This album gave the Beatles a run for their money in the 60s, especially in the U. K.  Help replaced it in the number one spot, but it came back.  Then Rubber Soul replaced it and it came back again.  Then Sgt. Pepper’s replaced it and it came back again, rising to the top only to be replaced once again by Sgt. Pepper’s.  The two albums went on to trade places in the top spot two more times.  The Sound Of Music made it into the top spot one last time between Sgt. Pepper’s and “The White Album”.

The battle was similar, though not quite as protracted and closely fought, in the U. S.

The Sound Of Music soundtrack album is not quite as appealing as the Broadway cast recording.  Maria’s numbers in the film are aided immeasurably by Julie Andrews’s visual performance of them and by the cinematic settings created for them by director Robert Wise.  It’s still a delightful album, and you can see why it was so persistently popular, perhaps as much as a souvenir of the wildly popular movie as for its musical charms, considerable as those are.