Excellent sound. It could hardly be better than this. I've always thought of Cahiill as one of Bernstein's lesser western scores, thanks in no small part to the presence of the dreadful pop-flavored song. But thankfully Intrada allows us to dispense with the song (and its horrid reappearance in the End Title) by also giving us the option of the original, purely orchestral cues that were dropped to make way for the songs. For me though, the lopping of a few cues really improves the overall listen and flow. My "program" dispenses with tracks 2,6,10,14,15 and 21, (all of which cuts the playing time by only nine minutes).
Excellent sound. It could hardly be better than this. I've always thought of Cahiill as one of Bernstein's lesser western scores, thanks in no small part to the presence of the dreadful pop-flavored song. But thankfully Intrada allows us to dispense with the song (and its horrid reappearance in the End Title) by also giving us the option of the original, purely orchestral cues that were dropped to make way for the songs. For me though, the lopping of a few cues really improves the overall listen and flow. My "program" dispenses with tracks 2,6,10,14,15 and 21, (all of which cuts the playing time by only nine minutes).
I agree. Some great material here but also needs trimming.
I find it utterly amazing the amount(number of hours) of great music that has been written by two of my favorite composers; Jerry Goldsmith and Elmer Bernstein. "Cahill U.S. Marshall" is a fine example of why Bernstein is "the king of westerns".
Hi RM! Goldsmith is pretty good at westerns too.
Hey Henry, yes, I agree proberly second to Bernstein, and for me that is very high praise.
Last summer I got Goldsmith's RIO CONCHOS and just can't get enough of it.
Here are the western scores of Goldsmith and Bernstein. Don't ask me to pick a favorite. There are individual western scores that may be greater than any of theirs, but as bodies of work, I can't think of any other composer that can compare in quality (although Steiner and Newman may exceed in quantity).
JERRY GOLDSMITH
Features Black Patch (1957) Lonely Are the Brave (1962) Rio Conchos (1964) Stagecoach (1966) Hour of the Gun (1967) Bandolero! (1968) 100 Rifles (1969) The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) Rio Lobo (1970) Wild Rovers (1971) The Culpepper Cattle Company (tracked) One Little Indian (1973) Breakheart Pass (1975) Take a Hard Ride (1975) The Last Hard Men (tracked) Bad Girls (1994)
Television Gunsmoke (1955) Have Gun, Will Travel (1957) Wagon Train (1957) Wanted Dead or Alive (1958) Black Saddle (1959) The Loner (1965)
ELMER BERNSTEIN
Features Battles of Chief Pontiac (1953) Drango (1957) The Tin Star (1957) Saddle the Wind (1958) The Magnificent Seven (1960) The Comancheros (1961) Hud (1963) The Hallelujah Trail (1965) The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) Return of the Seven (1966) The Scalphunters (1968) Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) True Grit (1969) Cannon for Cordoba (1970) Big Jake (1971) The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972) Cahill: United States Marshal (1973) From Noon Til Three (1976) The Shootist (1976) Three Amigos! (1986) The Wild Wild West (1999)
Television Gunsmoke (1955) Riverboat (1959) The Big Valley (1965) The Chisholms (1979)
Here are the western scores of Goldsmith and Bernstein. Don't ask me to pick a favorite. There are individual western scores that may be greater than any of theirs, but as bodies of work, I can't think of any other composer that can compare in quality (although Steiner and Newman may exceed in quantity).
JERRY GOLDSMITH
Features Black Patch (1957) Lonely Are the Brave (1962) Rio Conchos (1964) Stagecoach (1966) Hour of the Gun (1967) Bandolero! (1968) 100 Rifles (1969) The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) Rio Lobo (1970) Wild Rovers (1971) The Culpepper Cattle Company (tracked) One Little Indian (1973) Breakheart Pass (1975) Take a Hard Ride (1975) The Last Hard Men (tracked) Bad Girls (1994)
Television Gunsmoke (1955) Have Gun, Will Travel (1957) Wagon Train (1957) Wanted Dead or Alive (1958) Black Saddle (1959) The Loner (1965)
He did work on a number of other western series, including three for "Destry", one score for "Rawhide" ("Incident in the Middle of Nowhere") and at least one for "The Legend of Jesse James" ("Things Just Don't Happen"). This is not a complete listing.
ELMER BERNSTEIN Television Gunsmoke (1955) Riverboat (1959) The Big Valley (1965) The Chisholms (1979)
Has anyone noticed the Necktie parties we were used to attend in both previous rerecordings -- Varèse and Tadlow -- were in fact fake parties? What a pretty rough Necktie Party on the Intrada compared to the aforementioned parties that have been obviously reconstructed with material from cue now titled "Various Troubles". And the "Nocturne" from the Varèse is based on material from Intrada cue "The Cemetery" -- ridded of its intro, spooky sounds and conclusion.
I can't think of any other composer that can compare in quality (although Steiner and Newman may exceed in quantity).
Maybe Dimitri Tiomkin, Bob. Giant; High Noon; The Unforgiven; The Big Sky; Red River; War Wagon; The Alamo. I think in this respect he sits just a bit above JG, but not Elmer.
If Moross had done more western scores, or others even, he could be considered also.
Obviously, Cahill is a great release from Intrada, and I've been playing it almost non-stop.
Bob, good list mate but little typo - Big Jake should read 71 not 61, its in the right order anyway so should be quite obvious to any reader. Actually watched the Shootist again the other night. Wasnt a big fan of it originally, but time and the poignancy of Wayne's real-life story has improved its impact to me. I also adore the opening sequence about JB Books life - showing that montage of clips of young Wayne as a gunfighter in various earlier films.
Bob, good list mate but little typo - Big Jake should read 71 not 61, its in the right order anyway so should be quite obvious to any reader. Actually watched the Shootist again the other night. Wasnt a big fan of it originally, but time and the poignancy of Wayne's real-life story has improved its impact to me. I also adore the opening sequence about JB Books life - showing that montage of clips of young Wayne as a gunfighter in various earlier films.
I only like The Shootist for the montage scene and Elmer's score. The rest is just too depressing to watch.
I can't think of any other composer that can compare in quality (although Steiner and Newman may exceed in quantity).
Maybe Dimitri Tiomkin, Bob. Giant; High Noon; The Unforgiven; The Big Sky; Red River; War Wagon; The Alamo. I think in this respect he sits just a bit above JG, but not Elmer.
If Moross had done more western scores, or others even, he could be considered also.
We could probably include Victor Young also. My "beef" with the Goldsmith westerns is that the movies themselves are lame in some cases (e.g., 100 Rifles). The Tiomkin, Elmer, V Young scores were to westerns that are considered to be the best of the genre. My point has nothing to do with the skills of composing; each of the composers was very gifted. Hoping I didn't get anyone upset.
Took delivery of this recently and only now giving it a first spin. Wow! A lovely clean sound and what a great score by the inimitable Elmer Bernstein. His 'sound' is one of those that I find instantly recognisable, in particular with regard to his scores for Western/Cowboy movies.
By chance the movie popped up on a local TV channel recently...thoroughly enjoyable. Solid performance, as usual, by the 'Duke' and lovely performance by Neville Brand in a supporting role. And not forgetting the ever-dependable George Kennedy playing yet another 'baddie' with some nice close-up shots of his angry face as he intimidates John Waynes' on-screen two young sons.
But the real winner is Elmer's score....from the pulsating main title to the sublime ten seconds of notes that introduce the 'Venture' cue which are also featured in other cues. And not forgetting 'A Man gets to Thinkin' ... I like the instrumental version. And his musical portrait for 'Lightfoot, the Neville Brand character. (Oh how I wish I could express myself in musical terms with recognition of instruments used etc...)
To my ears, Elmer's western scores always had that sweeping, majestic style that gave the movies he composed for a touch of 'grandness', a sort of larger-than-life sense which suited the on-screen presence of that BIG star of so many of them... John Wayne.
A wonderful listen. And great notes by Jeff Bond. Well done Intrada!
Just ordered it and it's on its way, along with the Tadlow "True Grit," which, when added to the great L-L-L 2-disc set and the studio re-recording, should more than satiate my appetite for Elmer Bernstein's John Wayne scores. But wish I had been around when they were selling the limited edition of "The Commancheros"!!!
Follow-Up: Ooops ... I had corrected the above mistake about 2-CD "True Grit" on ANOTHER discussion, but had forgotten I repeated the mistake here. Sorry.
Just ordered it and it's on its way, along with the Tadlow "True Grit," which, when added to the great L-L-L 2-disc set and the studio re-recording, should more than satiate my appetite for Elmer Bernstein's John Wayne scores. But wish I had been around when they were selling the limited edition of "The Commancheros"!!!
Oh, it's coming again - I know it is, really I do.
Re: Just ordered it and it's on its way, along with the Tadlow "True Grit," which, when added to the great L-L-L 2-disc set and the studio re-recording...
Ron, what 2-disc set?
George, if you go back there, you should find that I amended that, after my mistake was pointed out -- I wrote that I had been buying soooooooo many 2 and 3 CD sets lately, including L-L-L's "Wyatt Earp," and that because their "True Grit" was sooooo chock full of extras that I got it into my head that it MUST have had 2 CDs. Also pointed out that after downloading most new CDs to iTunes I rarely even pull out the actual CDs, and if I had, would have realized my mistake. Sorry about that.
[Later.] I'm a dog chasing its tail. Actually I had made the correction at another discussion site days ago, forgetting that I had repeated the mistake here. Sorry again.
