STAR WARS 'RETURN OF THE JEDI' 1983 ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK OST JOHN WILLIAMS w/ LSO
'STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI'
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK (OST)
LABEL: RSO RECORDS 422-811 767-1 Y-1
EDITION: 1983 FIRST U.S. PRESSING ~ GATEFOLD w/ BOOKLET OF PHOTOS
COMPOSED & CONDUCTED BY JOHN WILLIAMS w/ LSO
PERFORMED BY THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
RECORDED AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS ~ LONDON ~ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1983
RECORDING ENGINEER: ERIC TOMLINSON
MASTERING HOWIE WEINBERG AT MASTERDISK ('MASTERDISK HW' IN MATRIX)
PRESSING: PRC RICHMOND IN ('72' ON LABEL ~ 'PRC' IN MATRIX)
MATRIX (SIDE A): (Etched) 422 811767-1-AS-PRC-RI-1-5 MASTERDISK-1 HW
MATRIX (SIDE B): (Etched) 422-811767-1-BS-PRC-RI-1-1-4 MASTERDISK HW
CONDITION: VINYL: VG+ JACKET: VG+ INSERT: VG+
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I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I'm offering up this fantastic sounding, First Pressing of John Williams' score to 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi', the third (in order of release) film in the Star Wars series.
This is an original 1983 First Pressing of the original soundtrack (OST) for 'Return of the Jedi' on the RSO label.
First pressings are easy to identify by their silver label. Later pressings and re-issues have a red Polydor label.
This is a rare, early first pressing that I purchased back in the summer of 1983, and have kept safe in my collection for many years.
The vinyl, insert and gatefold jacket are all in decent, gently used, VG+ condition. See details on Condition below.
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If you ask any fan or collector of Original Soundtracks and Film Scores, which are the best ones, you will always get the answer, The 'Star Wars' original soundtracks or most any John Williams score.
If you like 'Star Wars' or Soundtracks and Film scores, this original first pressing of 'Return of the Jedi' is a fantastic and essential addition to your collection.
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By the time John Williams was asked to compose the music for this film, he had already done the music for the first two 'Star Wars' films, as well as 'Jaws', 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', 'Indiana Jones' and 'Superman', all with the London Symphony Orchestra, so he had a lot of excellent prior work that he had to match or surpass.
Williams didn't disappoint and his score for 'Return of the Jedi' is a masterpiece, just about perfect, and one of his better film scores.
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'Return..' is a fun, adventurous score, complete with heroes and villains, victories and defeats, mystery and intrigue, and, of course, a romantic three-way love theme, between Luke, Leia and Han, woven throughout.
Williams' compositional genius perfectly captured the feel, suspense, and action of the movie, transforming the film's magical atmosphere into amazing music. It's one of the great 'Star Wars' musical scores.
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On this Soundtrack album, John Williams re-introduces themes from the earlier 'Star Wars' films, that present themselves at particular key moments in the score, but he adds 4 more new themes, including one for Jabba the Hutt, an ominous theme for Emperor Palpatine and an upbeat colorful piece for the Ewok warriors.
His use of different themes, re-occurring throughout the film, work perfectly to add action, suspense and emotion to what you're watching on the screen.
'Return of the Jedi' quickly became John Williams' longest and most complex score. It's thematic diversity blows away the original Star Wars.
A fantastic, amazing sounding, rich and dynamic album, containing some of the Composer's most loved and most brilliant compositions.
I think this soundtrack represents one of the best uses of music in a film and it's one of the best soundtracks Williams ever created.
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This First Pressing is considered the best sounding of the vinyl editions of this soundtrack.
This soundtrack was remastered and re-released as a 'Special Edition' in 1997, by RCA Victor, to coincide with the re-release of the film trilogy.
Although the 'Special Edition' contained more music, it suffered from 'flat' sound and loss of the high end. Many fans felt that the 1997 pressing lost some of it's power, dynamics and intensity.
Also, the "Special Edition" release switched out 2 songs, "Lapti Nek" and "Ewok Celebration", replacing them with "Jedi Rocks" and "Victory Celebration."
The only way to really appreciate this amazing, dynamic score is in it's original, 1983, fully analog vinyl version like this copy.
It's an exceptional, mind-blowing, rich, full, dynamic listening experience.
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Considering that they could only capture about 45 minutes of the score on this single LP, due to time constraints of the time, I think they did a fine job. It's not exactly chronologically 'correct' to the film, nor 'complete', but it flows quite well and sounds amazing.
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John William's score for “Return of the Jedi" is the perfect balance of suspense, romance and action, one of the most intense, thrilling, sensational and gripping scores I have ever heard, certainly much better than any of the prequel scores that followed in the 1990's and 2000's.
This album deserves to be in any Soundtrack or Film Score collection.
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CONDITION: This album is in nice, gently played condition. I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, gatefold, booklet, labels and vinyl in my pictures. I purchased this copy back in the 80's, many years ago, and have taken great care of it since.
VINYL: The vinyl looks decent. It does have some hairlines and playwear. No major scratches or 'dings' but it does have some minor surface wear and reveals a few 'pops' and 'clicks'. Not horrible, but should be pointed out.
I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how it looks.
I haven't messed with it or cleaned it for decades. I would suggest a good deep cleaning to make it even better looking and better sounding than it already is.
The Deadwax has the original early pressing marks, the 'Sterling' stamp and Mastering Engineer Howie Weinstein's 'HW' initials. See the full Matrix above.
LABELS: This is pressed with the first pressing Silver RSO labels. The labels are clean and bright, but there is mild 'scuffing' on one side. (See pics). The spindle holes show mild evidence of play, but still 'clean'.
JACKET: This still looks fantastic for a 40 year old OG copy. No significant dings, damage or ringwear. The artwork is bold and bright. The edges and corners are relatively sharp, the spine is straight. A nice survivor.
This thick all-black jacket is notorious for showing ringwear, dirt, scuffs, fingerprints and damage, but this copy is still quite nice. Minimal wear. It has a few light 'fingerprints' but should clean up nicely with a simple wipe down.
This is the original gatefold jacket, which is very clean on the inside, and comes with the original booklet of stills from the film. The booklet has some mild 'wrinkles', but still very nice.
This record has been sleeved and stored properly for decades, and still quite nice for an original early US pressing. I'm sure you'll love it.
Overall, I'll call the whole record a strong VG+. The vinyl does have some hairlines and evidence of play, but a very nice copy. This copy is all original, complete, rare and a real gem. I'm sure you'll love it.
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** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
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I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition.
Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words.
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far. -- JOHN