Wild Rovers
 
 

The definitive presentation of a much loved and admired Jerry Goldsmith western score from the early seventies. Goldsmith was the unusual choice to work on Wild Rovers, as the movie's director, Blake Edwards, usually called upon the talents of Henry Mancini. But it appears Edwards was taken by Goldsmith's work on Patton and wanted to work with the him on his revisionist western.

Goldsmith's elegy to the western score is in direct contrast to his westerns of the sixties and called for a more folksy approach, taking in the grand treatments of Copeland but capturing the human stories through some intimate scoring for solo instruments. Most notably guitar, harmonica, accordion, banjo, and the quaint sounding tack piano.

The score's Main Title, heard here for the first time minus vocals and effects, is one that literally sings to the wide open spaces and the natural beauty of America's west by way of its gentle swaying melody. While the brutality and harshness of the time are equally captured during some unforgiving symphonic moments (Cattle vs Sheep, The Knife and Final Destination). The latter incredibly capturing the barbarism and fear of a man about to die. But it's Goldsmith's various treatments of his theme that makes Wild Rovers so memorable. Often hauntingly performed by solo instruments and sensitively supported by a small orchestral ensemble, Goldsmith's divine arrangements capture both the friendship between Ross and Frank and the beautiful wintery landscapes they wander through.

Action comes in the form of two very popular cues that has Goldsmith's music absolutely charging across the screen. The first is Wild Horses, a barnstorming and humorous symphonic workout, capturing the mayhem of snaring a wild horse. While Bronco Bustin' is a rapturous set piece of violent percussion, thunderous brass and more vibrant strings, as our heroes break in the horse. Goldsmith later revealed he got the call to write the cue while in London recording the album, after the score had been completed, and said all he had at his disposal to work with was a child's toy piano! FSM's detailed and informative notes reveal this arrangement to be an alternate take of a cue known on the album as Saturday Night, which played more to the comic value of the sequence.

Wild Rovers remains a landmark in the composer's career and his most respected score for the western genre. A bold mix of brutality and beauty that perfectly captures those pioneering times. Released several times in album form but now properly issued by FSM with both the original Hollywood recorded score, and the much loved album re-recording. Both are presented in brilliantly transparent stereo sources, that reveal hidden depths to the composer's wonderful orchestration. This CD also includes the extra cue from the MCA LP re-issue, that was missed off the original MGM album. And if that wasn't value for money, then they also include the various vocals that were either intended for the film or used on the album. This of course includes the vocals from Jerry Goldsmith's own daughter, Ellen.