High Tor (album)

High Tor (official title including subtitle: High Tor — Songs and Story From The Ford Star Jubilee — CBS Television Production) is a soundtrack album released by Decca Records under catalog number DL 8272. It is associated with the 1956 CBS television adaptation of High Tor, a musical version of Maxwell Anderson's 1936 stage play, presented as part of the Ford Star Jubilee program broadcast on March 10, 1956. This made-for-television production starred Bing Crosby, Julie Andrews, and Everett Sloane, featuring original music by composer Arthur Schwartz with lyrics by Anderson himself.

Decca announced in early 1956 that it would issue the original cast album from the television adaptation, highlighting the music performed by Crosby and Andrews. Prior to the broadcast, Decca pre-released two tracks to radio stations and DJs: "When You're in Love" and "John Barleycorn". The album was also part of a broader promotional campaign supported by Ford Motors and CBS affiliates, which included promotional tie-ins, merchandising, and displays at Ford dealers across the country.

Julie Andrews, in one of her earliest televised musical roles, contributed her soprano vocals to several tracks on the album, notably “Once Upon a Long Ago", "Sad Is the Life of the Sailor’s Wif", and "When You're in Love". Despite the initial vinyl release, the album remained unavailable on compact disc (CD) for decades. The Decca "songs and story" album was finally released on CD in the U.K., with limited distribution, alongside bonus tracks performed by The Lancers and The Leroy Holmes Orchestra. This reissue occurred in compliance with current U.K. public domain laws, limited to 500 units.