News

Today, Kritzerland announced its latest film score restoration, and its fourth title by the late, renowned composer Jerry Goldsmith (following Breakheart Pass, Poltergeist II and Alien Nation): it’s the score to 1964’s western Rio Conchos, a CinemaScope adventure directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Richard Boone of Have Gun – Will Travel, Stuart Whitman, Tony Franciosa. Edmund O’Brien and future football legend Jim Brown.

Based on the novel by Clair Huffaker (The Comancheros), Rio Conchos has Richard Boone as Lassiter, a former Confederate major in the wake of the Civil War seeking vengeance against the Apache after his wife and child are killed by “savages.” Despite some decidedly non-politically correct casting, including Tony Franciosa and Vito Scotti as Mexicans, the film is surprisingly forward-thinking in its depictions of discrimination as well as in its study of the effects of one’s obsession with revenge. Jerry Goldsmith supplied an exciting, vibrant and stirring score that compares favorably to the iconic western scores by such composers as Elmer Bernstein and Ennio Morricone. Goldsmith, of course, was no stranger to the western genre; his very first film, 1957’s Black Patch, fell into that category, and he would return to the genre in such future films as Stagecoach (1966), Hour of the Gun (1967), Bandolero! (1968) and Rio Lobo (1970). The composer’s career would be bookended when his final film, 2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action, also allowed him to call on his gifts for western scoring with its sequences parodying the genre.

Goldsmith’s score to Rio Conchos was previously available on CD from the late, lamented Film Score Monthly label in 2000. That edition was presented primarily in mono, with just five cues in stereo appended as bonus tracks. For Kritzerland’s reissue, film music guru Mike Matessino returned to the original elements and, thanks to improvements in technology, was able to perform a full stereo restoration with only three cues remaining in mono.

After the jump, we have more including the track listing and pre-order link!

Kritzerland’s Rio Conchos is a limited edition of 1,200 copies, and based on previous Goldsmith releases from the label, it’s likely to sell out! So you’ll want to order yours today, which you can do at the link below! The disc is scheduled to ship by the third week of November, but pre-orders placed directly with the label usually arrive an average of three to five weeks early.

Jerry Goldsmith, Rio Conchos: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Kritzerland, 2014)

1. Main Title
2. The Prisoner
3. Get Me Out
4. The Exterminators
5. Where’s the Water?
6. The Fuse
7. Bandits Ho!
8. Smoke Signals
9. The River
10. Unlucky Lover
11. River Crossing
12. The Aftermath
13. Lassiter Remembers/The Lance
14. Wall of Fire
15. Lonely Indian
16. Cantina
17. A Change of Luck
18. The Captive
19. Big Deal
20. Chief Bloodshirt
21. Drag Race/The Corral
22. Free Men/The Intruder
23. Special Delivery
24. Cast Credits
25. Rio Conchos – performed by Johnny Desmond