People, this is pretty momentous. I'm not surprised it didn't get much press attention at first with the new revival announced around the time this was released. Basically, for $29, you can own four hours of demos (75 tracks) from the creation of the musical Fiddler on the Roof by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. The album is available onBandCamp, but you can scroll on down and start streaming the earliest demo of "Sunrise, Sunset" right now on Sketchy Details. You can own the earliest, private moments of one of the most enduring and popular musicals ever created, complete with commentary by the composers. Anyone interested in the process of music and theater should at least check out the demos Playbill has streaming right now. I'm hooked already just from the "If I Were a Rich Man" demo. You hear Jerry Bock talk his way through the concept for a wild nonsense song filled with Yiddish words and the rhythm of the language. And by talk, I mean he just beedie-beedie-bums and yiddle-diddle-diddles his way through the melody. The song is so clearly formed without the language that it blows my mind.
You also hear a great like Jerry Bock have to restart a recording because he made a mistake. It's the first track in their article. The whole thing is worth looking at for a great analysis of the significance of the demos.