I’m out of town. Here’s another sample of film music that
really gets to me.
Westerns.
The word alone puts a smile on my face. I know – Indians. But what are you gonna do?
It’s a reflexive reaction.
I see a horse amble across the screen and my blood pressure drops
twenty-five points. I guess it reminds
me of my youth – when my blood pressure was okay. I imagine.
I don’t know, I mean, who takes their blood pressure when they’re
eleven?
When it comes to western movie scores, there is an
embarrassment of riches. Everyone, I
imagine, knows the theme song from The
Magnificent Seven (1960), composed
and conducted by Elmer Bernstein.
You know…
“Bum bum-ba-bum, ba-ba-ba bum-ba-bum
Bum bum-ba-bum,
ba-ba-ba bum-ba-bum…”
And there are few soundtracks that match the sweep and
majesty of The Big Country (1958),
written by Jerome Moross.
“Ba-ba-ba bum ba-ba-ba bum
bum
Ba-ba-ba bum ba-ba-ba buuuuummm….
I am not doing them justice.
If you don’t know them encourage you to check them out on YouTube.
They’ll knock you right out of your saddle.
The film score I have selected today is not from a classic
western, but from a western I imagine few people saw. I saw it on television, and it was okay. But what was substantially better than okay was the theme music, by
Basil Poledouris.
Resonating with the rollicking sweep of…
19th Century Australia.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you,
Quigley Down Under (1990).
One of the finest western movie scores I have ever
experienced.
And don't be surprised if there are others before we're finished.
And don't be surprised if there are others before we're finished.
1 comment:
I enjoyed Quigley quite a bit, for several reasons. The music is one of them. Alan Rickman one of the premier bad guys of all-time, is a big reason. Laura San Giacomo was terrific, may be the only other vehicle besides Just Shoot Me that I've seen her in, even tho I can see that she works a lot. And Tom Selleck has that quiet confidence that he always seems to have, regardless of the odds which in this instance, were formidable.
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