The Owl and the Pussycat (soundtrack)

For Edward Lear's poem, see The Owl and the Pussy-Cat.

The Owl and the Pussycat
Streisand stands at the doorway to a bathroom wearing black lingerie.
Soundtrack album by
Barbra Streisand, George Segal, and Blood, Sweat & Tears
ReleasedDecember 19, 1970 (1970-12-19)
GenreRock
Length46:41
LabelColumbia
ProducerThomas Z. Shepard
Barbra Streisand chronology
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
(1970) 		The Owl and the Pussycat
(1970) 		Stoney End
(1971)
George Segal chronology
The Yama Yama Man
(1967) 		The Owl and the Pussycat
(1970) 		A Touch of Ragtime
(1974)
Blood, Sweat & Tears chronology
Blood, Sweat & Tears 3
(1970) 		The Owl and the Pussycat
(1970) 		Blood, Sweat & Tears 4
(1971)

The Owl and the Pussycat is the soundtrack album to the 1970 American film of the same name. Released by Columbia Records, it features film dialogue by Barbra Streisand and George Segal recorded over music performed by American band Blood, Sweat & Tears. The album's five tracks were all written by Buck Henry, produced by Thomas Z. Shepard.

While critiqued for lacking any Streisand singing, critics generally felt the music paired nicely with the dialogue. Commercially, the album charted in both the United States and Canada.

Background

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The Owl and the Pussycat was released to movie theaters on November 3, 1970, by Columbia Pictures.[1] The accompanying soundtrack was released on vinyl and 8-track cartridge on December 19 of the same year through Columbia Records,[2][3] featuring five tracks of dialogue spoken by cast members Barbra Streisand and George Segal recorded over music performed by American band Blood, Sweat & Tears.[4][5] They created the instrumentals for the film while touring shortly before band member and lead vocalist, David Clayton-Thomas, departed the group.[6] This was Clayton-Thomas's first film score credit, and he considered the work as being difficult because he was tasked with placing music over preexisting dialogue. He wrote: "Somebody should have told me what can happen when you do a film score. When the picture is completed, the powers that be can do what they want with the score."[7] The record's five song titles correlate with different scenes in the film and are primarily rock-influenced.[8]

The soundtrack's creation was headed by Richard Halligan, who composed and arranged the selections.[6] Screenwriter Buck Henry is credited with writing all five album tracks while Thomas Z. Shepard served as the album's sole producer.[2] Rather than five individual songs, the 8-track cartridge of the soundtrack features "Highlights from Buck Henry's Hilarious Screenplay" in four consecutive parts.[3]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]

Criticism towards the soundtrack was aimed at the absence of Streisand's vocals. AllMusic's William Ruhlmann awarded The Owl and the Pussycat 1.5 out of 5 stars. He suggested that the soundtrack was Streisand's least successful because the album's songs featured the singer talking and enduring in "endless bickering" instead of actually singing and performing with live vocals.[9] The staff members at Billboard noted the influence of rock and big band-style music and wrote that "the music that is heard [...] fits in with the dialogue quite well". Concluding, they wrote: "the dialog itself runs the gamut from absurdly sublime material to simply ridiculous material".[4]

Track listing

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All tracks written by Buck Henry and produced by Thomas Z. Shepard.[2]

The Owl and the Pussycat (Comedy Highlights and Music from the Soundtrack) – Standard edition[2]
No.TitleLength
1."The Confrontation"11:18
2."The Warmup"9:55
3."The Seduction"4:01
4."The Morning After"11:05
5."The Reunion"10:22
Total length:46:41

An alternate edition of the soundtrack was released on 8-track cartridge and cassette tape, divided into four tracks instead of five.

The Owl and the Pussycat (Comedy Highlights and Music from the Soundtrack) – 8-track cartridge edition[3]
No.TitleLength
1."Highlights from Buck Henry's Hilarious Screenplay" (Part 1)11:36
2."Highlights from Buck Henry's Hilarious Screenplay" (Part 2)11:36
3."Highlights from Buck Henry's Hilarious Screenplay" (Part 3)11:36
4."Highlights from Buck Henry's Hilarious Screenplay" (Part 4)11:36
Total length:46:24

Personnel

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Charts

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In the United States, the album debuted at the bottom position on the Billboard 200 chart on February 6, 1971.[10] It later peaked at number 186, becoming Streisand's lowest-charting entry of her entire career, behind 1967's A Christmas Album and 1970's On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, which both peaked at number 108.[11] However, the soundtrack fared better for Segal, as his previous highest-peaking record was The Yama Yama Man, which peaked at number 199 in September 1967.[12] On Canada's Top Albums chart conducted and published by RPM, The Owl and the Pussycat debuted at number 85 during the week ending January 16, 1971.[13] It eventually peaked at number 74.[14]

Chart (1971) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[14] 74
US Billboard 200[11] 186

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
United States December 19, 1970 LP Columbia [2]
8-track cartridge [3]

Instrumentals

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Blood, Sweat & Tears released all the film's instrumental and incidental compositions on Rare, Rarer & Rarest, a 2013 compilation album that also includes outtakes from The Owl and the Pussycat score.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "The Owl and the Pussycat: Cast and Crew". Fandango. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e The Owl and the Pussycat (Comedy Highlights and Music from the Soundtrack) (Liner notes). Barbra Streisand, George Segal, Blood, Sweat & Tears (Vinyl release ed.). Columbia. 1970. S 30401.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ a b c d The Owl and the Pussycat (Comedy Highlights and Music from the Soundtrack) (Liner notes). Barbra Streisand, George Segal, Blood, Sweat & Tears (8-track cartridge ed.). Columbia. 1970. SA 30401.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ a b Billboard staff (January 2, 1971). "Album Reviews Continued". Billboard. Vol. 83, no. 1. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 30. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  5. ^ Billboard staff (December 19, 1970). "According to Variety, Our Two New Releases Are Already Smash Hits". Billboard. Vol. 82, no. 51. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 13. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Leszczak 2014, p. 33
  7. ^ Broadcast Music, Inc. 1970, p. 95
  8. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 55–56
  9. ^ a b Ruhlmann, William. "Original Soundtrack – The Owl & The Pussycat". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  10. ^ Billboard staff (February 6, 1971). "Billboard Top LP's: Positions 106–200". Billboard. Vol. 83, no. 6. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 64. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Barbra Streisand Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  12. ^ "George Segal Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  13. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3736". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  14. ^ a b "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3750". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  15. ^ Lymangrover, Jason. "Blood, Sweat & Tears – Rare, Rarer & Rarest". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.

Bibliography

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