Here's the opening theme from Williams' first feature film score:
Pretty cool, eh?
Early Williams 3: Daddy-O (1959)
Started by Thor, Jul 22 2011 09:53 AM
13 replies to this topic
#1
Thor
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 09:53 AM
#2
Incanus
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 10:09 AM
Very cool indeed Thor! Thanks again for sharing these golden oldies from JWs career. It definitely has that Man with the Golden Arm/Sweet Smell of Success type of groove going on. This is a side of JW he has rarely gotten to display in his later scores, jazzy and noirish.
Btw do you know what the movie Daddy-O is about?
Btw do you know what the movie Daddy-O is about?
Ars superior est vita hominum.
"We pop out and come into the world and music is there. We didn't invent it - it's all organised in the atmosphere by divinity or whatever. It's a miracle." - John Williams-
I think music is a stream of some kind. It could be blood. It could be water. It could be ether. Whatever it is it seems to be a living, organic force that’s in motion, that serves humanity and is part of humanity and part of what describes us as humans. We sing, play, dance, all the things that we do. And there is a vibrant and great literature we have been given. ... As musicians, we join the stream. We swim in the stream with all the other millions of music makers. It’s a life force, a strong one, surrounding us and we are part of it. -John Williams-
#3
crocodile
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 10:16 AM
Karol
From a storytelling point of view, from a directing point of view, there is one thing I associate with what he does, which is calm. There is such an inherent calm and inherent trust of the one powerful image, that he makes me embarrassed with my own work, in terms of how many different shots, how many different sound effects, how many different things we’ll throw at an audience to make an impression. But with Kubrick, there is such a great trust of the one correct image to calmly explain something to audience. There can be some slowness to the editing. There’s nothing frenetic about it. It’s very simple. There’s a trust in simple storytelling and simple image making that actually takes massive confidence to try and emulate.
- Christopher Nolan
#4
Thor
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 10:16 AM
Very cool indeed Thor! Thanks again for sharing these golden oldies from JWs career. It definitely has that Man with the Golden Arm/Sweet Smell of Success type of groove going on. This is a side of JW he has rarely gotten to display in his later scores, jazzy and noirish.
Btw do you know what the movie Daddy-O is about?
Yes, it's a horrible B-film about a truck driver (played by Elvis wannabe Dick Cortino) who gets in trouble with the law, drug deals, hot chicks and fast cars. The plot is ridiculous and the editing (both sound and image) is laughable. In fact, it's so bad in all departments, it becomes campy and fun. Like an old Ed Wood film.
The theme above is the highlight of the score, IMO. The suspense/action tracks just seem like random noodling. But still -- I wish it got a proper release some day!
#5
Miguel Andrade
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 11:01 AM
... and this film is likable to be the best place to understand what continuity mistakes are!!!
It has so many of them
Still, if one approaches the film from a not so serious perspective, it's actually funny to see how a film can be that bad. In fact the only thing worth it, is the score.
I have the DVD and I recall a lengthy audio featurete with the producer... I don't recall anymore what he talked about, but I can hardly imagine it was anything good about the film itself
It has so many of them
Still, if one approaches the film from a not so serious perspective, it's actually funny to see how a film can be that bad. In fact the only thing worth it, is the score.
I have the DVD and I recall a lengthy audio featurete with the producer... I don't recall anymore what he talked about, but I can hardly imagine it was anything good about the film itself
Miguel Andrade
[url="http://johnwilliams.jw-music.net/index.html"]http://johnwilliams.jw-music.net/index.html[/url]
e-mail: miguel.jw@gmail.com
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"I owe a tremendous debt of gratitute do John Williams. Without his music, Superman's powers are greatly deminished. Believe me, if you try to fly without that theme, you go nowhere... one step, two steps and... down!" -- Christopher Reeve, May 1993
"John Williams will go down as one of the greatest composers." -- Leonard Slatkin, american conductor
"Ah yes, the Olympics. The quadrennial event where composer John Williams collects a hefty royalty check from NBC."
"Music is not a luxury but a necessity" - Robert Shaw
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." -- Albert Einstein
[url="http://johnwilliams.jw-music.net/index.html"]http://johnwilliams.jw-music.net/index.html[/url]
e-mail: miguel.jw@gmail.com
----------------------
"I owe a tremendous debt of gratitute do John Williams. Without his music, Superman's powers are greatly deminished. Believe me, if you try to fly without that theme, you go nowhere... one step, two steps and... down!" -- Christopher Reeve, May 1993
"John Williams will go down as one of the greatest composers." -- Leonard Slatkin, american conductor
"Ah yes, the Olympics. The quadrennial event where composer John Williams collects a hefty royalty check from NBC."
"Music is not a luxury but a necessity" - Robert Shaw
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." -- Albert Einstein
#6
crocodile
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 11:04 AM
It seems like you hear everything Williams ever composed and watched every film as well, Miguel.
Karol
Karol
From a storytelling point of view, from a directing point of view, there is one thing I associate with what he does, which is calm. There is such an inherent calm and inherent trust of the one powerful image, that he makes me embarrassed with my own work, in terms of how many different shots, how many different sound effects, how many different things we’ll throw at an audience to make an impression. But with Kubrick, there is such a great trust of the one correct image to calmly explain something to audience. There can be some slowness to the editing. There’s nothing frenetic about it. It’s very simple. There’s a trust in simple storytelling and simple image making that actually takes massive confidence to try and emulate.
- Christopher Nolan
#7
davros72
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#8
Michael
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 03:28 PM
Awesome! Reminds me of Bernstein's The Man with the Golden Arm. Such a cool type of jazz
If you start taking yourself seriously, then you’re in deep trouble! - Jerry Goldsmith
#9
Neimoidian
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 05:15 PM
Who would have thought back then that 52 years later people would be dying to hear at least a snippet from John Williams' new score.
#10
Incanus
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 05:21 PM
Yeah. He has come a long way from Daddy-O that's for sure.Who would have thought back then that 52 years later people would be dying to hear at least a snippet from John Williams' new score.
Ars superior est vita hominum.
"We pop out and come into the world and music is there. We didn't invent it - it's all organised in the atmosphere by divinity or whatever. It's a miracle." - John Williams-
I think music is a stream of some kind. It could be blood. It could be water. It could be ether. Whatever it is it seems to be a living, organic force that’s in motion, that serves humanity and is part of humanity and part of what describes us as humans. We sing, play, dance, all the things that we do. And there is a vibrant and great literature we have been given. ... As musicians, we join the stream. We swim in the stream with all the other millions of music makers. It’s a life force, a strong one, surrounding us and we are part of it. -John Williams-
#11
Maurizio
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Posted 22 July 2011 - 05:44 PM
Awesome! Reminds me of Bernstein's The Man with the Golden Arm. Such a cool type of jazz
Yes, it's kind of a take-off on Bernstein's seminal score.
"It's still baffling to me. I sit down with a pencil and a piece of paper and do my best... The remarkable thing is that my music is heard by billions of people." --John Williams
"Let me say, however, there is no "next" John Williams. Sadly, he is unique--- a figure who simultaneously embodies and transcends the music of all the masters of film music who preceded him (much like Brahms and Wagner of the Romantic era). He comes from a time when the craft of music in film was still one of the ear, heart and mind. Today, sadly, the craft is largely technical. Most composers do not conceive their music "inwardly" but rather at the computer--- and with rather limited skills, musically, at that. The inner spirit knows no boundaries--- our plastic abilities, sadly, do. John is a man of spirit, heart, intellect and soaring music." -- Conrad Pope about John Williams
"Let me say, however, there is no "next" John Williams. Sadly, he is unique--- a figure who simultaneously embodies and transcends the music of all the masters of film music who preceded him (much like Brahms and Wagner of the Romantic era). He comes from a time when the craft of music in film was still one of the ear, heart and mind. Today, sadly, the craft is largely technical. Most composers do not conceive their music "inwardly" but rather at the computer--- and with rather limited skills, musically, at that. The inner spirit knows no boundaries--- our plastic abilities, sadly, do. John is a man of spirit, heart, intellect and soaring music." -- Conrad Pope about John Williams
#12
Thor
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Posted 10 March 2012 - 10:27 AM
Does anyone know how he got this gig? I know he was busy working in the studio orchestras and stuff, but what were the exact details leading up to his first feature film assignment? Why did the producer choose him? I've always been curious about that.
#13
chuckster312
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Posted 10 March 2012 - 12:18 PM
You could easily mistake this as an Elmer Bernstein score. Nice!
If you put John Williams in a dryer, you get Jerry Goldsmith! You get the downside version!
#14
The_Trout
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Posted 10 March 2012 - 04:42 PM
Daddy-O is legendary in some circles for being feature of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I was watching that episode once and almost did a spit-take when I saw Johnny's name! It's quite possibly the only redeeming feature of that film.
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