Yellowbeard

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 2010-10-25

Label: Quartet Records

Stand by for boarding!! Quartet Records proudly presents the world premiere recording of John Morris’ classic film score for Yellowbeard (1983). An ambitious parody of Pirate and Cloak-and-Dagger films directed by Mel Damski in 1981, with a real crazy cast which combines very different artistic worlds: Some Monthy Python members (Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, John Cleese), the usual actors in Mel Brooks’ movies (Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Kenneth Mars), two ephemeral American comedy stars as Cheech & Chong, prestigious and venerated well known British comedians (Peter Cook, Spike Milligan), the luxury supporting actors regularly appearing in great productions (James Mason, Susannah York, Michael Hordern, Ferdy Maine), and even a cameo role by David Bowie!…

The score composed and conducted by John Morris (Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Clue, The Elephant Man, The Doctor and the Devils) is a delight from the beginning to the end, one of his best and most meticulous works. With a retentive leitmotiv for the Pirate “Yellowbeard”, and an enormous amount of diferent themes for characters and situations, in a terrific homage to the classic scores from the Golden Age composers, like Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Alfred Newman or Max Steiner.

Although the tapes with the original mixes seems to be lost, we have been fortunate to have the complete 24-multi-tracks set, courtesy by MGM. The new and fresh mix from the original recordings made at Record Plant Studios by Dan Wallin, sounds powerful and seems recorded this morning. Every second of music written by John Morris has been included in this album, including some bonus tracks, outtakes and an alternate funny vocal version of the "End Credits" theme.

A hidden masterpiece that must be discovered in the filmography from an essential composer in the American comedy of the seventies and the eighties.