Greetings! ScoreKeeper here getting dirty and increasingly hairy in anticipation of the latest electrifying score to hit the city streets courtesy of Lalo Schifrin’s signature label, Aleph Records.
On June 26th, movie music lovers worldwide can sink their ears into the premiere release of original music from the third installment of the Dirty Harry quintilogy, THE ENFORCER (1976), penned by composer Jerry Fielding.
THE ENFORCER marks the lone occasion where a composer other than Schifrin was tasked to compose the score for a Dirty Harry motion picture. Having previously scribed scores for the first two films in the series, DIRTY HARRY (1971) and MAGNUM FORCE (1973), Schifrin was unavailable to score THE ENFORCER which was subsequently delegated to Jerry Fielding. Schifrin returned to round out the series composing scores for the final pair of films, SUDDEN IMPACT (1983) and THE DEAD POOL (1988).
Here is the track listing for this exquisitely recorded album clocking in a shade over forty minutes:
1). Prologue • Main Title
2). Harry’s World
3). Warehouse Heist
4). Code Blue
5). Rooftop Chase
6). Raid on Mustafa’s
7). Kidnap Zap
8). Tiffany’s Number Eleven
9). The Shooting Nun
10). Alcatraz Encounter
11). Death on the Rock
12). Finale (Elegy for Inspector Moore)
13). Finale (Alternate)
The music from THE ENFORCER exemplifies Fielding’s brooding lyricism swathed in a rich harmonic tapestry stemming from Fielding’s jazz roots. Like other urban action scores from the 1970’s, jazz is employed as a primary vehicle to forward the narrative; however, this is not merely a one trick pony. In THE ENFORCER, Fielding further establishes himself as one of the premiere idiosyncratic composers of his time through an encyclopedic musical vocabulary sounding remarkably fresh even through twenty-first century ears.
Fielding’s career began as a bandleader in television before being blacklisted in 1953. He returned to Hollywood in 1962 at the request of Otto Preminger who hired Fielding to compose the score for ADVISE AND CONSENT (1962). His distinguished career is highlighted by such memorable scores as THE WILD BUNCH (1969), STRAW DOGS (1971), JUNIOR BONNER (1972), SCORPIO (1973), BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (1974), THE BAD NEWS BEARS (1976), THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976), ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (1979), and television scores including HOGAN’S HEROS (1965-66), MANNIX (1967), MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1966) and even a couple episodes of STAR TREK (1967-68).
Among the accolades accorded to Fielding during his career were three Academy Award nominations and an Emmy Award for HIGH MIDNIGHT (1979).
Aleph Records, owned by Lalo Schifrin, has released such classic film scores as BULLIT (1968), THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979), COOL HAND LUKE (1967), THE EAGLE HAS LANDED (1976), DIRTY HARRY (1971), and MAGNUM FORCE (1973). THE ENFORCER marks Aleph Records first soundtrack release by a composer other than Schifrin.
The CD will be available for purchase at retail outlets online and in stores as well as iTunes. Visit http://www.schifrin.com for more information.
ScoreKeeper!!!
