The album release
Lasting just 24 minutes, the soundtrack album contained 13 untitled tracks, six of which contained one or more brief musical performance bundled together.
Decca bought the rights to the soundtrack recordings. The album, titled The Family Way (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) was released on 6 January 1967 by Decca Records in the UK, and on 12 June in the US by London Records.
Although the album did not chart, McCartney won an Ivor Novello award for it in 1967 for Best Instrumental Theme.
Although McCartney's name appeared prominently on the cover, the recording was credited to The George Martin Orchestra. Because of this, it is not commonly considered to be McCartney's first solo record.
A 2003 reissue of the album included bonus arrangements of the music by guitarist Carl Aubut from 1995, and Anthony Rozankovic with the Flute Enchantee Quartet from 1998, both of which were approved by McCartney. The 1966 recordings were mastered directly from a vinyl copy of the album, and the CD booklet contained interviews with McCartney, Martin and Aubut.
The Family Way was reissued again in July 2011 on the Californian label Varèse Sarabande. Mastered from the original mono master tapes, it included a previously unreleased stereo mix of The Tudor Minstrels' single theme, but did not include the 1995 or 1998 recordings.
Four singles
Although George Martin believed that just an album would be released, a single credited to The Tudor Minstrels was scheduled by Decca for release in the UK on 15 December 1966. It featured Love In The Open Air on the a-side, with Theme From The Family Way on the other.
The Tudor Minstrels was the name given to the session musicians performing on the soundtrack, and was derived from the Boulting brothers' production company Tudor Films.
George Martin had intended to release his own versions of the two themes using the George Martin Orchestra, and releasing them as a single on EMI's United Artists label. Decca agreed to delay their single and let the two releases go head-to-head.
On 6 December 1966, prior to the first session for The Beatles' When I'm Sixty-Four, Martin made copies of the film's recently-completed soundtrack. He used the tapes for reference in creating his own orchestral score, which was recorded at Abbey Road on the morning of 15 December.
Martin's arrangement of Love In The Open Air was later included on the 2001 box set Produced By George Martin. It was similar to the soundtrack in that it too featured acoustic guitar, flute and strings. The b-side version of Theme From The Family Way was an up-tempo arrangement with some northern England brass band stylings.
The singles, credited to The Tudor Minstrels and the George Martin Orchestra, were both issued in the United Kingdom on 23 December 1966. Neither entered the charts, and the Tudor Minstrels' version also failed to chart when released by London Records in the US.
Due to the commercial failure of the singles, United Artists asked Martin to record a more up-tempo arrangement of the main theme for the US market. This was recorded with strings and organ at Abbey Road in early February 1967, along with one of his own compositions, Bahama Sound, for the b-side.
The single was released on 24 April 1967 but again was not a success. As with Martin's UK single arrangement of Theme From The Family Way, it remains unavailable on compact disc.
I just noticed that it is labled ‘Decca’ 🙁
It is interesting that of the cover versions of “Love in the Open Air” released on 45, two (by Sounds Sensational and the Casino Royale) follow the orchestrated version, and two (by Sounds Spectacular and the Brass Ring) follow the rearrangement. None of them charted either.