Buy it... if you're interested in hearing a derivative, but enjoyable Lee Holdridge Western score for a large scale mini-series and, more intriguingly, a electronically creative alternative for a low-budget film.

Avoid it... if you're tired of Western scores that take a piece or two (or many) from Elmer Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith classics.

Holdridge

Buffalo Girls/Gunfighter's Moon: (Lee Holdridge) Among one of the more well known television mini-series of composer Lee Holdridge's career is Buffalo Girls, a 1995 Western production of immense size by CBS Entertainment for debut on its network. Larry McMurtry's novel was brought to life by an all-star cast including Anjelica Huston, Melanie Griffith, Reba McEntire, Gabriel Byrne, and Western perennials Sam Elliott and Jack Palance, and along with considerable money spent on its technical aspects, Buffalo Girls received countless Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. The story takes place in the waning days of the Wild West, as lead lady and mule skinner Calamity Jane crosses the path of Bill Hickok and travels to London as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show to reclaim her daughter. Numerous subplots abound, and all are given the kind of lengthy treatment that only a mini-series can provide. Without a doubt, CBS knew the potential of the series come time for awards, and before the film was even shown on the network, they pressed a promotional album of Lee Holdridge's score. With an abundance of energy and enthusiasm, Holdridge provides a score highly derivative of old Western cliches (especially borrowing a bit here and there from Elmer Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith), but like John Debney (another modern master of adapting temp tracks and imitation music), Holdridge does an exemplary job of breathing new life into the older ideas. He doesn't attempt to tackle every character and location with unique ideas, although he does lose the Western styles for a more faux-classically inclined cue or two in London. His instrumentation does most of the work, with a harmonica and acoustic guitar that expand greatly on the short performances of those elements heard in The Giant of Thunder Mountain. Some comedy is thrown in, with a honky tonk cue that is masterfully overtaken by an orchestral crescendo in "Buffalo Girls Finale." A notable use of a woodwind (perhaps synthesized?) in "Sad Migration" echoes an eerie wolf call.

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As with The Tuskegee Airmen of the same year, Buffalo Girls is blessed with a stronger than usual recording quality, allowing the vibrant rhythms of brass and strings to convey the bouncing and swinging Western title theme with striking clarity. As evident in other Holdridge scores, it seems that his Western-oriented themes seem to take significant inspiration from Goldsmith's The Wild Rovers, whether intentional or not. Later in 1995, Buffalo Girls was pressed on CD once again, but this time as part ("Volume 5") of Holdridge's series of personal promotional releases from Prometheus Records. The content included the same 40+ minutes in 23 tracks that were released on the original CBS promo. But on Holdridge's release, he appended his score for another 1995 film, Gunfighter's Moon, onto the end. The little known theatrical release of Gunfighter's Moon was one of two directorial efforts by screenwriter Larry Ferguson (Alien 3, The Hunt for Red October, Highlander). In the film, Lance Henriksen plays an aged gunslinger in the Old West who is forced to choose whether or not to help the husband of his former lover or ride back out of town to continue his life of isolation. This production was far smaller than Buffalo Girls, and therefore only allowed a moderate orchestra to be recorded. Thus, it offers a glimpse at Holdridge's abilities on the synthesizer. Some cues are carried by electronic rhythms (and deep synth chorus) that exist about halfway between Hans Zimmer's brooding bass and Basil Poledouris' tingling treble sounds. In between flimsy orchestral Western-stereotypical action, the cue for "The Noose" is a fascinating exhibit of whispering, breathing sound effects and other creepy elements. A heroic conclusion to Gunfighter's Moon states the film's theme (which sounds awfully similar to that of Buffalo Girls, incidentally) with as much orchestral force as the ensemble can muster. On the whole, Gunfighter's Moon is obviously not as strong as the other score on Holdridge's 5th promo, but it easily more intriguing. Together, they make the combined CD one not be missed for collectors of the composer.   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Buffalo Girls: ****
Gunfighter's Moon: ***
Prometheus Promo Overall: ****

Bias Check:

For Lee Holdridge reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.75 (in 13 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.49 (in 6,763 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.