Diamond Head / Gone With the Wave - "Music"
by: Kevin McGann
For their latest Colpix CD double-header, FSM have brought together two titans of film scoring, under the banner of sand, surf and sea. From 1963, we get Johnny Williams' Hawaiian-influenced “soap” score to the Chuck Heston starrer Diamond Head, coupled with Lalo Schifrin's 'groovin' tunes from the 'cult' surf documentary Gone With The Wave, which surfaced one year later in 1964. These are straight re-issues of the LP's which were released at the same time as the movies they accompanied.
Although Diamond Head follows the same path as a lot of Johnny Williams' scores from this period (namely, a collection of dance and source cues, rearranged for the LP release), this score does contain some hidden highlights. In amongst the lightweight pop/jazz arrangements, for which Williams was popular during this decade, there are four tracks which evoke the sound of the more dramatic John Williams, who would go on to become a major force in movie scoring for many years to come.
‘Main Title’, ‘Sloan Strolls’, ‘Sloan's Dream’ and ‘End Title’ will resonate with fans of the composer's dramatic style, which feature his yearning string sound, as well as some powerful horn and strident brass passages. Although the main theme is not written by Williams (the title song has lyrics by Mack David set to a Hugo Winterhalter melody), his strong orchestration technique pretty much makes it sound like a John Williams composition, when it is employed. Even the tracks ‘Mei Chen’ and ‘Manoalani’ have a less “poppy” feel to them, coming across as more dramatic and fleshed out than other Williams 'source' cues from his films from this period.
Although fans of Lalo Schifrin's more dramatic music will find little to sink their teeth into during Gone With The Wave, his jazz/groove listeners will eat this up. It's basically a collection of laid back, unrelated melodies, which Schifrin composed without seeing the film, with what he termed a 'good band' (which included some of the best West Coast jazz performers of the time). The styles covered include a samba, some jazz and blues pieces and a slice of Mexicana. It's a pretty rare album though (and was a huge seller at the time), so Schifrin completists should be in heaven.
Film Score Monthly's booklet and packaging continue to show the others how it should be done, with their now customary reversible covers, informative track by track breakdown, original LP liner notes and even a nice note of explanation concerning their source of the music tracks. Anyone concerned that these two soundtracks were sourced from original LP and tape transfers need not worry. The minute you hit play on your CD player all concerns will vanish. The sound is quite astonishing!
Whilst (dramatic) Schifrin fans should approach with care, there is less to debate for fans of Williams, who will lap up the opportunity to hear passages of music wherein Johnny would eventually become John, thereby making this an essential purchase for anyone who follows the career of this legendary composer.
For their latest Colpix CD double-header, FSM have brought together two titans of film scoring, under the banner of sand, surf and sea. From 1963, we get Johnny Williams' Hawaiian-influenced “soap” score to the Chuck Heston starrer Diamond Head, coupled with Lalo Schifrin's 'groovin' tunes from the 'cult' surf documentary Gone With The Wave, which surfaced one year later in 1964. These are straight re-issues of the LP's which were released at the same time as the movies they accompanied.
Although Diamond Head follows the same path as a lot of Johnny Williams' scores from this period (namely, a collection of dance and source cues, rearranged for the LP release), this score does contain some hidden highlights. In amongst the lightweight pop/jazz arrangements, for which Williams was popular during this decade, there are four tracks which evoke the sound of the more dramatic John Williams, who would go on to become a major force in movie scoring for many years to come.
‘Main Title’, ‘Sloan Strolls’, ‘Sloan's Dream’ and ‘End Title’ will resonate with fans of the composer's dramatic style, which feature his yearning string sound, as well as some powerful horn and strident brass passages. Although the main theme is not written by Williams (the title song has lyrics by Mack David set to a Hugo Winterhalter melody), his strong orchestration technique pretty much makes it sound like a John Williams composition, when it is employed. Even the tracks ‘Mei Chen’ and ‘Manoalani’ have a less “poppy” feel to them, coming across as more dramatic and fleshed out than other Williams 'source' cues from his films from this period.
Although fans of Lalo Schifrin's more dramatic music will find little to sink their teeth into during Gone With The Wave, his jazz/groove listeners will eat this up. It's basically a collection of laid back, unrelated melodies, which Schifrin composed without seeing the film, with what he termed a 'good band' (which included some of the best West Coast jazz performers of the time). The styles covered include a samba, some jazz and blues pieces and a slice of Mexicana. It's a pretty rare album though (and was a huge seller at the time), so Schifrin completists should be in heaven.
Film Score Monthly's booklet and packaging continue to show the others how it should be done, with their now customary reversible covers, informative track by track breakdown, original LP liner notes and even a nice note of explanation concerning their source of the music tracks. Anyone concerned that these two soundtracks were sourced from original LP and tape transfers need not worry. The minute you hit play on your CD player all concerns will vanish. The sound is quite astonishing!
Whilst (dramatic) Schifrin fans should approach with care, there is less to debate for fans of Williams, who will lap up the opportunity to hear passages of music wherein Johnny would eventually become John, thereby making this an essential purchase for anyone who follows the career of this legendary composer.
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