Description
West Side Story is the soundtrack to the 1961 film by the same name. All music is composed by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim. When released, the soundtrack spent 54 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's album charts, giving it the longest run at No. 1 of any album in history. Perhaps Michael Jackson's Thriller comes close, on the grounds that West Side Story was listed on a chart for stereo albums only at a time when many albums were recorded in mono.
During the Grammy Awards of 1962, it won Best Sound Track Album – Original Cast and Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album for Johnny Richards' orchestrations of the movie score. These successes bolstered the popularity of the movie and soundtrack even further. In the United States, it was the best-selling album of the 1960s, certifying three times Platinum in over two decades.
West Side Story includes 4 bonus tracks, “Overture”, “Intermission Music”, “Finale (Somewhere)” and “End Credits”. This 2LP-set is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on gold coloured vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve.
