{"id":6751,"date":"2013-06-13T01:24:03","date_gmt":"2013-06-13T05:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/?p=4079"},"modified":"2013-06-13T01:24:03","modified_gmt":"2013-06-13T05:24:03","slug":"a-quartet-of-western-soundtracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6751","title":{"rendered":"A Quartet of Western Soundtracks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Just uploaded is a quartet of western film scores featuring some really great music.<\/p>\n

Although best known for their classic sci-fi scores, Monstrous Movie Music have expanded their range, trying to show genre composers in a different light, and their CD of The Tall Texan<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1953) features a really solid score by Bert Shefter, better known as the other half of the composing team responsible for The Fly<\/strong> (1958). Shefter and Paul Sawtell scored a variety of films, but early in his career the former composed music for a low budget Lippert western starring Lloyd Bridges \u2013 an always reliable dramatic actor often given short-shrift because of his extensive career in TV. A great example of his range is Attack on the Iron Coast<\/a><\/strong> (1968), a predictable low budget WWII entry worth watching solely for Bridges\u2019 performance.<\/p>\n

Next up is Elmer Bernstein\u2019s The Shootist <\/a><\/strong>(1976), coupled with The Sons of Katie Elder<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>]\u00a0(1965)from La-La Land Records. Whereas the latter score is filled with elements from Bernstein\u2019s The Magnificent Seven <\/strong>(1960), the former is a grim little gem, and has some subtle resonance because it was John Wayne\u2019s swan song.<\/p>\n

Also from LLL is Jerry Goldsmith\u2019s Bandolero!<\/a> <\/strong>[M<\/a>] (1968), which features a blend of arresting dramatic cues and a rather poppish (and evil corkscrew) main theme. LLL\u2019s been going through Goldmsith\u2019s western catalogue, releasing several premiere and expanded releases \u2013 Rio Lobo<\/a> <\/strong>[M<\/a>] (1970), Stagecoach <\/a><\/strong>[M<\/a>] (1966) – but one they\u2019ve yet to tackle is 100 Rifles<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1969), which Film Score Monthly released back in 1999. I\u2019ll defend this score as one of (if not) the composer\u2019s best western, and I\u2019ve written a long, blathering review to support why this represents one of his finest examples of kinetic, polyrhythmic action writing.<\/p>\n

This thing starts with a bang and doesn\u2019t stop, and because it was written a year after Planet of the Apes<\/strong>, there\u2019s some bleeding of experimental ideas that elevate an upper B-western to something more engrossing. The film itself is also a fine example of director \/ co-writer Tom Gries\u2019 knack for solid storytelling and action, and he remains a seriously forgotten mini-master whose work deserves greater attention (which means there will be a few review of his fine work coming soon).<\/p>\n

Note: because FSM is no longer producing soundtracks, quantities of older releases like\u00a0100 Rifles<\/strong> are running low, so you might want to check out their\u00a0website<\/a> or vendor\u00a0Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a> for what’s still available, as this particular title is likely to sell out very soon.<\/p>\n

Also: SAE has reported a trio of fast-sold out CDs will be reprinted by FSM and should be available in 6-8 weeks. Check both sites for word on when the 3-CD set of Jerry Fielding’s The Wild Bunch<\/strong>, the 2-CD set of John Barry’s King Kong<\/strong>, and the multi-disc set of the \u00a0Superman<\/strong> films are back in stock. SAE does have stock of Goldsmith’s Under Fire<\/strong> which features great guitar work by Pat Metheny.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Intrada just released Fielding’s Beyond the Poseidon Adventure<\/strong> on CD. The main theme is just a variation of Wild Bunch<\/strong>, but the score proper is pretty solid. Nice to see Fielding’s modernist work is still being championed. (Intrada also released a gorgeous expanded CD of Pino Donaggio’s Dressed to Kill<\/strong>, which I’m reviewing for Rue Morgue for an upcoming issue.) The label also reissued Goldsmith’s Inchon<\/strong>, a score I’m not particularly fond of, but was quite bummed out to see selling out in less than 24 hours. The original 2 disc set is back in print as a non-limited release.<\/p>\n

Now if only someone would release the blasted movie on Blu-ray.<\/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":"

Just uploaded is a quartet of western soundtracks: Bert Shefter’s gem of an oater, The Tall Texan (Monstrous Movie Music), Elmer Bernstein’s The Shootist + The Sons of Katie Elder (La-La Land), and Jerry Goldsmith’s Bandolero! (LLL) and 100 Rifles (Film Score Monthly).<\/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":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1KT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6751"}],"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=6751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6751\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}