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Posted: |
Jul 10, 2020 - 7:48 PM
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By: |
EricHG30
(Member)
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As far as I know, Jimmy Webb's excellent score to The Last Unicorn has only ever had a release (on vinyl and CD) in Germany, where the songs apparently met with some success. The songs, sung by America (with Jeff Bridges and Katie Irving, on the soundtrack release, mercifully replacing Mia Farrow as heard in the film, on two tracks), take up about half of the 40 minute running time of the original release, with Webb's lush orchestral score taking up the rest. However, I'm sure more of the score could be tracked down.
As it is, I know this is a release that holds a ton of nostalgia for people like me who grew up with the film, as well as much interest for all of the Jimmy Webb fans and collectors out there (particularly because the orchestral stuff is like nothing else he has done before, including his few other movie scores, like Voices, which are pop oriented even in their instrumentals). It's also simply just a great fantasy score. The CD has been long out of print, and has gone for ridiculous prices online for years and years now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4asykIMWbfU
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By the way, in a NYT interview Jimmy Webb said that his favorite composers were Ravel, Vaughan Williams, Berlioz, Britten, and John Barry.
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Posted: |
Jul 25, 2020 - 6:36 PM
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By: |
EricHG30
(Member)
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In response to what other scores Webb did, he did the soundtrack to Voices, which is largely a song score (Burton Cummings sings for Michael Ontkean who plays a rock musician who falls in love with a deaf woman played by Amy Irving) but it does have a few score tracks which are done in a kinda 70s pop style but I like them. Still, very different from Last Unicorn's score. Varese Sarabande has the soundtrack (still in print). https://www.varesesarabande.com/products/voices
Someone mentioned Wildfire, a cartoon show I grew up with (that has other Last Unicorn ties--at some point Peter S Beagle, Unicorn's author and screenwriter was a consultant). And he also did the TV musical series version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (I believe the songs and score). He also did the theme and scored the pilot of E/R, the apparently terrible early 70s comedy The Naked Ape, episodes of Tales from the Crypt, Faerie Tale Theatre and Amazing Stories, a film about POWs in Vietnam called The Hanoi Hilton and a crime drama written and directed by William Katt (!) called Clean and Narrow.
Glad to see there's some other interest in this! It's probably true that we'll never get an expanded soundtrack--still, to at least have it back in print (and maybe not just as an import) would be great. There were two major BluRay editions recently within five years of each other (partly due to the huge success of a screening tour of the film Beagle did which I saw in two different cities) so the demand's out there. It's odd that there was never a domestic soundtrack release considering they went through the trouble of getting a better singer to replace Mia Farrow's film vocals. Thanks especially to Wedge for the playlist!
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Posted: |
Jul 26, 2020 - 12:15 AM
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By: |
EricHG30
(Member)
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He hasn't written anything new in maybe 10-15 years that I know of, though he recently released a well received duets album of his hits (actually a second duets album)
I was too young to watch Seven Brides and unfortunately there's not much of it on Youtube (last I looked)
I'm something of a Webb fanatic (although not quite enough to pay $100 bucks for a used copy of Last Unicorn to replace my burned CD, hence my initial post). So I know this is off topic and I'll try my best to be succinct 
Like another of my faves, Bacharach, collecting Webb can be frustrating--lots of stuff goes out of print very quickly, and often are pricey Japanese imports. Unlike Bacharach, there aren't a lot of compilations.
But a few starting points I can suggest... A lot of Webb fans think he interprets his songs the best. I don't agree, but he is a fine singer whose voice improves with age (unlike Bacharach  ) and those aren't bad places to start (also a lot of his songs only exist in his versions). There's a budget price package of his first five albums (which means you only really miss his 6th if you want to get his original releases)--in a slip case with each albumin a cardboard sleeve replicating the original records. It's easy to find online. It uses the remastering Rhino did on a limited edition release 15 years back https://www.discogs.com/Jimmy-Webb-Original-Album-Series/release/7527727
His masterpiece album really is 1969 Sunshower for Thelma Houston (yes, the Don't Leave Me This Way woman who he felt could be his muse the way Dionne was for Bacharach/David). It was a flop though a huge critical hit. Stunning vocals, arrangements and songwriting. It's had a few CD releases (first in Japan) including ones with non-Webb bonus tracks and may still be possible to find at a good price, I believe you can buy it on mp3 now too. From the same era his other classic concept album is 5th Dimension's Magic Garden which used to be packaged with Up Up and Away the first album he did for them but is hard to find now. Then there are also the two albums again from that vintage area he did with Richard Harris which... are an acquired taste (I much prefer Donna Summer singing about cakes melting in the rain) but do have gorgeous production/arrangements. There was also a collection of all of his songs done with Glen Campbell though it's out of print (and I missed out on it--it's now out of my price range).
Michael Feinstein, the cabaret artist, has a surprisingly great Webb album out as well, which includes some rarities like selections from some of the musicals Webb has been unable to get off the ground.
Finally there are two compilations, both out of print, of his songs as sung by others (though usually produced by Webb). The first is a UK budget release but with good sound--and now quite obscure https://www.discogs.com/Jimmy-Webb-And-Someone-Left-The-Cake-Out-In-The-Rain-The-Classic-Songs-Of-Jimmy-Webb/release/3751969
The second and by far the best is a 2 disc set by Australia's Raven Records which used to excel at this kind of thing (the one issue I have with them is lousy liner notes and they frustratingly never use a chronological sequence). It's pretty essential I think and quite often you see copies available at a convenient price. It has all the big hits although not always by the original artist (but I quite like all the versions they used). Discogs lists it for sale for 1000 bucks but I've seen it recently on Amazon marketplace for 20 or so so keep your eyes peeled. https://www.discogs.com/Various-Tunesmith-The-Songs-Of-Jimmy-Webb/release/3763847
Hope that's of some help!
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Posted: |
Jul 26, 2020 - 3:46 PM
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By: |
EricHG30
(Member)
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I wasn't surprised by the Feinstein album. He's very talented, a great singer and performer of the American songbook. It is a great album.
The box set of the 5 albums is great value, and Angel Heart was recently released as an expanded version. Well worth getting. Archive is a good compilation of those albums. Suspending Disbelief from the early 90s is another good solo effort. My copy is from Collectors Choice I believe.
The Cake In The Rain compilation must have had 2 different covers, as mine has a drawing of a girl on the telephone if I remember.
Raven also released a good CD of the Reunion album with Glen Campbell which also has all the other Webb songs he recorded after that.
Also excellent are the 2 recent collaboration albums with a load of different artists and Jimmy performing his songs.
Twilight of the Renegades from a few years ago is also very good, with versions of Skywriter and Gauguin.
And I can't forget Artie's Watermark album, a classic. I would always recommend that.
You're right about Feinstein, of course. I just know that I've had a hard time convincing some fans of Webb to check it out as they associate Feinstein only with that dreaded term "show tunes" (which, being a musical theatre geek, obviously never bothered me). But I've yet to find anyone who didn't love it once they heard it.
I still need to get that expanded Angel Heart--last time I looked it was already a bit out of my price range (I believe it was released by Real Gone Music whose releases I usually love--they did a great job with my favourite Bacharach soundtrack, the rather obscure Together?--I also missed the boat with their release of Webb's kinda odd 1970s reunion album with 5th Dimension which goes for hundreds now... Sigh). Yes, Reunion was the Campbell album I mentioned that *also* is now outside of my price range. Raven were pretty committed to Webb (my CD of the two Richard Harris albums is from them, as well)
Not a popular choice among fans, but ten years after the great Sunshower album, Webb returned to Thelma Houston with Breakwater Cat, producing it all and writing the first side which plays as a suite. I love it, but I think a lot of Webb fans are turned off by the decidedly funk (and yes, even somewhat disco) style. It was remastered as a twofer with a later Houston album and, at least for a while, available at a budget price.
Interesting about Cake Out in the Rain and the different covers... And of course Watermark is a classic album. Art later did a beautiful cover of (bring this back to the start) Last Unicorn's All I've Got to Say. (And on a tangent, it always bothered me that both the Cake in the Rain and Tunesmith compilations use the later re-recording of Art's first hit with Webb, All I Know).
Nice to see another big fan here! What do you think of the Voices soundtrack?
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Posted: |
Aug 13, 2020 - 2:59 AM
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By: |
Thomas
(Member)
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Eric
There was some previous discussion about Jimmy and Love Story on this thread...
https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=129754&forumID=1&archive=0
Yes, the expanded Angel Heart was released by Real Gone Music. I didn't realise it is seemingly OOP. It was only released toward the end of 2018 if I remember. It is worth getting a copy if you can find one at a decent price though. It has the unreleased bonus tracks, photos of the recording session and lyrics, and informative notes about it all by Fred Mollin in the booklet.
I find it strange the later version of All I Know by Art is included in compilations as well, though I do like it. I believe the first time I heard it was on his early 90s Up 'til Now album, so I think he rerecorded it for that release (that album also includes Art's tremendous version of Skywriter, my personal favourite). The version of All I've Got To Say is on Artie's 1981 album Scissors Cut, which incidentally includes a couple more Webb songs that are on his Angel Heart album.
I like Voices as well, I picked up the Varese release of that. Some nice songs and I like the theme as well, though I can't remember what it's called.
Do you like the The Animals' Christmas album?
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