Don Ellis French Connection Reissue

[Teasing the Korean]

Available 11/29/16

THE FRENCH CONNECTION COLLECTION: LIMITED EDITION (2-CD SET) LLLCD 1408 Music by Don Ellis and Brad Fiedel Limited Edition of 2000 Units RETAIL PRICE: $24.98 La-La Land Records, 20th Century Fox and Fox Music proudly present THE FRENCH CONNECTION COLLECTION, a 2-CD SET featuring re-mastered re-issues of renowned composer Don Ellis’ (THE SEVEN-UPS) iconic motion picture scores to the Oscar-winning THE FRENCH CONNECTION, starring Gene Hackman and directed by William Friedkin and THE FRENCH CONNECTION II, also starring Hackman and directed by John Frankenheimer, as well as the world premiere of composer Brad Fiedel’s (THE TERMINATOR, TRUE LIES) original score to the 1986 TV pilot POPEYE DOYLE, starring Ed O’Neil. Long out of print, Don Ellis’ indelible and idiosyncratic jazz scores to the FRENCH CONNECTION feature films return on Disc One of this deluxe presentation, sounding better than ever. Disc Two showcases Brad Fidel’s expert soundscape for POPEYE DOYLE, along with additional bonus tracks, including alternate cues from all three projects, as well as the song “Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon,” featured in the original film’s bar scene. Produced by Nick Redman and Mike Matessino, mixed by Matessino, and mastered by Daniel Hersch, this special limited edition release of 2000 units features exclusive liner notes by writer Julie Kirgo and street-smart art design by Jim Titus. TRACK LISTING: DISC 1 1 THE FRENCH CONNECTION Main Title :59 2 Just Looking :17 3 Charnier :52 4 Copstail 4:03 5 The Old Fort 1:19 6 Sal 1:25 7 Joel 1:04 8 The Car 1:05 9 Doyle’s Blues :57 10 Waltz 1:01 11 Hotel Chase 5:28 12 What The?! / Umbrella 3:25 13 Subway :23 14 The Shot 1:12 15 This Is It / Here We Go / Stay With It 3:26 16 Lincoln’s Blues 2:05 17 Strip 1:45 18 Found :36 19 Au Revoir 1:16 20 Surprise / The Last Round Up 1:18 21 Frog in Room :50 22 End Titles 2:43 23 FRENCH CONNECTION II  Main Title / Waterfront 3:34 24 Boat Ride 1:21 25 Popeye 1:39 26 Popeye’s Montage 2:04 27 Volleyball 1:37 28 Hit 1:21 29 Heroin 4:24 30 OD 2:15 31 Pain 1:06 32 Rehabilitation 2:04 33 Revenge 1:16 34 Boat Bottom / Dry Dock 3:07 35 Stalking 4:14 36 Continuation / Here Come the Cops 1:53 37 The Big Chase 2:33 38 Exhaustion 2:24 39 End Title 1:32 Total Time Disc 1 (76:52) DISC 2 1 POPEYE DOYLE  Main Title 4:01 2 First Chase 4:11 3 Body Dump :42 4 Jill’s Apartment :47 5 Video One :34 6 Gut Feeling :32 7 Following the Barkeep 1:50 8 Video Two 1:08 9 Follow the Weasel :07 10 Weasel Volunteers :33 11 Weasel Makes Parisi 1:33 12 Video Three 1:36 13 Cat and Mouse 2:42 14 Hat in the Ring :18 15 Motorcade 2:06 16 Shadow Rises :21 17 Tackle the Shadow :28 18 Reel 7 Act Out :13 19 Weasel’s Weapons :28 20 Weasel to Popeye’s 2:39 21 Reel 8 Act Out :24 22 Evil Afoot :13 23 Embassy Murder 1:04 24 Hospital Heavy 3:17 25 Final Shootout 4:09 26 Aftermath :50 27 End Credits 1:12 ADDITIONAL MUSIC THE FRENCH CONNECTION 28 Hotel Chase (alternate) 5:28 29 The Source 3:31 30 Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon 3:28 FRENCH CONNECTION II 31 Hit (alternate) 1:22 32 Exhaustion (alternate) 2:24 33 Sores 3:16 34 Blues 2:33 35 Cops 3:52 36 Drugs 4:30 POPEYE DOYLE 37 First Chase (alternate) 3:54 38 Prove My Love to You 2:09 Total Time Disc 2 (75:37) http://www.lalalandrecords.com/

Edited November 25, 2016 by Teasing the Korean

[bakeostrin]

Wow, just listening to Film Score Monthly soundtrack; that new one sells for less than a half to a third of the FSM; opening to French Connection is just fantastic.  First one is great; French Connection II, very good also (movies); soundtracks both excellent.

[ghost of miles]

I got the Film Score Monthly release when it was still in print.  Excellent music... glad that it will be available again!

[Teasing the Korean]

I missed the first release, but one of our members generously helped me out.  Looking forward to this new version.  

 

[JSngry]

Listening to the first disc of this this evening...FC2 is ok, pretty good as far as hings go, but the original FC1 score is faaaaar more WTF????? than I would have expected, even for Don Ellis. That shit is for real!

[MomsMobley]

Don Ellis archive online

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/ucla-archive-shares-jazz-pioneer-don-ellis-music-wotj

 

If you're a lover of jazz and are curious about the west coast jazz scene that once dominated some of L.A.’s most famous nightclubs in the 1960s and 70s, then get ready to be transported back to that era.

Thanks to the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, more than 60 recordings of performances by trumpeter, composer and bandleader Don Ellis (1934-1978) were recently made available for your online listening pleasure through the California Light and Sound Collection on theInternet Archive. California Light and Sound is part of the California Audiovisual Preservation Project, which aims to preserve the state’s rich audiovisual heritage by partnering with 127 libraries, archives and museums...

[sidewinder]

 

Well, it started out nicely but all of these links cut out and loop back to the start after about 10 minutes. I guess you need to have an account with them as an institution or student to get the full access. Damn !

[Teasing the Korean]

I have been listening to French Connection 1 & 2 quite a bit at work lately.  

 I never noticed the Herrmann influence before, but you can year it with low minor key triads played by the trombones.

The sequel has some funkified numbers that are very good.

I have been trying to imagine what an LP might have sounded like for either one of these.  Would some of the short cues have been extended, and some others dropped?  Would they have exploited the source cues that show up as bonuses on disc 2?  Or would the LPs have been close to the film scores?  We will never know.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[Late]

35 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

 I never noticed the Herrmann influence before ...

I hope you have this set on your radar, released this May ...

[Teasing the Korean]

21 minutes ago, Late said:

I hope you have this set on your radar, released this May ...

Yes, thank you!  I have earlier issues of most of these, but it is a great one-stop shopping experience if you need to start a Herrmann collection!

[sgcim]

The great West Coast bass player, Bill Plummer, played on the French Connection soundtrack. Plummer also played bass with Paul Horn, Judee Sill, Miles Davis, and even the Rolling Stones on :Exile on Main Street".

https://buckrail.com/bill-plummer-turns-80-reflects-on-incredible-music-career/

[Teasing the Korean]

16 hours ago, sgcim said:

The great West Coast bass player, Bill Plummer, played on the French Connection soundtrack. Plummer also played bass with Paul Horn, Judee Sill, Miles Davis, and even the Rolling Stones on :Exile on Main Street".

https://buckrail.com/bill-plummer-turns-80-reflects-on-incredible-music-career/

I can't remember if the CD credits the musicians or not.  

I ended up burning separate CDs for each of the films, and added to each the extras and source cues that showed up as bonuses on a separate discs.  I like hearing the Middle Eastern source cues sprinkled throughout the French Connection II soundtrack, and reinstating the Three Degrees song into the original.