Original Soundtrack - Casino Royale
AUS RCA Mono LP, COMO-5005
First released 1967

01 - Casino Royale Theme (Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass)
02 - The Look Of Love (Dusty Springfield)
03 - Money Penny Goes For Broke
04 - Le Chiffre's Torture Of The Mind
05 - Home James, Don't Spare The Horses
06 - Sir James' Trip To Find Mata
07 - The Look Of Love (Instrumental)
08 - Hi There Miss Goodthighs
09 - Little French Boy
10 - Flying Saucer-First Stop Berlin
11 - The Venerable Sir James Bond
12 - Dream On James, You're Winning
13 - The Big Cowboys And Indians Fight At Casino Royale; Casino Royale Theme (Reprise)

==About the album==

Review by Stephen Cook for allmusic.com...
"Burt Bacharach appropriately comes up with a rambunctious soundtrack for the 1967 James Bond spoof, Casino Royale. Things get underway with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass' performance of the fast-paced main title, which features the usual Bacharach mix of pop phrasing and complex arrangements; this theme is subsequently augmented with a lush string arrangement and marching band rhythms on "Sir James' Trip to Find Mata" and turns into a mod rock jam during "Flying Saucer First Stop Berlin." Bacharach excelled at these kinds of musical cut-ups, but thankfully he used liberal doses of humor and melody to keep the proceedings from turning too rarefied or messy. At times, the humor even turns to camp, as it does with the manic hodgepodge of circus themes, gypsy music, and lounge grind on "Home James, Don't Spare the Horses." The more recognizable and certainly more straightforward side of Bacharach is here, too, on the Dusty Springfield smash "The Look of Love." This is one of Bacharach's best soundtracks and a good buy for seasoned fans. Those new to his music, though, should first check out collections on Rhino or Hip-O, which feature original hit versions of his popular songs."

I echo Stephen's words about this being one of Bacharach's best soundtracks; it's certainly one of my faves!

==About this transfer==

Don't be put off by the fact that this copy was pressed in Australia; the metal parts were imported from the USA, so there's no generation loss as there would be were the album cut locally from a tape dupe. Indeed, on the contrary, the great advantage of the Australian pressing is the use of top quality local vinyl. We're talking very thick, resilient and quiet. This copy was graded and looked VG when I picked it up for a few dollars...yet it plays closer to NM.

So the million dollar question: is the mono better than the stereo? Well, download and compare for yourself! ;) I certainly prefer this needledrop over the official Varese Sarabande CD (which I am sure is a needledrop too); less distortion and compression.

NOTE: This is a new 2013 mastering. It replaces my previous 2009 mastering.

==Vinyl transfer and 24bit mastering by Q==

Source Matrices:
01-06: A4A2 UZRM--4044--1S
07-13: A4A2 UZRM--4045--1S

Hardware
- Project Xpression III Turntable
- Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge
- Project SpeedBox II Quartz-Generated Electronic Speed Regulator
- Denon PMA-700AE Integrated Amplifier

Software
- Audition 3.0.1 (audio capture and editing)
- ClickRepair (audio editing)
- iZotope RX Advanced (resampling and dithering to Red Book audio specifications)

Artwork included