The World of Buysoundtrax Releases!

Over the past few months, the folks at Buysoundtrax and Dragon’s Domain Records have been rolling out a host of interesting releases. There really is a little something for everyone, so get your wallets ready and head over to their website—it may be difficult deciding where to start!

Dragon’s Domain continues its model of issuing limited physical releases—typically around 500 copies—with the occasional bonus of signed editions early in the run. One of the better recent releases is The Bruce Broughton Collection, Vol. 3, featuring music from two films: Bobbie’s Girl (2002) and Warm Springs (2005). Both scores are written for smaller orchestral forces, perfectly suited to the intimate nature of their stories, and both feature the kind of gorgeous melodic writing that has long made Broughton a favorite among soundtrack collectors.

Fans of Arthur B. Rubinstein will also want to seek out the first volume of his work, which explores two television scores from 1977 and 1981 in premiere releases.

The label has been especially generous to admirers of Lee Holdridge, issuing a variety of noteworthy titles, including a collection of documentary music written for Olympic-themed films, an early score from 1973 paired with 1999’s Sealed With a Kiss, and a welcome reissue of Splash, complete with bonus tracks.

Of course, Dragon’s Domain also continues with its steady stream of B-picture sci-fi scores, crime drama releases, and ongoing composer series devoted to the likes of Don Davis, Gerald Fried and Albert Glasser—the latter now up to Vol. 8! All of these albums have been carefully remastered and are also available as digital downloads, with generous audio clips on the website to entice curious listeners. Collectively, they provide excellent opportunities to explore lesser-known film music across a broad range of genres and styles.REVIEWS

Meanwhile, archival releases from the old Label X and Southern Cross catalogs continue to be rolled out, alongside remastered reissues from the Citadel Records and Unicorn-Kanchana labels. Highlights include Bernard Herrmann’s Torn Curtain and North by Northwest, a Dimitri Tiomkin compilation conducted by Laurie Johnson, and a superb two-disc set devoted to Lalo Schifrin—including Voyage of the Damned— essential listening for any serious collector. There are also more unusual treasures, such as a reissue of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Maurice Jarre’s Pope Joan(1972).

As all of this makes clear, Buysoundtrax and Dragon’s Domain have built up a treasure trove for film score fans. If you already own some of the reissued catalog titles, it is worth noting that many feature noticeably improved sound, making them attractive upgrades over older editions. Just as rewarding is the chance to explore the labels’ genre releases—restorations of scores from films many have long forgotten, but whose music remains well worth rediscovering.

This overview is hardly exhaustive, but it should be enough to whet the appetite. A visit to Buysoundtrax is likely to expand both your collection and your appreciation for classic film music, overlooked gems, and the work of composers who deserve a wider audience. —Steven A. Kennedy

Comments regarding this review can be sent to: stev4uth@hotmail.com.

The Jerry Fielding Collection, Vol. 1 ****

JERRY FIELDING

Dragon’s Domain DDR850

23 tracks – 62:49

Click Here to go to the product page and hear audio clips

In the midst of his run of 1970s features for directors like Sam Peckinpah and Michael

Winner, composer Jerry Fielding also found time for a handful of smaller projects, thescores for which have now been released by Dragon’s Domain as The Jerry FieldingCollection, Vol. 1.

Though one of his most widely recognized credits remains the sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, Fielding rarely ventured into feature-length comedy, making the inclusion of 1974’s Honky Tonk particularly noteworthy. This pilot film stars Richard Crenna as a con man who sets up shop in Nevada. 

“Main Title” introduces the rollicking main theme on racing strings with harmonica and percussion in support. There’s also a scampering idea for pizzicato and horns, ostensibly for sneaking around, in “She Cuts Him Loose,” “Merry Chase to Bank Robbers” and “We Better Get Out.”

In cues like “Escape to New Town,” “Bank Holdup” and “You Had a Winner,” Fielding provides amusingly frantic western scoring for horns, galloping rhythms and rolling piano. Seemingly cut from this same cloth, “The Hard Ride/Stage Driver Killed” is a full-on action cue for rapid-fire brass and snare drums.

The score is not without its reflective passages, heard in the English horns of “The Judge Loses/Shoots Self/The Letter,” the flute and strings of “I’m Fighting It,” and theREVIEWS bassoons of “Money Is Hid.” A brief figure of churning strings hints at a love theme in both “Gone at Dawn” and “Lucy the Pitchman.” Elsewhere, a handful of cues happily lean into the western setting, from the saloon-style take on “Buffalo Gals” in “Into Brazo’s Place” to the playful harmonica of “Unless What?” Finally, “So, Goodbye” moves from a soulful passage of strings and chimes into a reprise of the opening material.

Written and directed by legendary screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, 1971’s Johnny Got His Gun tells the horrific story of a World War I vet (Timothy Bottoms) trapped inside his battle-mangled body. Following a bugle-led “Reveille,” snare drums dominate “Battlefield,” underscoring the chaos of combat, with a whistling effect near the end thatevokes a falling bomb.

Anguished male vocals drive “Nightmare Train,” while “Don’t Take My Legs” is anchored by a pensive string melody before giving way to increasingly anxious percussion and woodwinds. “The Nurse” brings strings and percussion into a searching, unsettled idea, capped by a brief, jaunty passage for banjo and muted horns. “S.O.S./Help Me” offers the score’s most traditional writing, with strings and winds forming anelegiac lament for the fallen soldier.

1972’s A War of Children explored the conflict between Catholics and Protestants through the burgeoning relationship between the daughter of a Catholic family and a

British soldier. With the story set in Belfast, Fielding’s music reflects this tension from the outset, the “Opening Titles” juxtaposing gentle winds against militaristic snare.

“The Troubles” is a solemn cue, pairing funereal drums with grim string writing, capped by aleatoric effects toward the end. “I Want the World to See This” introduces a more hopeful tone, its first half led by flute and warm strings before giving way to more experimental textures. In the “Finale,” trumpet and drums punctuate a downtrodden passage for strings and harmonica, leaving the score to resolve on an ambiguous note.

1979’s Mr. Horn was a mini-series that told the story of bounty hunter Tom Horn  (David Carradine). A lonely trumpet solo touches off the “Opening Credits,” soon joined by woodwinds and a brass choir. It’s not long before staccato drums form a march-like figure.

The pseudo-march recurs in “The Indian Wars,” underpinning sprightly wind figures and muted horns. The second half of the cue features a brief, more aggressive passage for horn hits and clipped strings to characterize the tribe. In “Tom,” militaristic drumsgive way to see-sawing string work, which gradually shifts into a lighter texture for winds.

“The Indians” appear to mysterious flute and tribal percussion, with contrabassoon andunsettling effects lending a menacing edge. In “Horn’s End,” the trumpet that openedthe score returns, now joined by a pensive orchestra; there’s no place for men like Hornin an ever-changing America.

The Jerry Fielding Collection, Vol. 1 spotlights a range of fascinating odds and endsfrom the too-short career of the talented composer. Dragon’s Domain’s album remainsavailable. —Tor Harbin

Ted Nichols, Famed Hanna-Barbera Composer on ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘Scooby-Doo,’ Dies at 97

He also worked on ‘Jonny Quest,’ ‘Space Ghost,’ ‘Wacky Races’ and many other other shows at the cartoon factory for nearly a decade.

Ted Nichols, who composed, conducted and arranged music for such beloved Hanna-Barbera cartoons as The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Josie and the Pussycats, has died. He was 97.

Nichols had a long battle with Alzheimer’s and died Jan. 9 in hospice care in Auburn, Washington, his daughter, Karen Tolleshaug, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Nichols worked at Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1963-72, serving as the company’s musical director for the last eight years of his tenure. He started out working alongside another legendary H-B composer, Hoyt Curtin, before succeeding him and then being replaced by him.

Nichols composed the score for the sixth and final season (1965-66) of the original primetime run of The Flintstones on ABC as well as for the 1966 feature The Man Called Flintstone.

He is probably best known for his work on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which premiered on CBS on Saturday mornings in September 1969.

“Ted Nichols’ underscores [for Scooby-Doo] are what I consider to be a near perfect set of music for a cartoon,” Cade Utterback says in his comprehensive 2021 documentary about Hanna-Barbera music. “It’s perfect for the show it was in. You can’t tell me it doesn’t help set the mood.

“There are a few tracks that run for a few minutes and have several sections. And the music editors knew this was a bonus as they mixed and matched parts from all the tracks to make a beautiful Frankenstein monster of a music bed in each episode.”

Utterback notes that Nichols’ music would continue to be used on every Scooby-Doo series through 1985.

An only child, Theodore Nicholas Sflotsos was born on Oct. 2, 1928, in Missoula, Montana. He and his parents, Nicholas and Josephine, moved to Spokane, Washington, and he started playing the violin at age 10.

He graduated from John R. Rogers High School and in 1946 joined the U.S. Navy, for whom he performed in a swing band based in Corpus Christi, Texas. And during the Korean War, he was commanding officer of the U.S. Air Force Bandsmen Training School, recruiting musicians from Juilliard and other schools.

Along the way, he picked up music degrees from Baylor University and Texas A&I and taught public school in Corpus Christi, where he directed a youth symphony. Nichols then moved to California, directing the band at Santa Ana Junior College and singing with the Dapper Dans of Disneyland from 1958-60.

While working as minister of music at the Church of the Open Door in Glendora, California, he first met Hanna-Barbera co-founder William Hanna.

In 1964, Nichols teamed with Curtin to write the score for the first incarnation of the adventure cartoon Jonny Quest before Curtin left the company in 1965, with Nichols becoming primary musical director.

He went on to work on Space Ghost, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, The Herculoids, The Fantastic Four, The Secret Squirrel Show, Shazzan, The Atom Ant Show, Wacky Races (and the spinoffs The Perils of Penelope Pitstop and Dastardly and Muttley and their Flying Machines), Josie and the Pussycats and The Pebbles and Bam-Bam Show and the live-action series The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Nichols left H-B to write operas and gospel works and serve as the musical director of Campus Crusade for Christ, organizing music groups for kids.

“Ted’s music bridged the transition between science-fiction and slapstick programming on Saturday morning as demands for greater social control and regulation of media violence surged in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Robert Kennedy’s assassinations in 1968,” Kevin Sandler, co-editor of the 2024 book Hanna and Barbera Conversations, noted in a statement to THR.

“He used less brass and more high woodwinds and violins in his instrumentation for Scooby-Doo and other comedy series to achieve a less intense, funnier sound.”

In addition to his daughter, survivors include his son, David; grandchildren Tawny, Kevin, Brian, Alex, Carson and Cammie; and six great-granddaughters. He was married twice, to Doris from 1950 until her death in October 2009 and to her younger sister Catherine from 2011 until her death in December 2020.

We are happy to announce that our shipping person is out of the hospital from his pneumonia issue and our shipping schedule is getting back on track. Again, we apologise for any delays there have been with your orders.