The Wild Bunch – Jerry Fielding (1969/2001, APE)

(http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/835/6qf3.jpg/)

Tracklist

1. Song From The Wild Bunch
2. Main Title
3. Aurora Mi Amor
4. Assault On The Rain And Escape
5. Drinking Song
6. Adelita
7. Adventures On The High Road
8. El Bodega De Bano (Wine Cellar)
9. Dirge And Finale
10. End Credits (La Golondrina)

https://mega.co.nz/#!TsZznCAb!L6q6jn–Fx9jGYcIK2JnmBgd4fZ5VoQVHc3hiynX3jI

———- Post added at 04:32 AM ———- Previous post was at 04:31 AM ———-

Though he died a terribly early death in 1980, Jerry Fielding was among the most original composers of music for the movies in history, not to mention among its most underrated, at least insofar as the general film audience was concerned. He was one of those staunch Hollywood political liberals who suffered from the blacklisting of the McCarthy era; but unlike some, his career rebounded when director Otto Preminger got him to do the score for ADVISE AND CONSENT in 1961. Perhaps his greatest achievement came in 1969, when director Sam Peckinpah tagged him to do the score for what was then, and is even today, one of the most explosively violent films in Hollywood history, the landmark action western epic THE WILD BUNCH. Fielding’s efforts were rewarded with the first of three Academy Award nominations (the other two were for Peckinpah’s 1971 shocker STRAW DOGS, and Clint Eastwood’s magisterial 1976 Civil War western THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES); and though Fielding went home empty-handed all three times, his genius was clearly there for all to hear.

Because THE WILD BUNCH is set along the Texas-Mexico border during the year 1913, with Mexico being plagued by a bitter Civil War, Peckinpah had encouraged Fielding to give the score as much of a Mexican flavoring as was possible, with an emphasis on Mexican guitars and, wherever appropriate, mariachi bands. Fielding, who was originally from Pittsburgh, was thus given quite a challenge, but he managed it. With the help of a traditional Hollywood studio orchestra and some mariachi players, Fielding constructed a score that was epic in scope and Mexican in sound without being overdone. The martial main title music (heard as the Bunch ride into Starbuck at the opening) sets the tone for both the score and the movie itself, while the Mariachi influences are there consistently throughout, including the cues involving the traditional Mexican folk ballads interspersed throughout, including "Adelita" and "La Golondrina" (the song that the people of Angel’s village serenade the Bunch with as they depart for Agua Verde). The other aspect of Fielding’s score involves bringing a counterpoint to the film’s extreme violence via music illustrating the relationship between the characters played by William Holden and Robert Ryan who are (Ryan especially) reluctant antagonists. And then there’s that ominous dirge in A Minor at the end, in the post-battle scene at Agua Verde under a darkening afternoon sky. Those are the marks of a solid relationship between director and composer, one that would be evident a number of times after this between Peckinpah and Fielding, notably on STRAW DOGS and the later 1974 cult film BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA.

Fielding’s scoring genius would prove valuable on a number of lesser-known films as well, most notably on director Michael Winner’s highly underrated 1971 psychological western LAWMAN; but it is the score for THE WILD BUNCH that can arguably be considered his supreme achievement, with its mix of orchestral and south-of-the-border ethnic flavoring. For any serious collector of motion picture scores, this is an essential and highly recommended addition.

Take care