Soundtrack Watch: Intrada Expands 'An American Tail,' La-La Land Releases Scores by Zimmer and Legrand

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Almost halfway through February, three soundtracks from titans of film composing have been released by the fine folks at Intrada and La- La Land Records.

On Monday, Intrada’s latest archival soundtrack was announced: an expansion of James Horner’s score to the hit An American Tail. Directed by Don Bluth (The Secret of NIMH, All Dogs Go To Heaven) and produced by Steven Spielberg, this movie–one of the few mainstream animated films of the ’80s not produced by Disney–tells the story of Fievel Mousekewitz, a Russian Jewish mouse separated from his family while emigrating to America. While some critics pointed out the odd pacing of the film (a result of production issues that forced the truncation of certain narrative sequences), the film’s soundtrack was extremely well-received.

Horner’s lyrical, sentimental score (brilliantly performed by The London Symphony Orchestra) features four original songs written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, including the showstopper “Somewhere Out There.” A pop single version, which played over the end credits and featured vocals from Linda Ronstadt and the late James Ingram, became a runaway success, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning Oscar and Golden Globe nominations while also taking home two Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year. (In its way, the soundtrack anticipated Disney’s future success in the ’80s and ’90s with pop song-fueled scores.)

Intrada’s American Tail expansion brings the score up to nearly a full CD’s length of material (beyond even the 65-minute preparation Horner had planned for MCA Records ahead of the film’s release), including 11 unreleased score tracks and the rare instrumental B-side to the “Somewhere Out There” pop single. The release is produced, mastered and edited by Mike Matessino, with package design by Kay Marshall (including two covers on each side of the booklet) and notes from Frank K. DeWald.

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Over at La-La Land, the label has kicked off February with a bang with a four-disc expansion of the score to The Thin Red Line. Adapted from the 1962 novel of the same name, this World War II drama featured a stacked ensemble cast (including Sean Penn, George Clooney, Woody Harrelson and John Travolta) directed by Terrence Malick, his first film after a two-decade absence. Zimmer’s score featured themes written and played during production to set the tone for the cast and crew and earned the composer his fifth Oscar nomination. This greatly-expanded presentation, limited to 3500 units, features the complete film score on two discs plus both the original soundtrack album and a rare disc of Melanesian chants featured in the film, the latter two originally released by RCA Records. Matessino and Neil S. Bulk co-produce, with mastering by Dan Hersch, package design by Dan Goldwasser and liner notes by Jeff Bond, including remarks from Zimmer (who approved the package) as well as longtime 20th Century Fox soundtrack producer Nick Redman, who unfortunately passed away at the beginning of January following a battle with cancer.

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La-La Land’s other title is also an inadvertent memorial: Michel Legrand’s score to the legendary The Other Side Of The Wind, the penultimate score he completed before his passing just weeks ago. Directed and co-written by Orson Welles, the picture, a sort of mockumentary about an aging director (John Huston) preparing to show his latest unfinished film, bizarrely imitated the life of its creator, who began shooting in 1970 and never lived to see it completed. Welles’ co-star, director Peter Bogdanovich, and producers Frank Marshall and Filip Jan Rymsza finally oversaw its completion in 2018, when it was released to Netflix.

In his notes for The Other Side Of The WInd, Welles planned to tap Legrand, who’d composed the score to his F For Fake (1973), to compose for this picture–and Legrand finally did so last year. Though hospitalized when it came time to record, Legrand chose the cues and sequence for this album (for Mike Matessino to produce and master) and also contributes liner notes to the Jim Titus-created package.

All three of these soundtracks can be viewed below, with links and track details; the La-La Land titles start shipping tomorrow.

James Horner, An American Tail: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (originally released as MCA Records 39096, 1986 – reissued Intrada ISC 423, 2019)

* song written by James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil
** previously unreleased

Main Title
The Cossack Cats
Dissolve To Sea/Lullaby **
There Are No Cats In America – Nehemiah Persoff, John Guarnieri and Warren Hays *
The Storm
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor
Never Say Never – Christopher Plummer and Phillip Glasser *
Warren T. Rat/It Will Go Away **
Train Trestle **
The Market Place
The Rumble **
Honest John and Gussie Mausheimer **
Somewhere Out There – Phillip Glasser and Betsy Cathcart *
Building The Mouse Of Minsk **
Down In The Sewer/Chase In The Mauler’s Den **
Gussie’s Plan **
A Duo – Dom DeLuise and Phillip Glasser *
Fievel’s Escape **
Releasing The Secret Weapon
The Great Fire
Reunited
Flying Away and End Credits
Somewhere Out There – Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
Poor Wandering One (Gilbert and Sullivan) **
The Rally (Source) **
Somewhere Out There (Instrumental) (B-side to MCA Records single 52973, 1986) *

Michel Legrand, The Other Side Of The Wind: Original Motion PIcture Soundtrack (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1474, 2019 – original film produced 1970 and forward, released 2018)

Chapter 1
Chapter 7
Les Délinquants (Opening Credits)
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 15 (The Maze)
Chapter 4
Chapter 21 (Piano Duet I)
Chapter 19
Chapter 11
Chapter 9
Chapter 17
Chapter 23 (Piano Duet II)
Chapter 10
Chapter 25
Chapter 26

All tracks previously unreleased

Hans Zimmer, The Thin Red Line: Music From The Motion Picture – 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1475, 2019 – original film released 1998)

Disc 1: The Film Score

Nature Montage
Witt With Melanesians
Witt In Brig/Tall and Quintard
Staros Below Deck
March Inland
Staros Prays
The Grass/Tall Calls Staros
Keck’s Death
Walsh Helps Tella
Staros Refuses Order
Bell’s Patrol
Bell Goes Alone
Welsh & Witt Talk
Gaff’s Party Leaves
Gaff’s Party Returns
Attack On The Bivouac (Long Version)

Disc 2: The Film Score (Continued)

Staros Is Relieved
Tall Does Nails
Airfield – Bell Flashback
Marty’s Letter
Village Flashback
Witt Travels
Japanese Appear – Witt Chased
Witt Killed
Witt’s Funeral
Cemetery
End Credits
Concerto For Beam (Extended Version) (written by John Powell, featuring Francesco Lupica)
Keck’s Death (Alternate)
Gaff’s Party Returns (Alternate)
Attack On The Bivouac (Short Version)
Staros Is Relieved (Alternate)
Tall Does Nails (Alternate)
Witt Travels (Alternate)