{"id":6259,"date":"2013-03-08T16:04:13","date_gmt":"2013-03-08T21:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/?p=3841"},"modified":"2013-03-08T16:04:13","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T21:04:13","slug":"western-film-soundtracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6259","title":{"rendered":"Western Film Soundtracks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Just uploaded is a quartet of western film scores that stray from the traditional dusty oater music of the fifties.<\/p>\n

La-La Land Records have been going through their secret tally of previously OOP CDs and giving new transfers and expansions to a select few, and the differences are often quite startling between the new and the old.<\/p>\n

When Film Score Monthly debuted their CD series with Stagecoach<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1966), it marked a personal dream by the magazine\u2019s main personnel to actually produce & release soundtracks – basically albums of music never before available, or released in either truncated or poorly albums, and they certainly raised the standard of archival score releases by collaborating with the studios, cleaning up and restoring as much of a score as possible so their release was at least the most definitive edition until the next label took a crack.<\/p>\n

The changes in technology have allowed a greater range of sounds to be transferred, getting us even closer to the original elements, and that\u2019s perhaps one reason why LLL\u2019s albums are a significant upgrade from prior editions.<\/p>\n

In addition to some new cues, LLL\u2019s Stagecoach <\/a><\/strong>CD [M<\/a>] also includes the same FSM suite of materials from The Loner<\/strong> (1965-1966), a short-lived Rod Serling drama no one\u2019s seen in decades. Fox produced it, Lloyd Bridges starred, and and it was broadcast by CBS. There\u2019s no reason the full 26 episodes shouldn\u2019t be on DVD. Would be nice if Timeless Media\u2019s got it in their sights already?<\/p>\n

Goldsmith\u2019s Rio Lobo<\/a> <\/strong>[M<\/a>] (1970) is also out on an expanded CD from LLL, and it shows a more mature Goldsmith confidently going against the grain of big sweeping sounds and opting for his own brand of modernism. I still think his 100 Rifles<\/strong> is one of the best western scores ever written; can\u2019t top its amazing energy and blend of action and melodrama.<\/p>\n

Also reviewed is Lalo Schifrin\u2019s Coogan\u2019s Bluff <\/a><\/strong>[M<\/a>] (1968) which transposed a modern western peacemaker into the wilds of urban NYC. Intrada\u2019s limited CD features the score and a series of source cues, plus lengthy liner notes.<\/p>\n

Lastly, there\u2019s a double-bill <\/a>[M<\/a>] of Luis Bacalov scores from Quartet Records, featuring The Grand Duel <\/strong>(of which its main theme was used by Quentin Tarantino in the O-Ren flashback anime sequence in Kill Bill: Vol. 1<\/strong>)<\/strong>, plus A Man Called Noon<\/strong>, a little known, no- on-DVD (at least here) western by Peter Collinson, a director who became a bit of a journeyman after the success of The Italian Job<\/strong> (1968).<\/p>\n

Collinson’s fans might be please to know his spy film, Innocent Bystanders<\/strong> (1972), was just released by Olive on DVD and Blu-ray. It\u2019s a mean film with all kinds of arty compositions that sometimes border on the ridiculous, but you do get to see Stanley Baker do his tough guy routine (albeit in an ill-suited, long hairdo). That film\u2019s score was by former jazzman Johnny Keating, whose only other film work was the Peter Yates caper Robbery<\/strong> (1967) and the film version of Arthur Haley\u2019s sudsy melodrama Hotel<\/strong> (1967).<\/p>\n

Last thing: Olive\u2019s next wave of titles includes Cecil B. DeMille\u2019s Samson and Delilah<\/strong> (1949). The film\u2019s appeared on various foreign DVDs, most looking like they were either taken directly from the old Paramount laserdisc, or an older video master. The transfer is an improvement over prior DVDs, but it looks like a straight SD master Paramount shelved when they bowed out of DVD production & distribution, and began licensing their back catalogue to other labels.<\/p>\n

Reportedly a restoration was underway last year, which had fans hoping Olive might bring out a more glimmering transfer on DVD and <\/em> Blu-ray, but for now there\u2019s just the DVD. Those who still have the laserdisc should hold onto it, since it contains an isolated music & effects track of Victor Young\u2019s rich score.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com <\/strong>( Main Site<\/a> \/ Mobile Site<\/a> )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A quartet of western soundtrack reviews featuring Jerry Goldsmith’s Stagecoach (1966) and Rio Lobo (La-La Land), Lalo Schifrin’s Coogan’s Bluff (Intrada), and Luis Bacalov’s A Man Called Noon and The Grand Duel (Quartet Records), the latter of which was a major sonic element in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Also: some Peter Collinson news + details of Olive’s DVD-only edition of Cecil B. DeMille’s Samson and Delilah (1949).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[1914,1913,1909,1915,1907,1912,1911,1906,1916,4212],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1CX","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6259\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}