Elmer Bernstein's RAT RACE (2001 Unused) - 2023 La-La Land Records coming May 2nd

[Jay 37,374]

 

RAT RACE
Music Inspired By The Motion Picture
Music Composed and Conducted by Elmer Bernstein
Limited Edition of 1000 Units

 

Coming From La-La Land Records May 2, 2023

 

https://twitter.com/LaLaLandRecords/status/1649443424972738567

[Edmilson 7,473]

I wonder if this means that they'll also be releasing an expanded version of Powell's score in the near future.

 

Anyway, I loved this movie as a kid. Saw it on TV and almost pissed myself laughing, especially during the cow scene. Can't remember anything about the music though, other than All Star from Smash Mouth playing in the end.

 

 

[Jay 37,374]

All Star was everywhere from 1999-2001

    
July 23, 1999 - Inspector Gadget

August 6, 1999 - Mystery Men

October 6, 2000 - Digimon: The Movie

May 18, 2001 - Shrek

August 17, 2001 - Rat Race

 

Pretty impressive, and must have made the entire band filthy rich

[Edmilson 7,473]

These days that song is mostly known as a meme on YouTube. People who used to be kids in the 2000s now have grown up and made countless memes, parodies, remixes, etc. 

 

Like this:

 

 

And this:

 

 

[Richard Penna 3,695]

Somehow, the entire movie is on YouTube. I guess the studio's copyright flagging isn't quite what it might be for 20 year old movies.

 

 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Wow! Definitely picking this up. Wish it included Powell’s masterful score though. 
 

One of my favorite comedies. 

[Thor 7,521]

Saw the film ages ago, remember nothing from it. I didn't know Bernstein had written a rejected score.

[Yavar Moradi 2,603]

36 minutes ago, Thor said:

Saw the film ages ago, remember nothing from it. I didn't know Bernstein had written a rejected score.

 

https://perspectiveforum.net/2016/05/22/my-savior-elmer-bernstein/

 

Quote

When Jerry Goldsmith was unable to score Jerry Zucker’s RAT RACE I gave Elmer an enthusiastic, unofficial recommendation. One day at baggage claim in LAX I bumped into Elmer’s daughter, Emilie, who was working as her father’s orchestrator. She had just flown back from London where the plug had been pulled on Elmer’s RAT RACE score. I offered a feeble joke about how he had already scored THE RAT RACE 40 years ago. We smiled, but deep down I felt awful that there are no “Get Out of Jail Free” cards for film composers, no matter how much they’ve accomplished. Every score is another testing ground and rejection is always a lurking possibility.

CAN’T WAIT! For me this is the most exciting title of a really awesome batch!

 

Yavar

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

LOVE Powell's score, so I'm really curious about Bernstein's approach and why it was rejected.

 

We'll find out soon.

[TSMefford 1,509]

9 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

Somehow, the entire movie is on YouTube. I guess the studio's copyright flagging isn't quite what it might be for 20 year old movies.

 

 

 

Aaaand it's gone.

[Jurassic Shark 12,091]

No it's not. 

[scallenger 483]

Must depend on the region. It is also on Paramount+ for those who have that streaming service.

 

Very curious about the score! I actually loved the movie itself when I saw it as a kid, curious to rewatch it as an adult, haha. I didn't realize Powell did the final score for the film, let alone the Bernstein rejection! Definitely wanna check all of this out overall haha.

[A. A. Ron 1,742]

6 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

No it's not. 

It is for Americans. There’s a message saying “This video contains content owned by Paramount Pictures, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.”

[Jurassic Shark 12,091]

So it's not gone then. 

[Richard Penna 3,695]

Still up for me. What's bizarre is that some person or process has decided that a copyrighted big studio film can stay on YouTube for some countries, and not others.

 

And it's not the only one - I found the entirety of Sleepy Hollow while searching for some clips when Intrada's set came out.

 

Having said that, it seems to me that most albums are uploaded free you YT by major labels nowadays, so maybe some studios just leave some films up for PR?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

For those unfamiliar with Powell’s score, you must remedy immediately.

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,287]

Short and sweet as scores go!

 

La-La Land Records and Paramount Pictures present the world premiere release of legendary composer Elmer Bernstein’s (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, AIRPLANE!, GHOSTBUSTERS) original unused score to the raucous 2001 big-screen comedy RAT RACE, starring Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg and Jon Lovitz, and directed by Jerry Zucker.

Having scored such legendary comedies as AIRPLANE!, ANIMAL HOUSE, GHOSTBUSTERS, STRIPES as well as many others, it’s no accident that Maestro Bernstein was initially the composer of choice for this madcap ensemble comedy in the vein of IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD. Now for the first time, and with the blessing of the composer’s family, Bernstein’s take on the film is here for us all to enjoy and it’s an orchestral comic delight – a rollicking wonder that embraces the film’s outlandish, desperate characters and overall cartoonish verve. The composer’s approach is as off-the-wall as it is classical – an impressively energetic and complex work of comedic scoring.

Produced by Dan Goldwasser and mastered by Doug Schwartz, this limited edition CD release of 1000 units features exclusive, in-depth liner notes by writer Daniel Schweiger, with new comments by the composer’s son, Peter Bernstein and the composer’s protégé, Bear McCreary, and zippy art design by Goldwasser.

TRACK LISTING:

THE SCORE:
1. Eyebrow / Daughter / Psychic 2:03
2. Gamblers 0:34
3. News 0:34
4. Sand 0:29
5. Directions / Toilet 0:35
6. Hit 0:34
7. Downhill 1:07
8. Plans 0:47
9. Gas 1:29
10. Aria (for tenor) 2:49
11. Drifter 0:53
12. Rocket 1:02
13. Staggered / Sleep / Horse / Waltzing Away 2:45
14. Finale 3:18

SOURCE CUES
15. In the Hall of the Mountain King 2:33
16. I Love Lucy Theme 0:45
17. America the Beautiful 0:38

BONUS TRACKS
18. Brothers (Alternate) 0:20
19. Directions (Album Version) 0:32
20. Gas (Alternate) 1:29
21. Gas (Album Version) 1:29
22. Finale (Album Version) 3:29

TOTAL ALBUM TIME: 30:52

[Yavar Moradi 2,603]

That’s surprisingly short and I wish the complete Powell score could have been included here too, but I’m sure that decision was out of LLL’s hands. This will be mine!

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,374]

Pretty cool that they asked Bear McCreary to write something, and that he did!

 

Was Bear already studying under Elmer in 2001, or did that start shortly after? I can't remember!

[mstrox 6,651]

I’ll be interested to hear the samples on this one.  I like a lot of Bernstein’s comedy stuff, and I’d like to support a “rejected score” release like this if I can.

[crumbs 14,319]

7 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

18. Brothers (Alternate) 0:20

 

What the? There's no other track called Brothers... yet there's an Alternate?

 

I assume all these "album versions" were just planned tracks for an album release that never happened, or something.

[Yavar Moradi 2,603]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Pretty cool that they asked Bear McCreary to write something, and that he did!

 

Was Bear already studying under Elmer in 2001, or did that start shortly after? I can't remember!

Started earlier! Bear’s blog post is a must read (though it doesn’t mention Rat Race IIRC so these new liner notes will be essential reading!)

https://bearmccreary.com/my-decade-with-elmer-bernstein-3/

 

58 minutes ago, crumbs said:

What the? There's no other track called Brothers... yet there's an Alternate?

I was wondering if this might be a case like Herrmann’s Torn Curtain, where Elmer wrote more cues than actually got recorded. Maybe his original version of “Brothers” was rejected as a mock-up before the orchestra recorded?

 

58 minutes ago, crumbs said:

I assume all these "album versions" were just planned tracks for an album release that never happened, or something.

Presumably! I hope the liner notes explain. Maybe there was going to be a soundtrack album with a mix of songs and score (re-recorded specifically for the album).  That’s what happened with Elmer’s score to Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (done just a couple years earlier), I think…. the album has only four cues by Bernstein totaling 7 minutes.

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,374]

MV says:

 

Powell score rights still belong to Beyond Records aka UME now. Too expensive to sublicense.

MV

 

https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=151016&forumID=1&archive=0&pageID=1

[Yavar Moradi 2,603]

I imagine if an expansion happens (assuming there’s anything of substance to expand with), it’ll be tackled by Powell and his team.

 

Meanwhile I’m checking out the Bernstein sound clips and really enjoying what I’m hearing!

 

I particularly love that gorgeous theme that starts up near the end of the first sound clip. But overall, to me this sounds almost like Elmer’s equivalent of Looney Tunes: Back in Action. It’s like Gold’s Mad Mad World mixed with Carl Stalling but filtered through Elmer’s own style, with multiple callbacks to his own previous genre approaches. There are fun riffs including an almost Magnificent Seven sounding theme in the final cue… I look forward to hearing the whole thing!

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,374]

Artwork and liner notes preview:
 

https://warmbutter.com/albums/rat-race/