Released by Special Arrangement With Turner Classic Movies Music.

FSM’s sequel album to The Unforgiven: Classic Western Scores From United Artists (now out of print!) is another “budget” box set, this time drawn from the M-G-M film library. The Naked Spur: Classic Western Scores From M-G-M features five westerns from 1950-1956: two by Bronislau Kaper, two by Daniele Amfitheatrof and one by Jeff Alexander.

With this album we are introducing a new innovation in soundtrack presentation: online liner notes. Visit www.filmscoremonthly.com/notes for complete annotations on the films and scores (with track-by-track breakdowns) as would normally be presented in our booklets.

These online notes are free to anyone! (Note: We are NOT going to do online notes for every CD. They will be used a few times a year on “budget” presentations to keep costs down—and pass the savings on to the collector.)

The scores presented on the 3CD set are:

The Naked Spur: The best of the James Stewart-Anthony Mann westerns starred Stewart as a bounty hunter relentlessly tracking an outlaw. Bronislau Kaper’s score is akin to “western noir” in its dark, obsessive strains.

The Wild North: This “Northern” (a variation on a western) starred Stewart Granger as a French-Canadian fur trapper hunted by a mountie played by Wendell Corey, with Kaper’s score combining “big sky” sweep and suspenseful strains.

The Last Hunt: Stewart Granger and Robert Taylor played buffalo hunters in this film directed by Richard Brooks taking a sympathetic look at Native Americans. The excellent score by Daniele Amfitheatrof (a composer virtually unrepresented on CD) features dramatic music for the film’s violent conflicts as well as melodic and spiritual material for the Indian culture.

Devil’s Doorway: In another Anthony Mann western, Robert Taylor played a Shoshone Indian trying to keep his people from being thrown off their land. Amfitheatrof’s music again shines in its poetic and beautiful evocation of the Native American culture.

Escape From Fort Bravo: William Holden, Eleanor Parker and John Forsythe starred in this Civil War adventure film about the escape of Confederate prisoners from a Union stockade. The exciting adventure score by Jeff Alexander features two songs: a lovely ballad, “Soothe My Lonely Heart” (music and lyrics by Alexander, sung by Bill Lee) and “Yellow Stripes” (a calvary march by Stan Jones).

Again, for complete liner notes, visit www.filmscoremonthly.com/notes.

The scores on this CD come in a combination of complete, clean mono (The Naked Spur), complete mono including some use of acetates (The Wild North), complete stereo (The Last Hunt), incomplete mono (Devil’s Doorway), and largely complete stereo with some damaged sections (Escape From Fort Bravo). The album comes with a 12-page booklet with introductory liner notes (unique to the booklet) by Lukas Kendall and art direction by Joe Sikoryak.

FSM’s first westerns collection (the aforementioned Unforgiven) sold out in a matter of months. Don’t let this one get by you! Round it up today.