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| This is a comments thread about FSM CD: Not With My Wife, You Don't!/Any Wednesday |
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Posted: |
Aug 21, 2020 - 7:10 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Did I tell you the one about the greengrocer's bloomers? Well, this was the last CD that slid out the crack a few months back. So it's taken me two months to type all the garbage I'm gonna spew on screen. But it's taken the rest of you fourteen years and you didn't write anything.
I'm not criticising you, because this may be the weakest of my rabbits - and, ironically, for one of the very best of the butcher's batch. I absolutely LOVE this CD! It's probably THE one I now go to for cheering up. It's just so much fun from start to finish. It's strange in a way because if one is feeling a bit down, very often "annoying" music will have the undesired effect of making you feel more irritable. But this one just oozes joy and effervescence. Not everybdy will love it of course. My brother doesn't, and neither does my friend Mitch. On the other hand Thor loves it (the Williams score at least).
So we know that this CD represents the two re-recorded LPs released in their day. NOT WITH MY WIFE YOU DON'T is Johnny Williams at his light romantic/comedic/parodic best. The Main Title is a wonderful big band version of the film's title song, highlighting very skillful jazz soloists. Sax and piano are wonderful, everything so swinging and energetic. And then we're onto tracks which range from a VERY Mancini-like chorus, through Burt Bacharach, Bert Kaempfert, and The Beach Boys, to beautifully slinky romantic lounge pieces, cool "spy" pastiche and outright bonkers lunacy. But I never find it annoying! It's all so effortlessly endearing (to me). Pure joy!
I mentioned the following in my mini-rabbit about DIAMOND HEAD - This score is SO like Mancini! Even the track titles are like Mancini ("Foney Poochini" for example). And speaking of track titles (but not on this release), didn't both Williams and Mancini have several releases with a track "Something For..." on them?
My rabbit's out of control. Just as my favourite track on DIAMOND HEAD was very possibly the Manciniesque "Mei Chen", my favourite from this score could well be the wild, wonderful, Manciniesque and not-even-in-the-film "Hungarian Jungle Music". I trust Thor approves. Anyone else?
Ah! When I was doing a search for the FSM CDs listed here, I noticed that the actual film score was released in 2011. I had either just forgotten that or probably didn't even know it. For those of you who have it, how does it compare with this? I imagine it's a nice companion piece, but the score as adapted and presented here is unbeatable.
ANY WEDNESDAY by George Duning is the perfect bed partner for the JW score. I love most of Duning's work anyway, so clear and transparent, and memorably melodic. And oh my, he had such a deft touch for light romantic comedies. I adore how he keeps everything so lively with the commendably frequent passages for jazz soloists.
I'm so happy having this that I've used up all my energy. What do all you folks think?
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I bought this back in the day, for two reasons: It's John Williams, and the cover art looked fun. I still haven't even unwrapped it yet, but your comments are pushing me to finally give it a listen today!
I also have the CD with the actual film score tracks. If I like this one, I might open that one today, too.
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Posted: |
Aug 21, 2020 - 9:10 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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Excellent rundown, Graham, and I'm so relieved you liked it. After THE REIVERS, which stands as Williams' 60s masterpiece, NWMWYD stands as number 2, and unquestionably the most entertaining soundtrack album he did in the decade. It's all re-recorded, and it has several tracks that don't appear in the film, but it just works like gangbusters as a concept album.
Yes, "Hungarian Jungle Music" is not only my favourite cue on the album, but one of my favourite JW cues of the entire 60s. How I would love to hear this in concert!
Here's my old thread on film and score:
https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=80848&forumID=1&archive=0
(oh, and I had actually completely forgotten they had released the film tracks from this; I've never cared about such things; this 'concept album' is all I ever need).
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Hey prindlesailor - Why would you buy CDs just to have them sit unopened for years?
Get those CDs played and report back here. Thanx!
I buy them with the best of intentions - to listen to them!! But many times my eyes are bigger than my stomach, so to speak. I find that I don't have time to listen to everything properly. And if I don't have time for a decent listening experience, I tend to forget about it.
And I also have a fear of missing out. So, if there's something I'm fairly interested in listening to "someday", I buy it so I don't have to worry later about searching on eBay.
I listen to lots of stuff in the background when I don't have time to pay attention, but I never do any "first listens" that way. Unfortunately (or fortunately in this instance) the pandemic has allowed me to devote more time to those undiscovered gems in my collection. Working at home does have some advantages!
I'll definitely report back with my opinions!
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Posted: |
Aug 21, 2020 - 9:17 AM
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By: |
fmfan1
(Member)
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I would recommend the original soundtrack of "Not With My Wife, You Don't" as well! Of all the many, many soundtracks from FSM I have bought, this is near the top as far as me being pleasantly surprised. There are more memorable tunes than one might expect, and there is a variety of moods that keeps up the level of interest.
I found the OST a bit long, and I whittled away about a third of the runtime. Let me tell you - that whittling was difficult. Yeah, this tune or that tune might appear 3 or 4 times, but each presentation is delightful in its own way!
When I later got the rerecording, I thought it might replace the OST with a concise summation of the score, but I was wrong. While the rerecording is excellent, it misses some great presentations of the tunes.
This is one of only a few soundtracks that I have kept BOTH the OST (or 70% of it) and the rerecording on my iPod. It may be my favorite early Williams composition.
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I just spent the afternoon listening to these CD's for the first time. And, just to break things up a bit, I listened to The Reivers in between (not the first time for that one, as it's one of my favorites).
So, the original 2006 FSM CD... Yeah, this one is a lot of FUN! Really great jazz performances, and I'll definitely keep this album in my rotation now. The fact that the CD includes Duning's "Any Wednesday" is a nice bonus. I didn't enjoy that quite at much as NWMWYD, but I'll listen to it some more, for sure. For the relatively cheap price, you simply can't go wrong with this album.
The "Volume 2" FSM CD from 2011 was a pleasant surprise, and a completely different listening experience from the 2006 CD. At certain times, it was almost likely totally different music. For that reason, I'm glad to have both CD's. In fact, I would go so far as to say I wouldn't want to be without either of them. There was more than enough to hold my interest for most of the 64-minute length
In summary, I would say the 2006 CD is ultra-enjoyable and a great all-around listening experience. It would be very easy to play it casually in the background. On the other hand, the 2011 CD was better than I expected and contained some good variety. The newer one does require more "active" listening though, as some of the cues are shorter and tend to break up the flow of things. Both of them contain music that's on one, but not the other. You might need both!
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Love, love LOVE this stuff. ANY WEDNESDAY is a perpetual favorite and in regular rotation.
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