EXCLUSIVE: Have No Fear, Bond is Here! Expanded and Remastered “Casino Royale” Due

Film score fans, you’ve hit the jackpot! After a successful year of landmark releases such as an expanded edition of Pino Donaggio’s score to Carrie and the remaster and remix of Promises, Promises: The Original Broadway Cast Recording, just to name two, the Kritzerland label is going to the Casino. Of course, I mean Casino Royale. Unlike in most casinos, however, the odds are in the label’s favor, because no film score fan is going to want to be without producer Bruce Kimmel’s deluxe expanded soundtrack. It will feature Burt Bacharach’s score in two complete versions plus previously-unreleased bonus tracks, all painstakingly remastered for the best possible sound yet. Casino Royale will not be available from Kritzerland until Monday, December 20, at 6:00 a.m., but the label was kind enough to give The Second Disc’s readers an exclusive heads-up on this exciting news.

“Casino Royale is too much…for one James Bond!” read the striking poster for Charles K. Feldman’s 1967 mammoth spy spoof loosely based on Ian Fleming’s first-ever James Bond novel. The producer’s solution? How about not one, but seven James Bonds? Plus his nephew Jimmy? This madcap adventure also required the services of roughly five directors and as many as ten screenwriters, three of whom took credit. But only one man tackled the musical score, and it’s largely due to Burt Bacharach’s work that the film is so well-remembered today. (Bacharach composed three tremendous soundtracks for Peter Sellers vehicles in the mid-sixties, and Casino is the crown jewel among them, the others being What’s New Pussycat? and After the Fox.) The score would be a classic for “The Look of Love” (sung by Dusty Springfield over a spellbindingly memorable sequence with Sellers and Ursula Andress viewed through a giant fish tank; believe me, you have to see it!) alone, but there’s plenty more, from Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass’ swinging title song to memorably melodic cues like “Little French Boy” and “Home James, Don’t Spare the Horses,” otherwise known as “Bond Street.” The new Casino Royale will feature all of these and more, including for the first time ever, the giddy, groovy vocal rendition of “Casino Royale” (with lyrics by Hal David) heard at the film’s conclusion.

We at The Second Disc couldn’t be more thrilled. Mark your calendars now for Monday, because this limited edition of 1,000 likely won’t be around long. Ready to hit the jump? Direct from Kritzerland, here’s Bruce Kimmel on everything you need to know to have a swinging time at Casino Royale, including the history of this landmark recording and why it’s sounding better than ever.

UPDATE: Order Casino Royale now from Kritzerland here! The track list is also after the jump.

Tim Buckley’s Debut to Be Expanded (UPDATED 12/18)

Rhino is releasing Tim Buckley’s debut album for Elektra next week, sources confirm.

Buckley was all of 19 years old when he recorded his debut LP in 1966 with Elektra founder Jac Holzman co-producing and a stunningly strong group of session players backing him up (Lee Underwood on guitar, Jim Fielder of Blood, Sweat and Tears on bass, Van Dyke Parks on piano and Mothers of Invention drummer Billy Mundi). Though critics never gave him scores of attention, he is now widely regarded as one of the more preeminent folk singers of the day, a particular inspiration to many sensitive, experimental singer-songwriters – including his own son, Jeff. (In a case of bizarre, tragic irony, both Tim and Jeff died at young ages, before their music had a chance to grip critics as they do now.)

The Rhino Handmade edition of Tim Buckley will include the original album in both stereo and mono and an extra disc of demos, some cut with Buckley’s original group, The Bohemians. It’s now yours to order here; view the track list after the jump.