33/3 RPM LONGPLAYING CAEDMON TCI205

TOM SAWYER READ BY ED BEGLEY

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MARK TWAIN Episodes from

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER Read by ED BEGLEY

The riverbed of the Mississippi flows not only through the heartland of America, but through its heart as well, thanks to these beloved ad¬ ventures published first in 1875. For Tom Sawyer speaks at once to north and south, east and west. It speaks of lazy, lolling days spent no matter how far from the River, whether village crossroads or city block, in that dawn of time which is the childhood of us all. Without bathos or condescension, it speaks of the heart¬ churning and, the soul-yearning, the scents and sights and sounds which always seem, in retro¬ spect, the most acute of our whole lives. As the infant Moses was plucked out of the bullrushes of the Nile, so the very childhood of America

ftj. was pulled by its ear from the silt of the O Mississippi, and taken to the hearts of all the td people. H The scene of these happenings was no mytho-

logical place, however. It was, in fact, based H upon Samuel Clemens' own childhood in Hanni- K! bal, Missouri, where his family had moved four

years after his birth on November 30, 1835. In another four years his father was to die, ac¬ counting probably for the typically woman- ridden world endured by Tom and Huck. The author's 1876 Preface to the book explains how he had utilized his own remembrances:

“Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an in¬ dividual — he is a combination of the charac¬ teristics of three boys whom I knew, and there¬ fore belongs to the composite order of archi¬ tecture."

In drawing upon the lengthy tale for this recording, we have followed one of the two main threads of the story, leading to Tom's utter misery with his lot, and his eventual high ad¬ venture in running away and returning to his own funeral. The other episodes—the murder, the trial of Injun Joe, and the confrontation in the underground cavern—we will deal with in another album. This division enables the listener to the present recording to savor in full the characterizations of Tom, Sid, Huck, Becky and Aunt Polly, and to immerse himself in that ami¬ able small-town tempo of life on the Mississippi, which is the heritage of everyone in America.

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SIDE 1: THE GLORIOUS WHITEWASHER THE CAT AND THE PAINKILLER THE PIRATE CREW SET SAIL

SIDE 2: HAPPY CAMP OF FREEBOOTERS TOM’S STEALTHY VISIT HOME PIRATES AT THEIR OWN FUNERAL

As a youth, Ed Begley toured small towns with vaudeville shows and circuses, was a stage manager in the theatre, performed on radio with a vengeance. He played the original Charlie Chan for five years over three different net¬ works, and, at one time, starred in three different radio serials on the same network. Between 1947 and 1951, he was featured in 21 Hollywood films. Theatre audiences saw him as Joe Keller in All My Sons, Whittaker Chambers in A Shadow of My Enemy and as the title- character in Saroyan’s Get Away Old Man. He scored tremendous successes in two recent pro¬ ductions — as William Jennings Bryan (and later Clarence Darrow) in Inherit the Wind and as Thomas Wolfe’s father in Look Home¬ ward Angel. He has left his mark on television as well in two award-winning shows, Twelve Angry Men and Patterns. Both dramas were made into movies and Begley recreated the roles he had originally played. At this moment, he stands at the apex of a career which is astounding in its variety and in its record of accomplishment. Ed Begley may also be heard on TC 2009 Three Hundred Years of Great American Poetry, TC 2016 Great American Speeches, TC 1037 Leaves of Grass, Volume One and TC 1154 L eaves of Grass, Volume Two. The second volume of Walt Whitman’s poetry is Mr. Begley’s latest recording, and of his per¬ formance on this record HiFi/Stereo said, “Exhilarating”.

Performance and reproduction rights information available from Caedmon Records, 461 Eighth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10001 Made in U.S.A. T

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MARK TWAIN Episodes from

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

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MARK TWAIN Episodes from

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

TC 1205 B