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Posted: |
Sep 22, 2013 - 7:56 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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This was an important stepping-stone in Williams' career. It was the first thing he did after signing a contract with Stanley Wilson at Revue Studios (probably around the summer of 58). Having only done the B-film DADDY-O as a composer prior to this – assuming the recording dates for that film did indeed predate the show – it was a whole new world for the budding composer, and a massive vote of confidence by Revue music boss Wilson. He did 8 episodes in season 2, the first of which premiered already in October-1958.
A soundtrack LP was released at the time (since reissued on a Spanish RCA CD), and impressively, Williams is represented with 3 tracks on the 12-track LP (impressive because the show had 117 episodes and Williams only did 8 of them). They are rerecordings of the original cues composed for the show, which were mostly short bursts of jazzy riffs for the brief transportation scenes, confrontations etc. Not terribly interesting in and of themselves, but very nice as raw material for longer variations. Here's a breakdown of all the Williams music for the series:
Season 2, Episode 5: "The Trap" (aired October 24, 1958)
This may very well be the first-ever score John Williams did in the industry, depending on the recording dates for the film DADDY-O. A young ex-criminal gets accidentally caught up in incidents that he thinks are worse than they are, and flees into the arms of an active criminal for protection. Lieutenant Ballinger sets out to prevent him from getting into more trouble. There are some cool big band swings in the brief transportation sequences, but rarely long stretches of music. There are some cool tamtams, some flute flurries and several mickey-mousing stingers with the brass. A cameo of Basie's theme pops up as Ballinger approaches in a car. Williams is credited as "John T. Williams, Jr.", probably to separate him from his – at the time - more famous dad.
Season 2, Episode 6: "Force of Habit" (aired October 31, 1958)
A woman loses her brother in a fire, but pretends it is her criminal husband to protect him from the police. This allows him to go on another crime spree. Again, it's mostly short bursts of seething crime noir music for scene transitions, transportation sequences and so on, but it's got a cool contrabass line going through it, as well as some harsh brass and piano rolls for the two brief action sequences. If I'm not mistaken, the "Discovery" theme from the soundtrack appears a few times.
Season 2, Episode 11: "The Executioner" (aired December 5, 1958)
A waiter accidentally witnesses a transaction between a jeweler and a gangster 'middlewoman', and is pursued by a mobster 'executioner'. It's up to Balinger to protect him and solve the case. The keyword here is saxophones, some xylophone and lots of cool piano rolls. The score toggles between slow, sleazy sensuality and upbeat swing. And of course, variations of the Basie theme appears everytime Balinger walks or drives around.
Season 2, Episode 15: "The Teacher" (aired January 2, 1959)
At a 're-education' school for young hooligans, one of them is destined to continue his criminal streak, including murder. The keyword for this episode is a lot of brooding brass and a sneaky flute theme. Also a lovely sax theme for the relationship between one of the more levelheaded hooligans (played by a young Burt Reynolds) and his girlfriend. There are several cues that I wish weren't mixed so low or that were allowed to continue for more than 10 seconds.
Season 2, Episode 17: "One Man's Life" (aired January 23, 1959)
A shop owner is wrongfully accused of the murder of another competitive shop owner, while the real murderer is covering behind his wife's witness lies. There isn't a lot of music in this episode, and none is particularly striking. It's mostly very brief snippets, usually just a dramatic 'film noir chord' or two inbetween the long moments of dialogue.
Season 2, Episode 21: "The Star Witness" (aired February 20, 1959)
An internal gang killing in a nightclub is partially witnessed by a young woman who wants to use the opportunity for fame and fortune as a 'star witness'. Williams taps into breezy west coast jazz for a number of tracks, including extensive use of guitars. There's also a TWIN PEAKS-like theme with a contrabass line as well as some of the typical uptempo jazz bits for the brief moments of action.
Season 2, Episode 25: "The Harpies" (aired March 20, 1959)
A woman kills a man outside an apartment building. Balinger has several female suspects ("harpies") and has to find out who did it. The episode opens with an unusually long version of the track "The Discovery" which is allowed to be in the forefront with little dialogue. There are also some sleazy sax solos for the women and the interogations.
Season 2, Episode 40: "Death is a Clock" (aired July 3, 1959)
A man is on death row for having murdered a guy in a bar, but he suffers from amnesia. His wife tries to take the law into her own hand to save him from the 'death of the clock'. If I'm not mistaken, I could hear elements of all three soundtrack cues here – "The Search", "The Discovery" and "The End". There's a lot of sleuthing that turns into agitato brass, especially in the final confrontation scene where Balinger has a shoot-out with the real murderer.
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Too bad the version of the title tune on the cd is not the original.
The ost kicks ass compared to the the lame lp version
brm
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