Various Artists: Taking Off (Original Sound Track Album)

Miloš Forman's first American feature is a sweet, sweet delight—there's a Blu-ray, you should own a copy!—and a record DEFINITELY needed to be made from it. That being said, it did NOT warrant a full LP. This scarce 1971 vinyl contains several songs that are unmissable for any aficionado of pop/folk of the early 1970s, and practically every song was recorded live at a series of cattle call auditions that Forman set up (auditions for what? was the talent even told what they were auditioning for?) and filmed, much of which went straight into the film. It's NYC in 1970 and most of the people who showed up to sing and play were never heard from again—and then again some of them were, including Carly Simon ("Long Term Physical Effects") and "Bobo Bates", aka actress Kathy Bates, who performs a devastating original ballad ("And Even the Horses Had Wings"). Without a doubt, though, the reason this record needed to be made was to preserve Mary Mitchell's immortal performance of "Ode to a Screw", an olde medieval ballad about a good-for-nothing New York City boyfriend. (This gem was co-written by Peter Cornell and Tom Eyen; Eyen was the playwright/lyricist/TV writer/director who gave us the Oh Calcutta! parody The Dirtiest Show in Town in 1970 and a whole slew of other dirty, satirical way-off-Broadway entertainment in the 1960s and 1970s before he won a Tony in 1981 for Dreamgirls.)

Anway, this soundtrack REALLY deserved an EP or something. It didn't rate an LP, though. There's a lot of filler here. A lot of it is charming (witness Buck Henry's ridiculous, attenuated performance of "Stranger in Paradise"). A lot of it is grabbed from outside sources ("Air", "Stabat Mater"). The rest of it is really just there to get the runtime up to 17 minutes on each side. But oh, how you need the good stuff!

Nina Hart "Love"
Susan Chafitz "Fields of Green and Gold"
48 Girls "Let's Get a Little Sentimental"
Bobo Bates "And Even the Horses Had Wings"
Carly Simon "Long Term Physical Effects"
Mary Mitchell "Ode to a Screw"
Tschechische Philharmonie Prag "Stabat Mater Opus 58"
Catherine Heriza "Lessons in Love"
Susan Cohen "Nocturne"
Ike and Tina Turner Revue "Goodbye, So Long"
Incredible String Band "Air"
Jinx Rubin "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"
Buck Henry "Stranger in Paradise"
Caren Klugman "Feeling Sort of Nice"

Album audio & artwork

DISCLAIMER: To the best of my knowledge, this work is out of print and not available for purchase in any format. If you are the artist and are planning a reissue, please let me know and I’ll remove it from the blog. Also please get in touch if you’ve lost your art &/or sound masters and would like to talk with me about my restoration work.