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The Americanization of Emily/The Sandpiper/Drums of Africa (1963/1964/ 1965)
Music by Johnny Mandel
The Americanization of Emily/The Sandpiper/Drums of Africa The Americanization of Emily/The Sandpiper/Drums of Africa The Americanization of Emily/The Sandpiper/Drums of Africa
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Price: $39.95
Limited #: 2000
View CD Page at SAE Store
Line: Silver Age
CD Release: February 2009
Catalog #: Vol. 12, No. 4
# of Discs: 3

Released by Special Arrangement With Turner Classic Movies Music

The great Johnny Mandel gets his due with this 3CD set featuring three of his classic scores for M-G-M. Go here for the free online notes for this title.

The multitalented Mandel is a legendary composer, arranger and songwriter who in the 1960s was one of the freshest voices for the screen. He came from the jazz world and specialized in intimate, lovely and poetic scores, two of the best presented here: The Americanization of Emily (1964) and The Sandpiper(1965). His ability to craft a melody to a film, and to arrange it with a characteristically transparent sound (often spotlighting woodwind solos), was renowned especially by his fellow musicians. 

The Americanization of Emily is a war (or, arguably, anti-war) film starring James Garner an American Navy attaché (and self-described coward) during World War II who falls in love with a war widow played by Julie Andrews. As their philosophies conflict, and Garner is thrown into a perilous situation on D-Day, the film blends drama, romance and satire in a way seldom achieved with such success (the brilliant screenplay was by Paddy Chayefsky). Mandel’s score is a gem featuring a lovely waltz theme for Andrews’s character (given lyrics by Johnny Mercer and recorded as “Emily”), ironic-sounding military music and heartfelt dramatic scoring. How Mandel managed to balance the film’s changing tones—from comedy to drama to romance—is a marvel.

The Sandpiper is the source for one of the greatest songs ever composed for film, “The Shadow of Your Smile” (lyrics by Paul Francis Webster). The film stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and was directed by Vincente Minnelli in what was billed “an adult love story” set at Big Sur, California. While the film has a reputation for soapy melodrama, Mandel’s score is a masterpiece of jazz and romantic scoring, centering on the song melody but encompassing an array of ineffable moods, led by the unparralled trumpet work of Jack Sheldon. Doug Schwartz, the mastering engineer for this and most FSM CDs, remembers his father, woodwind player Wilbur Schwartz, coming home from the first recording session ofThe Sandpiper and making this comment: “I just worked on the greatest music of my career.”

A third film on this collection is little-known but offers an opportunity to hear Mandel tackle a genre for which he is not known: Drums of Africa (1963) was a B-movie adventure starring Lloyd Bochner, Frankie Avalon and Mariette Hartley mixing it up with African slavers amidst stock footage. Mandel used a reduced orchestra for budgetary purposes (heavy on the percussion) but gave a melodic, jazzy bent far removed from the typical B-movie score of the era. He made use of his characteristic woodwind solos as an evocative way of “speaking” for the animals encountered in the story. The score interpolates a song, “The River Love” performed twice in the film by Avalon and composed by Russell Faith and Robert Marcucci.

This 3CD set is entirely in stereo and has been newly remixed and remastered from the original three-track 35mm scoring masters. Disc one features The Americanization of Emily (expanded from the Reprise LP); disc two is a complete presentation of The Sandpiper; and disc three features Drums of Africa as well as a recreation of the Sandpiper soundtrack LP (which was produced by Quincy Jones). Liner notes are by Deniz Cordell incorporating new interview comments by Mandel as well as Jack Sheldon. Due to the amount of research and writing, the 32-page booklet features essays on the films and scores; the track by track commentaries can be found—for free—at FSM’s online notes.

 

                                   

                          

 

                                                      

Johnny Mandel Scores on FSM
About the Composer

Johnny Mandel (b. 1925) is one of the most heralded composers, arrangers and songwriters in American music. As a film composer, he brought a sophisticated, intimate sound to 1960s dramas such as The Americanization of Emily and The Sandpiper, released by FSM along with Drums of Africa in a 3CD set. His arrangements for artists like Frank Sinatra and Count Basie (and many more) are legendary. His film and TV credits also include MASH (and its famous theme), Being There and The Verdict. IMDB

Comments (15):Log in or register to post your own comments
Are the track-by-track liner notes for Americanization of Emily going to be put on the site soon? I just bought the set, and I've already printed out the liner notes for the other films, but I'm still waiting (as well as others I'm sure) on the notes for Emily. Aside from the notes though, I have been waiting and waiting for a complete soundtrack to come out for Emily, and this release is a very exciting one for me. As for the other two films, I'm still waiting to see The Sandpiper, and I'll just have to enjoy the score to Drums of Africa without seeing the film first (which is not something uncommon for me since I've done that before with Eye of the Devil, The Satan Bug, Joy in the Morning, and many others). I look forward to receiving the set very soon.

The Emily notes are now online:

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/notes/americanization_of_emily.html

Great, thanks for doing this job!

The pressure was on!

Many thanks, Jeff!

And thanks for Deniz Cordell for writing the notes in the first place.

We do endeavor to get these notes online by the time the title goes on sale, but in the case of the Mandel notes the CDs arrived at SAE a couple weeks earlier than expected. Thanks for your patience and I hope everyone is enjoying all the great Johnny Mandel music.

The soundtrack Americanization of Emily, is as they say, in the booklet,achingly beautiful. As soon as I saw it was avaiable, I grabbed my copy.

I love Mandel's work. From this great collection I only knew 'The Sandpiper', the Verve release of the Quincy Jones produced original LP/CD release. I even prefer the original soundtrack cues. You close your eyes and you see the ocean swells in bright sunlight washing on the beach. I somehow never got hold of the 'Emily' LP and I absolutely love that score too. Even 'Drums of Africa' is nice as a 'bonus'. The sound is crystal clear and it fits in nicely with the rest of the 3CD set. This is music I will play over and over again. A very big thanks to FSM for this excellent release!

I love Mandel's work. From this great collection I only knew 'The Sandpiper', the Verve release of the Quincy Jones produced original LP/CD release. I even prefer the original soundtrack cues. You close your eyes and you see the ocean swells in bright sunlight washing on the beach. I somehow never got hold of the 'Emily' LP and I absolutely love that score too. Even 'Drums of Africa' is nice as a 'bonus'. The sound is crystal clear and it fits in nicely with the rest of the 3CD set. This is music I will play over and over again. A very big thanks to FSM for this excellent release![/endquote]

Hello...back in the late 70s, easy-listening radio played a wonderful version of "EMILY" which was sung in full harmony by a mixed chorus, accompanied by an orchestra. It was arranged in 4/4 time with a bright tempo; in contrast to the usual 3/4 time slower, waltz-style of the original. I never learned who the artist was. Can you tell me if the "bonus" track on the CD (which states in the liner notes as 'slightly faster') could be the one I'm looking for? Unfortunately, I don't have a system to listen to the sample. Someone once mentioned that Henry Mancini recorded a cover the tune, and though ascap.com lists him among the performers of EMILY, folks in the Mancini camp say that he did not. I wish I could get word to Mr. Mandel himself to see if he can shed some light on this mystery. Thanks so much?
All the best...Russell

The Mandel notes are now available in PDF form for those interested:

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/notes/fsmcd1204_notes.pdf

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Track List
Instruments/Musicians
Click on each musician name for more credits
For more specific musician lists for the scores on this album, go here:
Drums of Africa
The Americanization of Emily
The Sandpiper

Leader (Conductor):
Robert Armbruster, Johnny Mandel

Violin:
Victor Arno, Henry Arthur Brown, Bette Byers (La Magna) (Marks), Sam Caplan, Joachim Chassman, Kurt Dieterle, Elliot Fisher, Jacques Gasselin, James Getzoff, Arnold T. Jurasky, Anatol Kaminsky, Louis Kaufman, Murray Kellner, Lou Klass, Bernard Kundell, Marvin Limonick, Dan Lube, Alfred Lustgarten, Joy Lyle (Sharp), Lou Raderman, Sally Raderman (aka Sarah Kreindler), Nathan Ross, Paul C. Shure, Marshall Sosson, Heimann Weinstine

Viola:
Alvin Dinkin, Cecil Figelski, Allan Harshman, Myra Kestenbaum, Louis Kievman, Virginia Majewski, Reuben Marcus, Sven Reher, Paul Robyn, Sanford Schonbach, Abe Weiss

Cello:
Anne Goodman (Karam), Raphael "Ray" Kramer, Lucien Laporte, Kurt Reher, Frederick R. Seykora, Gloria Strassner

Bass:
John Bambridge, Jr., George F. Boujie, George "Red" Callender, Milton Kestenbaum, Keith "Red" Mitchell, Joseph Mondragon

Flute:
Harry Klee, Ronald Langinger (aka Ronny Lang), Martin Ruderman, C. E. "Bud" Shank

Oboe:
Gene Cipriano, Arnold Koblentz

Clarinet:
Gus Bivona, Charles Gentry, Ronald Langinger (aka Ronny Lang), Don Lodice (Logiudice), Jack Nimitz, Hugo Raimondi, Wilbur Schwartz

Bassoon:
Howard P. Terry

Saxophone:
Plas Johnson

Woodwinds:
Harry Klee, Ronald Langinger (aka Ronny Lang), Jack Nimitz

French Horn:
John W. "Jack" Cave, Vincent N. DeRosa, William A. Hinshaw, Herman Lebow, Arthur Maebe, Jr.

Trumpet:
Joe E. Burnett, Raymond Linn, Clinton "Mickey" McMahan, Uan Rasey, Jack Sheldon, Raymond Triscari, George Werth, Rubin Zarchy, James C. Zito

Trombone:
Michael J. Barone, Hoyt Bohannon, Randall Miller, Richard Noel, Kenneth Shroyer, Herb Taylor, Bill Williams (aka George Davenport)

Tuba:
John Bambridge, Jr., John T. "Tommy" Johnson

Piano:
Artie Kane

Guitar:
Alton R. "Al" Hendrickson, Allen Reuss, Howard Roberts

Harp:
Aida M. Dagort (Mulieri), Catherine Gotthoffer (Johnk)

Accordion:
Carl Fortina

Drums:
Dale L. Anderson, Larry Bunker, Frank L. Carlson, Victor Feldman, Sheldon "Shelly" Manne

Percussion:
Larry Bunker, Frank L. Carlson, Sheldon "Shelly" Manne

Orchestrator:
Alexander Courage

Arranger:
William Mitchell Byers, Jack Elliott, Johnny Mandel

Orchestra Manager:
James C. Whelan, James C. Whelan

Copyist:
Louis M. Behm, Gene Bren, Maurice Gerson, Donald J. Midgley, Richard Petrie, Fred Sternberg, Harry Taylor, David Ward, Bill Williams (aka George Davenport)

Librarian:
Jules Megeff

Assistant Librarian:
Theodore E. Bergren

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