Johnny Mathis, Alfred Newman and Basil Poledouris Coming Soon From La-La Land

August 12, 2011 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

Let’s hope all of you film score fans out there have been saving your pennies! On Monday, Kritzerland will unveil its latest classic soundtrack release (watch this very space for that news!) and the very next day, La-La Land continues the musical bonanza with two unique offerings.

Jean Neguelsco’s 1958 film A Certain Smile starred Rosanno Brazzi (South Pacific) and Joan Fontaine (Rebecca). Adding to the luster, the soundtrack to the 20^th Century Fox drama about a middle-aged man’s affair with a young student was composed by the dean of film scoring, Alfred Newman. La-La Land’s 2-CD restoration of A Certain Smile marks the label’s first major foray into the Golden Age in quite a while, and the folks there are promising future offerings from Dmitri Tiomkin and Franz Waxman, among others, will follow. A Certain Smile has been issued with the cooperation of both 20^th Century Fox and Sony Music; Disc 1 features the expanded film score derived, and restored, from 35mm film at Fox. Disc 2 is the original LP master, remastered from the original 1/2 tapes stored in New York at Sony Music. It includes the memorable, Academy Award-nominated title track written by Paul Francis Webster and Sammy Fain, and performed in the film by the one and only Mr. Johnny Mathis. Nick Redman (who provided the notes for Kritzerland’s astounding reissue of Hugo Friedhofer’s score to One-Eyed Jacks) has produced the first disc while Didier C. Deutsch and Mark Wilder produced Disc 2. Wilder (currently doing an exceptional job remastering the CTI catalogue) also handled the remastering chores for that disc, while Dan Hersch (a name familiar to Rhino aficionados) tackled Disc 1. Julie Kirgo provides in depth notes on the score and the film itself in a 20-page booklet. A Certain Smile is a limited edition of 2,500 units.

Hit the jump and you’ll find yourself spellbound…

On the same day, Basil Poledouris’ score to Spellbinder arrives courtesy La-La Land and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Music. According to the label, “when it comes to unusual scores in Mr. Poledouris’ trunk of music, this one ranks right up there with the likes of Breakdown and No Man’s Land. Spellbinder is an experimental electronic score that uses mood and technique more than melody.” The 1988 thriller was directed by Janet Greek and written by Tracy Torme, son of noted crooner Mel, and is concerned with Miranda Reed, a young woman portrayed by Kelly Preston who just happens to be a witch on the run from her coven. (Bewitched, this isn’t!) Both Greek and the film’s score mixer, Tim Boyle, contribute to Randall D. Larson’s liner notes. Ford A. Thaxton produces the disc, and James Nelson, who does such remarkable work on a regular basis over at Kritzerland, has remastered. Spellbinder is a limited edition of 1,200 units.

Both titles go on sale from La-La Land on Tuesday, August 16 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and retail for $19.98 plus shipping when ordered directly from the label. Once the track listings are unveiled, we’ll update accordingly!

Categories:

News

Formats:

Genres:

Soundtracks

Tags:

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.