Press Release from La-La Land:
La-La Land Records, Sony Music and Columbia Masterworks proudly present a remastered and expanded 2-CD release of renowned composer John Williams’ original motion picture score to the 1969 feature film period drama THE REIVERS, based upon the novel by William Faulkner and starring Steve McQueen, Mitch Vogel and Sharon Farrell, and directed by Mark Rydell.
The treasured collaborative relationship between Maestro John Williams (JAWS, E.T., SCHINDLER’S LIST) and filmmaker Steven Spielberg had its roots in the director’s admiration for Williams’ brilliant score to this nostalgic 1969 drama, in which Faulkner chronicles the arrival of the automobile in the American south at the dawn of the 20th century. This new remastered and expanded 2-CD reissue, featuring the full score presentation for the first time, is an Americana wonder – beautiful, dramatic, heartfelt – an ideal match for Faulkner’s blend of playful humor and vividly drawn prose, conjuring the warm glow of an “endless summer” as experienced by a child on the cusp of adolescence. Williams expertly augments orchestra with guitar, banjo, fiddle, harmonica, mouth harp and honky-tonk piano, and his traditional orchestral cues are interwoven with passages rooted in old-time music and early jazz.
Produced, edited and mastered by Grammy nominee Mike Matessino, this deluxe, expanded 2-CD presentation was remixed and remastered from Sony Music’s original 3-track elements and approved by the composer. Disc 1 showcases the score presentation and additional music, including a medley of Stephen Foster tack player piano tunes and several alternates, (some of which have only survived as mono recordings provided by the CBS Archives at UCLA), while Disc 2 presents the original soundtrack assembly, with its unique performances and edits. Williams’ concert suite for THE REIVERS, as recorded for the 1994 Boston Pops album “Music for Stage and Screen,” concludes the presentation. Here the composer revisits and expands upon his 1969 score, which features the film’s original narrator, Burgess Meredith.
The exclusive, in-depth liner are by writer John Takis and the sharp art direction is by Jim Titus.
