LALO SCHIFRIN - MAN ON A SWING OST (1974)

WEWANTSOUNDS

£29.05

Format: LP
Catalogue No.: WWSLP69
Barcode: 3700604744825
Release Date: 17 Mar 2023
Genre: Soundtrack / Jazz / Funk

Wewantsounds is delighted to release for the first time on vinyl the Lalo Schifrin’s soundtrack for Frank Perry’s thriller ‘Man On A Swing’ from 1974. Featuring Schifrin's superb mix of Jazz, Bossa, Groove and atmospheric soundscape, the soundtrack, recorded in LA with the Wrecking Crew’s Emil Richards, Bud Shank and Howard Roberts among others, finds the composer at his most inspired. Delving in the Paramount tapes, the label has re-sequenced the soundtrack from scratch and found several unissued cues as bonus tracks. Among which the mindblowing rhythm track for the title ‘Radio Source’, featuring a super Funk breakbeat. The Soundtrack has been remastered for vinyl by Colorsound studio and features liner notes by Jeremy Allen with artwork by Eric Adrian Lee

By the time Lalo Schifrin composed the soundtrack for Frank Perry's psychological thriller in 1974, starring Cliff Robertson and Joel Gray (who'd just won an Oscar for his role in Bob Fosse's Cabaret) he was Hollywood royalty having worked on such iconic films as Bullitt and Dirty Harry. Perry on his side, had caused a stir with The Swimmer in 1968 starring Burt Lancaster (although he would dismiss the film after being fired from the production) and followed up with a string of great cult movies including ‘Last Summer’ (1969), Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) starring Carrie Snodgress - whom Neil Young famously fell in love with upon seeing the film and "Play It as It lays" in 1972, adapted from Joan Didion's eponymous novel.

Breaking from the social dramas from of his previous films, Perry decided to shoot a thriller based on journalist William Arthur Clark's book "The Girl on The Volkswagen Floor." The film follows a police officer investigating a murder with the help of a strange ambiguous clairvoyant played by Gray. For the score Perry went to Lalo Schifrin who'd just come out of a bad experience on The Exorcist working with William Friedkin who'd rejected his music in favour of Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield! The score was recorded in LA with the Wrecking Crew and, although the full line up is not known, it included Emil Richards, Howard Roberts, Bud Shank and of course Schifrin on piano.

'Man on a Swing' is pure undiluted Schifrin from the early 70s. The score plays like a long suite alternating Bossa Nova ("Juke Box Source"), Lounge Jazz ("Trip to LA") and groove ("FM Groove") with superb "suspense” soundscapes like "Rosehaven Hotel". The label has gone back to the Paramount 3-track tape transfers and come up with an updated tracklist (a CD version briefly appeared in the 2010s) - re-sequenced and augmented with a handful of bonus tracks and alternate takes. A highlight is certainly "Radio Source Rhythm" which, losing the guitar and organ, reveal a jaw dropping funk breakbeat that is in the league of Dirty Harry and Enter the Dragon. This and the whole soundtrack, will ravish all the funk diggers and Lalo Schifrin fans around the world.

Tracklist
A1. Maggie's Theme 1 0.25
A2. Juke Box Source 1.40
A3. Evelyn Story 1.42
A4. Beetle Search* 0.13
A5. Rosehaven Motel 1.57
A6. Trip to LA 1.43
A7. Maggie's Theme 2 0.27
A8. Stressed Out/Choked Up 2.14
A9. Janet's Mazurka* 1.32
A10. Maggie Retraced 1.52
A11. Factory Vibe 1.22
A12. A Wet Nothing 1.24
A13. Suspense*/Wills' Trance pt. 1 1.58
A14. Bell Signals* 0.19
A15. Taken Away 0.37
A16. Radio Source 1.26
B1. FM Groove 0.42
B2. Forest Finale 0.23
B3. Penultima Trance 4.13
B4. Parking Lot Shuffle 1.21
B5. Dialatone 0.10
B6. Wills’ Trance pt. 2/Wills’ Trance pt. 3 2.56
B7. Wills’ Trance pt. 4 2.36
B8. Gratitude 0.35
B9. Empty Torch/Mailman/Phone Voice 2.39
B10. On The Move 1.10
B11. Wills' Last Trance 1.16
B12. End Credits 1.20
B13. Radio Source Rhythm (Alt. Take)* 0.57
B14. Juke Box Source (Alt. Take)* 0.31
* Unissued track