What is so great about The Cowboys?

[Sandor 459]

In a couple of threads I've noticed that this score is much more popular than I ever thought possible.

I'll admit that I never really got into The Cowboys. I have the soundtrack (and various Overture arrangments), but the only piece that really grabs my attention is the Alternate Main Title which consists of thematic material that is not found in the finished score.

But I'm willing to give The Cowboys another chance. Please enlight me...

[Indiana_Fett 0]

Conducting Tom Cruise listens to it while kicking ass at Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, and that should be enough for you.

[Kendal_Ozzel 32]

I don't have the score ( ), but I do have a suite from it. It's really good, but I don't love it nearly as much as others seem to.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

I dont have the Cowboys, nor a suite, nor any overtures, nor the movie, nor have I seen the movie. 8)

[AC1 3,565]

Indeed, The Cowboys. I don't hear it either. It would almost appear as if our very own Johnny isn't capable of writing a western score that is as good as some of his other styles. Luckily, The Reivers proves me wrong.

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Alex Cremers

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

is the Reivers a western score?

[AC1 3,565]

Very much so.

[Incanus 5,519]

I never thought Reivers sounded like a Western. It has more of the rural Americana feeling to me.

Cowboys is a good score but I would not claim it to be the most original or the most exciting of Williams scores. I like the open country theme more than the main theme and I like the youthful spirit much of the score has.

[AC1 3,565]

The western is as Americana as you can get, Incanus. :oops: Nothing is more Americana than the western.

Furthermore, The Reivers is Williams doing Aaron Copland. It's his most Copland-esque score to date. It is said that Aaron Copland created the Western sound as we know it today. Does The Reivers sound western? Yes, very much so.

[Incanus 5,519]

The western is as Americana as you can get, Incanus. :oops: Nothing is more Americana than the western.

Furthermore, The Reivers is Williams doing Aaron Copland. It's his most Copland-esque score to date. It is said that Aaron Copland created the Western sound as we know it today. Does The Reivers sound western? Yes, very much so.

Bah! It does not sound like a Western to me and that is that. And there are different types of Americana. I would not count Reivers as a Western sounding score but that is an individual choice.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

what western sound are we talking about? to me the western sound has always been the morricone one.

[Olivier 5]

The western is as Americana as you can get, Incanus. :oops: Nothing is more Americana than the western.

Furthermore, The Reivers is Williams doing Aaron Copland. It's his most Copland-esque score to date. It is said that Aaron Copland created the Western sound as we know it today. Does The Reivers sound western? Yes, very much so.

So, according to your syllogism, Alex, The River is a Western because the music is Americana?

Riiiight.

As for The Cowboys, I love it. The main titme is exciting, powerful, typically Western; the quieter parts feature nice Americana-flavored melancholy music-- "A Sad Day" for instance.

[Sandor 459]

The main titme is exciting, powerful, typically Western

One of the reasons it doesn't really excite me I guess...

[AC1 3,565]

The western is as Americana as you can get, Incanus. :oops: Nothing is more Americana than the western.

Furthermore, The Reivers is Williams doing Aaron Copland. It's his most Copland-esque score to date. It is said that Aaron Copland created the Western sound as we know it today. Does The Reivers sound western? Yes, very much so.

So, according to your syllogism, Alex, The River is a Western because the music is Americana?

Well, yes, I can see The River as being a modern western, Olivier. Remember, The River is a tribute to a vanishing America, the America of the independent farm family. The film uses the same western morals. A family does everything to protect their land, even if this goes against the will of the lawmen. The music sounds less Copland-esque than The Reivers or The Cowboys. The influence is still there but Williams has found a way to make it sound more like Williams.

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Alex Cremers

[Bowie 45]

Love the overture. So many awesome themes woven together. Sometimes one theme becomes the accompaniment while another becomes a recurring background motif. Listen to carefully. Although I guess you'd have to have some appreciation of that concert band style of music (having played in a band would help), despite being orchestral.

[Marcus 385]

Greetings! I have to say, I really enjoy the "Cowboys Overture", which is also interesting because it is one of John Williams' most formally ambitious concert arrangements. The score is perhaps his most "generic" western score, but it is nevertheless one of the finest efforts in this genre. I do find myself listening more frequently to the score for "Missouri Breaks", which is a stunningly original western score if there ever was one, and one far removed from the more typical Coplandesque americana.

Best,

Marcus

[mahler3 353]

Wild Horses is a great cue, a classic Williams fugue! I love the Americana Smallville-like theme too! It certainly isn't one of my favourite scores but it has some superb moments and great Horn-riffs!!

I would not class The Reivers as a western score at all - other than the Hillbilly music (as KM would say) the music is an interpolation of adventure, action and drama yet suitably fashioned in the musical idiom of the period which doesn't class the musical genre as a Western IMO.

- Tim.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

I love The Cowboys for its boundless enthusiasm and energy. Especially in the main titles and overture, the various western/Americana themes and motifs weave in and out of one another seamlessly at breakneck pace. It's just a lot of fun.

Ray Barnsbury

[Olivier 5]

Well, yes, I can see The River as being a modern western, Olivier. Remember, The River is a tribute to a vanishing America, the America of the independent farm family. The film uses the same western morals. A family does everything to protect their land, even if this goes against the will of the lawmen. The music sounds less Copland-esque than The Reivers or The Cowboys. The influence is still there but Williams has found a way to make it sound more like Williams.

Okay, but then, plenty of similarly themed movies might be labled Westerns, without their scores being so.

I guess the problem here is the definition of "Western"-- a genre which encompasses more than "Cowboys vs Indians", "from gunfight to gunfight", ..., and isn"t always bathed in glorious sunlight.

The River is is in the vein of Steinbeck's novels-- farmers vs industrialized society, different ways of life, strikes & strikebreakers, and a flood.

I do see your point, but I can't label it "Western"; say it shares themes and motives, maybe that it's a product of both genres (a peasant-workman's drama in a Western setting-- though it's not exactly way out West), but not that it's a Western.

[Maestro 57]

Let's face it: Santaolalla defined Americana. Everything else is just an imitation.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

I enjoy the concert suite a lot more then the actual score.

I'm generally not a huge fan of that Copeland-style Western music.

Though Bernsteins The Magnificent Seven is very enjoyable.

[AC1 3,565]

Though Bernsteins The Magnificent Seven is very enjoyable.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

Keep that up and you'll have less credibility then Morlock.

[AC1 3,565]

Keep that up and you'll have less credibility then Morlock.

It's just film music. I liked it as a kid though.

[Sandor 459]

It's just film music.

[Ollie 859]

Though Bernsteins The Magnificent Seven is very enjoyable.

:roll:

I expect that from those under 20.

I had typed out a long response to Roald but the weather is causing problems and I got booted off and don't feel like re-typing so in a nutshell;

The Cowboys is a good enjoyable score with a rousing main theme and solid underscore to compliment the film. May not be your typical western score but still holds its own.

[Sergeant 1,093]

I have to agree with many posts written here. For me the Cowboys Overtyre(for the big Orchestra)

is one of the best by Williams. After hearing that ,I bought the soundtrack.Sligthly disapointed to

that "hillbilly"(learning every day here)music.Usually I concider the "western" music quite stupid

but that Overture is magnificent.

[TheRuleOfThirds 0]

Did anybody realize that The Reivers, The Cowboys, and The River were helmed by the same director, Mark Rydell?

[Indiana_Fett 0]

An early Spielberg, it seems.

[orrakul 0]

LIke many others, I love the Cowboys Overture - I actuallylisten to it quite a lot. I don't listen to the entire score as often as I do the overture.

[King Mark 2,924]

There's a great good cues on the c.d.Wild Horses is one of them.It kinds of bogs down in the second half of the album with the darker suspense music.There's a few cues appearing on the LP only that are great,like what I think might be the End Credits or Finale.

K.M

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

Did anybody realize that The Reivers, The Cowboys, and The River were helmed by the same director, Mark Rydell?

And Cowboys is by far the best score of these.

Marian - who likes Reivers but considers it somewhat overrated, and also likes bits of River.

[nightscape94 965]

I like the soundtrack, but most people can live with just the Overture. And I agree that it's one of Williams best pieces of music. Shame the complete 9 minute version isn't on the album (which, in its entirety, is very short anyway). But it can be easily found on many compilation CDs, most notably the "By Request..." CD.

Tim