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SEASON 14:
The opening credits has also been re-recorded again.
"Lyle's Kid"
By: Johnny Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnVXBRPahC0
Special note to that instrument (waterchime)* from the "The Omega Man" score -- this is only one of three scores I know of from anywhere that use it. That one you strike and dip into water.
Highlights:
0:00 in. *
About 3:05 in.
16:25 in.
About 22:57 in. Sorry, but in real life, if a girl with legs like that was next to me in the water, I wouldn't be starring out ahead, but at the legs.
35:10 in. *
A good episode.
Because of the string work and dramatic material, I'm of a mind to give it a second tier effort spot.
That's it for today. More Parker and another one-shot composer tomorrow.
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"Zavala"
By: Johnny Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzB8XBgZ1n4
Highlights:
0:55 in: a cue that runs a few different styles, including a Spanish flavor with Spanish guitar.
10:50: featuring some sort of ethnic flute-like woodwind and a vibraslap (with some more Spanish guitar).
14:42 in: which also features, what I would describe as a kind of Spanish take on Aaron Copland's much-used Americana music in western films and series.
23:10 in: a lovely piece with Spanish guitar and a trombone playing the series theme over it.
About 37:10 in: this cue was tracked into the opening of a later episode, "Hidalgo"; some of the opening was cut off. Love the cue.
26:07 in. About three minutes long.
A good episode.
Matt actually gets shot in the stomach. A series first (that I have seen). He was shot in the back once or twice in prior episodes I talked about. He'll also get shot in the back again in a later episode, almost fatally so.
This is a very fine score. I want to give it a top tier spot. It hits my ear very nicely. The score deserve a full release. I wanted to mention nearly every single cue.
"Slocum"
By: Johnny Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkbaIiFeXiA
Highlights:
0:00 in: the opening cue which introduces the theme for this episode, a kind of bouncy piece with harmonica. More at 3:03 in.
10:12 in: more of the theme.
About 12:20 in.
About 21:40: some brief action music with a return of the Slocum theme, at a slower pace.
26:41 in. That's two harmonicas, right? A Regular and a bass?
34:40 in.
A good episode.
Matt gets shot again, this time in the arm. Shoulders, arms, there's more suspension of disbelief than in a whole season of "the Twilight Zone".
Sorry, but the score is fun and a good listen and different enough to warrant a top tier spot. I suspect some others will disagree with me. Also deserves a full release.
"O'Quillian"
By: Leon Klatzkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybvzd0EqLYM
I forgot I marked about a handful of Klatzkin scores, so I might as well comment on them. I marked this one as a "decent enough score".
Highlights:
Nothing. I was too generous. Nothing here needs to be heard again.
An okay episode. An example of how a person with his head screwed on wrong can screw other people up who listen to him.
Another Festus relative mentioned. An uncle named (my guess at the spelling) Berris.
"Abelia"
By: John Parker & Leon Klatzkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4NjXL_7T8M
In a series first and only, both composers are credited on one episode.
Highlights:
0:00 in.
About 4:50 in.
10:11 in.
12:13 in.
About 17:20 in.
A borderline good episode.
A fine effort, but I'm hesitant to give it a second tier spot.
"Mannon"
By: Jamie Mendoza-Nava
His only effort for the series.
Perhaps the darkest episode of the series, Matt is away and a violent nut named Mannon takes over and terrorizes the town, and rapes miss Kitty (her second rape in the series; she implied another but didn't say the word in another episode). Everybody awaits Matt to get back, but Mannon is fast, perhaps even a faster draw than Matt.
For related spoilers, if you give a shit about seeing those two terrible TV movies, don't read at the end of this.*
Unfortunately, there is no load of the episode on Youtube currently. I'll double back and check for it another time.
* = One of the terrible things those terrible TV movies did, is one of them brought Mannon back to life.
"The Good Samaritans"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WajpFFa2qB8
Highlights:
Nothing.
An okay episode.
There's nothing wrong with the score, it's just that nothing stood out in my opinion.
Also guest starring Brock Peters -- Sisko's dad from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (he died in 2005).
Matt is shot in the belly again. I guess his shoulders are no longer the thing now that the show is in color.
More Parker today.
Tomorrow a radio show host I listen to is off, so that'll mean more time and two to three more reviews.
Minusing the Klazkin efforts, season fifteen only has seven episode scores to go over. All but two are Parker.
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Posted: |
Sep 14, 2017 - 1:51 PM
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By: |
Rollin Hand
(Member)
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Klatzkin could write both some very tender, melodious scores and some very, stringent, dissonant scores. One of my favorite "Gunsmoke"scores of his being S12's "The Goldtakers," in which Martin Landau plays Britton, the leader of a gang of cutthroats who travel to Dodge City masquerading as a group of Army soldiers. Klatzkin's score, while not pleasant listening (to say the least), really (I feel) captures in music the depraved nature of Britton, his gang and their collective nefarious aim. Landau is spot-on playing the spurious "smiling cobra" Britton.
Thanks for pointing out that good ominous score which is tracked in the season 3 episode of The Wild Wild West
entitled "The Night of the Arrow": oddly enough, an episode that is also about blue soldiers imposters—what a funny coincidence!
SEASON 12 (Episode 2, 24 September 1966)
"The Goldtakers"
By: Leon Klatzkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfco2R6FcrI
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SEASON 15:
The pre-credits and opening credits has been re-recorded again. So have the end credits (I don't really care for this version).
"Stryker"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScBRM98vzGE
The episode name runs vertically.
Highlights:
0:05 in.
About 7:58 in.
About 15:30 in. Also features a brief ascending percussion technique Parker employed in his excellent unreleased film score to "Darker than Amber".
And the next cue right after the above goes to a commercial break.
22:21 in: some brief action music.
26:22 in: a French horn plays the wistful descending theme for the character of Stryker.
29:11 in: more material like the 7:58 example.
An okay episode. It has it's good moments.
Another episode contradicts who long Matt has been a marshal. The last time I brought this up I pointed out it was wrong and he had been one longer. In this one it says he's been one for at least fifteen years.
I might put this as a second tier effort.
"Coreyville"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzhQGyh8xx4
And now another score with the watercrime. Only in one cue (the opening one I didn't mention).
Highlights:
About 3:03 in.
23:10 in: some fight music.
38:08 in.
41:20 in.
A borderline mediocre episode.
"Danny"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxANXrryOUA
Highlights:
2:07: a brief example of the theme for the character Danny. Parker prefers long-lined lyrical themes.
About 3:00 in: more of the theme. Using a piccolo.
About 7:40 in: the theme played more slowly and with strings and a flute, with some soft brass underneath.
12:01 in. 14:28 in could maybe be an outro for the initial cue.
About 14:50 in.
28:50 in.
33:51 in: the upbeat funeral music with Danny's theme.
39:20 in: closes out the episode, including a sad rendition of Danny's theme.
A good episode.
A second tier episode score. Likely deserves a full release.
Kitty: "A little bit of flattery like that is going to get you a drink on the house."
That's it for today. Tomorrow a lot of Parker, another Geller, and another one-shot composer. Maybe a Stevens if I get that far.
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You will. This thread isn't over yet.
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"Hawk"
By: Luchi De Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAKOMGMfFEg
This is his only effort for the series.
Highlights:
23:07 in.
About 27:50 in.
About 41:00 in.
An okay episode.
Often in the series somebody will ask, "Is it Indians?" and it's almost never Indians. This time, it's Indians. And nobody asked.
"Charlie Noon"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzYaFJ0yFGQ
Highlights:
0:00 in: some quiet menacing low-key material.*
10:45 in.
35:34 in: a clarinet and a guitar open the cue which then goes into some strings and brass, with the clarinet returning. There is other material as well*
A good episode.
Some little ideas for an upcoming episode he scored, "Chato", are heard in this episode score.
Also some more ideas from "Darker Than Amber" are used. *
I apologize, I forgot I had things to do today, so this is all I will be able to review today.
Tomorrow, plenty more Parker and a Geller.
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"A Matter of Honor"
By: Harry Geller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9gq8-PBWMA
Highlights:
16:21 in.
21:33 in: mournful string work.
41:37.
An okay episode.
There's little scoring in the episode, unless you count the source music for the town social.
Pa: "A man lives out his life, has to make compromises; sometimes you do things you don't ... wanna do. But you do them, because if you didn't, you don't survive."
"The Sisters"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmpRCAU2QI4
Highlights:
9:49 in.
About 17:50 in.
30:15 in.
35:28 in.
A good episode.
Special mention to the good acting by Lynn Hamilton, Gloria Calomee, and Susan Batson (playing nuns).
Another cue in this episode score also uses that ascending percussion technique from "Darker than Amber".
Festus: "I've never seen such a case of runaway wishin' in all my born life."
"Albert"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rthIsT49NWE
Highlights:
About 5:28 in.
About 37:35 in.
39:08 in.
A good episode.
A banker who's been honest and trust worthy all his life with nothing to show for it, is canned after a robbery.
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SEASON 16:
The opening and closing credits have been re-recorded again. The opening credits this season is one of my favorite arrangements.
"Chato"
By: John Parker
Suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tey3_jMaT0A
Normally I would describe the best scores of the series as "top tier", but I just need to go further than that. This is an excellent score.
Featuring a long-lined lyrical theme over ten notes in length depending on hos it is presented, the theme is heard in a soft rendition, a sad rendition, and action material.
Parts of the theme are also used as separately as action motifs or just plain announcing Chato.
The episode itself is one of the best of the series. Ricardo Montalban stars as Chato, an Indian who decided death was the way to solve his issues with the white man. But ultimately, he comes up finally against Matt.
"The Noose"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29K-NW4-Lpc
Highlights:
0:20 in.
About 16:00 in.
34:13 in: a long cue building to an execution.
41:10 in.
A good episode.
"Sam McTavish, M.D."
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7uWJB5f3tM
Now a fifth score with the waterchime.
Highlights:
Nothing stood out for me. It's not a bad core, mind you. I might count the closing cue.
A good episode.
What is up with Matt's hair?
"Gentry's Law"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK8FnwN6BC4
Highlights:
About 40:40 in: Gentry's theme and some ideas from throughout the episode score.
Score from "Chato" is tracked in to the opening chase scene.
That's it for today. Nothing but Parker tomorrow, including the two-parter "Snow Train".
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"Snow Train: Part 1"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwLDQuy7oVQ
Winner of the Western Heritage award for the best western music of 1970.
Highlights:
0:05 in.
9:12 in: more of the above cue, with a more propulsive feel and an anvil.
13:20 in.
21:08 in.
39:25 in: a tender piece with acoustic guitar with various woodwinds getting solos.
Amongst the guest stars are Loretta Swit ("M*A*S*H") and Dana Elcar ("MacGyver").
"Snow Train: Part 2"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNv-QEEn4Hw
Highlights:
6:00 in.
About 7:50 in. There's a lull of two or three seconds, so be patient for the music to pick back up.
25:35 in.
35:18 in. The score continues until the end -- around seven minutes long.
A good two-parter.
There are no end credits; the credits appear on screen during the wrap up of loose threads during the end.
I'm a little hesitant -- despite all the excellent material -- to give it a top tier spot, but rest assure as the old phrase goes "Your mileage may vary". I'm giving it a deserved second tier spot, bordering on a top tier spot.
This time it is Indians. Nobody has to ask.
"The Noonday Devil"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UMsHoexJF0
Sorry about the beginning; every video I saw had that part chopped off.
Highlights:
16:40 in.
24:07 in.
An okay episode.
I swear that closing cue is tracked from another Parker episode score.
That's all I have time for today. Tomorrow, more Parker, another Geller, and a Klatzkin score I marked as an "okay score". If time permits, that will close out the season.
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"Jenny"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzJy0yLX60s
Highlights:
About 14:00 in.
18:18 in.
About 26:50 in.
An okay episode.
This score uses a little bit what sounds like three bass harmonicas, played as if they were trembling strings.
Bad sound effect award goes to: this episode for using a cleaned up version of a photon torpedo firing from the original "Star Trek" series.
"Mirage"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg_dRW9hqg4
Suite: http://www.youtube.com/embed/zKis9EwWlJo
Highlights:
4:39 in: probably the second time a composer experimented with synths in a "Gunsmoke" score.
About 10:30 in.
14:14 in: which features the most prominent use of the theme so far, for on cor anglias, then traded off to a flute.
About 36:40 in.
A good episode.
Featuring a theme very similar to the one from "Chato".
I think I've been seeing edited syndicated run episodes for about a season now, as this episode is eight minutes longer than normal.
"Tycoon"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx9hDsF_o2g
Highlights:
41:05 in.
An okay episode.
I don't know why Festus is so dumbfounded by getting $500 dollars. Another season or two ago in an episode I reviewed, he made $300 and just commented about how little work he had to do for it.
I guess overall there's nothing per se wrong with the score, it's just that it's intended for comedic effect. A prime example of that -- and it works -- is at: 2:20.
Festus: "Now, if I'm supposed to be interested in interest, you'd ought to have enough interest ta tell me about interest, so that'd I can get interested in interest. But if you ain't got enough interest in my interest and interest, well then you can..." sees Doc has already walked away, "Doc?! You just ain't got no interest at'tall!"
"Jaekel"
By: Leon Klatzkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb7RxI6Hk_0
I have this score marked as an "okay score", so here I got...
Highlights:
26:05 in.
Somewhere around 35:30 in.
An okay episode.
"Lavery"
By: Harry Geller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0TjrX0yx7o
Highlights:
17:44 in: a long cue that goes through a few different ideas.
A mediocre episode.
"Pike: Part 1"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPBljViri7A
Highlights:
17:26 in.
An okay episode. I'm not as taken by it as other people are. Dirty Sally is entertaining enough to watch.
"Pike: Part 2"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Z9WJpiPM0
Highlights:
8:55 in.
About 15:44 in.
Better than the first part.
Apparently the episode changed names during re-runs. Some have it by "Pike", others by "Dirty Sally". These loads have "Dirty Sally" as the name.
That's it for today. Tomorrow's roaster: more Geller, Leo Shuken & Jack Hayes, Morton Stevens, and more Parker.
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SEASON 17:
The opening and closing credits have again been re-recorded. I don't care for this arrangement of the opening credits -- it's a little off and a little slow.
"The Lost"
By: Harry Geller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYRYrvy_gnc
Highlights:
Nothing stood out for me. There's nothing really wrong with it, mind you.
A good episode.
"Phoenix"
By: Harry Geller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRAVmdEixQw
This is Geller's final effort for the series.
Highlights:
About 26:00 in.
About 28:40 in.
A good episode.
"Waste: Part 1
By: Leon Shuken & Jack Hayes
Suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olqk6NRYjBg
"Waste: Part 2"
By: Leon Shuken & Jack Hayes
Suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHIgYqKuHeQ
These are the only episodes either of them did.
I'm a little hesitant to give it a top tier status, but that's what I'm going to do. Kind of reminds me a little of Angela Morley's work.
"New Doctor in Town"
By: Morton Stevens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E-55JHo6Jg
This is Stevens final effort for the series.
Highlights:
31:47 in. And immediately after the commercial break.
A borderline mediocre episode. Doc Adams has been replaced.
Finally, an actual night time scene where they didn't simply darken the image. And the town isn't lit up like a Christmas tree; more realistic.
I don't know what was up with Stevens not being used for two or three seasons, then brought back for one final episode. I would guess he chose to focus on other series. I'm not going to go look at what he was doing.
It's a rather low note to go out on, compared to where he left off before this.
"The Legend"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUmxvJsS3p8
Highlights:
About 27:30 in.
41:03 in.
A mediocre episode. Don't like the temporary new doctor.
"Trafton"
By: John Parker
(Multiple Episodes) Suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKis9EwWlJo
At the time I made the suite, I didn't know that cue from "Hidalgo" was tracked from another episode.
I remember it being a good score but that was the only cue I could really get clean from it.
"Lijah"
By: Richard Shores
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLVKZb0MSno
Highlights:
0:06 in.
About 8:37 in.
An okay episode.
"My Brother's Keeper"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_jDbEyrI5I
Highlights:
About 1:10 in.
2:22 in.
About 11:00 in.
About 23:40 in.
About 27:20 in.
34:32 in.
36:40 in.
39:33 in.
A good episode.
Finding shelter in a cave during a thunder storm, Festus finds an old Indian alone.
This is the only time I can recall somebody in a wheelchair in the series.
I think this would deserve a second tier spot, so that's where I am putting it.
"I got enough trouble mindin' my own business."
That's it for today. Only four credited composers I haven't covered yet.
Tomorrow will close out this season and begin a new one. All Parker tomorrow except one Shores (one of his best).
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"Drago"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64uUKctiG7c
And now a sixth score with the waterchime (just in the opening cue).
Highlights:
38:10 in: a brief action cue.
A mediocre episode.
I think I hear part of "Waste" tracked in.
"Gold Train: The Bullet: Part I"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LWmCkPm1Y8
So I guess the producers thought: Hey, that pricey two-parter with a train we did for the last season finale worked out, let's do another one with a train, only make it a three-parter this time!
Highlights:
13:55 in. Some material kind of similar to the last train season finale.
About 36:38 in.
An okay episode.
Heard a Rosenman tone pyramid about 23:00 in.
Doc Adams is back. Festus comes looking for Dr. Chapman, and he's gone and Adams is there. So, the series didn't even care enough about Chapman to explain why he left, she him leave, or have him say good-bye's. The only explanation: Adams says Chapman doesn't like good-bye's.
This is the second time Matt has been shot in the back (of the episodes I have scene). Last time was bad and so is this time.
There must have been some sound and writing problems. I've heard three people dubbed over, dialogue added where it didn't obviously exist before.
"Gold Train: The Bullet: Part II"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iY-cPmxuEo
Highlights:
About 12:40 in.
17:16 in.
About 20:00 in.
28:03 in.
30:35 in.
About 36:00 in.
"Gold Train: The Bullet: Part III"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWFE90_iZOM
Highlights:
About 8:30 in.
About 10:40 in: featuring a tender rendition of the series' theme as Kitty reminisces about the past.
19:13: a short outro cue.
Somewhere in 21:00 in.
About 24:40 in.
26:32 in.
35:15 in.
37:44 in: a long cue that closes out the episode.
It was a slow build, but at the end it turned out to be good. Nothing amazing, but did admire the slow-build in the writing and how it culminated.
Kitty tells how she came to Dodge, met Matt, and why they never had a relationship that went anywhere. Unfortunately, her story once again contradicts how long Matt has been a lawman.
"P.S. Murry Christmas"
By: Richard Shores
Suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rgMUz00iHc&hl
In my opinion, one of the series best scores.
Heart-tugging string-lead cues, upbeat cues, and one of only two examples I can think of where a composer took a traditional Christmas tune and turned it on it's head; in this one, Shores re-arranges "Little Drummer Boy" (the other example is from "Futurama" in the first Christmas episode where Santa launches the missile and Tyng turns "Deck the Halls" into a brief action piece).
"No Tomorrow"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNrq78Chqoo
Highlights:
About 2:20 in.
9:18 in.
12:10 in.
42:44 in: a fun little short cue for Festus to close out the episode.
An okay episode.
Festus finally does something I've only seen Matt do once or twice.
Maybe it's my imagination, but I swear score from another episode was tracked in here in a couple of places. for example, that brass work at about 13:00 -- I swear that theme is from another episode. But if it is not, count it in the above listing.
"Hidalgo"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYvYulYgsFU
Highlights:
About 11:00 in: some Spanish guitar and strings.
About 19:45 in. A cue that kind of mimics the opening cue that was tracked from another episode. More like it at 31:10 in.
About 24:15 in.
37:47 in.
41:17 in: a different cue very noticeably edited into the other. Uses the series' theme.
An okay episode.
Matt gets shot again.
"Tara"
By: John Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCFWPOmG_fo
Highlights:
27:27 in.
about 38:30 in.
An okay episode.
That's it for today.
Tomorrow's roaster: more Parker than you can shake a stick at. That will close out this season and open the next one.
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