The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Morricone) 3 CD set released by Quartet Records

[Holko 9,499]

...I was replying to Shark's ringtone comment.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Marshall don't do ringtones😅

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

6 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

My draft assembly of the non- sound track dues.

Disc two:

31

3,4

5,6

8,9,12

14

20,21

28

32

Disc two

1,2,3

8,9

10,11

 

That's a long ringtone!

[bruce marshall 1,315]

I know a guy who worked for United Artists.

He claims they were planning on reissuing the film in 70mm- how great would that have been.

In his telling, he was in possession of the three track music masters intended for the reissue.

Where did they go?

How tragic is that!😥

[Chris Malone 49]

Please do tell how this person can be contacted regarding this. 

 

These sorts of stories do seem to come out of the woodwork after a project is done and dusted. However, I’m sure it could be redone if true stereo elements surfaced for the complete score.

 

The theatrical reissue and 5.1 remix just stereoized the mono and didn’t seem to drop in the few true stereo OST tracks that matched the film versions. So, that suggests they weren’t available at the time and certainly haven’t showed up since. 

 

Chris

[Holko 9,499]

So, just what kind of sound quality/clarity increase can one expect? Quick example, excerpts from Il Deserto:

 

Previous expansion, the one on Spotify with the extended Il Triello

Other previous expansion, the one included in the 2019 Morricone set with only the album version of Il Triello

Quartet set, film mix

Quartet set, album mix

 

As I said in the big post, not all tracks have such a noticeable difference... but some definitely do!

[bruce marshall 1,315]

7 hours ago, Chris Malone said:

Please do tell how this person can be contacted regarding this. 

 

These sorts of stories do seem to come out of the woodwork after a project is done and dusted. However, I’m sure it could be redone if true stereo elements surfaced for the complete score.

 

The theatrical reissue and 5.1 remix just stereoized the mono and didn’t seem to drop in the few true stereo OST trakcks that matched the film versions. So, that suggests they weren’t available at the time and certainly haven’t showed up since. 

 

Chris

Jim Wynorski related this story on FSM.

The 70mm reissue never happened.

 

Fyi. I discussed the 5.1 remix in.my FSM article

 

[Chris Malone 49]

Ah, Jim Wynorski, yes OK, that makes sense.

 

Yes, I've read your FSM article, Bruce. In fact, it's still on my desk.

 

Chris

[Bespin 8,480]

The good composer, the bad who composed for eating and the ugly (whistle, women chants and BOooongs).

 

Morricone took long time to be "recognized", you know that?

 

He even wrote arrangements for Charles Aznavour.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

46 minutes ago, Chris Malone said:

Ah, Jim Wynorski, yes OK, that makes sense.

 

Yes, I've read your FSM article, Bruce. In fact, it's still on my desk.

 

Chris

Great.

I jokingly refer to it as the ' lost' liner notes that Capito/EMI never published!

 

Good on you for finding the complete and restored  March Without Hope" cue.

I think only musicians realized it started in at the third bar!😊

 

If only that 70mm version came to pass.

But, even the Bond films were relegated to 35mm mono.😒☺

[bruce marshall 1,315]

 

 

 

 

Fyi

The LP version of " Ballad of A SOLDIER" is actually an edited version of the full-lenghth rerecorded " extended" version. It's now clear that this  was edited down for the LP.

 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Alternate cover

 

[Holko 9,499]

7 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

 

 

 

 

Fyi

The LP version of " Ballad of A SOLDIER" is actually an edited version of the full-lenghth rerecorded " extended" version. It's now clear that this  was edited down for the LP.

 

 

On 1/8/2021 at 7:47 PM, Holko said:

(...)01.27 (Tuco e Wallace), 02.30 (Extended version), and 03.07 (OST version) are actually all the same take, just different mixes, the main program version obviously mono, the other two stereo. Actually, they are all the same edit of 02.28 (Extended stereo version), the 7:30 long take.(...)

 

 

I would assume the order went:

- They record the long take for the album, mix it to stereo

- The album gets shortened to 33 minutes, probably for audiophile concerns, track gets edited down and remixed, Il Triello (alternate) also removed after they already created a stereo mix for it

- They use the album edit in the movie, mono mix is created for that

 

The Quartet therefore presents the mono mix in the film program, the album mix on the album, the full take in the different stereo mix in the bonus section, and the album edit with the stereo mix of the longer take in case anyone wants to use it in the main program or prefers it to the album mix.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

BALLAD OF A SOLDIER appeared in the film as source music, played by an amateur Orchestra. It wasnt supposed to sound too polished.

That's why EM rerecorded it for the album - with a flawless performance.

For whatever reason , it was shortened by editing out verses and combining others. It probably had to do with length.

The original, extended LP version contains all the lyrics that are in the source version, but it isn't the film version

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

On 1/11/2021 at 2:59 AM, Chris Malone said:

Ah, Jim Wynorski, yes OK, that makes sense.

 

Yes, I've read your FSM article, Bruce. In fact, it's still on my desk.

 

Chris

 

Did you have success tracking down the three track masters?

[Chris Malone 49]

I haven't gotten any further with enquiries along this avenue yet, I'm sorry. It would also be a very, very long shot as we did turn every stone we could find at the time and carefully examine what was under each of them.

 

Chris

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

9 hours ago, Chris Malone said:

I haven't gotten any further with enquiries along this avenue yet, I'm sorry. It would also be a very, very long shot as we did turn every stone we could find at the time and carefully examine what was under each of them.

 

Chris

 

Thanks for the update, Chris. The recent Quartet release seems like a wonderful restoration, and I will without a doubt get it soon. And I wouldn't mind at all to double dip if those stereo masters should turn up eventually.

[Chris Malone 49]

Thank you for your support!

 

There have been a few projects where we have a sort of “standing order” that says—if stereo/multi-track elements ever show up, we’ll certainly do it over. 

 

The 1967 Casino Royale is an example where that’s the case. For that we’ve periodically looked, asked, poked, and prodded—and we will continue to do so!

 

Chris

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

It's great to know that every stone is being turned!

[Holko 9,499]

On 1/8/2021 at 7:47 PM, Holko said:

So, what is on here?

 

As it was said on FSM, the recordings were first mixed to 3-track, then mono for film use and stereo for album use. The mono sessions and original stereo album masters seem to be the earliest elements left. Comparing them back to back, it's pretty obvious in many cases the stereo mix is better with more clarity and presence, but that's not to say the mono mixes all sound bad, far from it! When comparing some tracks like Il Deserto with the previous expansions, the quality increase is huge even if only looking at the new mono mix. Some mono tracks like La Missione di San Antonio and Il triello seconda parte don't sound much better, and some mono mixes like Ecstasy of Gold are disappointing too, but generally this is an increase in quality.

 

I admire the goal to present both sources as is for archival and consistency purposes - but they also made space to include stuff like a mono downmix of the album mix of Ecstasy of Gold and the extended Il Triello (with both versions, album and film back to back) fully in mono, to easily swap out with the main program versions if needed and still keep the consistency! Interestingly the set also includes a stereo mix of the extended La storia di un soldato and the alternate Il Triello, I guess they were selected for album inclusion at one point but then dropped. Less puzzling is the stereo film version main title with cannons, since it's just overlays over the same take mixed similarly. Technically if you remove "redundancies" like some I call attention to later, and maybe some other odds and ends, and restructure the main program on the discs so less space is left on disc 1, this could probably all fit on 2 discs - but this is just pleasing as is.

 

Previously unreleased main program highlights include some nice tension material, some comedic cues like Tuco fa la colletta, more building of the Desert material in Il deserto secondo, lovely variations on the title theme like the slower Biondo... non morire!, more gentle woodwinds in Inseguilo! and Il bagnoschiuma di Tuco, more of the soldier/civil war material, Due assalti al giorno and Il campo di prigionia di Betterville being prime examples. It's no great revelation but a nice little fleshing out of the material. I certainly didn't feel the program had too many choppy badly assembled parts, except for the initial short cues which aren't the strongest opener, mostly main theme stingers and more nondescript material... but once the score "finds" the achingly poignant Civil War material, it really gets going and fully grabbed me. As I probably said before, by the time you get to the end of Morte di un soldato, you almost forget you have two more towering highlights coming up, and that's especially true here with that late section buffed up! In the end, I highly enjoyed listening to it.

 

And the bonuses? The title with cannons is a nice enough inclusion. The alternate Il tramonto is surprisingly some unsettling electronic material. I prefer the alternate Morte di Stevens over the main program version, since it places some bass pick figures over the extended tension material. Intermezzo Musicale is a wonderful surprise, reminded me of stuff what were used in Moonrise Kingdom! Organo offers too little with its length but is of interest, secondo is just kind of annoying unsettling droning.Uauah & effetti amusingly collects many recordings of the coyote call and playoff cleanly - voice for Tuco, ocarina for Angel Eyes, flute for Blondie, and some on janky electronics too, followed by takes of the playoff on voice&harmonica, then bass guitar. But the absolute gems of highlights here are the insanely fun Marcetta alternate, starting with only the simple beat and whistling, growing into full orchestra, humming harmonica and more decorated percussion, with multiple kickass interludes/variations, and the alternate Il Triello, a much less tense and dramatic approach with more stripped back orchestration, referencing the main theme more overtly!

 

The variations of Storia di un Soldato are the most confusing to figure out. 01.27 (Tuco e Wallace), 02.30 (Extended version), and 03.07 (OST version) are actually all the same take, just different mixes, the main program version obviously mono, the other two stereo. Actually, they are all the same edit of 02.28 (Extended stereo version), the 7:30 long take.  02.05 (Alternate) is a very gentle take, somewhat strangely also including a female voice - the song's supposed to be source music for a bunch of male prisoners of war forced to sing and play. 02.13 (Orchestral version) probably comes closest to Alternate, but is a separate different take/approach, not just an isolated orchestral version - it has humming instead of proper lyrics, and the soprano is present here too. 01.25 (the initial film version) seems to be yet another take.

 

For my edited version I created an edit of alternates as usual, used only the 7 minute take of storia, but also got creative with the stereo/mono duality - I recreated the main titles with the film prologue and overlay from the stereo album mix, then where I decided the album mix is better for something, I exported the album track in mono to stay consistent. However, once we get to Morte di un soldato, I switch to the stereo album mix in an opportune moment, and I also just used the stereo mix of L’estasi dell’oro, to really be punchy and open up. However, for Il Triello, I used the all-mono 7 minute extended assembly again - the quality decrease with the slightly echoey/misaligned doubling is bad enough on its own without calling even more attention to it with a stereo-mono stepdown within the track.

 

Decided to compact and extend this info into a classic JWFan Spreadsheet®:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YtMzGEhCXQa5aTS9enkjgOMtuXc5aHqjqK24MZQXvLc/edit?usp=sharing

 

Long titles made it spill over one screen, make sure to scroll to the right for more columns. I translated the titles, collected and described duplicates and alternates present on the set.