PAUL MAURIAT GOES TO THE MOVIES

Paul Mauriat Goes to the Movies – Film Theme selections released in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and Japan

When Paul Mauriat addresses film music, he rarely arranges it in terms of being a faithful idiom of the original soundtrack. He takes it in the direction of his own ‘pop formulation’. In doing so, he seems to follow a pattern of reorganizing the melody in two ways: adjusting the musical notes to the latest pop styles; and weaving in only a few strands of notes that echo the memorable sights of the original film. Take for instance his fantastical take on ‘Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head’ from BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. Mauriat begins with a trumpet filled herald more reminiscent of a glitzy Las Vegas production than a ‘cowboy film’. The harpsichord plays the main notes in a modulation imitating the sensation of riding a horse. Then the concluding strains of human whistling remind the listener of the two carefree film personas played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford in that famous bicycle scene. Likewise, ‘A Time for Us’ from ROMEO AND JULIET, as well as the love theme ‘Speak Softly Love’ from THE GODFATHER are rendered in the fashion of a 70s soft rock anthem. See if you can spot other interesting patterns to Mauriat’s arrangements when you next listen to them? Finally, in his 1996 all-new studio album, observe what Mauriat transforms the BODYGUARD soundtrack (‘I Will Always Love You’) and ‘Unchained Melody’ into – cinematic anthems for star-struck romantics!

Paul Mauriat FILM THEMES Volume I. Made in West Germany in 1984 and released by PHILIPS/Polygram exclusively for the Hong Kong/Malaysia/Singapore market. Catalogue number 818 969-2. This is a compilation of Mauriat’s take on movie themes premiered between 1961 and 1977 stays very much with the pattern of his 60s styling of groovy arrangements with perhaps two exceptions ‘Evergreen’ and ‘Over the Rainbow/Singing in the Rain’. The former reinterprets the Streisand ballad in a soft rock fashion with guitar and drums marking tempo while the strings and trumpets play the lead melody. The ‘Over the Rainbow…’ medley showcases Mauriat’s piano ballad arrangements, melded with smart touches of Broadway-like pizzazz played on big band trumpets, plucked violins, and jaunty tempos. Right in the middle there are lush orchestral intermezzos to mediate the transition between fast and slow sections. This medley is worth the entire disc alone. ‘Somewhere my Love’, ‘Windmills of your Mind’, ‘Raindrops Keep Falling…’ and ‘Summer Place’ draw from the 60s movie epic catalogue and have been transformed under Mauriat’s arrangements into dramatic pop symphonies that defy convention while staying reassuringly rhythmic and evocative of the original movie plots. Finally, there are plenty of 70s flavours that cover the range from ‘The Morning After’ to ‘Emanuelle’, ‘Speak Softly Love’, to ‘Last Tango in Paris’ to ‘The Entertainer’. ‘Free as the Wind’, or the Theme from the French film ‘Papillon’ is the nod to Mauriat’s French roots with its swinging accordion lead. Finally, the Beatles’ ‘Let it Be’ stands alone as a soft rock instrumental arrangement that is quintessentially Mauriat, and dare I say it, ahead of its time in its edgy interpretation of an anthem to faith!

TRACK LISTING:

1.		Evergreen (Theme From 'A Star Is Born')	3:00
2.		Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (Theme From 'Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid')	2:50
3.		Somewhere My Love (Lara's Theme) (Theme From 'Dr. Zhivago')	2:51
4.		The Morning After (Theme From 'Poseidon Adventure')	2:16
5.		A Summer Place (Theme From 'A Summer Place')	2:19
6.		Free As The Wind (Theme From 'Papillion')	2:24
7.		Sound Of Silence (Theme From 'The Graduate')	3:14
8.		Speak Softly Love (Theme From 'Godfather')	2:36
9.		Over The Rainbow/Singing In The Rain (Theme From 'Wizard Of Oz/That's Entertainment')	6:03
10.		Emanuelle (Theme From 'Emanuelle')	2:42
11.		Let It Be (Theme From 'Let It Be')	2:55
12.		Love Said Goodbye (Theme From 'Godfather II')	2:06
13.		Last Tango In Paris (Theme From 'Last Tango In Paris')	2:45
14.		The Entertainer (Theme From 'The Sting')	2:35
15.		Windmills Of Your Mind (Theme From 'The Thomas Crown Affair')	2:51

PAUL MAURIAT FILM THEMES VOLUME II. Made in West Germany by PHILIPS, but marketed as an exclusive Hong Kong/Malaysia/Singapore edition in 1984. Catalogue no. 818 970-2. This rare CD features the maestro playing mostly 1970s film themes with a sprinkling of movie songs from the early 1980s thrown in. Mauriat seems to handle the 1970s with the trumpet, harpsichord and piano playing slightly slower romantic passages; while at the same time, trying to capture the Disco beat for the faster-paced numbers. There is the theme from Love Story; ‘The Summer Knows’; ‘How Deep is Your Love’ from Saturday Night Fever; the Theme from Melody Fair which leads with a suitably melodic trumpet stamping Mauriat’s signature before the main melody kicks in; and a surprise ballad – ‘Maybe Someday’ – from the 1970s version of the story of ‘King Kong’. ‘Nobody Does it better’ is as much a tribute to the Bond movies as a piece made for Mauriat with its large dramatic trumpet-friendly passages. ‘You’re the One that I Want’ is disco a la Mauriat and one for the dance floor! By the early 1980s, he had already woven mild synthesizer arrangements in between the strings resulting in an even more contemporary sound with a heavy drum section. The theme from Flashdance, ‘Your Eyes’ and ‘Up Where we Belong’ (rock flavours juxtaposed with an expressive piano lead) exhibit the style typical of the early 1980s pop fashion. ‘Endless Love’ is however a surprise with its beautiful harpsichord introduction and string-laden main notes in the mid-sections with the trumpet pleasantly taking up the dual choral segments in the original song sung by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. For those of you nostalgic for the 60s, there’s the bossa nova-like ‘A Man and a Woman’ – an odd number for this set but no one’s complaining when the whole compilation sounds soooo good. Definitely one for your collection!

TRACK LISTING:

1.		Endless Love (Theme From 'Endless Love')	3:42
2.		Your Eyes (Theme From 'La Boum 2')	3:05
3.		What A Feeling... Flashdance (Theme From 'Flashdance')	3:44
4.		Up Where We Belong (Theme From 'An Officer And A Gentleman')	3:37
5.		Love Story (Theme From 'Love Story')	3:00
6.		Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Theme From 'Evita')	3:27
7.		How Deep Is Your Love (Theme From 'Saterday Night Fever')	2:58
8.		Melody Fair (Theme From 'Melody Fair)	2:48
9.		Bilitis (Theme From 'Bilitis')	2:28
10.		The Summer Knows (Theme From 'Summer Of '42')	3:14
11.		Maybe Someday (Theme From 'King Kong')	2:36
12.		You're The One That I Want (Theme From 'Grease')	2:45
13.		I Don't Know How To Love Him (Theme From 'Jesus Christ Superstar')	2:55
14.		A Man And A Woman (Theme From 'Un Homme Et Une Femme')	2:20
15.		Nobody Does It Better (Theme From 'The Spy Who Loved Me')	2:52

PAUL MAURIAT Film Themes Volume III

TRACK LISTING:

1 - I just called to say I love you
2 - Against all odds
3 - Reality
4 - Hard to say I'm sorry
5 - Almost paradise
6 - Theme de "Borsalina"
7 - This is my song
8 - What is a youth
9 - Amapola
10 - Love theme from "Oliver's story"
11 - Mrs.Robinson
12 - Summer of '42
13 - Midnight cowboy
14 - Aquarius
15 - Feelings
16 - Theme from "New York,New York"

Then there are the Japanese editions of four volumes of these movie themed collections. These are worth collecting even if you have the Hong Kong/Southeast Asia versions simply because they are themed slightly differently. Sample Screen Music 1 and Screen Music 2 for instance:

PAUL MAURIAT – SCREEN MUSIC (1) UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME - MRS ROBINSON, CATALOGUE NO: 32PD-31 PHILIPS NIPPON PHONOGRAM JAPAN, 1985

PAUL MAURIAT – SCREEN MUSIC (2) JEUX INTERDITS – LOVE STORY, CATALOGUE NO: 32PD-32. PHILIPS NIPPON PHONOGRAM JAPAN, 1985

1.      UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME 2.      GENERIQUE 3.      MRS. ROBINSON 4.      SUMMER OF 42 5.      PARIS EN CORERE 6.      LES MOULINS DE MON COEUR 7.      LE PASSAGER DE LA PLUIE 8.      THEME DE BORSALINO 9.      CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG 10.  VIVRE POUR VIVRE 11.  TOUTE LA PLUIE TOMBE SUR MOI 12.  SOUND OF SILENCE 13.  MIDNIGHT COWBOY 14.  LAISSEZ ENTER LE SOLEIL 15.  THIS IS MY SONG 16.  LA CHANSON DE LARA 17.  LA LECON PARTICULIERE 18.  DU SOLEIL PLEIN LES YEUX

13 JOURS EN FRANCE LOVE STORY ("UNE HISTORIE D'AMOUR") MELODY FAIR DAY BY DAY (from  ‘GODSPELL’) LISBON ANTIGUA SMIC SMAC SMOC ANOMIMO VENEZIANO (from ‘ANOMIMO VENEZIANO’) TICKET TO RIDE LE PETIT MATIN ROMEO ET JULIETTE HERE’S TO YOU I DON’T NOW HOW TO LOVE HIM BURNING BRIDGE LAST TANGO IN PARIS CONTIGO MI VIDA JEUX INTERDITS GODFATHER (PARLE PLUS BAS) THE MORNING AFTER

These Japanese editions of SCREEN MUSIC try to stay faithful to the periodization i.e. they compile tunes specific to the decade 1962-1972 and they include more European themes than the Hong Kong editions. In this way, they are different. The serious film fan may also prefer the interesting ‘film still’ covers of the Japanese compilations. Volume One, if I’m not mistaken, takes the picture from the movie hit of 1970, ‘Love Story’(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Story_(1970_film). It is after all a matter of taste as to how you like to remember Paul Mauriat’s music by – the pop flavor or movie connoisseur. And here are the last two in the Japan minted series. As you can see, I don’t have the complete series for the two different Japanese editions of SCREEN MUSIC. But the artwork is beautiful all the same, going into the 70s and early 80s.

PAUL MAURIAT – SCREEN MUSIC (3). This version is from a very similar series released on both LP and CD in Japan. Track listing is in the same order but cover artwork features the ‘pop art’ scenic motifs of ‘Americana’. Original LP release in 1983: PAUL MAURIAT / THOSE WERE THE DAYS SCREEN MUSIC 3 PHILIPS 28PP-78 (Japan), researched from http://homepage18.seed.net.tw/web@5/mauriat/mauriat/mauriat_home.htm

PAUL MAURIAT – SCREEN MUSIC (4) FLASHDANCE – CARNEGIE HALL, CATALOGUE NO: PHILIPS 32PD-34. PHILIPS NIPPON PHONOGRAM JAPAN, 1985

THE WAY WE WERE A SUMMER PLACE  EVERGREEN-LOVE THEME FROM "A STAR IS BORN" THE ENTERTAINER "Sting" LE PIANO SUR LA VAGUE KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU MONEY MONEY MONEY SERPICO EMMANUELLE JE NE SUIS QUE DE L'AMOUR du film "Histoire d'O" PAPILLON "Toi qui regarde la mer" I GOT A NAME "Last American Hero" OVER THE RAINBOW / SINGIN' IN THE RAIN DANSEZ MAINTENANT "Moonlight Serenade" LILI MARLENE LOVE SAID GOODBYE THEME FROM "MAHOGANY" "Do you know where you're going to"

FLASHDANCE...WHAT A FEELING '83 YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT '79 A FLOWER'S ALL YOU NEED '74 MAYBE SOMEDAY "Thème de King Kong" '77 O SAATHI RE '79 HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE '78 ENDLESS LOVE '82 WOMAN IN YOU '83 REALITY theme du film "LA BOUM" '81 YOUR EYES theme du film "LA BOUM 2" '83 THEME FROM "NEW YORK, NEW YORK" '82 UP WHERE WE BELONG '83 NOBODY DOES IT BETTER '77 DANZA RITUAL DEL FUEGO '78 LE GANG '77 LOVE THEME from "OLIVER'S STORY '79 HYMNE À L'AMOUR '77 BILITIS '77

In 1995, Paul Mauriat, recording now under the Japanese PONY CANYON label, released his final album of exclusively film-themed music, titled appropriately SOUNDTRACKS. This album is a return to a more traditional string, percussion, piano and guitar sound with minimal synthesizer and organ. In fact, what will strike the listener is the heavy presence of horns – trombones, flugelhorns, clarinets, flutes and of course trumpets on most tracks. This lends the collection a very ‘cinematic’ feel, sitting you right in front of the big screen, imagining Mauriat playing in the orchestra pit while the big picture plays out on the screen. 

TRACK LISTING:

1. I will always love you

2. Conquest of paradise (from “1492: Conquest of paradise”)

3. Schindler's list

4. Unchained melody

5. Chariots of fire

6. Calling you (from “Bagdad Café”)

7. Can you feel the love tonight (from "The Lion king")

8. Lara's theme (from "Dr. Zhivago")

9. Charade                 

10. (Everything I do) I do it for you  (from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves")

11. Colors of the wind (from "Pocahontas")

12. Eurostar

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