Kritzerland Solves The Swingin’ Riddle with Nelson’s “Paris When It Sizzles”

October 28, 2016 By Joe Marchese — 1 Comment
BUY NOW FROM KRITZERLAND

Kritzerland is taking listeners to the City of Light with a new 2-CD soundtrack release composed by the legendary Nelson Riddle.  The label is accepting pre-orders now for the world premiere complete release of Riddle’s score to Paris When It Sizzles, the 1964 Paramount romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Tony Curtis and Noel Coward.

A send-up of moviemaking with a glamorous backdrop, Paris starred Holden as a playboy screenwriter and his real-life old flame Hepburn as his secretary and romantic interest.  (The star actress shot the film back-to-back with Charade, with which it shared some Parisian locations.)  Despite a strong creative team including director Richard Quine (Bell, Book and Candle, How to Murder Your Wife) and screenwriter George Axelrod (The Seven Year Itch, The Manchurian Candidate), Paris failed to impress critics at the time, but today it can be recognized as a frothy, delectable delight – featuring chemistry between its two stars, delicious supporting performances from Curtis and Coward, and plenty of smart Hollywood in-jokes.

Nelson Riddle was more than up to the task of scoring the film.  The renowned composer-arranger got the opportunity to provide both “real-life” romantic themes as well as pop-flecked source cues and music for the film-within-a-film, The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower.  This Kritzerland release features, for the first time ever, Riddle’s complete, original score on CD 1 (including a Fred Astaire vocal on the Spence/Bergman tune “That Face”), all newly restored by Chris Malone from the elements in the Paramount Pictures vaults.  CD 2 offers an array of alternates and bonus tracks, followed by the original Reprise Records LP soundtrack presentation.  Both the complete score and the album presentation are in stereo.

This must-have for any fan of the sizzling, swinging stylings of Nelson Riddle (and who isn’t?) is available now for pre-order from Kritzerland.  A limited edition of 1,000 units, it’s due to ship by the first week of December, but pre-orders from the label typically arrive an average of four weeks early.  You can pre-order and peruse the track listing below!

Nelson Riddle, Paris When It Sizzles: Music from the Motion Picture (Kritzerland KR 20031-3, 2016)

CD 1: The Complete Score

  1. Prologue
  2. Main Title (short version)
  3. Woman in Black/Marlene à la Mode
  4. Meyerheim Main Title
  5. Sizzling Waltz No. 1
  6. Sizzling Waltz No. 2/They Danced – Flip/Maurice Splits
  7. Enter the Mysterious Stranger/Amusing Musette
  8. Tango No. 1
  9. Square Chase
  10. Flip for Rick/Amusing Musette
  11. The Dissolve/Bois Bounce/Saccharine Strings/Flip to Typewriter
  12. Brandy Glow
  13. Gabrielle Flips to Fancy/The Second Waltz/Dracula/Western Chase/Staggered
  14. Goodnight Gabrielle
  15. That Face (vocal by Fred Astaire)
  16. Back to the Bois/Valse de Paree
  17. Lipstick Tango
  18. Sting for Guitar/Who’s Got the Napkin/To the Studio/To Fran Studio
  19. Luncheon Music
  20. The Office/ Chase Across the Lot/Idol Eyes/Bedroom Set
  21. Tape Recorder to Order
  22. Arab Agitato
  23. Gaby Blues
  24. Hot Love
  25. Pull the Trigger/Parchesi
  26. Bathtub Idea/French Bubble Bath/That Kiss/To the Party
  27. Bastille Cha-Cha No. 1
  28. Party Twist No. 1
  29. Party Fox Trot
  30. Airport Chase
  31. Rick’s Demise
  32. Touch of Tenderness
  33. Forgotten Cage/Clock Spin/Searching for Gabrielle
  34. Bastille Cha-Cha No. 2
  35. Party Twist No. 2
  36. Big Waltz/Gabrielle/Happy Ending/Finale)

CD 2: Alternates and Bonus Tracks

  1. Main Title (film version)
  2. Main Title (early version)
  3. Meyerheim Main Title (film version)
  4. Square Chase (film version)
  5. Flip Out of Square
  6. The Second Waltz
  7. Western Chase (without sweetener)
  8. Stealing the Film (alternate)/French Bubble Bath (alternate)
  9. To the Party
  10. Le Marseillaise/Bastille Day March
  11. March Alsacienne
  12. Happy Ending/Finale (without sweetener)

THE ORIGINAL ALBUM PRESENTATION (originally released as Reprise LP RS-6113, 1964)

  1. Main Title and Theme – Gabrielle
  2. Gabrielle
  3. Tango de Paris
  4. French Bubble Bath
  5. Saccharine Strings
  6. Brandy Glow
  7. Good Night Gabrielle
  8. That Face
  9. Valse de Paree
  10. Gaby Blues
  11. Bastille Cha Cha Cha
  12. Touch of Tenderness
  13. La Valse Grande/Happy Ending (End Title)
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Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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1 thought on “Kritzerland Solves The Swingin’ Riddle with Nelson’s “Paris When It Sizzles””

  1. Eric

    I hope kritzerland eventually turns their attention to Neil hefti’s score for “Harlow” (the soundtrack as opposed to the re-recording for Columbia).

    Reply

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