Stevens' 1984 compilation Footsteps in the Dark finally premiered "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" on vinyl and CD.  Then, in 2007, Cameron Crowe's Vinyl Films label released a limited-edition Harold and Maude LP in various color pressings, all of which quickly went out of print and now command big money on the secondary market.  That edition added a handful of alternates, demos, and instrumentals.  Most recently, for the movie's 50th anniversary, A&M released a new version for Record Store Day 2021 with just the nine songs.

Now, after 50 years, an official, wide-release soundtrack is being issued.  An expansion of the RSD LP, it includes the seven songs reprised from Cat's first two Island/A&M albums Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman ("On the Road to Find Out," "I Wish, I Wish," "Miles from Nowhere," "Tea for the Tillerman," "I Think I See the Light," "Trouble," and "Where Do the Children Play?") plus "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out."  Dialogue and instrumental cues are also included but the bonus tracks dropped from the Cameron Crowe-helmed edition appear to be missing.  All of the audio, including previously unheard masters of "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out," has been newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios.  The physical formats will include liner notes, lyrics, transcriptions of movie dialogue, and photos from the Paramount Pictures archive.

Cat Stevens, known today as Yusuf Islam, comments in the press release, "Harold and Maude was a total experience. My manager said he had a book called Harold and Maude, Colin Higgins wrote it and Paramount were making a film of it and they wanted to use some of my music. I said, 'Okay, I'll read the book.' I couldn't put it down. I was laughing so much, right into the night. This odd character, Harold, experimenting with death, experimenting with his own concept of non-existence so he wouldn't have to suffer his mother barking at him all the time. It was great, and satisfied my own particular love of the out-of-the-ordinary."  He continued, "I eventually went over to San Francisco where they were making the film and I met Hal Ashby, the director and my music was flowing everywhere, in the rushes.  Hal Ashby looked like a guru, very kind of bedraggled beard and nicotine-stained moustache and zappy eyes, but he was a soft character, a very soft character. He was almost like Jimi Hendrix in that respect. A gentle soul."

Stevens came to a decision: "So we had to make a deal and we did make a deal, but I said, 'But you're not putting out a soundtrack,' and the reason for that was it would have sounded like a collection of greatest hits from Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman. I said, 'I don't want to do a Greatest Hits yet.' So I never allowed them to put out the soundtrack, but I did write two songs for that. I did the demo in San Francisco, and I always meant to do them properly but no, Hal puts them straight into the film and that was it, locked away. I'm saying, 'no, no, no, it's not finished!' but I love those recordings now because they're so raw."

That rawness adds to the special, whimsical, and delicate quality that permeates Harold and Maude.  Over the years, the film has inspired a novel, a short-lived Broadway play, and a musical adaptation with an original, non-Stevens score; the late Colin Higgins tried to bring both a prequel and sequel to fruition but to little avail.  The 1971 film has endured, however, and so has its charming music from Cat Stevens.  Look for Harold and Maude: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack from A&M/Cat-O-Log/UMe on February 11.  You'll find the track listing and pre-order links below!

Cat Stevens, Harold and Maude: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (A&M/Cat-O-Log/UMe, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

  1. Don't Be Shy
  2. Dialogue 1 (I Go to Funerals)
  3. On The Road to Find Out
  4. I Wish, I Wish
  5. Tchaikovsky's Concerto No.1 in B
  6. Dialogue 2 (How Many Suicides)
  7. Marching Band / Dialogue 3 (Harold Meets Maude)
  8. Miles From Nowhere
  9. Tea for the Tillerman
  10. I Think I See the Light
  11. Dialogue 4 (Sunflower)
  12. Where Do the Children Play?
  13. If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out - Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort
  14. Strauss' Blue Danube
  15. Dialogue 5 (Somersaults)
  16. If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out
  17. Dialogue 6 (Harold Loves Maude)
  18. Trouble
  19. If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (ending)

Categories: News Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Pop, Soundtracks Tags: Cat Stevens

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, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. 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.

Connect With Joe: FacebookTwitter

You Might Also Like

  • Harold and Maude OSTRelease Round-Up: Week of February 11
  • Springsteen No NukesRelease Round-Up: Week of November 19
  • Cat Stevens Teaser and the Firecat 2021Morning Has Broken: Cat Stevens' "Teaser and the Firecat" Goes Super Deluxe in November
  • RSD Drops 2021The Second Disc Guide to Record Store Day Drop 2 TOMORROW!

Comments

  1. Jim says

    December 7, 2021 at 1:54 pm

    I have the RSD version so it will be nice to have this version to stream.

    Reply
  2. zubb says

    December 7, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    Great news! and what do you know, it is not a vinyl only release!!!

    Reply
  3. Mark W Kane says

    December 7, 2021 at 3:52 pm

    Hooray!

    Reply
  4. Not an RSD fan anymore says

    December 8, 2021 at 6:35 am

    So you buy the RSD lp and then they reissue it with more tracks. Why did I buy the RSD lp then ? To make majors rich ?

    Reply
    • Mark H. says

      December 10, 2021 at 6:52 pm

      To support your local record store, and to learn to queue.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Upcoming Releases

  • Kool and the Gang The Albums Volume 1 Cover
    The Albums Vol. 1 (1970-1978)
    Kool and the Gang
    July 08, 2022
  • Older deluxe
    Older: Deluxe Edition
    George Michael
    July 08, 2022
  • Dio Holy Diver SDE
    Holy Diver: Super Deluxe Edition
    Dio
    July 08, 2022
See Full Calendar

Connect

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,464 other subscribers

Popular

  • Four Seasons box
    New Four Seasons Mega-Box Will Have You Swearin' to God posted on June 28, 2022 | under News
  • Pink Floyd Animals Remix Deluxe
    Pigs on the Wing: Pink Floyd Reissue "Animals" with Long-Awaited Surround Remix posted on June 30, 2022 | under News
  • Beach Boys Sounds of Summer 2022
    Review: The Beach Boys, "Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys" posted on July 1, 2022 | under Reviews

Comments

  • small faces here come the nice2
    Return To Itchycoo Park: Small Faces' "Here Come The Nice" Deluxe Box Set Arrives In January [UPDATED 12/3] 84 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 3, 2013 | under News
  • the beatles u s albums box2
    British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil "The U.S. Albums" Box Set in January 69 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 12, 2013 | under News
  • Rolling Stones in Mono
    Out of Their Heads: Stones Plan Mono Box Set 47 comments | by Mike Duquette | posted on August 10, 2016 | under News

Music Resources

  • Addicted to Vinyl
  • Crap from the Past
  • Discogs
  • Film Score Monthly
  • IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
  • MusicTAP
  • Musoscribe
  • Pause & Play
  • Popblerd
  • Popdose
  • Record Racks
  • Slicing Up Eyeballs
  • Steve Hoffman Music Forums
  • Ultimate Classic Rock
  • Vintage Vinyl News
  • Viva La Mainstream
  • Wolfgang's Vault

Labels of Note

  • Ace Records
  • Analog Spark
  • Bear Family
  • BGO Records
  • Big Break Records
  • Blixa Sounds
  • Cherry Red Label Group
  • Craft Recordings
  • Demon Music Group
  • Friday Music
  • Funky Town Grooves
  • Iconoclassic Records
  • Intervention Records
  • Intrada
  • Kritzerland
  • La La Land Records
  • Legacy Recordings
  • Light in the Attic
  • Masterworks Broadway
  • Now Sounds
  • Omnivore Recordings
  • Real Gone Music
  • Resonance Records
  • Rhino Entertainment
  • Rock Candy Records
  • SoulMusic Records
  • Sunset Blvd. Records
  • Supermegabot
  • Varese Sarabande
  • Vinyl Me, Please
  • Wounded Bird
Copyright © 2022 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy