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THE RIVER expanded and remastered by Mike Matessino now available from Intrada Records


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Sweet. Nothing beats a new expanded release of the Maestro's works. Looking forward to learning more details and getting it.

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@Fal J. M. Skywalker (thanks!) pinged me about this earlier today, and the main title immediately jumped to mind. Looking forward to a great new sounding release of the score. I really think the 4 films JW did for Mark Rydell are each interesting and enjoyable (although The River is weakest). I just noticed that Rydell only directed 11 films, so 4 is a big output from one composer for him.  (Grusin scored 3 of the remaining 7.)

 

(And I guess JW and Rydell are actually linked to 5 films since Rydell was in The Long Goodbye as an actor.)

 

Listening to the current Varese soundtrack now. I feel like JW composed this at Tanglewood. Timing would be right anyway as the film was released late in 1984. Amazingly, this year gave us Temple of Doom and the Olympic Fanfare which are pretty different from The River.

 

Also there was a small thread on this a few years ago:

 

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Yup very similar to ET in that regard! It's funny in this period of the 80s he either went all out with special stuff for the album (ET, Monsignor, ROTJ, The River), or recorded nothing additional for it at all (Raiders, Temple of Doom). 

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Very cool! Was wondering just a few weeks ago if this score would be coming out soon, nice surprise!

 

@Jay are you allowed to say if it's one or two discs? I don't know much of anything about this score or how long it is.

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Just been listening again to the original release, and as always, I like it. 38 mins on the original release which was not horrible in 1984 - certainly better than the dearth of 28-30 min scores we were getting then!

 

I'll throw out a guess that we'll get the remastered soundtrack and then the tracks that are not on that from the film will be the "extras." So, for a complete film presentation, we have to create our own playlist. That in no way is a complaint if I am right.

 

Just heard Tractor Scene. Feels like a track on the The Post. Or I guess the other way around.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, lairdo said:

Just been listening again to the original release, and as always, I like it. 38 mins on the original release which was not horrible in 1984 - certainly better than the dearth of 28-30 min scores we were getting then!

 

 

Dearth? more like overabundance.

7 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Monsignor isn't a comedy?

But it is one of his shortest scores to be written after his comedy years.

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29 minutes ago, Fal J. M. Skywalker said:

Dearth? more like overabundance.

 

Yeah I phrased that wrong! I meant that the overabundance of scores that contained a dearth or music!

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It has some nice parts, but I remember clearly my disappointment when I listened to it the first time in 1984. I had just discovered JW with Star Wars, Empire, ET and Indiana Jones and was fully expecting something in a similar vein. I was shocked to hear muzak-like guitar and drum kit noodling; first I thought, no this can't be right, probably it is from this other guitarist John Willams. MY John Williams would never produce such pop music! (I come from a background of classical music). Meanwhile I can appreciate his very different styles, but still I probably will not buy this, except they unearthed some really brilliant never heard compositions. Otherwise 38 minutes is more than enough for me, while waiting patiently for the complete expansions of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. 

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13 minutes ago, Gurkensalat said:

I was shocked to hear muzak-like guitar and drum kit noodling; first I thought, no this can't be right, probably it is from this other guitarist John Willams. MY John Williams would never produce such pop music!

Yeah, I was very confused about the first track, too.

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I bet he has a standard response permanently stuck on his clipboard for all these C&C releases.

 

"The OST for [insert score title here] is more than sufficient already."

 

;)

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Well, the OST program is indeed a beautiful presentation, with some amazing concert-like arrangements of several pieces (my fave is the delightful "Pony Ride"). But I'm very eager to listen to this new release.

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7 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

So what remains in varesess catalogue?

 

Presumed innocent and eiger sanction?

 

And a rerelease of heartbeeps that I missed in 2001 (not a collector yet)

 

The Eiger Sanction is Universal Pictures and the OST was originally released on MCA, and then released on CD by Varese Sarabande in the early 1990s (like Jaws 2, Dracula, Earthquake and The River). I don't know if Varese still has the rights on that one. 

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1 hour ago, JTWfan77 said:

I bet he has a standard response permanently stuck on his clipboard for all these C&C releases.

 

"The OST for [insert score title here] is more than sufficient already."

 

;)

 

That is 100% correct! Can I hire you as my publicist? ;)

 

But I do agree with Jay earlier -- it's a great listen for a 'rainy day', a beautiful Americana score with jazz undercurrents that is often overlooked. The film is good too.

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2 hours ago, TownerFan said:

 

The Eiger Sanction is Universal Pictures and the OST was originally released on MCA, and then released on CD by Varese Sarabande in the early 1990s (like Jaws 2, Dracula, Earthquake and The River). I don't know if Varese still has the rights on that one. 

That bodes well for a future intrada eiger sanction release.....

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I almost forgot, back in 2018 I did a few isolated score videos for this!

 

 

On 6/20/2018 at 9:19 AM, Disco Stu said:

Well gosh it's been a while since I posted in this thread.

 

To celebrate the release of The Cowboys and the most underrated of Williams' multi-film director partnerships (with Mark Rydell), here are 3 cues from their final collaboration.

 

The River

 

Rain Clouds Gather

 

Back From Town (music starts at 0:27)

 

Ancestral Home (music starts at 1:00)

 

It's a wonderful, varied score.  At times overt and sentimental, at others dark and subtle.

 

I especially love "Ancestral Home."  The climax of the film, it's wonderfully expressive and I love the way it builds and builds as the townspeople decide to help Gibson's character.

 

I recommend reading @Incanusreview

 

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Great release. Essentially the last Back-to-the-roots Williams, from the tail-end of his most tuneful period. Guys like Mark Rydell or Marty Ritt triggered a relaxed side of Williams' musical personality, without all the bombast and exclamation marks. The River boasts four distinctive (and great) themes for different strains of story, and a handful of additional motifs, none of them disposable. 

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3 hours ago, Luke Skywalker said:

So what remains in varesess catalogue?

 

Presumed innocent and eiger sanction?

 

And a rerelease of heartbeeps that I missed in 2001 (not a collector yet)

 

Presumed Innocent is the only remaining Williams score they have perpetuity rights to.  Those others you mentioned could be reissued by anybody

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I watched the movie when I was doing the isolated score videos (posted above) and.... it's pretty skippable.  I dug the overall vibe and setting, but the drama is mostly just mediocre or uninteresting.

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I didn't realize before reading the liner notes that this was Mel Gibson's first American film!

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