THE REIVERS (1969) - NEW! 2025 2-CD Expanded Edition from La-La Land Records produced by Mike Matessino

[Jay 41,179]

https://lalalandrecords.com/reivers-the-remastered-expanded-limited-edition-2cd-set/

 

 

REIVERS, THE: REMASTERED & EXPANDED LIMITED EDITION (2CD Set)
$31.98
LLLCD 1659
Music Composed and Conducted by John Williams
Limited edition of 2000 units

 

La-La Land Records, Sony Music and Columbia Masterworks proudly present a remastered and expanded 2-CD release of renowned composer John Williams’ original motion picture score to the 1969 feature film period drama THE REIVERS, based upon the novel by William Faulkner and starring Steve McQueen, Mitch Vogel and Sharon Farrell, and directed by Mark Rydell.

 

The treasured collaborative relationship between Maestro John Williams (JAWS, E.T., SCHINDLER’S LIST) and filmmaker Steven Spielberg had its roots in the director’s admiration for Williams’ brilliant score to this nostalgic 1969 drama, in which Faulkner chronicles the arrival of the automobile in the American south at the dawn of the 20th century. This new remastered and expanded 2-CD reissue, featuring the full score presentation for the first time, is an Americana wonder – beautiful, dramatic, heartfelt – an ideal match for Faulkner’s blend of playful humor and vividly drawn prose, conjuring the warm glow of an “endless summer” as experienced by a child on the cusp of adolescence. Williams expertly augments orchestra with guitar, banjo, fiddle, harmonica, mouth harp and honky-tonk piano, and his traditional orchestral cues are interwoven with passages rooted in old-time music and early jazz.

 

Produced, edited and mastered by Grammy nominee Mike Matessino, this deluxe, expanded 2-CD presentation was remixed and remastered from Sony Music’s original 3-track elements and approved by the composer. Disc 1 showcases the score presentation and additional music, including a medley of Stephen Foster tack player piano tunes and several alternates, (some of which have only survived as mono recordings provided by the CBS Archives at UCLA), while Disc 2 presents the original soundtrack assembly, with its unique performances and edits. Williams’ concert suite for THE REIVERS, as recorded for the 1994 Boston Pops album “Music for Stage and Screen,” concludes the presentation. Here the composer revisits and expands upon his 1969 score, which features the film’s original narrator, Burgess Meredith.

 

The exclusive, in-depth liner are by writer John Takis and the sharp art direction is by Jim Titus.

 

This CD Release is limited to 2000 units.

 

TRACK LISTING:

 

DISC 1 • SCORE PRESENTATION • 52:55

1. Logo And Main Title (The Reivers) 3:53
2. The Winton Flyer 1:46
3. First Instruction 1:21
4. Ned Tries It Out 1:54
5. Family Funeral / Lucius’ First Drive (Film Version) 2:39
6. A Tall Tale / To Memphis / That Ole Mud Hole 1:48
7. The Road To Memphis (Film Version) 1:44
8. Memphis (Film Version) 1:32
9. Corrie’s Entrance / The Picture (Extended Version) 2:56
10. Lucius And Corrie 1:37
11. The Bad News :35
12. Ned’s Trade (Extended Version) 2:49
13. The Sheriff Departs 2:34
14. Ned’s Secret / The People Protest 2:08
15. Prayers At Bedtime (Extended Version) 2:42
16. Lucius Runs To Corrie 2:11
17. The Prize 1:33
18. Moment Of Glory 1:35
19. Back Home 1:35
20. Boss’s Collar 1:15
21. Camptown Races And End Credits† 1:14
Total Score Time: 41:51

 

ADDITIONAL MUSIC
22. Stephen Foster Medley‡ 4:06
23. The Winton Flyer (Film Version) 1:47
24. Family Funeral 1:04
25. The Road To Memphis (Alternate) 1:38
26. Boss’s Collar (Alternate) 1:04
27. Camptown Races And End Credits (Alternate) † 1:14
Total Additional Music: 11:10

 

DISC 2 • 49:07

REMASTERED ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
1. Main Title / First Instruction / The Winton Flyer 5:11
2. Family Funeral / Lucius’ First Drive 2:31
3. The Road To Memphis 1:44
4. Corrie’s Entrance / The Picture 2:12
5. The Sheriff Departs / The Bad News / Ned’s Secret 3:34
6. Memphis 1:23
7. Ned’s Trade 2:05
8. The People Protest 1:07
9. Prayers At Bedtime 2:28
10. Lucius Runs To Corrie / Back Home 3:33
11. Finale† 4:12
Total Soundtrack Album Time: 30:20

 

ADDITIONAL MUSIC
12. The Reivers (Concert Suite) 18:43

 

† Includes “Camptown Races” composed by Stephen Foster (P.D.)
‡ Contains “Oh! Susanna,” “Beautiful Dreamer,” “Massa’s In De Cold Ground” (P.D.)

 

This is a CD format release

 

[Chewy 2,637]

EDIT: @Jay So fast!

 

[filmmusic 2,447]

Wow! This was unexpected!

Thank God, I was that close to purchasing the ost.

[Bespin Copilot 9,214]

Happily surprised. Instant buy! For me, this 1969 release truly marks the beginning of the John Williams I love.

[Incanus 5,848]

Fantastic! Completely unexpected but certainly most welcome!

 

Interesting to see that they included the Boston Pops recording of the Reivers Suite (originally from Music for Stage and Screen album) on CD 2.

[phbart 640]

Didn't I read somewhere that JW had vetoed this before? If that's correct, it's very good to know he's been changing his mind.

[Datameister 2,384]

On 23/02/2025 at 3:19 PM, Datameister said:

Just took a first listen to The Reivers after snagging a used copy of the Masters Film Music release. It's a fun one! I'd heard a snippet of the main theme and knew I liked it, but the rest was all new to me. I didn't expect to hear so much shared DNA with The Cowboys and The Sugarland Express, although it makes sense.

 

By JW's standards, I give it a solid 3.5/5. By the standards of most film music today, I give it a 6.

 

God damn it. 

 

I will definitely be picking this one up. Singing LLL's praises and cursing my own bad timing.

[Dr. Know 393]

Woah!  We were always told that the rights were a problem -- I guess whatever legal issues there were have been resolved at last.  Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic.  Instantly ordered!

[BrotherSound 2,461]

1 minute ago, phbart said:

Didn't I read somewhere that JW had vetoed this before? If that's correct, it's very good to know he's been changing his mind.

I don’t think he vetoed it. As I recall, Intrada looked into it, but was unable to locate the session masters. Obviously, they’ve since turned up, or Matessino was able to find them.

[filmmusic 2,447]

3 minutes ago, phbart said:

Didn't I read somewhere that JW had vetoed this before? If that's correct, it's very good to know he's been changing his mind.

I don't think so. 

[thx99 1,926]

FAN-F'ING-TASTIC!!! What a wonderful, historic, and beautiful-looking release!

[Andy 5,571]

Simply Amazing.  Weird the other thread was bumped just the other day. 

[filmmusic 2,447]

Will this be available in European retailers?

I'm afraid in case it sells out!

 

[Cindylover1969 76]

https://lalalandrecords.com/reivers-the-remastered-expanded-limited-edition-2cd-set/

[Incanus 5,848]

1 minute ago, filmmusic said:

Will this be available in European retailers?

I'm afraid in case it sells out!

 

I would expect this to be available from European retailers like Music Box Records as per usual. No reason to assume it wouldn't be.

[Naïve Old Fart 11,017]

Shit, fuck, and all other naughty words in-between!!!

I never thought that we'd see this.

[Andy 5,571]

On 23/2/2025 at 8:37 PM, Bespin Copilot said:

 I finally found a used copy of the best edition.

 

Oof… this post less than a week old. 

[crocodile 8,857]

It's a very pretty looking set. 😀

 

Karol

[Cindylover1969 76]

Oh I'm sorry I missed this thread... my aologies.

[Jurassic Shark 14,177]

Great news!

 

19 minutes ago, Incanus said:

Interesting to see that they included the Boston Pops recording of the Reivers Suite (originally from Music for Stage and Screen album) on CD 2.

 

Too bad they didn't include the suite without narrator. Missed opportunity. 

[Demondm810 420]

😍😍😍

[Jay 41,179]

Don't forget that LLL's site has 9 samples to listen to!

 

1. Logo And Main Title (The Reivers) 3:53
6. A Tall Tale / To Memphis / That Ole Mud Hole 1:48
10. Lucius And Corrie 1:37
12. Ned’s Trade (Extended Version) 2:49
17. The Prize 1:33
19. Back Home 1:35
3. The Road To Memphis 1:44
4. Corrie’s Entrance / The Picture 2:12
9. Prayers At Bedtime 2:28

[Romão 2,360]

Although I already own the Music For Stage and Screen cd, I'm absolutely ecstatic they decided to include the suite with narration. It's a perfect distillation of the score and it should always be presented with the rest of it, where it belongs. The fact that I was already from a Sony release makes licensing easier, no doubt, but I do hope this will be a trend in the future (to include separate recordings when it makes as much sense to present them together as it does here).

[Ollie 1,225]

[Romão 2,360]

5 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Great news!

 

 

Too bad they didn't include the suite without narrator. Missed opportunity. 

 

I find the narration absolutely perfect. It's ideally integrated with the music. It's almost like an extra instrument.

[filmmusic 2,447]

5 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Great news!

 

 

Too bad they didn't include the suite without narrator. Missed opportunity. 

They would have to re-record it, wouldn't they?

Or the narration is recorded in a different channel/track and could be easily erased?

[A. A. Ron 2,160]

Love the art!

 

What would y'all say are the highlight tracks from the OST?

[Jurassic Shark 14,177]

5 minutes ago, Romão said:

 

I find the narration absolutely perfect. It's ideally integrated with the music. It's almost like an extra instrument.

 

I'd prefer both versions. 

 

5 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

They would have to re-record it, wouldn't they?

Or the narration is recorded in a different channel/track and could be easily erased?

 

I assume the narration was recorded separately for maximum control, but I don't know.

[Tom Guernsey 2,978]

Excellent. Looking forward to this. And should finally convince all those who still believed the horse race cue in the (excellent) concert suite isn’t in the original score! I do wonder what he might have written for a horse race had he been asked but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have sounded (a bit) like Far & Away!

 

Cool to include the suite. I wish he did more of that kind of concert arrangement (albeit not necessarily with narration but it definitely works for this). 

[Holko 11,029]

Never heard the OST, tried the movie years ago but wasn't feeling it and stopped it. I'll try again now! Feom the samples it seems like this is a perfect fit with the other Rydell scores.

Nice cover art! Interesting that they're facing left! They're up to no good.

Also no concrete shipping date? Do they actually not know, or do they maybe not want to say until it's for sure, given how the last few batches were almost all late and the announced date had to be pushed back sometimes multiple times?

[JohnnyD 1,450]

WOW! Ordering now!

[Jurassic Shark 14,177]

I'll order once it's part of one of their site-wide sales.

[TownerFan 5,554]

24 minutes ago, Romão said:

 

I find the narration absolutely perfect. It's ideally integrated with the music. It's almost like an extra instrument.

 

That's exactly the point. It wouldn't make any sense to release it without narration, very much like Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. It's like a solo instrument in the score. As far as I know, Meredith recorded his narration on the Symphony Hall stage together with the orchestra.

 

19 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Excellent. Looking forward to this. And should finally convince all those who still believed the horse race cue in the (excellent) concert suite isn’t in the original score! I do wonder what he might have written for a horse race had he been asked but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have sounded (a bit) like Far & Away

 

Actually, there IS music in the horse race scene... but it comes in only in the final lap and it's the perfect accompaniment to the highly stylized depiction of the moment.

[Tom 5,333]

25 minutes ago, Romão said:

 

I find the narration absolutely perfect. It's ideally integrated with the music. It's almost like an extra instrument.

I tend to find narration intolerable, but I agree that in this case, it is perfect.  I am surprised that this piece as a whole is not programmed into more regular concerts--maybe the elite find the use of words too low brow.   

1 minute ago, TownerFan said:

 

Actually, there IS music in the horse race scene... but it comes in only in the final lap and it's the perfect accompaniment to the highly stylized depiction of the moment.

Is it similar to the narration suite race music?  

[Bespin Copilot 9,214]

It's narrated by The Penguin.

The real one!

[tomsmoviemadness 3,821]

Really want to hear that concert suite!!!

[Andy 5,571]

3 minutes ago, Bespin Copilot said:

It's narrated by The Penguin.

The real one!

And with that, we are friends forever. 

[Miguel Andrade 1,438]

3 minutes ago, Tom said:

I tend to find narration intolerable, but I agree that in this case, it is perfect.  I am surprised that this piece as a whole is not programmed into more regular concerts--maybe the elite find the use of words too low brow.   

 

Actually, the suite has been widely performed in the United States.

There are numerous examples of pieces that use narration in the classical repertoire, and the most famous ones were even translated into different idioms. 

[Jurassic Shark 14,177]

2 minutes ago, tomsmoviemadness said:

Really want to hear that concert suite!!!

 

Here it is.

 

 

[TownerFan 5,554]

4 minutes ago, Tom said:

I tend to find narration intolerable, but I agree that in this case, it is perfect.  I am surprised that this piece as a whole is not programmed into more regular concerts--maybe the elite find the use of words too low brow.  

 

For many years, the suite wasn't available for orchestras to rent and only JW conducted it in concerts. I think it was put out only a few years ago so hopefully it will be taken up more regularly.

 

6 minutes ago, Tom said:

Is it similar to the narration suite race music?  

 

No, it's very different, but it's really beautiful and fascinating nonetheless.

[Jay 41,179]

6 minutes ago, tomsmoviemadness said:

Really want to hear that concert suite!!!

 

 

[lairdo 742]

Lovely surprise for a Saturday morning. I was looking at email when the message popped in and instantly ordered.

 

The license being from Sony makes the inclusion of the Sony produced Boston Pops track understandable. I would not have complained without this bonus even with disc 2 being on the shorter side.

 

I wonder if including it might have helped overall with JW's approval. I suspect he loves the concert version as the distillation of the score with the narrator as an instrument (and many above have called out). I saw JW perform it at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Phil the same summer the CD came out. Burgess Meredith was there to do the narration. This was early August 1994. It was a magical moment. Or as Daniel Cariaga writes: "virtually immaculate playing."

 

Here's the full loving review from the LA Times of the Friday concert. (I went on Saturday night.)

MUSIC REVIEW : Williams Fills the Bowl With Scores of Variety

By DANIEL CARIAGA 

Aug. 8, 1994 12 AM PT 

 

TIMES MUSIC WRITER 

  Nothing is guaranteed, but some names apparently have the ability to fill colisea, auditoria, arenas, amphitheaters and smaller halls. Among composers with that ability, especially but not exclusively at Hollywood Bowl, are Beethoven and John Williams.

Williams, in person, again filled the Bowl Friday and Saturday to its legal capacity of 17,979, and certainly seemed to please those happy listeners, at least on Friday.

And why not? The composer-conductor and his widely admired music for films--written in three and a half enormously successful decades--have long been fixtures at this amphitheater. Furthermore, Williams’ catalogue of scores--each with its own personality, but all highly accomplished in the areas of melody, evocativeness and technical skill--offers a genuine variety from which to choose.

  In 1994, those excerpted scores included “The Cowboys,” “The Reivers,” “Star Wars,” and a raft of Steven Spielberg-directed films: “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Jurassic Park,” “Always,” “Schindler’s List” and “E. T.” At the beginning, there was the “Olympic Fanfare” from 1984.

In all this music, the Los Angeles Philharmonic gave Williams its consistent alertness and virtuosity. Not all these scores received the virtually immaculate playing heard in the “Reivers” music--wherein veteran actor Burgess Meredith read with aplomb the Faulkner narration he originated in the 1969 film. But mechanical glitches in the orchestra still remained infrequent.

  The sold-out and loudly approving audience on Friday gave the 86-year-old Meredith a standing ovation. It later cheered violinist Mark Baranov, concertmaster of the weekend, who delivered both of the “Schindler’s List” solos with poignancy and resplendent tone. Also taking a bow was William Lane, who played the important horn solo in the “Always” excerpt.

 

 

[Damien F 1,792]

Look, this is obviously great and everything, but I just purchased LIcence To Kill a few days ago and it has already shipped. I could have saved another postage cost to Ireland. It annoys me because this is actually the third time this has happened where LLL announces a new must-buy days after I have placed an order for something else. 

 

#FirstWorldProblems

 

Anyway... The Reivers has been expanded  

[Sandor 852]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

Will this be available in European retailers?

I'm afraid in case it sells out!

 

I just ordered at MBR. 😇

[Jurassic Shark 14,177]

Nothing goes OOP immediately anymore. 

[Holko 11,029]

2 minutes ago, Damien F said:

Look, this is obviously great and everything, but I just purchased LIcence To Kill a few days ago and it has already shipped. I could have saved another postage cost to Ireland. It annoys me because this is actually the third time this has happened where LLL announces a new must-buy days after I have placed an order for something else. 

 

#FirstWorldProblems

 

Anyway... The Reivers has been expanded  

Well, LLL stuff are usually announced on the 1st.. if it's a matter of a few days, maybe just wait until announcement day before ordering!

[Damien F 1,792]

Just now, Holko said:

Well, stuff are usually announced on the 1st.. if it's a matter of a few days, maybe just wait until announcement day before ordering!

Thanks, I didn't know the 1st is usually when they announce stuff. I thought it was random. Thanks for the tip.

[Richard P 4,502]

I've tended to confuse this with The Cowboys in the past - a similar flavour of 60s Americana. I've got the main theme to this and it's a pleasant enough piece - I'm very happy for those who wanted this.

 

I'm afraid I don't concur with the 'vocal is an instrument' suggestion if it's in the context of choosing not to include an orchestra-only version. (not a commentary on this release btw - it's a bonus track LLL didn't have to include at all, and separate elements may not even be available.) Instrumental versions of songs are a matter of routine elsewhere - I find the option nice to have when available.

[KittBash 321]

                 

 

YES!!!! I have put off buying the other releases for YEARS hoping for this! 

[Naïve Old Fart 11,017]

27 minutes ago, Bespin Copilot said:

It's narrated by The Penguin.

The real one!

It was narrated by Sol Bibble, himself, Oliver Ford Davies, at Barbican.