Search - Oscar Hammerstein II :: Oklahoma!: From The Soundtrack Of The Motion Picture (1955 Film)

In the years before rock (and even for a few years after), the album charts were full of original Broadway cast LPs and soundtracks of the film versions of those Broadway musicals. And the soundtrack to 1955's Oklahoma! was one of the biggest--hitting No. 1 for a month that year--and becoming part of the consciousness of darn near every Baby Boomer whose folks owned a record player over the next five or so years. Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones (in her film debut) were so good together, they repeated the formula (well, after Frank Sinatra dropped out) in the following year's film version of another Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, Carousel. Every song here--from "Oh! What a Beautiful Morning " to the closing title track--is a gem, and whether it's "People Will Say We're in Love" or "The Farmer and the Cowman," these are the most familiar--and definitive--versions. You even get the rousing overture. --Bill Holdship