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Kritzerland is proud to present a new limited edition release – two great scores on one CD:
TAPS
and
THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN
Composed and Conducted by Maurice Jarre
In 1981, Maurice Jarre was hired to score Taps, a Twentieth Century-Fox film, directed by Harold Becker, starring George C. Scott and an pretty incredible array of up and coming young talent, including Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise. Taps was a hit with both critics and audiences – a taut and tense story of a group of cadets who take over their military academy instead of allowing it to be closed. The acting from everyone was superb, and Becker’s direction of the screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, James Lineberger and Daryl Ponsican (from the novel Father Sky by Devery Freeman) is simple and assured. Tying it all together is Jarre’s wonderful score. Many cues are sparsely scored for trumpet, piano and percussion to excellent effect, and the other cues are used carefully throughout the film and help give the film its tension, emotion and texture.
A decade earlier, Jarre was hired to compose the score for what would be director George Stevens’s final film – the 1970 romantic comedy/drama The Only Game in Town. The two powerhouse stars were Elizabeth Taylor (reunited with Stevens, with whom she’d worked to great success in A Place in the Sun and Giant) and Warren Beatty (his first film after Bonnie and Clyde).
The resulting film was not successful with either critics or audiences. It opened, had a brief run, and disappeared. But all these years later, thanks to the recent Twilight Time Blu-ray release, we get to finally reassess the film, which, as it turns out, is pretty entertaining – not perfect by any means, but with some wonderful dialogue, star-power performances from Taylor and Beatty, and George Stevens’s usual elegant direction.
For the film, Maurice Jarre came up with a truly great score. Beginning with a lonely trumpet leading directly into an exciting and jazzy “Vegas” feel, leading back to a melancholy duet for sax and trumpet (the film is all about loneliness, connections missed or made, and has a pervasive feeling of melancholy), Jarre’s score compliments the movie perfectly.
Taps was previously released on CD on Varese Sarabande as a limited edition that sold out quickly. This is the premiere release for The Only Game in Town – we present all the cues that were usable, about twenty minutes’ worth, but, thankfully, it’s most of the score and is fully representative of the cues Jarre wrote.
Taps/The Only Game in Town is limited to 1000 copies only and is priced at $19.98, plus shipping.
CDs will ship the last week of December, but preorders placed at Kritzerland usually ship one to five weeks early (we’ve been averaging four weeks). To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com.
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The Only Game In Town!!! Oh my God! I was beginning to think it would never happen. Cross off one on my "Holy Grail" list. What a great Christmas present from Santa Bruce!
It's a very atypical score for Jarre. If I hadn't seen his name on the credits, I would have sworn the score was written by Michel Legrand.
I'll take advantage of your "special offer" too. I can never get enough Alex North.
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I remember way back then liking both the movie and the score of The Only Game in Town, both seemed to catch the excitement and buzz of night-time Vegas. Listening now to the samples, the track Dice Table is cool enough to have almost been written by Quincey Jones! A definite purchase, thanks Kritzerland for this gem!
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Taps was a hit with both critics and audiences – a taut and tense story of a group of cadets who take over their military academy instead of allowing it to be closed.
i.e. Reagan-era wish fulfilment fantasy. Unendurable now.
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Interesting. I wish The Only Game in Town was a bit longer or paired with something I would like, but still good news!
There wasn't really that much more and what there was had sound effects with it, and therefore not usable.
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I am glad to get TAPS since I missed out on the original limited release. However, it's The Only Game in Town that really drew to this release. Looking forward to all of the music!
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I am glad to get TAPS since I missed out on the original limited release. However, it's The Only Game in Town that really drew to this release. Looking forward to all of the music!
I should think a lot of people missed out on Taps the first time around - it sold out pretty quickly if I recall correctly. That's why we decided to revisit that part of this release, but the real reason was so that I could finally have The Only Game in Town, which I've lusted after since 1970 
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Didn't Johnny Mandel also compose a score for "The Only Game In Town" that was thrown out?
So I've read in this thread.
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