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•	2004 Album

•	1989 Album

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•	1989 Album

A standard orchestral ensemble in Bandolero! is joined by a pretty familiar Goldsmith selection of specialty contributors. An acoustic guitar, accordion, banjo, harmonica, jaw harp, xylophone, honky tonk piano, marimba, castanets, wood blocks, and triangle are all prominent at times, the jaw harp so dominant in early cues that it's almost a point of humor. Joining them is a whistler for the primary performance of the main theme. On the flip side, Goldsmith nods to the contemporary appeal of the production and audience expectations with electric bass and electric guitar to provide a modern tone that isn't too serious. The performances are crisp all around, and the quality of the stereo recording is superior to many of the composer's contemporary works of the late 1960's. Goldsmith's handling of the instruments is well balanced throughout despite the occasionally obnoxious jaw harp, but he also doesn't take many significant chances; the percussion and brass in "Procession to the Gallows," for instance, are routine for an execution setting. The marimba and guitar for Welch's character are also safe choices. Four themes occupy Bandolero!, but most listeners will only recall the main one. A lively tune with simple, contemporary chord progressions, this idea is disguised as barroom source music in "The Saloon" to open the picture but is conveyed by optimistic whistler over electric bass with bright jaw harp and cheery triangle and tambourine rhythm in "Main Title." A secondary phrase for the theme at 0:38 shifts from the major key to Goldsmith's Western minor mode, and the accordion carries this B phrase initially before the full orchestra takes it later in the cue without the electric bass lines that lace the track with its modernism. Woodwinds and electric guitar plucking take the main A phrase from the whistler later in a nicely rounded performance. An equally modern-sounding rendition with bouncing jaw harp follows in "The Impostor," and the theme plays ominously on synthesized sitar-like tones at the end of "Procession to the Gallows." It opens "A Bad Day for Hanging" on the electric guitar in very light shades; the B phrase then bursts on brass with serious intent before yielding back to the lazy A phrase, which fights the Maria theme at the very end during "The Kidnap."

The main theme of Bandolero! experiences a noticeable personality shift as the story literally crosses the river into enemy territory, the melody humorously adapted for large, swirling Mexican flavor in "Across the River." It opens "Bad News" on delicate harmonica and guitar shades, turning sinister in brass suspense, and it stumbles through some minimal renditions throughout "The Bait" as well. The theme is tentative on accordion at the outset of "The Trap," and both the A and B phrases move with quiet determination through the first minute of "Sabinas." The main phrase becomes a repeated rhythmic tool of plucky suspense in "A Bag of Money" and loses its resolve against the sheriff theme in the last minute of "Dee's Proposal." Both phrases of the main theme are provided softly melodramatic renditions of mourning with the Maria identity for the bulk of "A Better Way." As the cue works its way towards the closing credits, Goldsmith treats it to a return to the bright original form from the start of the movie, but the phrases are nicely reversed in their instrumental personality so that the B phrase is playful and A phrase is muscular. The later albums for the score include the truly bizarre "Bandolero! Theme (Demo)" that translates the theme to electric guitar, Hammond organ, and drum kit for a frightful reminder of why that era's music has aged so badly. Despite this atrocity, Goldsmith's main theme for his film is among his most memorable in the genre, not because of any genuine Aaron Copland-like spirit but because of its sheer quirkiness and charm. The composer's interpolations of the idea become increasingly complicated by the other themes, however. By the final third of the score, this theme's A phrase mingles extensively with the Maria theme as the kidnapped woman begins falling in love with one of the doomed outlaw brothers. Her musical identity is melodramatic with a touch of Latin flair, perhaps a bit too serious compared to everything else in the narrative, and especially too grim given the outrageous hair style that Welch miraculously supports in the movie. Teased alone in "The Kidnap," her theme then does sonic battle with the main one as appropriate in the scene. It then quietly stews on woodwinds at the end of "Across the River," and marimba over acoustic guitar finally defines the full theme in "He'll Cross It" and "The Bait" as the character's depth is revealed.

After the humanity of Maria's character is established in Bandolero!, Goldsmith foreshadows its maturation and survival at the end of the film. Very slight hints on the marimba exist in the tense "The Violator," and the theme contributes on solo marimba late in "Sabinas." Acoustic guitar takes the melody over the marimba and woodwinds in "Dee's Proposal," and it achieves quiet melodrama on marimba alongside the main theme in "A Better Way," closing the narrative with contemplative acoustic guitar accompaniment for her sad observations. The later albums offer a demo version of this theme as well, performed on solo acoustic guitar in "Maria's Theme (Demo)." A theme for the pursuing sheriff is a marginally heroic fanfare of standard Western personality expressed with bravado and prominent tambourine in "He'll Cross It." It continues on banjo over woodwinds and French horns in the middle of "The Trap," opens "Ambushed" with cheery determination on accordion over electric bass, and interrupts the Maria material late in "Dee's Proposal," beating back the main theme to reflect the action on screen. Finally, a secondary theme represents the bandits in Mexico, an exciting, almost Arabic burst of force at its height. This idea explodes on trumpets, horns, and violins throughout "El Jefe" and literally infiltrates the sheriff's theme in the challenging layers of "Ambushed." Don't expect any of these other themes to define the score outside of the immediate narrative needs of the plot. The overall demeanor of Bandolero! is split, and much like The Traveling Executioner not long after, Goldsmith places most of the fun of the work into his main theme's opening and closing performances. Those renditions in Bandolero! will be worth the price of the album for Goldsmith's ardent collectors, which is why the score has been released several times. The original LP arrangement, which retained the stereo mix of the film version but rearranged the cues in a sometimes significantly different mix from the same source, was pressed to CD identically by multiple labels between 1988 and 1993. Nearly identical, limited presentations by Intrada Records in 2004 and La-La Land Records in 2013 provided the expanded film version and album arrangements with a handful of bonus cues, of which the demos are in mono sound. The latter album offers the "Main Title" without the whistling as well. Otherwise, the stereo sound is pretty much identical on the 2004 and 2013 expansions, and seek either option mainly for the spirited main theme.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

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