Which completely unreleased Williams score would you most like to get a release?

[MrJosh 892]

Interesting about Heartbeeps...I have the FSM release, and I think it sounds good. I wonder if/what could be improved. 

[Nemesis 244]

Vote goes for The Rare Breed and Heartbeeps.

[Bespin 8,476]

No and no. Thanks.

[Thor 7,465]

There were a couple of the unreleased ones we didn't even discuss.

 

THE KILLERS is a pretty good movie as far as remakes are concerned, on par with its original, IMO. It was even screened in Cannes a couple of years back. Not surprising, since Don Siegel has considerable critical clout. Tough, hardboiled gangster film -- Lee Marvin (and his companion) as a destructive force that obliterates anything in his path, including himself. Score-wise, it's not all that, though. It's pretty much in line with his other crime jazz stuff at the time, perhaps with a slightly more dissonant slant. The opening theme remains the highlight, I suppose (in addition to the Mancini song). The DVD release had an ISO score, so one would think a soundtrack is within the bounds of possibility:

 

 

DADDY'S GONE A-HUNTING is not the shining hour of acclaimed director Mark Robson (watch PEYTON PLACE instead). It's a rather hokey thriller, but with an interesting premise. There's some great music in this. Not the dated title song -- with its goofy use of the 'children tease ' (na-na-na-na-na-na) that coincides with the film's title, but in the score otherwise, which has both romantic moments, Legrand-like jazz and a few scenes with weird dissonant textures. There's one, in particular, with what sounds like glass harmonica. Kinda reminded me of the psychedelic moments of LOST IN SPACE. Alas, there's none of this music in the Youtube-available suite, but it has the thematic parts. If memory serves, FSM researched the possibility for this years ago, but found nothing they could use (except the title song, which was released on a 45):

 

 

[MrJosh 892]

Thanks for those @Thor, I'd been wanting to check out Daddy's Gone A-Hunting as I'd only heard the title song before. You're right, there's some interesting music there (I briefly scanned through it, I might devote more time to listening later. I have listened to that iso score for The Killers, if I remember right I think it is an music&SFX track, but the music is able to be heard pretty well and I enjoyed it. 

 

Really, I'd welcome any release of the scores in this period. 

[Falstaft 2,132]

The Rare Breed is a jewel, worth it for the cattle chase alone! 

[Thor 7,465]

A film that isn't on the list is BECAUSE THEY'RE YOUNG (we barely touched on this earlier). Beyond the title song (which Williams was not involved with), it has some nice excursions into rock, jazz and blues throughout. And appropriately melodramatic cues -- I remember one where one of the rebel kids is on the run or something; a fairly substantial JW chase cue.

 

Alas, none of the Williams material is on Youtube, but meanwhile, here's the title song as performed Shadows-like by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (superior to the actual vocal version in the film):

 

 

[Jay 37,283]

Wow I wonder how I missed that for the poll... Added! 

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

Because it sounds horrible? 

[Thor 7,465]

11 hours ago, theBT said:

Because it sounds horrible? 

 

Not at all.

 

The film is obviously somewhat of a clunker. Inspired by the seminal BLACKBOARD JUNGLE (1955), there were all kinds of 'rebellious youth' films in the late 50s and early 60s, and this falls neatly in line with that. Nothing original about it, and the intrigue and social commentary are both fairly vacant. But there's a lot of cool music in it. It sounds much more like Williams than, say, I PASSED FOR WHITE. In addition the chase cue mentioned earlier, I also remember a rather lovely, pastoral cue for the domestic scenes. And - as previously noted - Williams' nice arrangements of the title song melody.

 

There's nothing here that "sounds terrible" -- unless you were talking about the sound quality. We wouldn't know that unless someone released it and cleaned up the audio.

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

I ment the sound and I do not believe in "cleaning" or remastering, it is what it is. But that is me. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,025]

Then you haven't heard the remastered Dracula!

[King Mark 3,625]

come on most recent expansions sound leagues above the OST's and recordings from the past

[Jurassic Shark 12,025]

Facts aren't necessary if you believe strongly enough.

[Jay 37,283]

Huh.  The Rare Breed beat Story of A Woman with almost 50 votes cast.  How about that.

 

And his only post-70s score that didn't get an OST album is the one people would be most likely to buy if redone, no surprise there

[Jurassic Shark 12,025]

What was bad about the Heartbeeps release, other than the music?

[Jay 37,283]

I don't know if there's anything "wrong" with any of those scores that never got an OST that specialty label producers first tackled instead.

 

I think most poll voters just know that score better than they know any of the older options.

 

 

In a general sense, the technology available to restoration specialists has seen huge improvements in the last 5-10 years so anything made earlier than that could see a sonic upgrade even if there are no raw content differences.

[Thor 7,465]

On 1/15/2021 at 10:45 PM, Jay said:

Huh.  The Rare Breed beat Story of A Woman with almost 50 votes cast.  How about that.

 

Yes, weird. Especially since THE RARE BREED -- as the only one of these -- actually does have a considerable chunk re-recorded and released. While STORY only has the title song released.

[blondheim 1,157]

42 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Yes, weird. Especially since THE RARE BREED -- as the only one of these -- actually does have a considerable chunk re-recorded and released. While STORY only has the title song released.

 

On what compilation was Story included?

[filmmusic 1,823]

2 minutes ago, blondheim said:

 

On what compilation was Story included?

http://soundtrackcollector.com/title/21708/Storia+Di+Una+Donna

[Thor 7,465]

Yes, no compilation -- just a super-rare single.

[blondheim 1,157]

So he co-wrote the melody and arranged the song? I am not sure who Amurri is in reference to.

[filmmusic 1,823]

1 hour ago, blondheim said:

So he co-wrote the melody and arranged the song? I am not sure who Amurri is in reference to.

Maybe Amurri is the italian lyricist?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Amurri

 

edit: Oh, yes, he is:

 

[blondheim 1,157]

Just now, filmmusic said:

Maybe Amurri is the italian lyricist?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Amurri

 

So Williams wrote & arranged the music himself and the Bergman's translated & adapted Amurri's lyrics. That seems right.

[blondheim 1,157]

The song is really fascinating. The intensity of the vocal performance surprised me after hearing the clips posted earlier in this thread. I love being surprised.

[Thor 7,465]

I always thought it sounded kinda "Bond-like", perhaps the closest we'll ever get to a JW Bond song. Something about the buildup and the chord leaps when it gets to the refrain.