DEREK LAWTON / THE PRISONER-CHAPPELL MUSIC LIBRARY
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The music in Derek Lawton’s new 3-disc set of Prisoner music is both testimony to the show’s enduring popularity – on DVD, Blu-ray and CD – and a validation of the quality music written by composers for the Chappell Music Library, one of the major houses during the 1960s where filmmakers could buy pre-recorded music (the real ‘mood music’) and use it in TV shows, commercials, feature films, or industrial movies.
Lawton’s project is the missing link in completing the commercial release of the show’s entire music catalogue. That substantial body is comprised of Ron Grainer’s classic theme, original score and source cues composed by Grainer, Robert Farnon, Wilfred Josephs, and Albert Elms, and library cues written by many unknown composers. The exceptions to the latter group are Robert Farnon, Roger Roger, and Camille Sauvage, as well as a young Jean-Claude Petit (Jean de Florette, and Manon des Sources), and prolific library composer Johnny Hawksworth.
Totaling just under 100 cues, the Prisoner / Chappell project was a serious undertaking, and in the interview below with producer Lawton, we discuss the production of what, for now, is the final word on The Prisoner music.
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Mark R. Hasan: How did the 3-CD set of The Prisoner (1967) come about, since collections of series music have been released by other labels?
Derek Lawton: This CD set came about by accident. I was researching with a colleague the missing library tracks from the soundtrack of Gerry Anderson’s Space: 1999 (1975-1977), and I was drawn to doing a similar search for The Prisoner. As so much library music was missing from current Prisoner releases, I figured there would be interest in the Chappell cues.
I would have liked to include the original commercial tracks – the Beatles’ “All You Need is Love,” Carmen Miranda’s “I, Yi, Yi, Yi / I Like You Very Much,” and “Dry Bones” sung by The Four Lads – but it would have been too expensive; these tracks are available elsewhere.
It was a coincidence that the Network soundtrack set had been recently released. I decided to issue this set in a DVD case, like the Network release, so they can sit together on the collector’s shelf.
MRH: Was it hard to verify what cues were used in each episode, or were there accurate logs in the original Everyman Films production notes?
DL: It took a lot of time and effort to identify and catalogue the library tracks. However, I did have some guidance from published sources and help from [series music editor] Eric Mival, and his production notes that included a lengthy list of library cues that could be used. I did not have access to the official music cue sheets until after the CD set had been released. I have checked these and there are several gaps. (Perhaps that means Everyman Films did not pay for all the cues?)
There were 8 cues I couldn’t identify as original soundtrack or library cues – Eric Mival thought that the majority of these were likely to be sound effects – though some sounded similar to the Eric Peters cues. I could not identify these as coming from the Chappell library.
However, one of these mystery cues (from the “Once Upon a Time” episode) has been identified as a Robert Farnon-composed Chappell library cue. I am 99% certain that there are no more missing Chappell cues, but there are 62 seconds of Chappell missing from this release, and the fanfare at the beginning of “Arabian Market” was not included on the CD provided to me by Chappell.
Other things being equal, I intend to release this missing music on a follow-up budget CD, featuring the best of the unused cues – many of which were featured in other ITC productions such as Department S (1969-1970), Man in a Suitcase (1967-1968), Randal & Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969-1971), and The Champions (1968-1969) – and the complete Chappell cues from the original un-transmitted edits of the “Arrival” and “Chimes of Big Ben” episodes.
[The 40th Anniversary DVD and Blu-ray sets contain longer, alternate edits of “Arrival” and “Big Ben,” with the latter sporting different music from the broadcast version.-Ed.]
MRH: Are the steps to commercially releasing library music fairly similar to releasing an original score album?
DL: Library music is easier to use, whether a commercial or a limited release. I looked at the possibility of using the [commercial song tracks] in this release, but the percentage costs were too much. I never thought I would secure a license for the Beatles track, but included the Bootleg Beatles version, which was secured before I decided to drop consideration of the other commercial tracks. It rounds off the set nicely.
MRH: It’s only in the last 10-odd years that music from various libraries have been licensed for CD collections (several coming from Italy), and I wonder if you think the composers, if not the library owners themselves, are surprised at the interest in material that has probably been idling in vaults for decades?
DL: I am not sure about this. I recall reading that many of the library composers in the 1950s and 1960s regarded their library music as being of minor importance and in some cases substandard.
However, as the library music has been used in film and TV productions as well as in advertising, I guess many composers have revised their self-assessment. The increase in the number of libraries may support the importance of off-the-shelf library music.
MRH: Do you think it’s surprising that the music used for the series worked so well, or do you believe its success is due to the composers’ skills, as well as the music editors who knew how to create a balanced score from various sources?
DL: Eric Mival and others have done a great job in choosing library music for The Prisoner. Good library music is supported by a good original soundtrack. Unlike the main theme from many TV and film action productions which often jumps out and hits the audience like a ton of bricks and demands to be remembered, the psychology of incidental music is of a different order.
When done well, incidental music does not necessarily register with the audience with the first viewing. The visual and the subtle auditory experience combine to give the audience an affective experience. A bit like how the visual presentation of food and drink are combined with smell to enhance taste. Many wine and tea tasters are not aware of how much smell informs their science, as is the case with incidental music in film and TV production.
MRH: Was it hard to select music for this collection, or were there specific episodes you wanted to showcase?
DL: I didn’t have any choices to make. I wanted to include ALL the Chappell cues.
MRH: The music tracks in these libraries are very much snapshots of the sensibilities of the era, and I’ve always had the impression that, certainly in the case of jazz-styled scores from the fifties and sixties, a lot of good music is just sitting there. I gather one of the biggest challenges for a producer interested in releasing vintage library music is sifting through the mass of music?
DL: I have managed to obtain a considerable amount of library music; making time to listen to it is another issue, particularly with other demands, such as family and a full-time job not in the music industry.
MRH: Lastly, what surprises me is how well a cue written for no specific film or TV series or scene could fit so well in The Prisoner. Were you also impressed?
DL: Eric Mival was fortunate to get hot-off-the-press new music coming Chappell’s French subsidiary. Chappell librarian John Parry must take some credit in introducing Eric Mival to Chappell’s vast catalogue.
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KQEK.com would like to thank Derek Lawton for participating this interview.
Visit the Unmutual website to purchase The Prisoner / Chappell music HERE.
All images remain the property of their copyright holders.
This article and interview © 2010 by Mark R. Hasan
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Related external links (MAIN SITE):
CD: Prisoner: The Complete Chappell Recorded Music Library Cues, The (2010)
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