Composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story, a collaboration of two masters of the American musical, was inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  Nominated for seven Tony Awards in 1958, West Side Story gave Stephen Sondheim his first Tony Award nomination. Leonard Bernstein had already won the Tony Award in 1953 for composing the musical Wonderful Town.

This recording of songs from West Side Story features 17 of the songs from the stage musical.  There are 34 tracks on this album: Tracks 1-17 contain the background tracks and guide vocals; tracks 18-34 contain the accompaniment tracks alone.  This album is a re-recording in the original show key and show tempo.