In my last post, I discussed various recordings of Guys and Dolls. Shortly after, our music cataloger, Chuck Herrold, spotted a heck of a typo on the back cover of a 2001 recording of the musical. What follows is what he found and then the responses of other music librarians.
I was cataloging a British CD of Loesser’s Guys and Dolls today and
encountered this surprising statement of responsibility on the
container:Orcastrations by George Bassman & Ted Royal.
Did someone judge that Bassman and Royal had emasculated Loesser’s
music, or was this an attempt to get one by the copy editor?Chuck H.
An unfortunate misspelling of orchestrations.
To which Linda Fairtile of the University of Richmond replied:
Obviously, this version is better titled “Dolls and Dolls.”
Then Robert Lipartito of Rowan University exclaimed:
Talk about a drastically cut performance!
Similarly, Timothy Gmeiner of Belmont University added:
…perhaps in this era of “working smarter” and staying under budget, they decided to make some cuts…(sorry)
Eliott Kahn made a fantastic reference to another Frank Loesser musical and said:
Definitely not THE MOST HAPPY FELLA.
And finally, an anonymous music librarian brilliantly observed that “orcastrations” possibly:
…brings an entirely new meaning to “Adelaide’s Lament.”
Other than praising my colleagues for their wit, what more can I say?
— Tim
p.s. To learn about the more serious work of music librarians, go here.
Eleventh Stack 