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Mine arrived a few minutes ago too. I received no shipping notice though, so it was unexpected. Very pleased to have it.
Update: Impossible to remove the Disaster set CDs from the outer package, without damaging it. Twenty minutes with no success. I'm wondering if a temperature change or something might help (like putting it in the fridge for a few minutes). Or would warming it up be better? Any other ideas short of covering the thing in grease?
None of this would have happened if the box had elipses cut into the top and botton open edges, like many competent designs, to enable the jewel cases to be gripped and withdrawn.
5he Wrathbone Dilemma
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5he Wrathbone Dilemma
Solved it now, with a small pair of pliers that allowed me to get barely enough grip on the edge of a jewel case to eventually withdraw it without any marking of the slipcase.
On a more positive note, the booklet for the Western Set looks particularly impressive.
I know.
You keep posting on TWO threads!
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Posted: |
Dec 20, 2019 - 3:36 PM
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By: |
Ray Worley
(Member)
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Mine came today. I've only listened to 2 discs so far, but it is already unquestionably the best release of the year.
I don't know about "unquestionably"... the Steiner Westerns set is running it close. Two superb sets leading the field.
How lucky we are this Christmas, to have two such marvelous releases so close together.
I finished my first listen and I stand by my opinion. "Unquestionably"...for me...because it shouldn't have to be stated in every post that this is my personal preference. As excellent as the Max Steiner Western set is, I just happen to prefer the music of Waxman, Newman, Raksin, and others over Steiner.
Besides the glories of NEVADA SMITH, THE FURIES, WILL PENNY, and EL DORADO, which I expected, I particularly enjoyed Sukman's THE HANGMAN and (however brief) Webb's BRANDED. But there is not a bad or boring bit in the whole set.
[Cue the eternal complaint of the Golden Age fan: "Not enough Roy Webb"] 
I was struck at how different the film versions of the Newman, Raksin, and Riddle scores are from their original LPs. NEVADA SMITH probably comes off best as a fine album on its own. Yes, it's a re-recording with a reduced orchestra, but it has some really nice expanded concert-style arrangements of themes that are not fully developed in the film. EL DORADO was the worst with it's pop sensibility and not a good representation of the score at all. WILL PENNY, with only one side of the LP devoted to the score, really left us wanting more.
I wish we got album versions on this set, but I totally understand why it may have been not feasible. Were album masters even extant? Perhaps they were too expensive or tied up in rights' knots. Frankly, I'd rather not have waited another couple of years if it would have required a lot of effort. Guess I'll just keep my LP to CD rips.
One minor quibble with the otherwise EXCELLENT liner notes: [in EL DORADO, the photography]..."evoke the paintings of Frederic Remington (some of which appear under the main title)."
Sorry, no. There are no Remington paintings in the main titles. They are all by equally great, but slightly more contemporary painter, Olaf Weighorst, who also appears in the film as gunsmith Swede Larsen.
Easy mistake...I only caught it because I love that main title sequence and have watched it many times just to enjoy the song and the paintings.
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I finished my first listen and I stand by my opinion. "Unquestionably"...for me...because it shouldn't have to be stated in every post that this is my personal preference. As excellent as the Max Steiner Western set is, I just happen to prefer the music of Waxman, Newman, Raksin, and others over Steiner.
Same here! Plus, even aside from preferring the composers on this set, I think there is something to be said for variety! There are no two scores on this amazing set of 11 by the same composer.
Besides the glories of NEVADA SMITH, THE FURIES, WILL PENNY, and EL DORADO, which I expected, I particularly enjoyed Sukman's THE HANGMAN and (however brief) Webb's BRANDED. But there is not a bad or boring bit in the whole set.
Glad to hear it -- John Takis has excellent taste (as does Frank DeWald), so I'm not surprised they zeroed in on the best Paramount western scores to include. It is a shame how brief the Webb selections are, but John assured me in a FB Messenger conversation that they were all the cues that could be salvaged from this fine score -- and Chris Malone had to do a *lot* of salvaging work for us to even get the selections we did on this set, since many of the scores were in deteriorating condition. A decade ago I'll bet some of these would have just been deemed unsalvageable, and I for one am grateful for every little bit of Roy Webb I can get.
[Cue the eternal complaint of the Golden Age fan: "Not enough Roy Webb"]
Damn straight! An American master worthy of being mentioned in the same breath with Friedhofer, Newman, Raksin, and Herrmann IMO.
I was struck at how different the film versions of the Newman, Raksin, and Riddle scores are from their original LPs. NEVADA SMITH probably comes off best as a fine album on its own. Yes, it's a re-recording with a reduced orchestra, but it has some really nice expanded concert-style arrangements of themes that are not fully developed in the film. EL DORADO was the worst with it's pop sensibility and not a good representation of the score at all. WILL PENNY, with only one side of the LP devoted to the score, really left us wanting more.
I wish we got album versions on this set, but I totally understand why it may have been not feasible. Were album masters even extant? Perhaps they were too expensive or tied up in rights' knots. Frankly, I'd rather not have waited another couple of years if it would have required a lot of effort. Guess I'll just keep my LP to CD rips.
So...I wouldn't assume that album masters don't survive for these. I think Nelson Riddle just doesn't enjoy the popularity he used to, and with his album on Epic (Sony-owned) we just may never see it reissued on CD. But I would maintain hope for the two Dot albums (Newman's Nevada Smith and Raksin's Will Penny), because Dot is owned by Universal Music Group, and I think it's entirely possible Intrada might choose to pair these as they've done with a lot of other classic LP recordings (such as Goldsmith's Stagecoach). Unless they were lost in the Universal fire a few years back, that is... I for one would buy the CD premiere of these unique recordings, especially since as you say there are some special concert-style arrangements for the Newman score.
Yavar
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I'll take the rap for the Remington/Weighorst mix-up. Remington WAS cited in at least one contemporaneous article as a key cinematographic influence on the film, but connecting that to the MT images was clearly a goof. Mea culpa, and thanks for the clarification!
But it does bring up the interesting subject of great "western" art! Personally I like Remington my favorite is Charles M. Russell:
Apart from that, Ray, I'm thrilled that you are enjoying the set (and the notes) so much! We really did feel like we were unearthing buried gold with this project, and it's edifying to know that there are people out there who are feeling the same way. (And I REALLY wish we could have given you more of Webb's BRANDED! I enjoyed the film, but it would be worth watching regardless just to hear more of that marvelous score.)
I do look forward to seeing the film some day, but out of curiosity can you say how much more Webb score there is in it for which the tapes couldn't be salvaged?
It was so long ago that I can't recall why precisely we weren't able to include the re-recordings from the various LPs. But the trade-off, of course, is that this allowed us to include several fantastic additional scores that might have otherwise gone unheard!
It's a great trade-off, and given that the album recordings have a different current owner, was probably the correct choice, to keep the cost of the box set down. And hopefully Intrada or some other label working with UMG will pair the Newman and Raksin album recordings for us, some point down the line.
Yavar
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