Compilation: Various - Way Out West- The Essential Western Film Music Collection 2: Film Music on the Web CD Reviews March 2002

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March 2002 Film Music CD Reviews

Film Music Editor: Ian Lace
Music Webmaster Len Mullenger

Compilation: Various
Way Out West- The Essential Western Film Music Collection 2
soloists: Charlotte Kinder (soprano), Jason Howard (baritone), Keith Ferreira (baritone), Steve Lockwood (harmonica), Gareth Williams (additional keyboards, percussion and sound effects), Nick Watson (guitars and banjo)
The City of Prague Philharmonic and Crouch End Festival Chorus conducted by Nic Raine * except track three, disc one The Philharmonia Orchestra * nine tracks conducted variously by Paul Bateman, Tony Bremner, Derek Wadsworth, Kenneth Alwyn
Dolby Surround and HDCD encoding
Silva Screen FILMXCD 356 [Total: 140:08 * Disc One: 72:16 * Disc Two: 67:52]

Way Out West

Disc One
01. The Hallelujah Trail - Overture - Elmer Bernstein

02. The Alamo - The Green Leaves Of Summer - Dimitri Tiomkin

03. The Alamo - Davy Crockett - Dimitri Tiomkin

04. The Big Country - The Welcoming / Finale - Jerome Moross

05. The Big Valley - Main Theme - George Dunning

06. Blazing Saddles - Blazing Saddles - John Morris

07. Bonanza - Main Theme - Ray Evans & Jay Livingston

08. Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid - Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head - Burt Bacharach & Hal David

09. The Comancheros - Mcbain/Main Title - Elmer Bernstein

10. Duel In The Sun - Main Title/Legend/Orizaba - Dimitri Tiomkin

11. A Fistful Of Dynamite - Duck You Sucker - Ennio Morricone

12. For A Few Dollars More - Main Theme - Ennio Morricone

13. Friendly Persuasion - Thee I Love - Dimitri Tiomkin

14. Giant - Main Theme - Dimitri Tiomkin

15. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - Main Theme - Ennio Morricone

16. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - The Ecstasy Of Gold - Ennio Morricone

17. Gunfight At The O.K Corral - Suite - Dimitri Tiomkin & Ned Washington

18. Hang 'em High - Main Theme - Dominic Frontiere

19. The Hanging Tree - Main Title - Max Steiner

Disc Two

01. High Chaparral - Main Theme - David Rose

02. How The West Was Won - Prelude / The Land - Alfred Newman & Jay Darby

03. High Noon - Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin' - Dimitri Tiomkin & Ned Washington

04. The Jayhawkers - The Lynching / Two Brothers / The Jayhawkers - Jerome Moross

05. The Lone Ranger - William Tell Overture: Finale - Rossini

06. Nevada Smith - Main Title - Alfred Newman

07. Old Gringo - Main Themes - Lee Holdridge

08. Once Upon A Time in the West - Man with the Harmonica - Ennio Morricone

09. One-Eyed Jacks - Main Title - Hugo Friedhofer

10. The Proud Rebel - Main Titles - Jerome Moross

11: The Quick And The Dead - End Titles - Alan Silvestri

12. Quigley Down Under - End Titles - Basil Poledouris

13. Rio Bravo - Rio Bravo / De Guella - Dimitri Tiomkin & Paul Francis Webster

14. The Scalphunters - Main Title - Elmer Bernstein

15. Shane - Main Theme: The Call Of The Faraway Hills - Victor Young

16. The Shootist - Main Title - Elmer Bernstein

17. The Unforgiven - The Need For Love - Dimitri Tiomkin

18. Viva Zapata - Gathering Forces - Alex North

19. The Virginian - Main Theme - Percy Faith

The title of this release is a contraction in terms. Music that wasn't included on the predecessor, The Essential Western Film Music collection, by definition can not be "essential". Pedantry aside, this is a good collection of slightly less than essential Western film music, some newly recorded, some drawn from previous Silva Screen releases and in certain cases already well recycled on other compilations from the label. One can quibble with certain things - why include a pastiche song from Blazing Saddles (John Morris sending up ballads from such movies as High Noon and Gunfight at the OK Corral) or the inappropriate but popular song from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid yet ignore the modern master of the genre completely? Who? Bruce Broughton of course. Why is there nothing here from Silverado, or more importantly Tombstone - I will give no ground to anyone in arguing this is the most essential Western score since Once Upon A Time in the West. Hell, pardner, alongside The Big Country and The Magnificent Seven its one of the three greatest traditional Western scores ever written. More controversially still, what are TV themes doing on a collection of film music? Music from Bonanza, High Chaparral and The Virginian have no place here.

Of the music that truly deserves a place there is a lot of Dimitri Tiomkin, which in its own way is as difficult to capture in a re-recording as is the sound of Ennio Morricone's famed Spaghetti Western scores. The Prague Philharmonic do Tiomkin proud, his rousing music from Duel in the Sun shinning with excitement. Likewise, while Morricone purists will always wince at any reinterpretation of the master's unique orchestrations, cues from For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly come across well. The latter's "Main Title" may not have the sheer spine tingling power of the original but soprano Charlotte Kinder does an excellent job of reproducing the wordless female vocals of "The Ecstasy of Gold". Jason Howard tackles not only the Blazing Saddles spoof, but also the songs it parodies, and while his voice has a rather different character to Frankie Lane his interpretations work as orchestral ballads in their own right. Gunfight at the OK Corral is nevertheless absolutely destroyed by the addition of gunfire sound effects in the action music. The outcome is cheap and tacky, but then Tiomkin's music for the shootout isn't in the same league as Broughton's scoring of the same event in Tombstone.

Elsewhere in the collection there is a lot of good music by such luminaries as Elmer Bernstein, Max Steiner and Jerome Moross, and while I have been rather critical this collection does represent excellent value, offering a lot of otherwise hard to find or unobtainable themes and suites. It may be churlish to nitpick, but as a Western fan I find one of my favourite genres all but extinct these days and would prefer such tributes to its glory days to be out-and-out triumphs rather than marred however slightly by parody, pop, sound effects and TV music. Silva Screen too are letting standards slip in other ways, cutting corners by omitting any booklet notes on the films or music. The cover painting by Gary Carter is wonderfully evocative and looks especially fine on the card slipcase. You can see more at http://www.wildwestart.com/carter/carter.html It's well worth a look.

Gary S Dalkin

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Compilation: Various *Way Out West- The Essential Western Film Music Collection 2* soloists: Charlotte Kinder (soprano), Jason Howard (baritone), Keith Ferreira (baritone), Steve Lockwood (harmonica), Gareth Williams (additional keyboards, percussion and sound effects), Nick Watson (guitars and banjo) The City of Prague Philharmonic and Crouch End Festival Chorus conducted by Nic Raine * except track three, disc one The Philharmonia Orchestra * nine tracks conducted variously by Paul Bateman, Tony Bremner, Derek Wadsworth, Kenneth Alwyn Dolby Surround and HDCD encoding Silva Screen FILMXCD 356 [Total: 140:08 * Disc One: 72:16 * Disc Two: 67:52] Disc One 01. The Hallelujah Trail - Overture - Elmer Bernstein 02. The Alamo - The Green Leaves Of Summer - Dimitri Tiomkin 03. The Alamo - Davy Crockett - Dimitri Tiomkin 04. The Big Country - The Welcoming / Finale - Jerome Moross 05. The Big Valley - Main Theme - George Dunning 06. Blazing Saddles - Blazing Saddles - John Morris 07. Bonanza - Main Theme - Ray Evans & Jay Livingston 08. Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid - Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head - Burt Bacharach & Hal David 09. The Comancheros - Mcbain/Main Title - Elmer Bernstein 10. Duel In The Sun - Main Title/Legend/Orizaba - Dimitri Tiomkin 11. A Fistful Of Dynamite - Duck You Sucker - Ennio Morricone 12. For A Few Dollars More - Main Theme - Ennio Morricone 13. Friendly Persuasion - Thee I Love - Dimitri Tiomkin 14. Giant - Main Theme - Dimitri Tiomkin 15. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - Main Theme - Ennio Morricone 16. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - The Ecstasy Of Gold - Ennio Morricone 17. Gunfight At The O.K Corral - Suite - Dimitri Tiomkin & Ned Washington 18. Hang 'em High - Main Theme - Dominic Frontiere 19. The Hanging Tree - Main Title - Max Steiner Disc Two 01. High Chaparral - Main Theme - David Rose 02. How The West Was Won - Prelude / The Land - Alfred Newman & Jay Darby 03. High Noon - Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin' - Dimitri Tiomkin & Ned Washington 04. The Jayhawkers - The Lynching / Two Brothers / The Jayhawkers - Jerome Moross 05. The Lone Ranger - William Tell Overture: Finale - Rossini 06. Nevada Smith - Main Title - Alfred Newman 07. Old Gringo - Main Themes - Lee Holdridge 08. Once Upon A Time in the West - Man with the Harmonica - Ennio Morricone 09. One-Eyed Jacks - Main Title - Hugo Friedhofer 10. The Proud Rebel - Main Titles - Jerome Moross 11: The Quick And The Dead - End Titles - Alan Silvestri 12. Quigley Down Under - End Titles - Basil Poledouris 13. Rio Bravo - Rio Bravo / De Guella - Dimitri Tiomkin & Paul Francis Webster 14. The Scalphunters - Main Title - Elmer Bernstein 15. Shane - Main Theme: The Call Of The Faraway Hills - Victor Young 16. The Shootist - Main Title - Elmer Bernstein 17. The Unforgiven - The Need For Love - Dimitri Tiomkin 18. Viva Zapata - Gathering Forces - Alex North 19. The Virginian - Main Theme - Percy Faith The title of this release is a contraction in terms. Music that wasn't included on the predecessor, The Essential Western Film Music collection, by definition can not be "essential". Pedantry aside, this is a good collection of slightly less than essential Western film music, some newly recorded, some drawn from previous Silva Screen releases and in certain cases already well recycled on other compilations from the label. One can quibble with certain things - why include a pastiche song from Blazing Saddles (John Morris sending up ballads from such movies as High Noon and Gunfight at the OK Corral) or the inappropriate but popular song from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid yet ignore the modern master of the genre completely? Who? Bruce Broughton of course. Why is there nothing here from Silverado, or more importantly Tombstone - I will give no ground to anyone in arguing this is the most essential Western score since Once Upon A Time in the West. Hell, pardner, alongside The Big Country and The Magnificent Seven its one of the three greatest traditional Western scores ever written. More controversially still, what are TV themes doing on a collection of film music? Music from Bonanza, High Chaparral and The Virginian have no place here. Of the music that truly deserves a place there is a lot of Dimitri Tiomkin, which in its own way is as difficult to capture in a re-recording as is the sound of Ennio Morricone's famed Spaghetti Western scores. The Prague Philharmonic do Tiomkin proud, his rousing music from Duel in the Sun shinning with excitement. Likewise, while Morricone purists will always wince at any reinterpretation of the master's unique orchestrations, cues from For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly come across well. The latter's "Main Title" may not have the sheer spine tingling power of the original but soprano Charlotte Kinder does an excellent job of reproducing the wordless female vocals of "The Ecstasy of Gold". Jason Howard tackles not only the Blazing Saddles spoof, but also the songs it parodies, and while his voice has a rather different character to Frankie Lane his interpretations work as orchestral ballads in their own right. Gunfight at the OK Corral is nevertheless absolutely destroyed by the addition of gunfire sound effects in the action music. The outcome is cheap and tacky, but then Tiomkin's music for the shootout isn't in the same league as Broughton's scoring of the same event in Tombstone. Elsewhere in the collection there is a lot of good music by such luminaries as Elmer Bernstein, Max Steiner and Jerome Moross, and while I have been rather critical this collection does represent excellent value, offering a lot of otherwise hard to find or unobtainable themes and suites. It may be churlish to nitpick, but as a Western fan I find one of my favourite genres all but extinct these days and would prefer such tributes to its glory days to be out-and-out triumphs rather than marred however slightly by parody, pop, sound effects and TV music. Silva Screen too are letting standards slip in other ways, cutting corners by omitting any booklet notes on the films or music. The cover painting by Gary Carter is wonderfully evocative and looks especially fine on the card slipcase. You can see more at http://www.wildwestart.com/carter/carter.html It's well worth a look. *Gary S Dalkin*
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