Jerry Goldsmith, Ennio Morricone & Henry Mancini

3 new releases from Quartet Records

Quartet Records has released 3 new soundtracks. A 2-CD set for Jerry Goldsmith's King Solomon's Mines, Henry Mancini's score to The Pink Panther Strikes Again and a 2-CD set for Ennio Morricone's Sahara.

Quartet Records and M.G.M. are proud to present the ultimate edition of Jerry Goldsmith’s exciting score for the adventure-comedy-Indiana Jones semi-parody King Solomon’s Mines, presented on a 2-CD set (for the price of one). Directed by J. Lee Thompson, and starring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone.

The film features fortune hunter Allan Quatermain, who teams up with a resourceful woman to help find her missing father lost in the wilds of 1900s Africa. They are pursued by hostile tribes and a rival German explorer.

For his fourth collaboration with director J. Lee Thompson (after The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, The Chairman and Cabo Blanco) Jerry Goldsmith provides an awesome adventure score, one of his best efforts from the 80s: full of leitmotivs and action cues, masterfully written and completely orchestral (during the period when the composer was beginning to experiment with synthesizers). Goldsmith conducts the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra of Budapest.

The soundtrack to King Solomon’s Mines has a complicated album history. The original 1985 album, produced by the composer and edited with sound engineer Mike Ross-Trevor at CBS Studios in London, was released in the U.S. on LP by Restless Records. In France, this program was duplicated by Milan. Discos Vinilo in Spain added three short cues, though the track order was disjointed. When Milan released the score on CD in 1987 (paired with Alan Silvestri’s Delta Force), one track, “The Ritual,” was dropped. In 1991, Intrada offered a new expanded program, properly sequenced but still incomplete. This was reissued by the label in 1997. The title was revisited yet again in 2006 by Prometheus, presenting an even more complete version of the film score and improving the sound, correcting the speed with a new transfer. This superb release went out-of-print several years ago, and is a highly prized CD in the second-hand market. However, in previous CD releases, some tracks were joined with a crossfade at the end of the score program, whereas in the film they are separate tracks from different sequences. Also, some bonus tracks from the Prometheus CD were actually part of the score (“Pre-Ritual” is the beginning of “The Ritual,” although recorded in a separate take). For this new edition, we have made a fresh transfer of the original tapes, presenting the entire score in film order on disc one as Goldsmith conceived. For disc two, the composer’s original 10-track album program – which features slightly different edits and mixes on some cues – has been reproduced on CD in its entirety for the first time.

The package includes a 16-page full color booklet with liner notes and track-by-track analysis by John Takis.

Track list

CD 1
THE FILM SCORE
1. Main Title (3:40)
2. Welcoming Committee (0:51)
3. No Sale (3:38)
4. The Mummy (1:15)
5. Have a Cigar (3:39)
6. Good Morning (2:32)
7. Under the Train (3:08)
8. Dancing Shots (3:38)
9. Pain (3:07)
10. Forced Flight (5:24)
11. The Chieftain (1:03)
12. Percussion Sweetener (0:40)
13. Pot Luck (3:23)
14. Upside Down People (5:04)
15. The Crocodiles (3:08)
16. The Mines (1:25)
17. Pre-Ritual / The Ritual, Part I / The Ritual, Part II (6:16)
18. Low Bridge (3:28)
19. Falling Rocks (1:07)
20. Final Confrontation (3:11)
21. No Diamonds (4:14)

Bonus Tracks
22. Ride (3:06)
23. Theme From King Solomon’s Mines (3:40)

CD 2
Originele Soundtrack 1985

1. King Solomon’s Mines (Main Title) (3:39)
2. Upside Down People (4:51)
3. The Crocodiles (3:07)
4. Pot Luck (3:23)
5. Forced Flight (5:22)
6. Dancing Shots (3:38)
7. Good Morning (2:33)
8. No Pain (3:07)
9. The Ritual (5:05)
10. No Diamonds (End Title) (4:21)

Quartet Records and M.G.M. present the complete edition of Henry Mancini’s score for the fourth movie in the hilarious and famous Pink Panther saga, directed by Blake Edwards, with Peter Sellers as the clumsy Inspector Clouseau.

The Pink Panther Strikes Again is considered by many to be the funniest film of the series. Spectacle proved to be key for the film as United Artists gave it the international action flair afforded to their James Bond franchise. While Clouseau was as far from an employee of Her Majesty’s Secret Service as one could imagine, Edwards and his co-writer, Frank Waldman, gave their script a knowing spin on that popular series’ tropes. A now-insane ex-Chief Inspector Dreyfus (of course driven to distraction by Clouseau) takes up lodging at a henchman-filled castle, wherein he kidnaps a brilliant scientist and his daughter to build a gigantic matter-evaporating laser.

Although Strikes Again is far from the brilliant comedic glamour of the first Pink Panther movie – and from the still-charming The Return of the Pink Panther – there is no doubt that Mancini wrote here his best score for the series. The composer provides an impressive catalogue of the franchise’s quintessential style, including a memorable tune dedicated to Inspector Clouseau, German polkas and waltzes, French tangos, sophisticated suspense music (descended from the sound of other scores by the composer, such as Charade and Wait Until Dark) and action cues. Mancini also composed two lovely, original songs with lyrics by Don Black – one of them (“Come to Me”) is performed by Tom Jones with a vocal cameo by Peter Sellers. The “Main Title” sequence offers a new version of the Pink Panther Theme, interspersed with stunning arrangements by Mancini from such famous themes as Neal Hefti’s Batman, The Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain or Sweet Charity.

Music from The Pink Panther Strikes Again was released on LP in 1976 with 12 tracks, and reissued on CD in 2008 by Ryko with five bonus tracks, although the bonus material was in poor-sounding mono. But there was still much important material from this score to be released. For this complete edition, we have remixed the entire score from the 16-track masters recorded at C.T.S. Studios in London by John Richards, with amazingly clear and crystalline sound. As a result, we’re able to offer this new version in full stereo –and can say that it sounds like it was recorded yesterday!

The lavish package includes a 24-page full-color booklet, with extensive liner notes by Daniel Schweiger. Limited edition of 1000 units.

Track list

1. How (0:52)
2. Main Titles (2:39)
3. The Inspector Clouseau Theme (3:25)
4. The Evil Theme (2:56)
5. The Great Quasimodo Disguise (3:40)
6. The Plan / The Snatch (2:14)
7. Until You Love Me Tango (2:44)
8. Until You Love Me (Vocal by Michael Robbins) (2:46)
9. The Gay Tango (1:20)
10. 6M2 (0:49)
11. Laughing and Scratching (0:42)
12. The Michigan Victors (0:34)
13. The Ending (2:20)
14. The Doomsday Machine (3:26)
15. 8M2 (1:11)
16. Taxi, Please! (0:21)
17. The German Carousel (2:14)
18. Waltzing in Munich (2:35)
19. Bier Fest Polka (2:45)
20. Along Came Omar (2:24)
21. Come To Me (Instrumental) (2:59)
22. Until You Love Me (Instrumental) (3:20)
23. Romantic Interlude (Come To Me) (2:15)
24. The Inspector Clouseau Theme (3.12)
25. Exodus From the Castle (3:54)
26. Come To Me (Vocal by Tom Jones, with vocal cameo by Peter Sellers) (4:40)
27. End Titles (1:51)

Bonus tracks
28. The Michigan Victors (Alternate) (0:19)
29. Until You Love Me (Alternate edit) (1:28)
30. Exodus From the Castle (Album Version) (3:09)
31. Come To Me (Instrumental) (4:40)
32. Organ Interlude by the Ex-Chief Inspector Dreyfus (0:36)

Quartet Records and M.G.M. are happy to present the premiere complete edition of Ennio Morricone’s Sahara, composed for the Brook Shields adventure movie written and produced by Menahem Golan, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.

Sahara tells the tale of Dale Gordon (Shields), a young car racer who wants to save her late father’s business by winning a desert rally through the Sahara. Even though women are forbidden to race, Dale dons a disguise to enter the competition. Unfortunately, the desert is ravaged by warring tribes and one of them captures the girl. Seeking refuge with the noble Jaffar, Dale could easily relive a classic Oriental fantasy inspired by Rudolph Valentino’s The Sheikh – but she must also stop the German bad guys and win the race for her father’s honor.

Ennio Morricone’s score for the expensive production provides a rich, versatile and powerful epic soundtrack – a real gem and a treat for all Morricone fans. It features a lush main theme for the sweeping romance in the desert, exciting action themes for the battles and three different themes for the race itself.

This ultimate edition is presented as a 2-CD set (for the price of one). Disc one contains, for the first time, the complete score as written by Morricone for the film. Since there were many cuts and changes in the picture, a lot of music was left out of the final print; many cues were moved around or repurposed, so some of this music will be a new listening experience.

Disc two contains the original LP program as it was assembled by Morricone. The LP was released with this program all around the world, except in the U.S. where Varèse Sarabande modified the program from Morricone’s original selection. This is the first time the composer’s presentation is being released on CD. It includes many tracks that do not appear on disc one: album versions, source cues, edits, slightly different mixes, and a song recorded specifically for the album.

Mastered by Dániel Winkler from the three-track stereo mix tapes and the two-track stereo master album, all courtesy of M.G.M. Project supervised by Claudio Fuiano. The package comes with a lavishly illustrated 20-page booklet, featuring comments from Gergely Hubai, who shares anecdotes about the filming and discusses the many cuts and changes through a track-by-track breakdown of both discs’ programs. The CD is limited to 1000 copies.

Track list

CD 1
THE FILM SCORE
1. Panther Chase / Opening Credits (3:35)
2. Test Drive* (1:14)
3. Father’s Death** (2:14)
4. Alarm / Slo-Mo Horse** (2:46)
5. Arabia* (1:29)
6. The Boy and the Powder Case (1:31)
7. Repressed Emotions* (1:06)
8. Balcony Love (1:15)
9. On Your Marks* (1:03)
10. Get Set … Go (1:51)
11. Memories of Father (0:49)
12. Welcome Blue-Eye (2:55)
13. Sunset (1:40)
14. Scorpions (2:45)
15. Repressed Emotions (1:31)
16. Car Trouble* (0:40)
17. Wounded Men (0:51)
18. Love Theme / The Boy and the Powder Case* (1:00)
19. Ride to Oasis (Love Theme)*** (3:04)
20. Waterfall Kiss (1:45)
21. You Are To Be Wed (1:55)
22. Beetle Torture (0:56)
23. Armour Car Battle (3:34)
24. Desert Music (1:34)
25. More Car Trouble** (0:43)
26. Wedding Chant*** (2:22)
27. Consummation / Dale Sneaks Away (3:27)
28. Lots More Car Trouble (0:39)
29. War Report (1:52)
30. Rasoul Joins the Battle / The Battle Begins** (2:42)
31. Panther Pit / Escape from the Pit** (3:46)
32. Battle* (2:50)
33. Love Theme*** (0:57)
34. Alarm and Victory** (1:21)
35. Racing (1:46)
36. Stars and Stripes Forever (John Philip Sousa)* (1:19)
37. Sahara (End Credits) (4:21)

Bonus tracks
38. An Accident*** (1:06)
39. On Your Marks (1:05)
40. Sahara (End Credits) - Alternate version* (4:27)

CD 2
THE ORIGINAL ALBUM
1. Sahara (3:09)
2. The Party - “Charleston”(J. P. Johnson / C. Mack) (2:03)
3. Memories of Father (2:01)
4. The Car Rally (1:47)
5. Love Theme (4:20)
6. War Report (2:59)
7. A Joke and Accident (1:43)
8. Scorpions (2:44)
9. The Waterfall (3:03)
10. Battle and Victory (4:55)
11. Love Theme (Reprise) (3:08)
12. Sunset (1:37)
13. More Party Music - “Ragtime Dance” (S. Joplin) (2:46)
14. The Boy and the Powder Case (1:30)
15. Repressed Emotions (1:08)
16. Celebration Chant (2:22)
17. Alarm (1:51)
18. Panthers and Jaguars (2:07)
19. Sahara (Sung by Cathy Cole) (3:08)