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Review of Monte Walsh (John Barry)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you seek proof that John Barry was more intent at times on forcing his own style onto a new genre rather than truly adapting for it.

Avoid it... if the reason you are curious about Monte Walsh's score is because you are a Western collector, for Barry's output is far closer to his works in the drama and action genres.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Monte Walsh: (John Barry) It took so long to get the production of Monte Walsh under way in the late 1960's that the Western genre had nearly outstayed its welcome by the time the film hit the big screen. The genre was changing musically as well, leaving the boisterous Americana spirit of Elmer Bernstein for the harder, more dissonant and experimental lines of Jerry Goldsmith and Ennio Morricone. The most unsuspecting entry into this genre of music was John Barry in 1970, a composer fresh off of an Academy Award win for the dramatically powerful The Lion in Winter and (arguably) at the height of his James Bond productivity. Suitably, the story of Monte Walsh would also involve the evolving times, portraying the dying days of the cowboy in the 1880's, as big companies swept through the West and institutionalized the trade. The film was largely defined by its immense sense of tragedy, making it a difficult viewing experience and giving it a troubled place in history. While Barry had never scored a Western film, this sense of drama is the same emphasis that would eventually lead to him to great success with Dances With Wolves (which was all drama and really little Western at all). But Barry's sound for Monte Walsh would be predictably uncharacteristic to the genre, with the composer bringing most of his sensibilities from other genres and directly applying them to the Western with little alteration. One such habit was the redundant use of themes, and Monte Walsh has four of them. The title song is the most famous, featuring lyricist Hal David and singer Mama Cass Elliot. The latter's performance of the hit song "The Good Times Are Comin'" stole the spotlight from an otherwise promising score. It has all the flair of one of the more solemn Bond songs, with much of the same instrumentation in its single version. Elliot's involvement was a fantastic choice by the producers; her easy-going style perfectly captures the swinging, lazy, and eventually destitute attitude of the film.

While the song's theme is integrated heavily into one of the subplots of the film, Barry extends three other notable themes into his work, and all exhibit the same care-free, wandering qualities of the song. One is sparsely used; the "despair" theme often intermingles with the title song and is presented with solo harmonica. The other two are far more enjoyable. The "cowboy" theme has several outbursts throughout the score, and allows the brass and timpani to let loose with the stereotypical Western action that audiences would expect. Especially in "Round-Up," it foreshadows the grandiose Barry themes of the 80's. The "goofy" theme is its lighter side, accompanying the dark comedy in the film with perhaps the score's most infectious harmonica pieces. One climactic fight sequence is handled with Bond gloves by Barry, unfolding his typical rhythmic technique of the time and crossing genre boundaries. The instrumentation of the score as a whole is very usual for Barry as well, with the seemingly ever-present xylophone and harpsichord softly laying rhythms in most tracks. Both instruments, while expected in a Barry work for the time, seem slightly out of place in this project. The score wasn't released on CD until 1999 when, after being plagued by production problems, it debuted as Film Score Monthly's seventh Silver Age Classics album. On the product, the title theme is repeated no less than five times, with each variant a different recording. While tiring, listeners will look forward to the final performance, the only recording in the crystal clear stereo that often conveyed Barry's other scores of the time. The album is divided into the listenable mass of the score first and the source and outtakes music second. That latter half includes a "Saloon" suite with six tracks of honky-tonk barroom performances that only interest in their renditions of the main themes in the final two takes. Otherwise, they're a faintly sparse precursor to their rambunctiously fun descendants in Chaplin. The score outtakes, along with the actual score proper, will be a notable find for Barry enthusiasts, but don't expect straight Western genre fans to flock to this one.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 61:51

• 1. The Good Times Are Comin' (Main Title) - performed by Mama Cass Elliot (2:17) • 2. Men Walk (1:55) • 3. Stocking Feet (1:35) • 4. Missionary Ridge (1:29) • 5. Round-Up (1:34) • 6. Outhouse Sprint (0:54) • 7. Candle and Bed (2:46) • 8. Old Friends (2:57) • 9. The Good Times Are Comin' (Monte Alone) - performed by Mama Cass Elliot (3:03) • 10. Across the Prairie (1:54) • 11. That Old Box (2:57) • 12. Sit Him High (4:44) • 13. Epilogue (1:08) • 14. The Good Times Are Comin' (End Title) - performed by Mama Cass Elliot (1:21) Bonus Material: • 15-20. The John Barry Saloon (14:48) • 21. Wedding Source (2:36) • 22. The Good Times Are Comin' (Extended Version) - performed by Mama Cass Elliot (3:19) • 23. Score Outtakes Suite (7:01) • 24. The Good Times Are Comin' (Single Version) - performed by Mama Cass Elliot (2:54)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The album contains the usual excellent quality of pictorial and textual information established in other albums of FSM's series, with extremely detailed notes about the film and score.

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Monte Walsh are Copyright © 1999, Film Score Monthly and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 8/20/99 and last updated 9/9/07.