What went wrong with the Broadway musical? … Pop music and the Broadway musical were already veering off in opposite directions when the Stones and the Beatles first laid siege to the top of the charts in 1964. … But in 1969, Harry Nilsson, one of the most imaginative popular singer-songwriters of his day, cut a remarkable record of a Stephen Sondheim ballad called “Marry Me a Little” that hinted at what might have been.
“Marry Me a Little” was written for “Company,” Mr. Sondheim’s breakthrough musical, but was cut from the show prior to its 1970 opening. … It remained officially unreleased until 2013, when it surfaced at last as part of The RCA Albums Collection, a 17-disc boxed set. … What is most striking about “Marry Me a Little” is how totally different it sounds from “Company,” [and] still sounds as fresh as it did the day it was taped.
Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
