Classic Film Music

It’s the opening weekend of the Plaza Classic Film Festival and this year the world’s largest classic film festival looks to feature another outstanding amount of awesome films for all movie-lovers to enjoy. I am glad I got a few kicks in the butt by a great friend that showed me this festival where I’ve been able to see classic films I love and also find new, breathtaking films I never knew about. I was on my way to write about Radiohead when their lyric about how “it’s not like the movies, they fed us all little white lies” stirred me up to write about some classic films that have some awesome music I absolutely love.

I had first heard Adagio for Strings back when I was in high school and my old band director showed it to me. A slow-moving and equally slow-burning song, it was made even more famous when Platoon used it as the centerpiece to its darkest, most horrific moments. A certain conviction and deep and profound movement, it’s a flawless classical piece. This version is even more fitting because it’s a symphony that is conducted by Leonard Bernstein who happened to write the music for West Side Story, which played at the festival today (Thursday Aug 1) but we didn’t attend (it was $20!)

 
One of the best touches to any of Quentin Tarantino’s films is his way of combining music with a scene for absolute perfection. One of those scenes is the one in Reservoir Dogswhere Mr. Blonde takes out his anger and anguish on an ill-advised cop in stunningly memorable fashion. Easily regarded a classic film now, it took some time for people to catch on and come to think about it, the film has at least a handful of other significant songs but “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealer’s Wheel is probably the best.

  
I’m not sure if Mo’ Better Blues is considered a classic but I definitely like the film a lot. And even more because Spike Lee wanted to name it A Love Supreme after John Coltrane’s brilliant four-piece suite. Coltrane’s widow asked Lee to change the name of the film but luckily she let him use the first movement, Acknowledgement, on the film for what is a moment of beautiful music magic.

 
The film Donnie Darko is one of those cult films that you either love or don’t really care for. Personally, I feel like it deserves a lot of credit for presenting a story about adolescence in an understanding and moving fashion, while still using a lot of fantastic music throughout. The scene where they use Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels” is really special and the song itself, well, it’s really quite awesome.

 
Martin Scorsese, like Tarantino, has always been able to combine music into his films: with a deft touch. It’s fitting that tomorrow (Friday Aug 2) we get to kick off the festival with his stone-cold classic Goodfellas and while there are many songs from that film that could go here, I will go with an even older classic of his, Mean Streets, and its use of The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.” Mostly because it inspired Brian Wilson to write “Don’t Worry Baby,” (I’ll include that classic song by The Beach Boys, too, just because I love it, although it’s entirely irrelevant to this post – well not entirely since there is this song) but also because the scene he uses it in is a chilling take of poignant humanity. And with that, to the festival we come! – Bryan

The Beach Boys – Smile AKA The Smile Sessions

Back after he’d practically created, all by himself, the flawless sounds on Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson was definitely reaching for the stars even further with the ideas for Smile. Continually fueled by whatever it was The Beatles were doing at the time (it was Rubber Soul that had inspired Pet Sounds, it was followed by Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles in the same year! And Brian was feeling very very unsure about his skill), while still trying to create his own wall of sound, he was a fully realized artist, simply trying to find his way. After he had perfected his own style of production and vocalizing, the heavy realization that the follow up to Pet Sounds had to be utterly amazing set deeply in. Fortunately for all us, it ended up being just that, it just never received the proper release and fanfare it deserved.

Part of the dissolution fueled from the fact that Brian wanted to work with the famed Van Dyke Parks. Yes, the same one I mentioned from the Ys post, here Brian wanted to work with Parks so he could be his ultimate lyricist. Van Dyke Parks can deliver flourishing arrangements and music like he provided for Joanna Newsom in 2006 and also the trippy, inspiring lyrics to match Brian’s music in the late 60s. The Beach Boys were still a band though and if you ask me, they probably weren’t too fond of Brian working exclusively with this Parks’ character. They probably pressured the situation, they probably vented frustration, they probably made it very hard for Smile to have a fluid release. And eventually, instead of truly breaking up the band by taking Brian with him and running off in the sunset to make beautiful music together, Parks left the project and Brian eventually shelved Smile.

In the 2000s the pressure to release the album mounted, and rather than re-opening that vault, Brian recorded SMiLE with Parks for a 2004 release that was easily one of the best of that year. Finally, in 2011, Smile saw its release as The Beach Boys collected all the music together and released it. I just very recently got this vinyl version as an xmas present and wow, vinyl is the way to go! And while there are so many other details to cover about its story(ies), it’s best to let the music do its talking. Beginning with “Our Prayer,” here was a pure choral arrangement, a beautiful chorus of angels that are simply singing directly from heaven if there is one. All of the Beach Boys’ voices are present and the melody and harmonies are downright impeccable: a solemn, minute of bliss, perfection to start. Then it’s a minute of the chugging “Gee,” it sounds like the car getting ready to take off, before they finally sing, “how I love my girl” and the small introduction to “Heroes and Villains.” Here their voices sound unified and full of life, if only they saw it all the way through. And the actual “Heroes and Villains” song is a ravishing tale of love lost, drunken nights and the same old ‘bad guys/good guys’ story. Supposedly this song was written very quickly as Brian and Parks capitalized on their chemistry: legend says that Parks came up with the words after hearing Brian’s melody the very first time. It changes styles to accompany the vocals and the directly fast-paced style introduced a terrifically towering new style to The Beach Boys, not likely heard on Pet Sounds.

One of the other songs they created in timely fashion was “Surf’s Up,” and honestly, that has to be one of the finest songs on Smile. There’s this fanfare from the trumpet at the beginning, as Brian sings words about feeling lost and definitely like everything is moving away. The other voices are playing a feature in the background and the pensive feel of the song allows for the emotion to really come through. The first part is much more atmospheric, the second part showcases the piano and the voices even more. The tiny adjustments in dynamics and how it just speeds up and slows down, all controlled by the piano, is masterful: and singing about a “broken man, too tough to cry.” It changes into perhaps a last section, where the “surf’s up” is finally sung and while it’s now very clear that the star of the show on this song is Brian’s voice as it supports the piano line, the culmination at the end is justified. These are just a couple of the songs off this amazing album that at least finally did get released. – Bryan

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

Speaking of that 60s sound, talk about nostalgia when I dug out my vinyl copy of Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys to play today. I used to think of it as my favorite album of all time and while it still has the best song ever created on it, it’s not my absolute favorite but really up there nonetheless. This was the album that caused The Beatles to make Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the one that Brian Wilson made in response to The Beatles’ Rubber Soul. Paul McCartney has been asked about it before and he acknowledges Pet Sounds as one of the best of all time. Still, even in 1967, I can’t imagine how amazing it must have sounded to those fresh ears then; even almost 50 years later and “Sloop John B” still sounds terrific. Right in the middle of the album, it precedes the following song with an upbeat flavor and although it’s a cover on its own, the Beach Boys’ version is still timeless.


Not only is “God Only Knows” my favorite song of all time – the song that holds so much deep sentiment for me – but it’s downright perfect if you ask me. I remember hearing this song on “The Wonder Years” and then finally realizing that it was the centerpiece of Pet Sounds, it was a perfect that match. If anyone remembers that episode, Kevin realizes that at a different school, with new boys to chase her, Winnie is gone…for now at least. And they play this song as he sees another guy walk her on to the opposite bus as they drive off into the night, on separate buses, in different directions. The song’s construction is built around soaring vocals and beautiful harmonies. And the lyrics – beguiling, poignant and heartfelt – are some of the best I have ever heard. They sing about how if she ever left, ‘the world could show nothing to me so what good would living do me?’ It’s that feeling of realizing that if she ever left you, you’d be the most miserable side of lonely ever and well, who knows what it would be like without her. Either way, it wouldn’t be great at all, ‘though life would still go on, believe me.’ – Bryan