The Empire Strikes Back OST - first track as originally planned, without 'This Is Not A Cave'

[BrotherSound 2,078]

Well, just when you think you pretty much know what there is to know about a score, sometimes you still stumble across something new. cc @Jay @Falstaft @Ludwig @crumbs @Datameister

 

So, there was an "album score" of The Empire Strikes Back that appears to have been prepared by 20th Century Fox, I'm guessing as a keepsake for the people who worked on the score. It certainly was never offered for sale, but it does have the proper copyright info. It contains full scores for all the tracks on the album, with one omission: while it does contain 1M2 The Imperial Probe, it's lacking 6M3 This Is Not A Cave, which makes up the last minute or so of the first track. It also includes 1M2 New Start, 1M2 Insert Bar 80, and 1M2 Insert #2 Bar 109, none of which are heard on the album.

 

I assumed this was just a simple mistake, until I recently looked closer and realized that there's indications of cuts not heard in the album track. The cut at 3:23 is going to sound very strange when you're not used to it, but it's exactly what's indicated. There's also a cut to something indicated at 4:13, but it's ambiguous. And I'm just guessing on that insert being used for the ending, but it seems to work well. So, here's my best attempt to reconstruct what was apparently the originally planned first track of the Empire Strikes Back album, 41 years later!

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fjE-uJcsKjVkA7ufh0TGvb_W12wgwv1s/view?usp=sharing

[Bespin 7,566]

[Signals 4,234]

Huh, so that transition into the insert from the RCA SE was intended by Williams for the OST?

[blondheim 1,051]

That section has always been one of my favorite moments in the score. It and Carbon Freeze are the two things I miss most when I spin the OST.

[Datameister 1,844]

Innnnnnteresting!

[BrotherSound 2,078]

3 hours ago, Permanent Waves said:

Huh, so that transition into the insert from the RCA SE was intended by Williams for the OST?

Now, that part I had to guess on: the insert is included in the album score, so it seems it was intended to be used somewhere, though unfortunately there’s no specific directions. It just seems to me to fit pretty well as a coda to the longer 1M2 New Start insert, as heard on the special edition.

[Tallguy 2,158]

13 hours ago, blondheim said:

That section has always been one of my favorite moments in the score. It and Carbon Freeze are the two things I miss most when I spin the OST.

 

I'll assume you're talking about the Star Wars B theme that would have played over Chewie's intro just so I can agree with you.

[blondheim 1,051]

2 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 

I'll assume you're talking about the Star Wars B theme that would have played over Chewie's intro just so I can agree with you.

 

Another great moment of a theme not often heard. The entire Hoth sequence is Williams at his best

[Cameron007 34]

Where did you find out about this alternate album?

[BrotherSound 2,078]

1 hour ago, Cameron007 said:

Where did you find out about this alternate album?

It’s only this one track that’s any different. The “Album Score” accurately records the edits and cue combinations for every other track.

 

Actually, there’s one minor exception: the score of 5M3 Yoda’s Entrance shows a cut to 5M3 End Fix where it was originally intended to appear, but what’s heard on the album is a combination of the original ending with the timpani solo from the End Fix version, most likely dictated from the podium.

[Jay 33,665]

Finally checking this out!

 

That transition at 3:23 is super interesting!  I feel like if we all grew up with that edit, it wouldn't feel weird to us.  And we would have appreciated the extra music on the 1994 set there even more!

 

The edit at 4:12 feels pretty awkward though...

 

The revised ending (insert #2) being properly edited in sounds great, though

[BrotherSound 2,078]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

The edit at 4:12 feels pretty awkward though...

The album score includes the other insert, which probably would have been used here and may have helped smooth that out. It’s never been made available, but it seems it was recorded, because it has a take number written in on the sketch, just like the other cues.

 

@Jay I suppose you could add that to the list of unreleased ESB music.

[Jay 33,665]

Interesting!

[Tallguy 2,158]

That will have to be on the Ultimate Star Wars set that should be coming out any day now. 

[King Mark 3,411]

so it included that amazing trumpet solo of the SW B theme but cut off before the 2 amazing statements of Leia's theme

On 8/5/2021 at 3:00 PM, Tallguy said:

That will have to be on the Ultimate Star Wars set that should be coming out any day now  century now

 

[crumbs 13,540]

On 8/6/2021 at 5:00 AM, Tallguy said:

That will have to be on the Ultimate Star Wars set that should be coming out any day now. 

 

I've given up waiting for proper Star Wars expansions. It's clearly not a priority for Disney.