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Kritzerland is proud to present a new film music CD release:
UNCHAINED MELODIES
The Film Themes of Alex North
Composed and Conducted by Alex North
Unchained Melodies – The Film Themes of Alex North covers the first seven years of his film scoring journey. And what a first seven years it was, creating one memorable score after another, beginning with his game-changing score for A Streetcar Named Desire. His was a completely unique and fresh voice into the world of film music, and he followed Streetcar with other great scores, including Les Miserables, The Rose Tattoo, Viva Zapata!, Desirée, The 13th Letter, The Bachelor Party, The Racers, The Bad Seed, I’ll Cry Tomorrow, Stage Struck, and, of course, the film that contained one of the biggest pop hits of all time, Unchained, which brought forth the immortal “Unchained Melody.”
Of course, North’s glory years were still to come, with such classic and iconic scores as Spartacus, The Children’s Hour, All Fall Down, Cheyenne Autumn, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Shoes of the Fisherman, Bite the Bullet, and many others, including his great score for Rich Man, Poor Man on television. But he was busy composing right to the very end, with Under the Volcano, Prizzi’s Honor, The Dead, Good Morning, Vietnam, and his final film, The Last Butterfly. Not to mention his legendary discarded score for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. He was nominated for an Oscar fifteen times, never taking home the prize. But in 1986, that oversight was rectified when the Academy gave him an honorary Oscar.
We lost the brilliant Alex North on September 8, 1991, shortly after this album was released on CD by Bay Cities, and has been OOP for almost thirty years. For this reissue, we’ve done further work on cleaning up the sound, and we’ve included a wonderful bonus track of North’s classical work, Holiday Set, close to twenty minutes in length. Includes Tony Thomas' original liner notes and gorgeous packaging by Doug Haverty.
Alex North’s music was inventive, unique, original, and certainly influential from start to finish. There was simply no one like him. So, here are the stunning film themes of Alex North, a celebration of one of the finest film composers who ever lived.
UNCHAINED MELODIES – THE FILM THEMES OF ALEX NORTH is limited to 500 copies only and priced at $19.98, plus shipping. Please note: This is a PRE-ORDER. CDs will ship by the second week of August, but never fear, we’ve actually been averaging three to five weeks early in terms of shipping ahead of the official ship date. To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com. Also note that your PayPal receipt is the only receipt you get – we don’t send out confirmations beyond that.
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Excellent release. Well done Bruce. A definite purchase for me!
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Or an expansion/revision of the old "North of Hollywood"?
No, it is a reissue of the Citadel LP which Tony Thomas had produced in 1977 (with the addition of that "Holiday Set" piece which had formerly been on a rare 1950s LP with the title "American Life" and was then available as a digital download a few years ago):
https://www.discogs.com/de/Alex-North-Film-Music-By-Alex-North/release/10889676
"North of Hollywood" has quite different and more jazzy tracks from a few of the same films featured on the Citadel LP. Mainly the love themes were on the Citadel album.
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The samples sound great, thanks Bruce!
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I think all questions have been answered, but if any haven't, ask again and I'll answer with haste and not waste. Yes, this was originally a Citadel LP, then Tony gave it to us at Bay Cities and we did the best we could at that time (1990). It's a wonderful album and Holiday Set is great and sounds really kind of excellent thanks to James Nelson.
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Funny, I don't see PFK or Cody here saying how happy they are that we did a Golden Age film theme release after so many complaints we haven't done a film music album. But, such is the way of things.
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Funny, I don't see PFK or Cody here saying how happy they are that we did a Golden Age film theme release after so many complaints we haven't done a film music album. But, such is the way of things.
Give it more than a few hours, Bruce! Maybe they're tied up and away from the board for the morning!
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I must have all the previous incarnations of this essential collection, from LP to CD, Citadel to Bay Cities. Worth the price of admission, HOLIDAY SET makes this latest disc even more essential. Way, way back in the day, I tried repeatedly in vain to order that "American" LP from my local record store, but I guess that even though it was still listed it was already out of print. Bruce, once again, you are my hero!
Any chance NORTH OF HOLLYWOOD is in the Kritzerland pipeline? (I always thought the two North themes LP's would make a great single CD.)
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PS: I'm wondering if "Holiday Set" isn't the only North concert piece ever recorded, even though he wrote many such works. How I'd love to hear his clarinet concerto. The absence of North concert material is a shame of the classical recording world.
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Funny, I don't see PFK or Cody here saying how happy they are that we did a Golden Age film theme release after so many complaints we haven't done a film music album. But, such is the way of things.
The silence is deafening, isn't it? But now I imagine they will soon appear, complimenting the release, but not supporting it by BUYING IT. Rather, they will whine, "But Bruce, when is XYZ that you mentioned coming out?"
I am certainly looking forward to my copy of this! Thanks!
NK
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Thanks for this release! Purchased first thing this AM as soon as I woke up, turned on my home laptop, and saw the announcement.
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Funny, I don't see PFK or Cody here saying how happy they are that we did a Golden Age film theme release after so many complaints we haven't done a film music album. But, such is the way of things.
The silence is deafening, isn't it? But now I imagine they will soon appear, complimenting the release, but not supporting it by BUYING IT. Rather, they will whine, "But Bruce, when is XYZ that you mentioned coming out?"
I am certainly looking forward to my copy of this! Thanks!
NK
Well, that was accurate 
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Bruce, I wasn't going to post on this thread because I seem to have the knack of raising your blood pressure. I want you to stay in good health . I already have the Bay Cities release. For those who want the new add-on or those who want better sound, please purchase this CD. I want Bruce and Kritzerland to be around for many more years in the hope that we will see film scores that have never been released on CD before. Its just not Kritzerland "recycling". I see it also at other labels. Anyway,I hope it proves to be a financial success for you. Wishing you the best.
Cody and I have had our differences, but I am certainly sympathetic to the notion that someone would be more excited by (and purchase) premieres, or significant expansions, over a reissue with improved sound*. Particularly if they are on a fixed income!
As far as North concert works go, I'm not a North expert (because I'm not a huge fan of his work in general -- I recognize the quality but a lot of it just doesn't "click" with me). But, while not "concert works" by the strictest sense of the term, I would point out that some non-film works of his have been released: his incidental music for plays! Death of a Salesman is very good, and re-released (in remastered form) not long ago by Kritzerland:
http://www.kritzerland.com/trio.htm
And there's also the great Cliff Eidelman-conducted Varese album of works inspired by Shakespeare, which included North incidental compositions for the plays Coriolanus and Richard III:
https://www.discogs.com/Cliff-Eidelman-Royal-Scottish-National-Orchestra-Romeo-and-Juliet/release/9589601
Yavar
*however wonderful they are to get, and I applaud you for doing them Bruce!
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