Ennio Morricone’s My Dear Killer OST

by Kimberly Lindbergs | October 21, 2009

Categories | News, Soundtracks, Composers, Giallo, Ennio Morricone, George Hilton

George Hilton in My Dear Killer aka Mio Caro Assassino (1972)

This month Digitmovies is scheduled to release Ennio Morricone’s incredible score for the excellent giallo thriller My Dear Killer aka Mio Caro Assassino (1972). This will be the 9th volume from Italy’s Digitmovies devoted to the original soundtrack recordings of Ennio Morricone and if it’s as good as their previous releases Morricone fans are in for a real treat!

My Dear Killer happens to be one of my favorite giallo films and it was directed by Tonino Valerii who made some great Italian westerns such as My Name is Nobody (1973), but he is probably best known for his work as an assistant director to Sergio Leone during the making of A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965). My Dear Killer was Tonino Valerii’s only giallo film but it’s a smart, creative and surprising thriller that offered its talented star (George Hilton) one of his best roles. In the film Hilton plays a police inspector trying to solve a gruesome series of crimes that may or may not be connected to the kidnapping and murder of a young girl that took place years earlier. Besides George Hilton’s standout performance as Inspector Luca Peretti, My Dear Killer also features one of Ennio Morricone’s most creepy and effective scores.

A few of the tracks from Morricone’s soundtrack for My Dear Killer have been released before on compilation CDs, but the upcoming Digitmovies CD will mark the first time that Morricone’s complete score for My Dear Killer has been made available in any form.

This impressive soundtrack includes haunting vocals provided by the brilliant Edda Dell’Orso who worked closely with the composer on many of his best film scores. All together the CD contains a total of 17 remastered tracks and it’s available just in time for Halloween. If you’re a Morricone fan or just enjoy genuinely eerie film soundtracks you’re definitely going to want to pick up a copy of the My Dear Killer OST.

You can currently purchase new and used copies of the soundtrack for My Dear Killer aka Mio Caro Assassino at Amazon. At the moment these CDs are a little hard to come by since they’re imported from Italy but Digitmovies is still in the process of shipping out orders so check back at Amazon often.

The film is also available on DVD from Amazon and you should be able to rent it at Netflix.com or Greencine.com

I’ve posted the trailer for My Dear Killer aka Mio Caro Assassino below since it also features samples of Ennio Morricone’s score, but if you’ve never seen the movie before you might want to avoid watching it. It’s a great clip (not exactly work safe) but it also happens to be one of the most spoiler filled trailers I’ve ever seen.

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New John Dankworth Compilation

by Kimberly Lindbergs | August 12, 2009

Categories | News, Soundtracks, Composers, British Cinema, Dirk Bogarde, Joseph Losey

Laurence Harvey, Julie Christie & Dirk Bogarde in Darling (1965)

During the recent Dirk Bogarde movie marathon on TCM I ended up watching John Schlesinger’s Darling (1965) again which stars Dirk Bogarde along with the wonderful Julie Christie and jaw-droppingly gorgeous Laurence Harvey. I’ve seen the film many times before but I love all three of the film’s stars so I never get tired of watching it. Besides the actors and Schlesinger’s impressive direction, another reason that I find Darling incredibly watchable is the film’s great score by British composer John (aka Johnny) Dankworth. Dankworth was an amazing talent and he’s responsible for composing the soundtracks for some of my favorite British films of the ’60s. He also created music for terrific television shows like the original Avengers.

After watching Darling again I decided to try and hunt down a copy of the film’s soundtrack online. Unfortunately I had no luck, but I did discover that a new John Dankworth compliation CD has just been released called Let’s Slip Away - Film and TV 1960-1973.

Let’s Slip Away is the first CD compilation of John Danworth’s scores so if you’re a fan of his music you’ll definitely want to get yourself a copy. This impressive 2 CD set from Eclipse in the UK features over 40 music tracks and includes theme music from Darling as well as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz; 1960), The Servant (Joseph Losey; 1963), Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment (Karel Reisz; 1966), Modesty Blaise (Joseph Losey; 1966) and Accident (Jospeh Losey; 1967). The collection also includes extensive notes by Workers Playtime DJ Martin Green.

The official Eclipse site calls Let’s Slip Away “Beautifully cool jazz-pop from the days before Johnny started calling himself John and getting all serious on your ass.”

Sounds good to me!

The CD collection was released earlier this month and you can currently find new copies at Amazon selling for about $18.75, but there seems to be a glaring error on the website that also lists the CD for $170. Ignore that ridiculous price! If you can’t get new copies of the CD at Amazon I highly recommend picking up a copy at my favorite online soundtrack shop Movie Grooves.

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Girl On a Motorcycle: The Soundtrack

by Kimberly Lindbergs | April 28, 2009

Categories | Soundtracks, Composers, 1968, Girl On a Motorcycle, John Barry

Composer Les Reed

One of the best things about Jack Cardiff’s 1968 film The Girl on a Motorcycle is the terrific score created by the award winning British composer and songwriter Les Reed. Les Reed was one of the most prolific members of the mid-60s London music scene and he’s probably familiar to most people thanks to the success of popular songs he wrote and arranged for other artists. Reed often worked with other songwriters like Geoff Stephens and Barry Mason, and these creative partnerships yielded many hit songs.

Here’s a short list of some of the songs that were composed and/or arranged by Les Reed and performed by the recording artists who made them popular (links should take you to YouTube clips for each song):

Tom Jones - “It’s Not Unusual”
Herman’s Hermits - “There’s a Kind of Hush”
Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders - “Game of Love”
The Drifters - “Hello Happiness”
The Fortunes - “Here It Comes Again”
The Dave Clark Five - “Everybody Knows”
The Applejacks - “Tell Me When”
Petula Clark - “Kiss Me Goodbye”
Lulu - “Leave A Little Love”
Elvis Presley - “Sylvia”
Engelbert Humperdinck - “The Last Waltz”
Mireille Mathieu - “Les Bicyclettes De Belsize”

The John Barry Seven with Les Reed on the piano

Les Reed came from a musical family and trained at London’s prestigious College of Music. In 1958 he began playing piano with renowned composer John Barry and his touring band the John Barry Seven. This partnership lasted until 1962 and during that time Reed worked with John Barry on the soundtracks for Beat Girl (1959), Never Let Go (1960) and the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962). But it wasn’t until 1968 that Les Reed would get the opportunity to compose and record his first film score for Jack Cardiff’s The Girl On a Motorcycle.

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Divine BB

by Kimberly Lindbergs | October 14, 2008

Categories | Soundtracks, Composers, French Cinema, Actresses, Serge Gainsbourg, Brigitte Bardot, yé-yé

If you’re a Brigitte Bardot fan I highly recommend picking up the latest Cinedelic Book/CD compilation simply called BB Brigitte Bardot. It’s a wonderful collection of beautiful photos of the actress, reproductions of classic movie poster art and music from many of Bardot’s most popular films including En effeuillant la marguerite (aka Plucking the Daisy/Mademoiselle Striptease), Et Dieu… créa la femme (aka …And God Created Woman), Une parisienne (aka La Parisienn), En cas de malheur (aka Love Is My Profession/In Case of Adversity), La Vérité (aka The Truth) and Le Mépris (aka Contempt). The music CD also contains some of the best pop songs that Bardot recorded with French composer Serge Gainsbourg and a complete filmography for the actress who retired in 1973.

“BB is the perfect combination of different notes and chords that all together sound like one perfect melody. Her power of seduction was God’s gift, her posture and famous walk matched her fame, as well as her enigmatic appeal that went far beyond mere beauty: it was more like a sensual instinct able to mesmerize and capture. Brigitte encompassed the meaning of beauty, freedom, transgression and quirkiness, yet the look in her eyes revealed a childlike naiveté of sorts, perfectly embodying the disquieting and mischievous elements of the classic femme fatale. This book is a tribute to Divine BB’s astounding career and includes movie posters, rare on-set pictures, the complete filmography and a CD with original music.” - Cinedelic

Cinedelic has really done a terrific job of gathering together some rare and wonderful material for BB Brigitte Bardot. The 150 page book and accompanying CD is the perfect introduction to the career of this talented actress and songstress, but it will undoubtedly be appreciated by Bardot’s longtime fans too.

Sample images from Cinedelic’s BB Brigitte Bardot Book/CD

I’ve seen numerous track listings for the CD online but none of them appear to be complete. If you’re considering purchasing the set it’s helpful to know exactly what you’re getting so I thought I’d share my own track listing with more detailed information about the composers and film scores featured on Cinedelic’s BB Brigitte Bardot CD. Hopefully others will find it useful.

Track Listing for BB Brigitte Bardot:
1. Poppea - Angelo Francesco Lavagnino from Mio figlio Nerone (Stefano Vanzina; 1956)
2. Strip Tease - Paul Misraki from En effeuillant la marguerite (Marc Allégret; 1956)
3. Scene Sentimentale - Paul Misraki from En effeuillant la marguerite (Marc Allégret; 1956)
4. Et Dieu Crea La Femme - Paul Misraki from Et Dieu… créa la femme (Roger Vadim; 1956)
5. Du Moi Quelques Choses D’Amour - Paul Misraki from Et Dieu… créa la femme (Roger Vadim; 1956)
6. Paris BB - Henri Crolla/André Hodeir/Hubert Rostaing from Une parisienne (Michel Boisrond; 1957)
7. La Parisienne - Henri Crolla/André Hodeir/Hubert Rostaing from Une parisienne (Michel Boisrond; 1957)
8. Theme A - René Cloërec from En cas de malheur (Claude Autant-Lara; 1958)
9. Theme B - René Cloërec from En cas de malheur (Claude Autant-Lara; 1958)
10. Yo Tengo Una Muneca - Xavier-Mitchell Y Su Quinteto from La Vérité (Henri-Georges Clouzot; 1960)
11. Le Mepris/Generique - Georges Delerue from Le Mépris (Jean-Luc Godard; 1963)
12. Camille - Georges Delerue from Le Mépris (Jean-Luc Godard; 1963)
13. Contact - Brigitte Bardot (composed by Serge Gainsbourg in 1967/68)
14. Harley Davidson - Brigitte Bardot (composed by Serge Gainsbourg in 1967/68)
15. Bonnie and Clyde - Brigitte Bardot & Serge Gainsbourg (composed by Serge Gainsbourg in 1967/68)
16. Plaisir D’Amour - Brigitte Bardot (composed by Jean-Paul Martini/Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian/Hector Berlioz; 1780)
17. Sur Le Boulevad Du Rhum - Brigitte Bardot (composed by François de Roubaix/Robert Enrico/Pierre Pelegri for the film Boulevard du rhum dir. Robert Enrico; 1971)
18. Je T’Aime BB - Bebo Best & The Super Lounge Orchestra (tribute song w/Brigitte Bardot vocal samples; 2008)

You can currently purchase the BB Brigitte Bardot Book/CD set at Amazon for $29.98 and used copies can be bought there for about $20.

I like a lot of the songs that Serge Gainsbourg composed for Brigitte Bardot and one of my favorites is the psychedelic space-age pop song Contact, which is available on the new Cinedelic CD. Below is a fabulous music video for Contact with the divine BB that I couldn’t resist sharing. It’s taken from her 1968 French television special Spécial Bardot. In the clip Bardot’s wearing a fantastic dress designed by Paco Rabanne and she looks like she just stepped off the set of Barbarella.

Brigitte Bardot - Contact (1968)

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John Barry’s BOOM! Soundtrack

by Kimberly Lindbergs | July 12, 2008

Categories | News, Soundtracks, British Cinema, Joseph Losey, John Barry

Cover art for the new Boom! soundtrack release
Apologies for the lack of updates. I’ve been extremely busy lately and I expect to be busy all summer long but hopefully I’ll find some free time to update a bit more in the coming weeks.

In the meantime I wanted to let fans of the Oscar winning British composer John Barry (the James Bond films, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, The Knack …and How to Get It, The Ipcress File, Born Free, The Quiller Memorandum, Petulia, Walkabout, etc.) know that Harkit Records in the UK has just released his fascinating and experimental soundtrack from the film Boom! (1968) on CD for the first time. I’m also thrilled to have been involved with the project. Harkit Records contacted me and asked if they could publish part of my essay about the film as part of the CD liner notes and I happily agreed.

You can currently purchase John Barry’s Boom! soundtrack at Amazon or at online music shops like Movie Grooves in the UK. At the Movie Grooves site you can also listen to sample tracks from the score.

If you appreciate the impressive music John Barry recorded for films in the ’60s as much as I do you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy of his soundtrack for Boom! As I mentioned above, the score has never been made available on CD before and this is a great opportunity to hear some rare and wonderful music by one of Britain’s best composers.

Composer John Barry

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Bits & Pieces

by Kimberly Lindbergs | June 2, 2008

Categories | News, Soundtracks, Costume Design

Jean Seberg in Moment to Moment (1965) wearing a Yves Saint Laurent Design.

Just a brief round-up of some news & info that I thought I’d share . . .

- Fashion and costume designer Yves Saint Laurent died today at the age of 71. In the world of film, costume designers rarely get the acclaim that they should but Yves Saint Laurent’s wonderful work appeared in some great movies throughout the years and he helped define women’s fashion in the sixties. To read more about Laurent’s impressive contribution to the art of cinema please see my brief tribute to Yves Saint Laurent’s work called The Fine Art of Fashion: Yves Saint Laurent.

Actresses and models’ Ira von Fürstenberg and Capucine
modeling Yves Saint Laurent designs in 1965/66.

On a lighter note . . .

- Film director Paul Schrader has a terrific website now where he has published a lot of his film writing and lately I’ve been enjoying going through the archives. Schrader’s early film writing was heavily influenced by the legendary critic Pauline Kael and I don’t agree with a lot of his youthful opinions but his writing is still fascinating to read and naturally improves over time. Some highlights you can find on his site include Yakuza-Eiga: A Primer, which he wrote for Film Comment in 1974 and his 2001 essay in Film Comment on his break from Pauline Kael called Pauline Kael 1919 – 2001: My Family Drama. It’s interesting to read about how the director broke away from Kael’s influence and started thinking more for himself, which is somewhat highlighted in one of the richest pieces available on his site titled The Film Canon from a 2006 issue of Film Comment. A direct link to Paul Schrader’s writing archives can be found here.

- Peppino De Luca’s terrific score for Dorian Gray (Il Dio Chaimato Dorian, 1970) has long been one of my favorite film soundtracks and it was recently released on CD for the first time by Italy’s Digitmovies. Previously some tacks from the film were only available on a a compilation CD called Barry 7’s Connectors Volume 2 but now fans of the film can finally enjoy De Luca’s soundtrack in its entirety.

Hopefully my next post will be a little longer!

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Top 20 Soundtrack Releases of 2007

by Kimberly Lindbergs | January 19, 2008

Categories | Soundtracks, Composers, Seijun Suzuki, Steve McQueen, Ennio Morricone, Maurice Jarre

I’m still working on compiling my list of my Favorite DVDs from 2007, which I plan on sharing here before the end of the month, but in the meantime I thought I’d put together a list of my Top 20 Favorite Soundtrack CDs of 2007. Not surprisingly, Italy’s Cinedelic Records, Japan’s Hotwax Trax, Sweden’s Fin de Siècle Media and Universal Music France all have multiple releases on my list. All of these labels have put out some fantastic music collections in recent years and I expect more great things from them in 2008. Now on with my Top 20 Favorite Soundtrack CDs of 2007 . . .

1. Naozumi Yamamoto - Branded to Kill (Koroshi no Rakuin)
The great Japanese composer Naozumi Yamamoto created many terrific jazz inspired scores for Seijun Suzuki’s films in the sixties and his work on Branded to Kill (1967) is some of his best. Various pieces of music from the Branded to Kill soundtrack have previously been available on a few compilations, but this great new CD from Think Records in Japan is the first time Yamamoto’s complete score for the film has been made available.
*You can listen to sound samples and purchase the CD from Movie Grooves

2. Hajime Kaburagi - Hotwax Trax Composer Series Hajime Kaburagi
Due to language barriers this fantastic collection of soundtrack compositions by one of Japan’s greatest composers is often being referred to only as the Nora-neko rokku: Sekkusu hanta (Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter) / Furyô shôjô Mako (Bad Girl Mako) Original Soundtrack and scores for both of those 1970/1971 films are featured on the CD, but this terrific collection of Hajime Kaburagi scores also contains compositions from many other great Japanese films that he scored including Bloody Territories (1969), Blackmail is My Life (1968), Velvet Hustler (1967) and Swirling Butterflies (1970). Hajime Kaburagi’s impressive soundtracks are influenced by a wide array of music including jazz, lounge and rock and I can’t recommend this wonderful collection enough.
* You can listen to sound samples and purchase the CD from Movie Grooves

3. Michel Magne - Soundtracks from the Films of Roger Vadim
I’ve loved the soundtrack from Barbarella (1968) since I first watched the film some 25 years ago, so I was thrilled to discover that the great French composer Michel Magne had written some music for Roger Vadim’s film that had never been published before and was finally released on CD from Universal Music France just last year. This terrific collection also contains music from some of Vadim’s other great films including La Ronde (1964) and Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman (1973). The CD comes with a nice booklet in French and English with background info on the release.
* You can purchase this collection at Amazon

4. Michel Legrand - Le Mans / The Hunter Original Soundtracks
The talented French composer Michel Legrand worked on some of Steve McQueen’s finest films, including the original Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and the excellent racing film Le Mans (1971). Le Mans features one of the composer’s best and most exciting scores, but the soundtrack hasn’t been available on CD for a long time. This new release from Universal Jazz France includes the complete soundtrack for Le Mans as well as the excellent score he composed for another Steve McQueen film, The Hunter (1980). The CD also contains a great booklet with background information about the composer’s work.
* You can purchase this collection at Amazon

5. Marc Wilkinson - Blood on Satan’s Claw Original Soundtrack
Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) is one of my favorite British horror films and without a doubt one of Tigon Studio’s best releases. Most critics and horror fans tend to praise The Witchfinder General as Trigon’s best horror film, but I personally find Blood on Satan’s Claw more effective and chilling. The film also has a really terrific and extremely creepy score by composer Marc Wilkinson, which was made available on CD for first time last year from Trunk Records. Unfortunately this is a limited release so grab it while you can. It also contains some interesting liner notes.
* You can listen to sound samples, download individual song MP3s and purchase the soundtrack at Amazon

6. Ennio Morricone - Morricone Giallo
I love the scores that Ennio Morricone has composed for many gialli films and this wonderful collection of music from Bella Casa brings together some of the composers best and most unusual compositions from many of my favorite Italian thrillers including The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1971), The Fifth Cord (1971) and Short Night of the Glass Dolls (1971), plus many more. This is not necessarily easy listening since much of the music included on the CD is rather experimental and unnerving, but it showcases Morricone’s great range and will make listeners immediately feel like they’ve just wandered into the set of a giallo production.
* You can purchase this collection at Amazon

7. Armando Trovajoli - Armando Trovajoli
Armando Trovajoli is one of Italy’s greatest composers and this fine collection from Cinedelic Records collects some of the composers best music from a wide selection of films, which he personally picked for this release. It’s a terrific introduction to his work and the CD also comes with an impressive book with lots of color photos, poster art from the films he worked on and extensive liner notes from many of the actors and directors he has worked with over the years.
* You can purchase this collection at Amazon

8. Various Artists - A Musical and Visual Tribute to the Cinema of Pasolini
The fascinating and controversial director Pier Paolo Pasolini worked with some of Italy’s finest composers during his lifetime, including Ennio Morricone, Carlo Rustichelli and Benedetto Ghiglia. This excellent collection from Cinedelic Records brings together some hard to find music from many of the director’s best films including Teorema (1968), Medea (1969), and Salo (1975). It also comes with a beautiful book that contains rare photos of the director at work, poster art, a filmography and detailed notes.
* You can purchase this collection at Amazon

9. Nora Orlandi - Il Dolce Corpo di Deborah Original Soundtrack
Nora Orlandi’s amazing score for the giallo film Il Dolce Corpo di Deborah (The Sweet Body of Deborah, 1968) was released on CD by Fin de Siècle Media for the first time last year. It’s an incredibly lush score with lots of groovy lounge and jazz influences. It’s also the only soundtrack from a film that I’ve never actually seen on my list. I love Orlandi’s film scores enough to purchase this blind and I can’t recommend it enough if you happen to enjoy Italian film scores as much as I do, but I’d also love to see Il Dolce Corpo di Deborah get an official DVD release in the U.S.
* You can purchase this collection at Amazon

10. Bruno Maderna - La Morte Ha Fatto L’Uovo Original Soundtrack
One of the most unusual giallo films I’ve ever had the pleasure to see is Giulio Questi’s La Morte Ha Fatto L’Uovo (Death Laid an Egg, 1968) and the film contains an impressive avant-garde score by composer Bruno Maderna. An edited version of the soundtrack had previously been available on CD, but last year Fin de Siècle Media released a wonderful new and complete version of Maderna’s quirky score for the film with 10 previously unheard bonus tracks.
* You can purchase this collection at Amazon

11. Kunihiko Murai - Hotwax Trax Composer Series Kunihiko Murai
This terrific collection of music contains the soundtracks composer Kunihiko Murai created for two of Eizo Sugawa’s Toho crime films, which starred the great action star Hiroshi Fujioka. The first score featured on the CD is for the 1974 film Yajû Shisubeshi: Fukushû no Mekanikku (Beast Must Die: The Mechanics of Revenge) and the second one included on the disc is for the 1973 film Yajû Gari (Beast Hunting). Both scores are really terrific and should appeal to anyone who enjoys funky jazz infused soundtracks.
* You can listen to song samples and purchase the CD at Movie Grooves

12. Luis Enríquez Bacalov - Django (Expanded Version) Original Soundtrack
Along with the more recognized work of Ennio Morricone, the talented composer Luis Enríquez Bacalov has created some of the best and most memorable soundtracks for many great spaghetti westerns. His score for Django (1966) has been available on CD for years, but last year the Japanese label Verita Note released this impressive soundtrack in it’s entirety. The Django Expanded Version contains 19 previously unreleased tracks and the quality is far superior to other releases I’ve heard.
* You can purchase this CD at Amazon

13. Various Artists - A Musical and Visual Tribute to the Cinema of Dario Argento
Please see my previous post about this release.

14. Ennio Morricone - Morricone Awards
At the 79th Academy Award show last year Ennio Morricone was finally honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award celebrating his long career as one of cinema’s greatest composers. In honor of the event, Cinedelic Records released a wonderful CD and book collection simply called Morricone Awards. This superb selection of music is a terrific introduction to the composer’s work if you’re unfamiliar with it, but it also comes with an impressive 62 page book that contains a complete discography of Morricone’s work with lots of rare original record sleeve art, film poster reproductions and photos that will impress longtime Morricone fans as well.
* You can purchase this CD at Amazon

15. Ronald Stein - Mad, Mod & Macabre: The Ronald Stein Collection
If you’d like to read a little more about this release, please read the brief write-up about Mad, Mod & Macabre: The Ronald Stein Collection that I wrote in June 2007 for Cinedelica.

16. Jiri Sust & Jiri Slitr - Daisies Original Soundtrack
I’ve only seen a handful of films from the Czech New Wave, but Daises (Sedmikrasky, 1966) is one of my favorites. The film features an unusual and quirky score by Jiri Sust and Jiri Slitr, which was released on CD for the first time in 2007 by Finders Keepers Records. The original soundtrack for the film has never been made available before in any format, but the music was taken from the original reels. The CD also contains unseen archive images from the film, poster art reproductions and detailed liner notes.
* You can purchase this CD at Amazon

17. Various Artists - Attori A Mano Armata
If you’d like to read a little more about this great Cinedelic Records release, please check out the brief write-up I did for Cinedelica on Attori A Mano Armata: The main actors of the most Violent season of the Italian Cinema Collection in May 2007.

18. Various Artists - A Musical and Visual Tribute to the Cinema of Bernardo Bertolucci
Please see my previous post about this release.

19. Laurie Johnson - Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter Original Soundtrack
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) is one of Hammer’s best vampire films and it also happens to have a terrific and eerie score by British composer Laurie Johnson, but it has never been available in its entirety until last year when BUYSOUNDTRAX Records released it in association with GDI Records. Unfortunately this is a limited release, but it comes with a nice color booklet with movie stills and even features liner notes written by Hammer glamour girl Caroline Munro.
* You can purchase this collection at Amazon

20. Maurice Jarre - Film Music Masterworks Maurice Jarre
This nice collection from Film Music Masterworks features music from the film’s Jarre worked on with David Lean such as Ryan’s Daughter (1970), Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965), as well as compositions from some of the composer’s finest work from René Clément’s Is Paris Burning? (1966) and John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King (1975), mostly performed by the City Of Prague Philharmonic. It’s a great introduction to some of the composer’s best work and for the incredibly low retail price of $9.98, it’s well worth picking up.
* You can listen to sound samples, download individual song MP3s and purchase the CD at Amazon

I also recommend the other terrific Film Music Masterwork collections that were released in 2007 for Bernard Herrmann, Elmer Bernstein and Nino Rota.

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Richard Harris Sings!

by Kimberly Lindbergs | December 5, 2007

Categories | Soundtracks, Actors, Lindsay Anderson, Richard Harris

Richard Harris in one of his many Nehru style jackets he designed himself (1968)

Blame TCM for recently showing Lindsay Anderson’s brilliant This Sporting Life (1963), blame the wonderful Colin for sending me a copy of Richard Harris’s 1968 album A Tramp Shining as an early Christmas gift and last but not least, blame The Simpsons for parodying one of my favorite musical numbers from Camelot (1967) in a recent episode that I just watched. All these factors have somehow combined to put the incredible Richard Harris in the forefront of my thoughts lately.

I first became aware of Richard Harris when I was a very young thing. My parents had a copy of the Camelot film soundtrack and the original Broadway recording, and both of them got a lot of play in our home. I can distinctly remember my father loudly singing all of Richard Harris’ songs from the film while he was in the shower.

Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot,
For one brief, shining moment
That was known as Camelot.

As the years wore on I became enamored with Richard Harris, as well as that rowdy bunch of womanizing British & Irish actors who drank too much and had egos as big as their booming voices. Along with Richard Harris, I can never get enough of Richard Burton, Oliver Reed, Albert Finney and Peter O’Toole. They’re all personal favorites and I’ll watch them in anything.

With that pronouncement out of the way, you may be asking yourself, besides Richard Harris, what do This Sporting Life, A Tramp Shining and Camelot all have in common? Well, they all feature Richard Harris singing of course!

I was surprised while watching This Sporting Life recently to see Richard Harris take the stage at a pub and belt out a rather lackluster song called Here In My Heart. I love the film and I had first seen it many years ago, but I didn’t remember Harris singing in the movie. It’s one of his earliest and best films and his performance in it made him a star, but his singing voice seems rather underdeveloped in 1963. Even though Here In My Heart is a rather dull tune, it was released as a single in 1963 and was the first song Richard Harris ever recorded. It had previously been a hit for Al Martino in 1952, but I haven’t been able to track down any information about how Harris’ version of Here in My Heart was received by the record buying public.

Harris was never a great singer but he was a great orator, and there is an obvious improvement in his voice when you compare his singing in This Sporting Life to his singing in Camelot four years later. Harris got the part of King Arthur in Joshua Logan’s version of Camelot after Richard Burton (who had been in the stage version) turned it down. In Camelot Harris gets to perform a few songs, including the impressive opening and ending themes. The film and the soundtrack were very popular with listeners in 1967 (including my parents!), and the film went on to win an Oscar for Best Music Score. Camelot is one of my favorite musicals and with a terrific cast that also includes fabulous sixties stars like Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave and David Hemmings, what’s not to like?

The popularity of Camelot led Richard Harris to record the pop album A Tramp Shining in 1968, which contained the hit song MacArthur Park. The song has become the butt of a few jokes over the years and is often parodied, but I think it’s amazing for it’s length, memorable lyrics and bombastic tone. Listening to it today might make you wonder how in the world it ever became a hit, but I think it’s a really remarkable tune.

MacArthur’s Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down…
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don’t think that I can take it
‘cause it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

Richard Harris’ album A Tramp Shining was written, arranged and produced by the American songwriter Jimmy Webb. Webb is best known for writing hit songs like Up, Up, and Away for The Fifth Dimension and By The Time I Get To Phoenix for Glenn Campbell, but the hit single MacArthur Park that he wrote for Richard Harris may be his most ambitious effort. MacArthur Park was #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968 and A Tramp Shining was nominated for Album Of The Year. Richard Harris was also nominated for Contemporary Pop Male Vocalist of The Year in 1968 for MacArthur Park.

After the success of his album A Tramp Shining, Harris would go on to record 10 more records, but he never really had the same success with his musical efforts that he achieved in the sixties. Listening to the record now, it’s impossible to not be reminded of the Camelot soundtrack since they share a similar musical style at times. MacArthur Park is undoubtedly the best song on the album, but I also like the sweet and short Dancing Girl and the epic unconventional composition The Yard Went on Forever, which rivals MacArthur Park in length. I’m sure my rather sentimental opinion of Richard Harris colors my view of A Tramp Shining, but the record is just plain fun to listen to.

There’s no video on YouTube featuring Harris actually singing MacArthur Park, but I did come across this video featuring Richard Harris’ hit song:

Newly added (1/2008) - another video detailing the recording and performance of the song from a British program called the “50 Greatest One Hit Wonders.”

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