Music

It wasn't until "Dr. Kildare" shot into the top TV ratings that Richard Chamberlain began to sing professionally. Composer Jerrald Goldsmith had written a lovely instrumental theme for the "Dr. Kildare" series, and MGM Records seized upon this, and Chamberlain's growing popularity, to produce a lyric version of "The Theme From Dr. Kildare" subtitled "Three Stars Will Shine Tonight." Richard recorded it for MGM, backed by David Rose and his Orchestra, and the record immediately raced into the best seller lists.

Four months later, Richard recorded his second single, a new and tender rendition of "Love Me Tender." It too, was an immediate success. From that point on, the pressure was irresistible. Richard was whisked from his TV hospital to a recording studio to make several more titles.

Always modest in his estimates of his own ability, Richard Chamberlain considers himself still very much a novice as a singer. The public clearly disagreed and his singing voice was recently exercised with two major roles in the theatre productions of "My Fair Lady" and "The Sound Of Music."

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Click on the highlighted links to download a sample of each song, they are in the popular .wav format. All were taken from the original records and are in mono sound (the records are not in stereo). The records are nearly 40 years old and I have also tried to keep the download time to an acceptable level, so hence the quality is what it is.

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Recording Career

Theme from Dr. Kildare

"Three Stars Will Shine Tonight" (aka "Theme From Dr. Kildare") 1962 Hit single

Love Me Tender

"Love Me Tender" 1962 Hit single

Record

"All I Have To Do Is Dream" 1963 Hit single

Blue Guitar
Numerous other singles


Richard Chamberlain Sings

The first MGM record album, "Richard Chamberlain Sings" 1964 LP is a long-time best seller.

Side 1

1. Hi-lili, Hi-lo
2. All I Have To Do Is Dream
3. I Will Love You
4. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
5. Theme From Dr Kildare Three Stars Will Shine Tonight
6. It's A Lonesome Old Town When You're Not Around

Side 2

1. True Love
2. I'll Be Around
3. Love Me Tender
4. All I Do Is Dream Of You
5. A Quiet Kind Of Love

Joy In The Morning


Joy In The Morning
MGM-C
1009
E.M.I. RECORDS
(The Gramophone Company Ltd.)
Hayes
Middlesex
England
Made and Printed in Great Britain
1965

Side 1

1. Joy In The Morning
2. I Can Dream, Can't I?
3. Dear Heart
4. Georgia On My Mind
5. A Fellow Needs A Girl
6. Stella By Starlight

Side 2

1. Try To Remember
2. April Love
3. Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
4. You Always Hurt The One You Love
5. Rome Will Never Leave You

Four short years ago Richard Chamberlain was an unknown aspiring actor with an enormous amount of talent. That talent has taken a fine young but unheralded actor and put him on the very top of the entertainment world.

In four short years Richard Chamberlain has become an internationally famous television star as a result of the "Dr. Kildare" series. He has also developed into a motion picture artist of stature and a smash hit recording star.

Dick’s first MGM Records album, "Richard Chamberlain Sings" was a long-time best seller and this, his second and latest entry, is bound to score in the same dramatic way.

The actor-singer took great pains in the preparation of this LP. In planning the set, he was deeply committed to making it even better than his first album -a first class initial effort itself. Dick spent a great deal of time selecting the tunes to be recorded and worked closely with arranger-conductors Hank Levine, Perry Botkin, Jr., and Jimmy Bryant from planning through actual taping.

Obviously the foremost choice as far as material is concerned for this LP was the Richard Chamberlain vocal version of the title song from his latest MGM motion picture, "Joy In The Morning". He stars in the film along with Yvette Mimieux. The song was written for the picture by two of the country’s most talented writers, Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster.

Two of the other tunes in the set are also movie-oriented and received recent motion picture Academy Award nominations: Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte and Dear Heart.

Lyrics ballads, always an outstanding part of the Chamberlain repertoire, are most evident in this album. Among the delightful items are, A Fellow Needs A Girl (from the Broadway production, "Allegro"), Rome Will Never Leave You, which was the title tune from a three-part "Dr. Kildare” episode, and the always beautiful Stella By Starlight. Another first class ballad in the collection is the future all-time great, Try To Remember, which is from the long-running Off-Broadway smash "The Fantasticks."

Interspersed among these great ballads are a number of classic tunes sung in up tempo or swing style. These evergreens include I Can Dream, Can’t I?; You Always Hurt The One You Love and Georgia On My Mind.

A great amount of credit for the excellence of this album goes to the fine arrangers who orchestrated and conducted the top flight back-grounds for Dick. You Always Hurt The One You Love and Rome Will Never Leave You were arranged and conducted by Perry Botkin, Jr. Jimmy Bryant handled the musical chores for Stella By Starlight and Georgia On My Mind. The seven remaining songs were arranged and conducted by Hank Levine.

In this album, Richard Chamberlain brings his exciting, versatile vocal talents to play on almost a dozen fine songs. The set showcases the Chamberlain voice in a number of different and contrasting styles -ballad, swing and folk- and each facet displays the wealth of talent this singer brings to a song.


Theme From Dr Kildare And Other Favourites Richard Chamberlain

Theme From Dr Kildare And Other Favourites Richard Chamberlain
MFP 1229
An MGM Recording
Music for Pleasure Ltd
Astronaut Hose
Hounslow Road
Feltham
Middlesex
Made in Great Britain by EMI Records (The Gramophone Co Ltd)
1966

Side 1

1. Hi-lili, Hi-lo
2. All I Have To Do Is Dream
3. I Will Love You
4. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
5. Theme From Dr Kildare Three Stars Will Shine Tonight

Side 2

1. It's A Lonesome Old Town When You're Not Around
2. True Love
3. I'll Be Around
4. All I Do Is Dream Of You
5. A Quiet Kind Of Love

No one needs any introduction to Richard Chamberlain; as the smooth-faced young intern Dr. Kildare he is known to every television watcher, and in that role he lent a new glamour to the medical profession and set feminine hearts beating on the screen and off it. In 1962, when the ‘Kildare’ series was first seen in Britain, the theme tune from it was recorded as an instrumental number by Johnny Spence, and was a great popular success; when this was followed up by Richard Chamberlain’s own vocal version his chances were not fancied as he was unknown as a singer and it was thought that the market had already been filled by the instrumental tune. In fact Richard’s record made Pop history by becoming an even bigger success than the previous instrumental hit; he followed it up with his own interpretation of Elvis Presley’s classic ‘Love Me Tender’, which made a similar impact on the charts.

It was not surprising that Richard Chamberlain’s reputation as a singer should have been regarded with suspicion by those who had not heard him; it is only too easy to take a well-known T.V. actor and turn him into a singer whose fame will still rely on his face rather than his voice. But those who look into it will find that Richard’s musical credentials are impeccable: he studied singing at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music for three years before even going near a record studio. It was during the recording session for ‘Love Me Tender’ that Richard felt that he had at last been accepted as a singer:

"When I first walked into the studios there was an air of 'show us what you can do' among the musicians; I had to prove to them that I wasn’t just a fluke. I was so nervous I am still surprised we ever got through the session! But we finally made it, and when we did, and they played back the tape, the Musical Director grabbed me and whirled me around to face the orchestra. They were all applauding -me! It was the greatest feeling of accomplishment I’d had in a long time".

Richard Chamberlain’s rise to fame was meteoric; after being chosen for the part of Dr. Kildare his fan mail started at 11,000 letters a week and went on from there; the M.G.M. studios had seen nothing like it since the days of Clark Gable and Robert Taylor. But in spite of his immense popularity and adoration he inspired in his fans, Richard’s private life corresponded closely to the quiet-living Kildare’s; he is a keen sportsman (and was a top athlete at university), and a trip to the zoo is likely to please him far more than a visit to a night-club. Everybody who has met him testifies to the calmness and warmth of his character, and this rubs off on his admirers: he is perhaps he only Hollywood idol whose fans rarely call him by his Christian name, but more often call him Mr. Chamberlain! The therapeutic effect of a talk with him was demonstrated when a scheme whereby American fans could dial a number and hear his voice had such a response that the telephone company was overwhelmed and had to discontinue the service!

But today Richard feels that his image as the clean-shaven, all-American boy can have it's disadvantages too; the longer hair that he recently grown for the period B.B.C. series 'Portrait Of A Lady' has disconcerted some of his more conservative admirers, while it delights many of his younger fans. He had been longing to get his teeth into a part which gave him more dramatic scope than the antiseptic world of Dr. Kildare, and his performance in 'Portrait Of A Lady' has received great critical acclaim. He has just finished making a film, 'Petulia', in which he stars with Julie Christie, and there is a possibility that we may be hearing more of his singing voice soon.

On this record Richard sings the song which first brought his voice to the hit parade, the theme from 'Dr. Kildare' ('Three Stars Will Shine Tonight'), together with a selection of favourite songs which will delight his fans and prove a revelation to those who have never before been aware of his musical gifts.


The MGM record "Richard Chamberlain Dream" 1962 EP, contains the following tracks:

Record cover

Side 1

1. All I Do Is Dream Of You
2. I Will Love You

Side 2

1. All I Have To Do Is Dream
2. A Kiss To Build A Dream On


Hamlet

Twilight Of Honor

In 1991, Richard narrated the world premiere of "Haleakala: How Maui Snared The Sun" in a concert with the Honolulu Symphoney. The 18 minute piece was composed by Dan Welcher, the symphony's conductor in-residence, and the text Richard read to the accompaniment of the orchestra was written by Ann McCutchen, Welcher's wife. It relates the ancient Hawaiian legend of how the demigod Maui slowed down the route of the sun. The picture below is from the cover of the CD that was later produced.

CD cover

BUY this CD from Amazon.com

BUY this CD from Amazon.co.uk

The only CD collection of Richard's songs was released in Germany many years ago featuring several songs. However, a fan put together an Ultimate Collection CD using remastered recordings taken from converting the original vinyl recordings into digital media, together with some new digital recordings.

Ultimate Collection CD

01. A Fellow Needs A Girl
02. A Kiss To Build A Dream On
03. A Quiet Kind Of Love
04. All I Do Is Dream Of You
05. All I Have To Do Is Dream
06. April Love
07. Close To You
08. Dear Heart
09. Fools Fall In Love
10. Georgia On My Mind
11. Hi-lili, Hi-lo
12. How's Chances?
13. Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
14. I Can Dream, Can't I?
15. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
16. I Will Love You
17. I'll Be Around
18. I'm Getting Tired So I Can Sleep
19. It's A Lonesome Old Town When You're Not Around
20. Joy In The Morning
21. Lonely Heart
22. Love Makes The World Go Round
23. Love Me Tender
24. My Blue Guitar
25. Rome Will Never Leave You
26. Stella By Starlight
27. Theme From Dr Kildare Three Stars Will Shine Tonight
28. True Love
29. Try To Remember
30. You Always Hurt The One You Love