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COLLECTING 007 – US Records
WRITTEN & COMPILED BY KEVIN HARPER

The James Bond original soundtrack albums released on vinyl record in the USA were often slightly different to their UK counterparts. Several albums had alternate artwork which eventually became the default version used worldwide when the soundtracks were later reissued on compact disc. Although some albums had identical artwork to the UK version, all had slight differences in the positioning of the lettering on the sleeve, and the usual contractual reversal of the producers credits. Track listings were identical to the UK albums with the exception of Goldfinger which included John Barry's jazz instrumental of the title theme, but omitted the tracks ‘Golden Girl’, ‘Death of Tilly’, ‘The Laser Beam’ and ‘Pussy Galore's Flying Circus’. The US soundtrack album was released in the USA on December 12, 1964 reaching number one on March 20, 1965.

The Goldfinger soundtrack was the most popular album in the US chart for three weeks, and awarded a gold disc signifying over $1-million in sales.

The success of the album prompted some light-hearted promotional rivalry above New York's Times Square. Decca Records erected a billboard on the corner of Broadway and 49th Street proclaiming “Sherlock Holmes makes James Bond look like a sissy...”, adding that “...Baker Street is a rare musical gem”. United Artists executives responded with a huge billboard (above left) on the side of Hotel Markwell at 216-230 West 49th Street poking fun at the recently released original cast recording of the Sherlock Holmes musical Baker Street, then playing on Broadway. Their billboard read: “SHERLOCK WHO?? - James Bond, Agent 007... and speaking of ‘musical gems’, have you heard the music from THE GOLDFINGER ALBUM on United Artists records?” Both albums were best-sellers, but it was Goldfinger that held onto the Billboard 200 top spot for three weeks after outselling the soundtrack album for Walt Disney's Mary Poppins (1964), which itself had outsold The Beatles '65 (the best-selling US album for the previous nine weeks - issued as the North American alternative to Beatles for Sale) upon its release on March 13, 1965. Mary Poppins then reclaimed the number one spot from Goldfinger on April 10, 1965, where it remained for another thirteen weeks, going on to win the 1965 Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Four tracks on Side One of the US Thunderball LP also have different titles to the UK release. The US LP of You Only Live Twice featured Nancy Sinatra's reprise of the title song as the last track of the album; whereas the UK version replaced this with John Barry's instrumental ‘Twice Is The Only Way To Live’. Live And Let Die was the only US James Bond soundtrack album to have a gatefold sleeve featuring stills from the film on its original release. Collectors should also note that the final track on the US Thunderball soundtrack album ‘Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang’ was different on the mono and stereo versions of the record. The mono release is the arrangement now heard on the 2003 expanded EMI CD, but the US stereo vinyl album had the orchestral backing track recorded for the unused Dionne Warwick version originally intended as the title song. The last-minute change came about when the producers decided that the film title should feature in the song.  An alto saxophone replaces the Dionne Warwick vocal on the US stereo album version. This version also appeared on the original UK vinyl LP release.

US 33rpm 12" Long Playing Records

Dr. No
Original Motion Picture Sound Track Album
United Artists Records UAL 4108 Mono (1963)
United Artists Records UAS 5108 Stereo (1963)

From Russia With Love
Original Motion Picture Sound Track
United Artists Records UAL 4114 Mono (1964)
United Artists Records UAS 5114 Stereo (1964)

Goldfinger
Original Motion Picture Sound Track
United Artists Records UAL 4117 Mono (1964)
United Artists Records UAS 5117 Stereo (1964)

The US album included John Barry's jazz instrumental of the title theme missing from the UK release; but omitted the tracks ‘Golden Girl’, ‘Death of Tilly’, ‘The Laser Beam’ and ‘Pussy Galore's Flying Circus’.

Thunderball
Original Motion Picture Sound Track
United Artists Records UAL 4132 Mono (1965)
United Artists Records UAS 5132 Stereo (1965)

*The titles of four tracks on Side One of Thunderball were changed for the US vinyl LP. All subsequent CD releases of the album have retained the American variation of the track titles.

*Track #2 ‘Château Fight’ on the UK album was changed to ‘Château Flight’ (this could be a simple spelling mistake, as both titles are valid. James Bond (Sean Connery) has a ‘fight’ in a Château in the pre-credit sequence, and then takes ‘flight’ using the Bell-Textron Jet Pack!. Track #3 ‘Electrocution - Searching Lippe's Room’ on the UK album was simply titled ‘The Spa’ on the US release; and Track #5 ‘Vulcan Crash Landing - Loading Bombs Into Disco Volante’ was changed to ‘The Bomb’. It should also be noted that Track #6  corrected the mis-spelling of ‘Café Martinique’, which appeared on the UK release as ‘Cape Martinique - Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’. The US album also omitted the second part of the track title after the hyphen.
 

You Only Live Twice
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UAL 4155 Mono (1967)
United Artists Records UAS 5155 Stereo (1967)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UAS 5204 Stereo (1969)

Diamonds Are Forever
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UAS 5220 Stereo (1971)

Live And Let Die
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UA-L100-G Stereo (1973)

The original US pressing featured a gatefold sleeve
with a selection of stills from the film

The Man With The Golden Gun
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UA-LA358-G Stereo (1974)

The Spy Who Loved Me
Original Motion Picture Score
United Artists Records UA-LA774-H Stereo (1977)

Moonraker
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UA-LA971-I Stereo (1979)

For Your Eyes Only
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Liberty Records LOO-1109 Stereo (1981)

Octopussy
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
A&M Records SP 4967 Stereo (1983)

A View To A Kill
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Capitol Records SJ-12413 Stereo (1985)

Note: Track #2 ‘May Day Jumps’ was mis-spelled on subsequent CD releases as ‘May Day Jumpers’

The Living Daylights
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Warner Bros Records W1-25616 Stereo (1987)

Licence To Kill
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
MCA Records MCA-6307 Stereo (1989)