: (John Williams) A figurative and
literal vehicle for actor Steve McQueen, the 1969 drama
is partly a silly comedy about colorful characters but at
its core is a coming-of-age tale for a boy growing up in rural Tennessee
circa 1905. The boy, Lucius, is friends with a couple of likable thieves
who serve as surrogate fathers for him. When those men steal Lucius'
grandfather's brand-new Winton Flyer car, the boy joins them on a
journey to Memphis. Along the way, Lucius learns how to drive, meets and
develops a crush on a well-meaning hooker associated with McQueen's lead
thief, rides a horse in a high stakes race, and ultimately has to
confront his grandfather about his adventures. The film's dramatic
portions for the boy, the hooker, and other more serious topics are
always at odds with the spirited, care-free journeying and chase scenes
involving the flashy yellow car. It's an imperfect film, especially with
McQueen being awkwardly miscast in the lead role, but it managed to earn
respect for its other performances and, surprisingly, its equally
diverse music. Director Mark Rydell originally received Lalo Schifrin as
the film's composer, but after his jazzy music was ultimately rejected
by the studio, John Williams stepped in and earned an Oscar nomination
for his last-minute replacement work. Rydell and Williams enjoyed a
fruitful collaboration that really establish the composer as a master of
orchestral Americana early in his career. Williams had been known for
his smaller ensemble jazz scores of the 1960's, and the tandem of
caught the attention of others in the
industry, notably Steven Spielberg, contributing to the maestro's shift
in the 1970's to massive orchestral music for feature films. There is
certainly a dose of Aaron Copland in Williams' approach to
, but what really impressed audiences and colleagues was the
layered mastery of the underlying composition. While the folksiness of
the music may be written off by some listeners as rooted in the
composer's common, early 1970's, harmonica-driven folk influences, there
is writing in the score that clearly exposes his intelligently deep
lines of action and knack for emotional depth.
In general, the last-minute score for
The Reivers
may be best recalled for its wild banjo, acoustic guitar, harmonica,
kazoo, upright bass, and fiddle character, its Appalachian spirit
genuinely affectionate and appropriate for the era of the setting.
Williams leans into these specialty performances, especially in
conjunction with inventive percussion. The bluesy jazz for the Memphis
portions of the work offers notable brass solos as well. But he also
counters these styles with a bevy of dramatic and whimsical string and
woodwind-led thematic passages that are the heartfelt representation of
Lucius' growing up and the (mostly) good hearts of those around him.
Brass is supplied with the ensemble to provide additional muscle to the
major expressions of the positive themes. Great harp work is littered
throughout the score. Of particular interest is a singular cue of
impressively light wonderment that foreshadows the softer portions of
Jurassic Park; in "The Picture," the composer perfectly captures
Lucius' admiration of a painting of a nude woman in the brothel in which
he and his fellow thieves are staying. In the end,
The Reivers is
a more orchestral version of
The Missouri Breaks and contains
significantly greater appeal in both its halves. Don't be quick to
discount the outright zany, comedic hillbilly cues that Williams devises
for the chase scenes, his chaos motif outrageously fun in its rowdiness.
After all, how often did Williams instruct someone to enthusiastically
bang on a cowbell? This motif is among several themes in the score, and
it serves a carnival atmosphere led by tonk piano and the folk players
at 2:02 into "The Bad News" before exploding with ripping banjo and the
banging metal accents in "The People Protest." It's an extension of the
Winton Flyer car theme that opens with a light little fanfare at 2:49
into "The Winton Flyer" before fully debuting in frantic chase mode at
3:11 for the opening scene of thievery. This theme returns at 1:00 into
"Lucius' First Drive," interrupts the main theme at 0:54 into "The Road
to Memphis," diminishes to baseline enthusiasm only at 1:02 into "The
Sheriff Departs," and dances around the tune early in "Finale," though
that track wholesale reprises the "Main Title" fanfare and car motif at
1:50. These themes for the car and the chaos of the whores may drive
some listeners nuts, but they are immensely charming.
The main theme of
The Reivers accesses the same
folk elements as the wilder comedy themes but applies them with
wholesome orchestral backing. Descending with Western spirit in its
mannerisms, this theme is primarily for the location of the tale. Some
listeners may hear a vague whiff of Jerry Goldsmith's melodic tendencies
for this kind of setting, but the two composers were largely paralleling
each other in developing such ideas. The structure of the phrasing makes
good use of the call and answer formation in the ebb and flow of the
hopes of everyone involved in the story. It is extensively developed at
0:18, 1:09, and 1:48 into "Main Title" on strings, building to full
ensemble renditions, and casual listeners will find these performances
to be the best summary of the whole score. It follows tentatively at
0:30 into "Family Funeral," sprinkles amongst the vibrant car material
at 1:34 into "Lucius' First Drive," and breaks through the folksy
rambles at 0:37 into "The Road to Memphis," where it adopts the cue's
ambitious instrumental flavor at 1:13. The main theme then tries to
emerge a few times near the awkward splice on the early albums at the
end of "Ned's Secret" and turns the mood more upbeat at 1:52 into
"Prayers at Bedtime." It offers comfort in pretty tones at 2:10 into
"Back Home" on harmonica, guitar, and piano and then transforms into a
rousing string resolution to close out the cue. In the moments of
"Finale" prior to the tracking of the opening cue, this theme is flowing
on strings at 0:18 and large from the ensemble at 0:47. Often
intertwined with this theme is the more contemplative, sensitive, and
intimate identity for Lucius, an ascending lullaby of wholesome drama.
Heard at 0:26 into "First Instruction" on harmonica and then at 2:18 on
tonk piano and woodwinds, the boy's theme is a bit wayward but hopeful
in the woodwind performance during "Reflections." The idea's preview of
Jurassic Park starts at 0:29 into "Corrie's Entrance" (prior to
"The Picture"), and its phrasing is expressed with thoughtful whimsy in
light shades during "Prayers at Bedtime." It shifts to strained, high
agony from violins in "Lucius Runs to Corrie" before countering with a
soothing moment on piano and guitar. After the boy's acceptance by his
grandfather for his misdeeds, his theme is far more chipper and
accelerated at 0:31 into "Finale," moving to piano, woodwind, and
harmonica enthusiasm at 1:19.
On top of the themes for the boy and whole movie,
Williams also conjured a redemption theme, a grandiose and
dramatic idea with underlying waltz sophistication akin to 1968's
Heidi. It's the single theme in
The Reivers that most
hints at the composer's future majesty. This theme blossoms into a
triumphant string melody at 3:30 into "First Instruction," the
composer's optimism at its best, and a slightly altered version appears
early in "Corrie's Entrance," consuming the Lucius theme at 0:49 and
closing out the cue with warmth on strings. It supports the Lucius
material in "Prayers at Bedtime" and reprises the "Main Title" rendition
at 2:30 into "Finale," a disappointingly direct retracking of the same
performance. The last theme Williams wrote for
The Reivers is one
for trouble generally but also a representation of Memphis by
association. Lending immediate flavor on lazy, bluesy jazz early in "The
Road to Memphis," this music continues on stylish trombone early in "The
Sheriff Departs" and is developed in a different direction for the
straight hipness of "Memphis," his latter incarnation extending to
lesser tones of flair in "Ned's Trade." Despite its strengths and
historical significance for Williams,
The Reivers waited until
2025 to receive a comprehensive album release. Roughly half an hour of
music was long available, though the final track repeated the
arrangement from "Main Title" with a tacky ending thrown on it.
The weirdly electronic sitar cue for the awkward slow-motion
horse race, "Moment of Glory," led the minimal amount of unreleased
music. Of the early albums, the 1990 CD of the LP record conveys better sound
quality, but a 1995 follow-up features one additional cue
("Reflections"). In 1980, Williams arranged a 19-minute suite from this
score for a concert, appearing on a 1994 "Music for Stage and Screen"
compilation album from Sony Classical. The highlights of this suite are
two entirely new sequences he wrote for the car's travels and horse race
sequences, and these were great additions to the work. Although it's
wonderful that Burgess Meredith could reprise his narration from the
original film, the constant presence of these spoken lines makes this
suite a challenge for Williams purists. The outstanding 2025 album from
La-La Land Records offers the full score as heard in the film, the album
version, a source medley, alternate takes, and the re-recorded suite,
all from disparate-sounding sources. This 2-CD set is definitive for
Williams' score, while the rejected Schifrin alternative remains
unreleased. Sony released the La-La Land remastering of the original LP
presentation only on a massive Williams anthology as well. For the
maestro, this music represents a charming transition in his career.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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