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Nice article, arthur. Always a good opportuntity to sing the praises of Hugo Friedhofer. He did so many wonderful scores. I've a few on my ever-changing list which are vying for first place in my Hugo awards. Funnily enough, I never seem to put BEST YEARS in the Number 1 spot. It's either ABOVE AND BEYOND, ONE-EYED JACKS or BROKEN ARROW for me. But those three are lesser and/or flawed films, so I understand BEST YEARS' reputation as the perfect musical evocation.
It's certainly on many people's Top 10 lists.
P.S. - Is the Frank Collura-conducted release from 1978 the only "substantial" one? If so, it's kind of surprising that there hasn't been more attention given to the score, on album/ CD at least.
No one cares anymore. In the 70s Friedhofer's score was regularly number one on every soundtrack maven's list of the greats and on lists in film magazines. That's why the recording was finally done and why it sold so well. But in the past two or three decades, somehow the number one film score has almost completely disappeared from lists - I don't get it, really. For me, it's still number one.
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Posted: |
Feb 26, 2018 - 12:14 PM
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By: |
JohnnyG
(Member)
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Nice article, arthur. Always a good opportuntity to sing the praises of Hugo Friedhofer. He did so many wonderful scores. I've a few on my ever-changing list which are vying for first place in my Hugo awards. Funnily enough, I never seem to put BEST YEARS in the Number 1 spot. It's either ABOVE AND BEYOND, ONE-EYED JACKS or BROKEN ARROW for me. But those three are lesser and/or flawed films, so I understand BEST YEARS' reputation as the perfect musical evocation.
It's certainly on many people's Top 10 lists.
P.S. - Is the Frank Collura-conducted release from 1978 the only "substantial" one? If so, it's kind of surprising that there hasn't been more attention given to the score, on album/ CD at least.
No one cares anymore. In the 70s Friedhofer's score was regularly number one on every soundtrack maven's list of the greats and on lists in film magazines. That's why the recording was finally done and why it sold so well. But in the past two or three decades, somehow the number one film score has almost completely disappeared from lists - I don't get it, really. For me, it's still number one.
For all my love and admiration for "Psycho", "The Ten Commandments", "Captain from Castile", "The Bride of Frankenstein", "Dances with Wolves", the JW classics and a few others, Friedhofer's wondrous creation is number one for me too. Always.
(That "Homecoming" piece - oh boy!...)
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Posted: |
Feb 26, 2018 - 4:15 PM
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By: |
filmusicnow
(Member)
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Nice article, arthur. Always a good opportuntity to sing the praises of Hugo Friedhofer. He did so many wonderful scores. I've a few on my ever-changing list which are vying for first place in my Hugo awards. Funnily enough, I never seem to put BEST YEARS in the Number 1 spot. It's either ABOVE AND BEYOND, ONE-EYED JACKS or BROKEN ARROW for me. But those three are lesser and/or flawed films, so I understand BEST YEARS' reputation as the perfect musical evocation.
It's certainly on many people's Top 10 lists.
P.S. - Is the Frank Collura-conducted release from 1978 the only "substantial" one? If so, it's kind of surprising that there hasn't been more attention given to the score, on album/ CD at least.
No one cares anymore. In the 70s Friedhofer's score was regularly number one on every soundtrack maven's list of the greats and on lists in film magazines. That's why the recording was finally done and why it sold so well. But in the past two or three decades, somehow the number one film score has almost completely disappeared from lists - I don't get it, really. For me, it's still number one.
It's kind of sad and it seems that there's no demand for Friedhofer anymore. I remember buying the rerecording and it's my second favorite Friedhofer score (after "One Eyed Jacks") and the paper insert in the album Friedhofer got all kinds of accolades from George Duning, Lyn Murray, Nathan Scott and Lalo Schifrin. I still consider Friedhofer one of my Top 5 all time favorite film composers.
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Posted: |
Feb 26, 2018 - 8:48 PM
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By: |
lacoq
(Member)
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Nice article, arthur. Always a good opportuntity to sing the praises of Hugo Friedhofer. He did so many wonderful scores. I've a few on my ever-changing list which are vying for first place in my Hugo awards. Funnily enough, I never seem to put BEST YEARS in the Number 1 spot. It's either ABOVE AND BEYOND, ONE-EYED JACKS or BROKEN ARROW for me. But those three are lesser and/or flawed films, so I understand BEST YEARS' reputation as the perfect musical evocation.
It's certainly on many people's Top 10 lists.
P.S. - Is the Frank Collura-conducted release from 1978 the only "substantial" one? If so, it's kind of surprising that there hasn't been more attention given to the score, on album/ CD at least.
No one cares anymore. In the 70s Friedhofer's score was regularly number one on every soundtrack maven's list of the greats and on lists in film magazines. That's why the recording was finally done and why it sold so well. But in the past two or three decades, somehow the number one film score has almost completely disappeared from lists - I don't get it, really. For me, it's still number one.[/
It could be that a sad fact of life is the reason: Golden Agers are dying off, and with that, less awareness of a great score like Best Years to the younger folk (despite dvds,etc.). Tho' in my book a great score is a great score and being great should fend off any and all reasons for it to become less well known. Case in point: Vertigo, Ben Hur, Mag 7, etc.
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double post
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Thanks to everyone for your generous comments regarding this amazing score. I chose it for inclusion in my Top Ten because of what it added to the film, rather than its "stand alone" listening value (although I think there's much to admire there as well). About half of the scores selected have been reviewed so far (there is a link at the bottom of each review that will take one to the next).
The only CD of this score (that I know of) made available so far is the Preamble issue pictured at the bottom of my review.
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The fact is I'm not in love with the re-recording - it was not recorded well and the first mix was okay and the second mix didn't really help things much. I'd love a crack at remixing it but I think we all know that won't be happening. I was always kind of hoping John Morgan and Bill Stromberg would get a crack at it - or that Fitzpatrick would do it up right.
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I love this score. One of the best ever. And I quite like the re-recorded album. Of course, I'd be excited to hear another re-recording.
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