Monday 4 February 2013

War-gods of the Deep | Original Soundtrack by Stanley Black gets a CD release

WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP & CROSSPLOT
COMING FEBRUARY 2013

Stanley Black (1913-2002) was one of the most popular English band leaders who arranged prolifically for the BBC and Decca as well. Coming from the 1930s London jazz scene and a background in radio music, Black's film music career includes over 100 titles, horror films Blood of the Vampire (1958) and Jack the Ripper (1959), the Cliff Richards musical The Young Ones (1961) and the adaptation of Ferde GrofĂ© pieces for Ken Russell’s Valentino (1977). Black’s film music output has been criminally neglected in the last few decades, the only major compilation of his works is Chandos CD The Film Music of Stanley Black. This CD from Quartet Records presents two different films from the composer’s output from the tumultuous 1960s: War-Gods of the Deep (1965), the AIP adventure inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The City in the Sea and starring Vincent Price, and Crossplot (1969) starring Roger Moore.

Stanley Black’s dark and gothic score for War-Gods of the Deep could be easily compared to Les Baxter’s similar Poe/AIP horrors; while Crossplot – a dry run for Moore's later role as James Bond – has a proto-007 feeling, headlined by the John Rowles theme song I’ll Find My Love with imaginative variations peppered thoroghout the score. The music was later tracked into several episodes of the cult Roger Moore/Tony Curtis show The Persuaders.

Since the recording tapes of these films are now completely lost, this release is mastered from music stems elements in mono, courtesy of MGM, accompanied by a 28-page booklet with liner notes by Gergely Hubai, who discusses the composer and the films with a track-by-track analysis for both titles.

WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP
1. Main Title / Turgillis Manor (2:27)
2. Gillman Attack (1:45)
3. Jill’s Theme (1:54)
4. Kidnapped Jill / Secret Watergate (3:07)
5. The Captain Enters (2:47)
6. The City in the Sea / My People, My World / The Hunting Party (3:12)
7. First Edition Poe (1:45)
8. Jill Found (1:33)
9. A Shrine to Beatrice (1:13)
10. Underwater Escape (10:05)
11. Cave Fight (1:16)
12. Volcano Eruption (1:03)
13. Final Escape / End Titles (6:07)

CROSSPLOT
14. Prologue / I’ll Find My Love (4:05)
15. Fenn’s Place (1:46)
16. Off to Work (2:48)
17. Planted Photo (0:45)
18. I’ll Find My Love (Instrumental) (1:10)
19. Finding Marla (1:26)
20. The Promise (1:42)
21. Drive On (1:20)
22. Photo Shoot (1:21)
23. Chasing Warren (4:12)
24. Mystery Guest (0:56)
25. Black Convoy (0:41)
26. Oldsmobile Chase (2:05)
27. Helicopter Pursuit (4:41)
28. Marla’s Bath (1:15)
29. Just Married (2:09)
30. Camera Gun /Chilmore (2:49)
31. Hyde Park Charge (1:10)
32. Wedding Night / I’ll Find My Love (2:24)

Order from Quartet Records, Monsters in Motion or Screen Archives Entertainment

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