Lolita My Love

1971

Lyric by Alan Jay Lerner

LP: Blue Pear Records BP 1009

CD: Kritzerland KR-200385

Cover art for Lolita My Love LP

cover art for Lolita My Love CD

    LP Track List

  1. Overture
  2. Going, Going, Gone
  3. The Same Old Song
  4. Saturday
  5. In the Broken Promise Land of 15
  6. The Same Old Song (Reprise)
  7. Dante, Petrarch and Poe
  8. Sur Les Quais
  9. Charlotte's Letter
  10. Farewell, Little Dream
  11. At the Bed-D-By Motel
  12. Tell Me, Tell Me
  13. Buckin' for Beardsley/Beardsley School for Girls
  14. March Out of My Life
  15. The Same Old Song (Reprise)
  16. All You Can Do is Tell Me You Love Me
  17. How Far is It to the Next Town
  18. How Far is It to the Next Town (Reprise)
  19. Lolita
  20. Finale

    CD 1 Track List

  1. Overture
  2. Dialogue
  3. Going, Going, Gone
  4. Dialogue
  5. The Same Old Song
  6. Dialogue
  7. Saturday
  8. Dialogue
  9. In the Broken Promise Land of 15
  10. Dialogue
  11. The Same Old Song (reprise)
  12. Dialogue
  13. Dante, Petrarch, and Poe
  14. Sur Le Quais
  15. Dialogue
  16. Charlotte's Letter
  17. Dialogue
  18. Fairwell, Little Dream

    CD 2 Track List

  1. At the Bed-D By Motel
  2. Dialogue
  3. Tell me, Tell Me
  4. Dialogue
  5. Tell Me, Tell Me (reprise)
  6. Buckin' for Beardsley / Beardsley School for Girls
  7. Dialogue
  8. March Ou tof My Life
  9. Dialogue
  10. The Same Old Song (reprise)
  11. Dialogue
  12. All You Can Do is Tell Me You Love Me
  13. Dialogue
  14. How Far is It to the Next Town?
  15. Dialogue
  16. Lolita
  17. Dialogue
  18. Finale

The Play

Alan Jay Lerner is my favorite lyricist—a man who could write a song whose lyrics were witty and logical at the same time. And John Barry delivered some wonderful melodies ("The Same Old Song" and "How Far is it to the Next Town" rattle in my head and won't go away). But if the basis of the musical is Nobokov's notorious Lolita, about a pedophile's disasterous infatuation with a little girl, you have an enormous hole to try and climb out of. They couldn't. The show never made it to Broadway and the original cast recording was cancelled. Wikipedia has a very good entry on it, and not just because they linked to this page.

The Music

The LP I have (which is, or at least was, fairly easily obtained) was recorded from the theater's internal sound system, and the sound quality is God-awful. Think of a cassette recorder placed on stage and you have a decent idea of what to expect. Nevertheless—and I was predisposed to dislike the story—I liked the songs. I wish this thing had opened and played long enough to get a cast recording released. There's a mix—"Going, Going Gone is upbeat and fun (Shirley Bassey recorded a cover of it), "The Same Old Song" is unusual but I love the melody. "In the Broken Promise Land of 15" was whimsical and downbeat (and rated a cover by Bob Goulet), and the "How Far is It to the Next Town" was very long but fascinating as both a song and a way of advancing the play. That song made it as a cover on a tribute CD called Lerner, Lowe and Lane (and was butchered. What an awful CD).

In 2020, Kritzerland released a two CD set that has been remastered. I have not yet had an opportunity to hear it so I cannot compare it against the LP. I will do so as soon as I can (June 2022).

Release Notes

For many years the LP was available as a bootleg, recorded through the sound board of the theater and meant for internal reference, not for public release.

In 2020, Kritzerland released a two CD set that has been remastered. Film Score Monthly has the press-release.

Barry's own instrumental single "Lolita" appears on compilations. Shirley Bassey recorded the song "Going, Going, Gone" on her Never, Never, Never LP, and Robert Goulet recorded "In The Broken-Hearted Land of 15." A S.T.A.G.E. tribute to Alan Jay Lerner, Lerner, Lowe and Lane has performances of "How Far is It to the Next Town" and "In the Broken Promised Land of 15."

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