Disney - Story Song From the Haunted Mansion (2 tracks) +Album Reviews

An Excellent Reissue of the Album

Wayne D. Wright | Seattle, Wa | 09/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the editorial review states this is a reissue of the 1969 record. It is a 24 minute story of two teenagers (played by Robie Lester and "Ronny" Howard) in the Haunted Mansion and is narrated by Thurl Ravenscroft. It does contain some of the sound effects and music from the attraction but interestingly deviates some. The Ghost Host here is Pete Renoudet not Paul Frees. It mentions effects not seen since the original opening in 1969 and characters not fully developed in the attraction. Sound quality is very good, better than any version of the LP I have heard.

Track two is "Grim Grinning Ghosts" this is a five and a half minute version featuring a little bit of Paul Frees as the Ghost Host, the song. and Little Leota.

It is packaged in a Digipak with the original booklet of Collin Campbell's illustrations and text. When you place the CD in your computer a flash program runs which houses a gallery of the booklet and cover paintings without any text and which are printable.

I am glad to finally own this in the CD format and would recommend it to any Haunted Mansion or Disneyland fan.

"

Improved, but not identical to the vinyl release

Gerry | Baltimore, MD | 10/28/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This version is altered from the original Lp release. While some really bad editing flubs that exist on the original have been fixed/masked, and the tape hiss cleaned up dramatically, it lost some things in the process. Much of the original stereo mix has been mixed down to mono. Could be because of the dropouts in the original tape, or to blend smoothly with the next scene. The original did have several segments spliced in after the tape had been completed, often jarring the listener by jumping from mono to stereo and back again inexplicably in mid-scene. The engineer on this release did a great job repairing those flubs. In one place, the Ghost Host inexplicably in mid-sentence went to mono from the "weird stereo effect" as others have described it, but that has now been fixed. In another scene, the ballroom organ inexplicably jumps from center to right and back to center again which has been corrected. There are still a few tape dropouts remaining that throw the recording off-balance which could have easily been fixed by adjusting the gain on one track, but they chose not to.

I just wish they had left the original stereo elements as they were. For example, in the first section of the vinyl as Thurl sets the scene, some cats start meowing on the left channel, as well as the wind and rain sound effect plays on the left. Now it's all mono. This happens in several places that were originally stereo. Additionally, there is a segment about 2/3 of the way through that is very muffled, which isn't muffled in the original.

Another big mistake they made on this new release is by adding a reverb that simulates voices bouncing off the walls of a small, empty room, and is most notable on Thurl Ravenscroft's narration. It totally ruins the original "right-in-the-room-with-you" acoustical presence that the original Lp has. Now he sounds like he was recording in a medium-sized empty room instead of the acoustically damped studio. The only reverb used on the original was for the Ghost Host's ominous voice. Adding an unnecessary (and annoying) reverb to perfectly good recordings has been an on-going problem with most of Mr. Thornton's recent vintage re-releases. It may be virtually imperceptible to most, but after listening to the original record for 40 years, I noticed it immediately.

Would have been better had this album been entirely remixed from the original recording elements, but I presume they are lost to time. Some more (and new) bonus material would have been nice too. The scans of the restored Campbell paintings are nicely done, but there should have been more. Can't really argue since it is bargain-priced.

Overall, it's great to finally have it on CD now - but it's not *quite* as good as your old Lp overall."

A must-have for haunted house fans!!

Brett Persing | 10/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You get the 20 minute original 1969 story of the haunted mansion complete with sound effects (which this is the best and longest story told of the mansion), you get the original full-length version of "Grim Grinning Ghosts" from the Disneyland attraction, you get the entire storybook including all the great artwork and words in paper form inside the case, and you get the entire storybook in digital form when you put it in your computer!! And all for under $10...this is just like having the original book from your childhood PLUS you get the full-length story!"

Great CD version of the original 1969 vinyl LP

coasteray | 02/13/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I thought it would good fun to provide a list of differences regarding the mixing of the new "The Story And Song From The Haunted Mansion" CD as compared to the original mix of the 1969 vinyl LP, which I own, having come across it on eBay only this month in very nice condition (vinyl and jacket/book). I've come up with this list of obvious differences. It's not a complete representation of the subject, but there is no point providing a minute-by-minute accounting for the entire almost-25-minute recording. Here goes:

1) Throughout the entire recording, our narrator (Thurl Ravenscroft) is entirely in mono on the LP and CD.

2) At 00:15 on the LP, there is wind and a cat in the left channel, both of which subtlely shift to mono at

00:41 and continue until 1:18, at which point the cat and wind/lightning effects begin to subtlely shift

back and forth from mono to stereo to mono. On the CD this entire segment is mono through 4:21,including

our Ghost Host (Pete Renoudet), who appears at 3:35 in mono on the LP and CD.

3) At 4:22, the Ghost Host begins his stereo segment on the LP and CD. His stereo effect is maintained

throughout most of the LP and CD, with only a few places on both in mono. However, the effects past 4:22

on the LP and CD are mostly mono throughout the recording.

4) At 10:10 on the LP, the Ghost Host shifts from stereo to mono for his last few words in this segment, and

then the mono continues as Mike and Karen talk. On the CD, he remains in stereo. This is funny, since

the CD seems to favor mono in most places where the LP is in its more eerie mono-to-stereo flip-flopping.

5) During part of the "ghost party" segment (from 17:14 to 18:15), the main organ shifts from mono to stereo

to mono on the LP, whereas on the CD the organ is entirely mono during this segment.

6) At 23:14 on the LP, as Mike and Karen leave the Haunted Mansion their voices seem to shift from mono to

stereo with a center balance between left and right channels. It's not quite like a pure mono sound.

This is proven by the segue that leads directly into the Ghost Host bidding Mike and Karen goodbye in a

very slight right channel effect, with the addition of a bell (23:37) also in that same very slight right

channel. By 24:05, the stereo has craftily and slowly shifted to mono to fill out the remainder of the

story at 24:44. On the CD, this entire segment from 23:15 to the very end is strictly in mono.

7) The CD doesn't have quite as much mid-range and bass, which suggests the original LP had somewhat too

much of both. This is a matter of personal taste. Whatever the case, The CD is quite clean and crisp,

and has an excellent overall sound. It should be noted that the sound effects are easier (actually

louder) to hear on the CD, and the distinctness between the various audio components of the entire

recording are certainly to be appreciated as compared to the original LP. Please understand that the LP

sounds very good and can stand very well on its own, but the CD benefits from today's excellent

production improvements. Between the stereo/mono issues and today's production standards, both the LP

and CD have very strong points and a few drawbacks. Such is life.

Track #2 is "Grim Grinning Ghosts", running 5:33 in length, and coming off like a mini-version of the ride-through. It begins with the familiar Haunted Mansion organ and Paul Frees as the Ghost Host, then the "Otherwordly" organ (see 1999 & 2009 Haunted Mansion CDs) comes in at :54, followed by the also-familiar Grim Grinning Ghosts song at 1:52, and finally finishing with Little Leota at 4:59 as the song winds down under her. Her spiel is :28 long. This same cut can also be found on the 2005 and 2008 "Official Album" double-CD sets from Disneyland (5:33 and 5:32, respectively), with the very notable exception that those two releases feature a shorter spiel from Little Leota (she comes in at 5:16), whereas the cut on this CD has her coming in at 4:59 so we can hear her entire spiel. Another reason to get this CD.

The CD also features the original LP/current CD artwork of Collin Campbell, accessible by simply inserting the CD into your computer disc drive. Very nice.

The overall result of the LP is a fun mixing of mostly fairly subtle, yet unpredictable shifts between mono and stereo for all the various components of this whole listening experience. It's too bad about the lack of multi-track tape decks at that time, which caused the production to be done in sections, which in turn were then spliced together, but during the course of 25 minutes, it doesn't really matter because it doesn't occur often enough to be of any lasting concern, if this sort of thing should even bother a person to begin with. At the very least, it contributes to the eerieness of the album. Cool. The CD simply exudes great production values overall despite the stereo/mono debate.

One regret about the CD is that it would have been a real treat to provide both the unaltered original mix along with the new mix. Listeners could have had some real fun choosing their favorite version and having fun discussing their reasons for their choice. As it stands now, only those of us who have the LP can have this fun. It would be nice if Disney would release a second edition of this CD with the original mix included in the package. Nonetheless, the current CD is excellent as released, and gives today's audience a chance to hear this previously hard-to-obtain recording in an up-to-date format. I was very surprised, and happy, to discover this new release, and highly recommend this CD to anyone who enjoys the Haunted Mansion.

Here's also hoping Disney will consider re-releasing some other gems, like Pirates of the Caribbean (1968), which also features Thurl Ravenscroft as a pirate-style story host. It also would be good to hear a CD version of the old Disney "It's a Small World" LP (1964) with Winston Hibler as host. I would have included the "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House" (1964), but it is already on iTunes, so no CD is coming for that one. All of these in their original LP form have the folding "book" format within the gatefold cover, except "Haunted House".

"

YEAH!!!!........Finally

Cheri R. Edwards | 01/07/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been looking online for this for quite a few years(stil have vinyl record from the sixties that my mother bought for us kids)....I almost went into shock when I saw the cover online and thinking "no way....this is some cruel joke getting my hopes up" (it was late Nov.)YEAH!!!!!....Finally.This story should have been the story in the movie(PU).This is one of my top 5 favorite cd's in my collection(over a thousand).Sorry for babbling on...I usually don't write reviews.

Thank You Amazon for having this CD. You guys always make it a pleasure shopping online.

Love."

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