Soundtracks and film scores - what's in your collection?

[Dixon Cannon]

For the Longest Time I had the soundtrack to 'The Longest Day' that my Dad bought me when the film came out. It's long lost.

I have the original soundtrack to the film version of 'South Pacific'. But my all time favorites are 'Help' and 'A Hard Days Nights' with all the incidental music between the Beatle tracks.

Another favorite that I just thought of (I'd be interested to know if anyone else has it and how they feel about it!...) is the soundtrack LP of the movie 'Friends'. Not the T.V. 'Friends' but a movie from about 1970 for which Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote the songs. Before "Reg" was a superstar, he did some great music on this soundtrack. This includes his song "Friends", which happened to be the theme song of my High School graduating class.

On a final note, I have always loved the soundtrack/theme song for the PBS Series "Reilly: Ace of Spies". Harry Rabinowitz is the composer. (which of course prompts my memory - I have the soundtrack LP to "10" with Bo Derek. It includes that great version of Ravel's 'Bolero' and some other crazy stuff.)

-dixon cannon

 

[Feraud]

I am currently listening to the soundtrack from the film Le Colonel Chabert. Great tunes by Beethoven, Schumann, and Mozart.

 

[Steve]

Oops, forgot a couple. I also have both scores from the Pride and Prejudice adaptations, my favorite being the newer one.

 

[Doh!]

Elmer Bernstein:

The Man With the Golden Arm
Sweet Smell of Success
The Magnificent Seven
Animal House

Quite the career.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Doot doot

The Great Escape

 

[Spitfire]

Soundtrack from Band of Brothers. Classic!!!
And a collection of soundtracks from famous Levis commercials
(...not so strange when you are in the ad-business.)

 

[GOK]

Oh my goodness, I have just remembered my most played soundtrack...

Rocky Horror Picture Show

How could I have neglected that one? **slaps self with a wet fish**

On a final note, I have always loved the soundtrack/theme song for the PBS Series "Reilly: Ace of Spies". Harry Rabinowitz is the composer.

I hate to contradict you, Dixon but Rabinowitz merely adapted a piece that was originally composed by Shostakovich and used in the 1955 film, The Gadfly (which I haven't seen but I very much doubt is about the Norse god Loki!). 'Romance' (the name of the tune) is my all time favourite piece of music and no matter how many times I hear it, sends shivers down my spine and gives me a lump in my throat!

The soundtrack for Gadfly is available on CD:

The Gadfly/Five Days-Five Nights by The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (conducted by Theodre Kuchar) and Amazon have it for less than $10.

 

[IlsaLund]

The soundtrack for M. Night Shaymaylan's The Village is probably my favorite soundtrack. I'm pretty sure that Hilary Hahn was the lead violinist. I usually lean more towards piano soundtracks, but Hahn's fantastic playing really personifies the emotions of the players in the movie.

 

[Sunny]

Soundtracks are my weakness!

Complete Soundtracks

• Ben-Hur
• Emma
• Gettysburg (the 2-disc set - Thanks to half.com, Mojito! Well worth it!)
• Gods and Generals
• How the West Was Won
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Master and Commander
• North by Northwest
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
• Pride and Prejudice (1995 A&E)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Sense and Sensibility
• The Battle of Britain
• The Chronicles of Narnia: LWW
• The Hunley
• The Hunt for Red October
• The Lord of the Rings (all three)
• The Patriot
• Where Eagles Dare

Partial Soundtracks (themes and/or other tracks)

• Apollo 13
• A Bridge Too Far*
• Bridge on the River Kwai*
• Charade
• Chariots of Fire*
• Gone with the Wind
• Henry V
• King of Kings
• Midway
• Patton*
• Rear Window
• Romeo and Juliet (Nino Rota?)
• Star Wars (Episode IV)*
• Superman*
• The Great Escape
• The Great Race
• The Longest Day
• The Magnificent Seven
• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• The Pink Panther
• The Ten Commandments*
• Twelve O'clock High

I'm meditating adding Gladiator and the second Pirates soundtracks to the collection. I won't even mention the musicals I have!

*My father owns the LPs for these; I digitized certain tracks off them.

 

[Salv]

The soundtrack to Bertrand Tavernier's 'Round Midnight, featuring Dexter Gordon in the twilight of his life, is one of my favourites. Gordon always had a breathy tone, and his playing as Dale Turner hits just the right note of melancholy. Plus the musicians on the sessions were a who's-who of modern jazz: Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Billy Higgins, Tony Williams, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton.

Then there's the soundtrack to The Loveless, Kathryn Bigelow's first movie as a director, and Willem Dafoe's first lead in a film. The incidental music was provided by John Lurie, and Robert Gordon (who also starred in the film as the sociopathic Davis) provided some songs. Gordon apparently was asked to provide the complete soundtrack but he blew the entire musical budget on a single latin-influenced instrumental that gets played about half way through the film. He then provided a few of his own rockabilly recordings which appear on the soundtrack album. The original version of the film that I saw when it was released in 1982 had long stretches of silence but a revised version filled those silences with a few R&R classics which also appear on the soundtrack album. None of Lurie's incidental music is on the soundtrack unfortunately, but the Robert Gordon tracks are excellent and well worth buying the album for.

Stormy Weather from 1943, and featuring an all-Black cast has some fantastic songs. From the stunning Lena Horne singing the title song, through Fats Waller mugging his way through Ain't Misbehaving, to Cab Calloway and his Orchestra swinging out with Gichi Joe and the classic Jumpin' Jive. And that last song is the soundtrack to the greatest dance sequence I've ever seen, featuring the incredible Nicholas Brothers.

American Graffitti had a great selection of classic R&R and R&B, but in a very similar vein I much prefer the music used in Shag. The film used some of the finest late '50s R&B and early '60s soul, and was based around the Beach Music scene at Myrtle Beach. Sadly the soundtrack album ignored much of this music and included songs by Chris Isaak, Randy Newman and k. d. lang.

 

[Girl Friday]

Miller's Crossing

 

[Mr. 'H']

Heat.

L.A. Confidential.

 

[Feraud]

Miller's Crossing

I have "Danny Boy" as my cell phone ringer.

 

[dr greg]

in the stone

I'd love to get hold of the one for Excalibur too (though I admit I'd skip through Carmina Burana

The best bit in that for me is Siegfried's Death March by Wagner, and I have a funny feeling they might have recorded an extended version on the soundtrack as I have a great D2D version by the LA Philharmonic that doesn't seem as long

 

[J. M. Stovall]

All those posts pretty much have it covered, but here's a few I like and often listen to that I didn't see listed:

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Crumb
Pi
Ray!

 

[Mr. Sable]

YAY!!

LD

You gotta love that French accordion music! I think you have great taste, Lady Day.

What?! There's a Sky Captain soundtrack, Mr. Stoval?! That I need.

 

[Lauren]

O Brother Where Art Thou?
The Aviator
Amelie
Chocolat

On vinyl:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Star Wars
Somewhere in Time
My Fair Lady
Flower Drum Song
The King and I
Oklahoma
(and more musicals...)

 

[Feraud]

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Give me that ol timey music! I too listen to this soundtrack a lot.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

You gotta love that French accordion music! I think you have great taste, Lady Day.

What?! There's a Sky Captain soundtrack, Mr. Stoval?! That I need.

iTunes has it! That's were I got mine.

 

[Girl Friday]

The Ipcress File

I had borrowed it from a friend and didn't get a copy, great stuff. I'll have to go look for it now.