"The Jungle Book" Original Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the 1967 Disney film “The Jungle Book”, about a feral child named Mowgli and based on stories from the book of the same name written by Rudyard Kipling, is a mixture of old-fashioned classical and jazz music and contains a number of much-loved songs, including “The Bare Necessities” and “I Wan’na Be Like You”.
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it was the last to be produced by Walt Disney, who died during the making of the film. Sterling Holloway provides just one of the many recognisable voices in his role as Kaa the python (he was also the voice of Winnie the Pooh in the Walt Disney featurettes), along with Bruce Reitherman, son of director Wolfgang. However, it is Phil Harris, the voice of everyone’s favorite hip bear Baloo, who steals the show with the slacker anthem, “The Bare Necessities”, but his scat match with legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Prima on “I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)” is also not to be missed.
Most of the songs featured in the film were written by the Sherman Brothers, Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, whose other numerous Disney and non-Disney credits include “The Aristocats”, “The Parent Trap”, “Bedknobs & Broomsticks”, “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. Longtime Disney collaborator Terry Gilkyson was originally brought in to write the songs for “The Jungle Book” and delivered several finished pieces, but Walt Disney felt that his efforts were too dark and kept too true to Kipling’s book. The Sherman Brothers were brought in to do a complete rewrite, on the condition that they not read Rudyard Kipling’s book. The only piece of Gilkyson’s work that survived to the final film was “The Bare Necessities”, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song in 1967 but lost out to “Talk To The Animals” from “Doctor Doolittle”.
The four vultures featured in the movie were originally based on The Beatles and were to be voiced by the band. However, due to problems with their schedule, this didn’t happen, but the moptop haircuts and Liverpudlian accents remained.

1. Overture
2. Baby
3. Colonel Hathi’s March (The Elephant Song)
4. The Bare Necessities
5. I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)
6. Monkey Chase
7. Tell Him
8. Colonel Hathi’s March (Reprise)
9. Jungle Beat
10. Trust in Me (The Python’s Song)
11. What’cha Wanna Do
12. That’s What Friends Are For (The Vulture Song)
13. Tiger Fight
14. Poor Bear
15. My Own Home (The Jungle Book Theme)
16. The Bare Necessities (Reprise)

With the re-released version also including;
17. Interview with the Sherman brothers
18. Baloo’s Blues
19. It’s a Kick
20. Brother’s All (Demo Recording)
21. The Song of the Seeonee (Demo Recording)

Cast:
Bruce Reitherman- Mowgli
Phil Harris- Baloo the bear
Sebastian Cabot- Bagheera the panther
Louis Prima- King Louie the ape
George Sanders- Shere Khan the tiger
Sterling Holloway- Kaa the python
J. Pat O'Malley- Colonel Hathi the elephant/Buzzie the vulture
Verna Felton- Winifred, Colonel Hathi's wife
Clint Howard- Junior, Colonel Hathi's son
Chad Stuart- Flaps the vulture
Lord Tim Hudson- Dizzie the vulture
John Abbott- Akela the wolf
Ben Wright- Father Wolf
Darleen Carr- the Human Girl