The Bad News Bears Trilogy

Quartet Records and Paramount Pictures present a mammoth 3-CD box set with the world premiere release of The Bad News Bears trilogy, just in time to celebrate its 40th anniversary! 
 
The Bad News Bears was a highly successful American sports comedy directed by Michael Ritchie. Starring Walter Matthau and Tatum O’Neal, the plot features an aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaching a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league. The film was followed by two sequels, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977) and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978). In addition, there were also a short-lived 1979–80 CBS television series and a 2005 remake also produced by Paramount.
 
Three important composers were involved in the trilogy: veteran Jerry Fielding scored the original film, while younger composers Craig Safan and Paul Chihara scored the sequels. Surprisingly, despite the different styles of each composer—each of whom has a distinct musical personality—the result was a perfectly unified and structured musical trilogy.
 
At the request of director Michael Ritchie, Fielding mainly adapted his score from the popular opera Carmen by Bizet, much as he had done two years earlier with Mahler’s first symphony for The Gambler. Besides the Bizet arrangements, Fielding also incorporated a few original cues. For the sequels, Craig Safan did something similar with the “1812 Overture” by Tchaikovsky, and Paul Chihara adapted the popular “The Mikado” by Gilbert & Sullivan. The result is three cool, fun and surprising scores.
 
The audio was carefully mastered by José Vinader from original stereo mixes and multi-tracks stored in the Paramount vaults, and the 28-page full-color booklet includes liner notes and scores analysis by John Takis, who also co-produced the box set.