....."Boy on a Dolphin" Based on Tirafio music by Takis Morakis Greek text by J. Fermanglou American lyric by Paul Francis Webster Sung by Julie London (as Miss Julie London) (uncredited) Music adapted by Hugo Friedhofer Orchestra under the direction of Howard Roberts (uncredited) This is from IMDB......
I'm afraid this IMDB entry, like others, is very deceptive.
1- WHO IS HOWARD ROBERTS???......and why is he conducting a 20th Century-Fox Hugo Friedhofer score???
In reality, of course, Lionel Newman conducted this score and has been credited as the conductor, including on the original lp and cd. I haven't check the MT again, yet, but I suspect he's there, too, right between Hugo's name and Edward Powell's name.
In googling the name Howard Roberts you can find that he is a major jazz guitarist, with credits in clubs, concerts, and many, many movie and TV credits from the '50s onward. I'm surmising that Howard Roberts directed (and probably played guitar) on the Julie London Liberty single record of the song. And he might well have been part of the Fox orchestra for these BOY ON A DOLPHIN sessions. (Isn't there a guitar prominent in the score?)
Unless someone can prove otherwise, I will believe someone at IMDB placed the Liberty Records reference under the soundtrack section and conflated the Fox soundtrack music sessions with the Liberty records recording session.
Since the orchestra (for the soundtrack) is recorded on different channels than the vocal, which is recorded "in the clear", usually in a soundproof booth, it is easy to swap---in or out---Julie London for Mary Kaye (of the Mary Kaye Trio) on the recordings, sync it up, and release it either way.
2- Hugo Friedhofer didn't write the "Dolphin" theme melody. It is based on a popular Greek song by Takis Morakis, which, I believe, is sometimes called "Tin Afto". References on the original album and the song have given joint credit to Morakis, Webster, and Friedhofer for its use in this film as long as I can remember. No one's cheating or fooling anyone.
3- When one says that a theme wasn't written by Friedhofer, a strong implication is made that Friedhofer either stole the melody or couldn't write a melody for himself. In reality, of all the composers who occasionally utilized previously written source music within their scores, Friedhofer stands on a pedestal with very, very few others in his musical ability to weave and adapt a previous melody very tightly into a new work, the theme coming and going, in bits and pieces, and in different keys and tonalities. The theme is rarely just quoted. AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER and THIS EARTH IS MINE are other good examples of this, where the scores, which utilize the melody of the songs in sections of the scores, still pretty much stand on their own as Friedhofer works of underscore.
Hugo was an absolute master at this, and much respected for it. He also seems not to have been so vain that he couldn't go along with a producer when that producer wanted a certain melody or song interpolated. Of course, Friedhofer was in the business for years and years and knew the ropes, politics, and financial side of the craft by the time of DOLPHIN and the others and could deliver the required goods.
1... It was a re-recording in the respect that the original material from the soundtrack wasn't used 2...I certainly didn't say that the melody was stolen. Many of my favorite classical composers such as Copland, Tchaikovsky, and others used melodies they found from other sources and incorporated them into works. Appalachian Spring is an example of a Shaker melody Copland used. However, having said that I didn't see one reference made to Morakis in the Intrada CD booklet which frankly I find disturbing. 3...I wish I could confirm the Howard Roberts conducting. Perhaps Douglass will know as I sent him a PM.
.....It was a re-recording in the respect that the original material from the soundtrack wasn't used.....
Are you suggesting here that material recorded for a film on the same day, by the same orchestra, by the same conductor, and in the same studio, which doesn't make it into the film's soundtrack---like an alternate take, or an outtake---but DOES make it onto a "soundtrack" cd or lp of the film's score, is a re-recording??????
If so, I think you may have created a new definition of a re-recording.
In the past, I think we've all defined a re-recording as having been done weeks, or months, or years AFTER the original music sessions for the film---and most often by a different orchestra and conductor and in a different studio facility.
As an aside, do you fully understand how music sessions are assembled and recorded for films, how different channels and tracks are utilized, how sweeteners and vocals may be laid in at different times, and how music editing and mixes can creatively change the direction of an already recorded score for its film release and for its soundtrack album, and, finally, how licensing arrangements with artists can also cause changes between film and album---and yet the final album still reflects, in content and performance, the film's original soundtrack sessions???
I was waiting for this response. The main title may not have been OST, but the score proper sure has sounded like the real deal since I first saw the movie in 1970 on the late show.
What I understand is the following. Decca wanted to produce a OST of the material but knew from the outset that the Julie London vocal would not be allowed on their label so they made a recording using their vocalist Mary Kaye. Thus, the original went into the film and the Kaye was not a OST but a specific recording for the Decca LP. I have no idea if the two recordings are from the same source and as you suggested a different vocalist was used but the same take was used. That premise is only true if the IMDB info is false. If Roberts conducted the track for Julie its not and according to my thinking its possible that credit didn't want to be given the other way.
It's interesting to note that Julie London recorded for Liberty and Mary Kaye (whose vocal is on the L.P.) recorded for Decca (or which "Boy On A Dolphin" was originally released); ironically both Liberty and Decca are part of Universal Music Group, which gives an opportunity to do another edition on C.D. with both versions.
It's interesting to note that Julie London recorded for Liberty and Mary Kaye (whose vocal is on the L.P.) recorded for Decca (or which "Boy On A Dolphin" was originally released); ironically both Liberty and Decca are part of Universal Music Group, which gives an opportunity to do another edition on C.D. with both versions.
'Twould be my 3rd purchase of this score on CD, but without a doubt I'd spring for a new release which included the Julie London film version of the title vocal! Somebody get on it! Love the score.
