Northwest Passage:
Classic Western Scores From M-G-M, Vol. 2

Herbert Stothart · Cyril J. Mockridge · Harry Sukman · David Shire

This third FSM collection of music from westerns presents four titles from the historical M-G-M catalog, offering the most diverse selection yet. The titles span 34 years from Herbert Stothart’s 1940 score for Northwest Passage to David Shire’s 1974 music from The Godchild. The musical styles represented are similarly diverse, ranging from—well—Stothart to Shire.

The booklet accompanying the CD includes full track listings and a brief introduction to the scores from FSM’s fearless leader, Lukas Kendall, while more detailed essays about each film and a track-by-track discussion of the music is available free of charge (to anyone) right here at www.filmscoremonthly.com/notes. The notes are also available in PDF format for easier printing.

Our previous two western collections sold out quickly, so we’ve pressed 2,000 copies of this volume. Nevertheless, don’t wait too long: order today, or risk paying high prices on eBay!

Disc One

The first CD features Herbert Stothart’s rousing score for Northwest Passage (Book I—Rogers’ Rangers) (1940), a colonial frontier adventure starring Spencer Tracy.

Disc Two

The second CD presents the infectious score for Many Rivers to Cross (1955), a comedy adventure starring Robert Talyor as a frontiersman trying his best to escape the romantic interests of a Kentucky maiden played by Eleanor Parker. Twentieth Century-Fox loaned Cyril J. Mockridge to M-G-M for this score, which prominently features the song “The Berry Tree,” written by Saul Chaplin. As an added bonus, Mockridge’s score is conducted by Miklós Rózsa, making a rare appearance on a studio podium conducting music by someone other than himself.

The end of Disc 2 also inlcudes a corrected version of a track from FSM’s previous collection, the main title to Escape From Fort Bravo, now with chorus intact.

Disc Three

The third disc contains two scores: Harry Sukman’s music for the 1961 cavalry adventure A Thunder of Drums, with source cues by guitarist Duane Eddy, who plays a small role in the film; and David Shire’s music for the 1974 TV movie The Godchild, a remake of John Ford’s 3 Godfathers.

A final note: Most of the titles on this collection came about due to suggestions on our message board. Keep the suggestions coming, but please realize that not every title is avialable for release.