New FSM CDs: Herrmann and Williams

New releases this month are exciting rarities from the M-G-M film library, released by special arrangement with Turner Classic Movies Music:

JOY IN THE MORNING by Bernard Herrmann

This is a 1965 obscurity from the master, a yearning romantic score that represents Herrmann's last successfully completed studio-era project (following Marnie -- which it resembles in style -- and preceding Torn Curtain). The film stars Richard Chamberlain and Yvette Mimieux as a young married couple and Herrmann seized onto the notion of young love with characteristic passion. A suite was previously released on a Rhino/Turner compilation; this is the complete score, interpolating the theme song by Paul Francis Webster and Sammy Fain (sung by Chamberlain over the main and end titles) as a major motive. Excellent stereo sound throughout; liner notes by Christopher Husted, manager of the Herrmann estate.

For complete info and sound clips: https://secure.filmscoremonthly.com/store/detailCD.asp?ID=222

THE MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING by John Williams

This is a 1973 John Williams western score that falls halfway between the symphonic Americana of The Cowboys and the quirky, blue-note pop of The Missouri Breaks, with a lovely main theme and gorgeous traveling passages. We fill in another gap in the Williams filmography from his era of sensitive dramas of the early '70s (Cinderella Liberty, The Sugarland Express).

But wait, that's not all! In the process of researching this title, Turner located an unused score by Michel Legrand, and this CD contains BOTH the final Williams and initial Legrand efforts for the same cinematic subject. (Williams, in fact, had one week to write his score after the filmmakers decided not to use Legrand's -- the complete story is in Jeff Eldridge's liner notes.) Legrand's score is quite different from the Williams effort, featuring unusual instrumentation (the composer himself performs a type of Indian chant) and a meditative feel.

The CD features the complete Williams score and complete recorded portion of Legrand's -- 65:37 total, all in stereo.

For complete info and sound clips: https://secure.filmscoremonthly.com/store/detailCD.asp?ID=223

If you placed an order last month and still have not received it -- thank you for your patience, and we did not lose it! Logan's Run has been such a popular new release for us that we sold out of the initial 1,500 copies and had to print another batch of 500. (Our CDs are limited to 3,000, but we make 1,500 and then 500, 500 and 500 of them to get to the 3,000.) Normally this would not take very long, but we had a vendor go out of business on us and had to scramble to recover some print goods (i.e. the rest of the booklets, which we do make 3,000 of up front) in order to facilitate the repressing. It dragged on and on but we are expecting the next copies of Logan's Run today, and the new CDs of Cat Dancing and Joy in the Morning tomorrow (Wednesday). So we'll be filling outstanding orders that include Logan's Run and/or one of the last copies of The Towering Inferno (which was caught in the same vendor problem -- and is 100% all gone now, sorry), so all's well that ends well.

By the way, we waited one extra day to announce these titles so that nobody would confuse it with an April's Fool gag. (THESE ARE REAL CDS.) However, it sure is a bizarre world we live in where a soundtrack fan can wake up on a Tuesday morning and be able to order Joy in the Morning and The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. Our thanks to the hard-working folks at Turner and Rhino and the AOL Time Warner juggernaut for making these CDs possible.

Place your orders now! Thanks!

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com