detail photo by Styrous®
It's hard to believe it was 40 years ago today, May 25, 1977, that the film and the soundtrack for
Star Wars were simultaneously released. And, as they say, the rest is history. There is a link to my impressions about that momentous event below.
I had no knowledge of what I was about to see other than the movie trailer playing at the time (
link below). Because I only had a tiny, 13"
Sonny, rabbit ears with bad reception and tinny sound as the TV was not connected to a sound system, I was not prepared for what was to come.
My album is the original 1977 release of the soundtrack, entitled
Star Wars - Original Soundtrack. It includes a 24" x 36" fold-out poster of a painting by science fiction artist
John Berkey, depicting the final battle over the Death Star from the film's end.
To me, the
film score for
Star Wars by
John Williams is the best one he ever composed. Great examples are
The Dune Sea Of Tatooine episode, the quirky and delightful music from the
Cantina scene, the
Princess Lea Theme and many others (
links below).
On the recommendation of his friend
Steven Spielberg, Lucas hired composer
John Williams. Williams had worked with Spielberg on the film
Jaws, for which he won an
Academy Award.
Lucas felt that the film would portray visually foreign worlds, but
that the musical score would give the audience an emotional familiarity;
he wanted a grand musical sound for
Star Wars, with
leitmotifs
to provide distinction. Therefore, he assembled his favorite orchestral
pieces for the soundtrack, until Williams convinced him that an
original score would be unique and more unified. However, a few of
Williams' pieces were influenced by the tracks given to him by Lucas:
the
Main Title Theme was inspired by the theme from the 1942 film
Kings Row, scored by
Erich Wolfgang Korngold; and the track
Dune Sea of Tatooine drew from the soundtrack of
Bicycle Thieves, scored by
Alessandro Cicognini.
The
score for
Star Wars
was recorded over eight sessions at
Anvil Studios in
Denham,
England on
March 5, 8–12, 15 and 16, 1977. The score was performed by the
London Symphony Orchestra with Williams conducting. The score was
orchestrated by
Herbert W. Spencer, who also orchestrated
The Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi. The score was recorded by engineer
Eric Tomlinson and edited by
Kenneth Wannberg, and the scoring sessions were produced by
Star Wars director
George Lucas and supervised by
Lionel Newman, head of
20th Century Fox's music department.
The 20th Century Fox's second logo was used from 1953 to 1987. This version was designed by Pacific Title artist Rocky Longo, and was originally created for the new CinemaScope process.
20th Century Records also released
The Story of Star Wars that same year, a narrated
audio drama
adaptation of the film utilizing some of its original music, dialogue,
and sound effects (
this recording will be a future article).
The album includes some of the best notes ever; one page has a synopsis of the film, Williams and LSO bios, etc, and another a detailed, track by track breakdown of how the music program was put together.
notes, bios, etc.
tracks info
The giant color, fold out poster which depicts the
Rebel Alliance dogfighting the
Empire near and
along the
Death Star. This
John Berkey illustration, featuring the
frenzied dogfight, was published as a free poster inserted into the first
pressings of the
Star Wars vinyl LP soundtrack album and measures 22" x 33".
Star Wars was released theatrically in the United States on May
25, 1977. It earned $461 million in the U.S. and $314 million overseas,
totaling $775 million. It surpassed
Jaws (1975) to become the
highest-grossing film of all time until the release of
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). When adjusted for inflation,
Star Wars is the
second-highest-grossing film in North America, and the third-highest-grossing film in the world. It received ten
Academy Award nominations (including
Best Picture), winning seven. It was among the first films to be selected as part of the U.S.
Library of Congress National Film Registry
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". At
the time, it was the most recent film on the registry and the only one
chosen from the 1970s. Its
soundtrack was added to the U.S.
National Recording Registry in 2004. Today, it is often regarded as one of the
best films of all time, as well as one of the most important films in the
history of motion pictures.
The film's success led to two critically and commercially successful sequels,
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and
Return of the Jedi (1983). The film was originally released in 1977 with the title "
Star Wars". The
subtitles Episode IV and
A New Hope were only added to the opening crawl in subsequent re-releases.
Star Wars ~ A New Hope was reissued multiple times incorporating
many changes including modified
computer-generated effects, altered dialogue, re-edited shots, remixed soundtracks, and added scenes.
According to Lucas, different concepts of the film were inspired by numerous sources, such as
Beowulf and
King Arthur for the origins of myth and religion. Lucas originally intended to rely heavily on the 1930s
Flash Gordon film serials; however, he resorted to the 1958
Akira Kurosawa film,
The Hidden Fortress, and the book by
Joseph Campbell,
The Hero with a Thousand Faces, because of copyright issues with
Flash Gordon.
Star Wars features several parallels to
Flash Gordon, such as the conflict between Rebels and Imperial Forces, the
wipes between scenes, the fusion of futuristic technology and traditional mythology, and the famous
opening crawl that begins each film. The film has also been compared to
The Wizard of Oz.
Lucas described a "used future" concept to the production designers in
which all devices, ships, and buildings looked aged and dirty. Instead of following the traditional sleekness and futuristic architecture of science fiction films that came before, the
Star Wars
sets were designed to look inhabited and used. Barry said that the
director "wants to make it look like it's shot on location on your
average everyday Death Star or Mos Eisley Spaceport or local cantina."
Lucas believed "what is required for true credibility is a used
future", opposing the interpretation of "future in most futurist movies"
that "always looks new and clean and shiny." Christian supported Lucas's vision, saying "All science fiction before was very plastic and stupid uniforms and
Flash Gordon stuff. Nothing was new. George was going right against that."
During the chaos of production and post-production, the team made decisions about character voicing and
sound effects. Sound designer
Ben Burtt
had created a library of sounds that Lucas referred to as an "organic
soundtrack". Blaster sounds were a modified recording of a steel cable,
under tension, being struck. The
lightsaber sound effect was developed by Burtt as a combination of the hum of idling
interlock motors in aged
movie projectors and interference caused by a television set on a shieldless
microphone. Burtt discovered the latter accidentally as he was looking for a buzzing, sparking sound to add to the projector-motor hum.
For Chewbacca's growls, Burtt recorded and combined sounds made by
dogs, bears, lions, tigers, and walruses to create phrases and
sentences. Lucas and Burtt created the robotic voice of R2-D2 by
filtering their voices through an electronic synthesizer. Darth Vader's
breathing was achieved by Burtt breathing through the mask of a
scuba regulator implanted with a microphone.
A1 Main Title 5:20
A2 Imperial Attack 6:10
A3 Princess Leia's Theme 4:18
A4 The Desert And The Robot Auction 2:51
Side Two:
B1 Ben's Death And TIE Fighter Attack 3:46
B2 The Little People Work 4:02
B3 Rescue Of The Princess 4:46
B4 Inner City 4:12
B5 Cantina Band 2:44
Side Three:
C1 The Land Of The Sand People 2:50
C2 Mouse Robot And Blasting Off 4:01
C3 The Return Home 2:46
C4 The Walls Converge 4:37
C5 The Princess Appears 4:04
Side Four:
D1 The Last Battle 12:05
D2 The Throne Room And End Title 5:28
Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Anvil Recording Studios
Remixed At – The Burbank Studios
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Published By – Fox Fanfare Music, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – 20th Century Records
Copyright (c) – Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute
Credits:
Bass – A. Griffiths*, B. Mollinson*, G. Neal, G. Newson*, J. Cooper*, P. Dimitroff*
Bassoon – P. Francis*, R. Bourton*
Cello – C. Gillinson*, D. Powrie*, D. Cummings*, F. Saunders*, J. Long*, K. Glossop*, K. Law*, M. Meulien*, R. Adams*, T. Storer*
Clarinet – J. Brymer*, R. Moore*, R. Jowitt*
Composed By, Conductor – John Williams (4)
Engineer [Recording] – Eric Tomlinson
Flute – F. Nolan*, L. Sanders*, R. Taylor*
Harp – J. Marson*, R. Scheffel-Stein*
Horns – A. Chidell*, D. Cripps*, G. Warren*, J. Brown*, J. Quaife*, J. Butterworth*, J. Rooke*, S. Reading
Liner Notes – Charles Lippincott
Oboe – A. Camden*, R. Lord*
Orchestra – The London Symphony Orchestra
Percussion – M. Frye*, R. Northcott*
Piano, Celesta – M. Round, R. Noble*
Producer – George Lucas
Remix – John Neal
Timpani – K-H. Goedicke*
Trombone – D. Wick*, E. Crees*, F. Mathison*
Trumpet – M. Murphy*, N. Archibald*, R. Izen*, W. Lang*
Tuba – J. Fletcher*, S. Wick*
Viola – A. Taylor*, B. Clarke*, D. Hume*, E. Cuthbertson*, M. Mitchell*, P. Hooley*, P. Vermont*, P. Norriss*, W. Krasnik*, W. Sumpton*
Violin – B. Thomas, B. Gaulton*, C. Reuben*, D. Llewellyn*, D. Williams*, D. Gaines*, D. Stewart*, G. Creese*, I. Arditti*, J. Steadman*, M. Weber*, N. Freeman, N. Watson*, N. Taweel*, R. Studt*, R. Clark*, R. Retallick*, R. Brightman*, S. Artis*, S. Castle*, S. Colter*, T. Morton*, T. Cook*, T. Swift*, W. Hill*, W. Brown*
Notes:
Recorded over eight sessions at Anvil Studios in Denham, England on March 5, 8-12, 15-16, 1977
Remixed at The Burbank Studios, Burbank, California
Published by Fox Fanfare Music, Inc. (BMI)
© 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation
Has an insert with the list of each instrument and its performer and a color fold-out poster.
Also comes with 16-page color booklet describing characters and behind the scenes info, and poster of fighters over the Death Star.
Release is Auto-Coupled - sides are organized for use with an auto-changing player.
Record 1: Sides A and D
Record 2: Sides B and C
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Rights Society: BMI
Matrix / Runout (Side A Label): M-2-541-AS
Matrix / Runout (Side B Label): M-2-541-BS
Matrix / Runout (Side C Label): M-2-541-CS
Matrix / Runout (Side D Label): M-2-541-DS
Matrix / Runout (Side A Etchings [Variant 1]): M-2-541-AS-3
Matrix / Runout (Side B Etchings [Variant 1]): M-2-541-BS-1C
Matrix / Runout (Side C Etchings [Variant 1]): M-2-541-CS-4
Matrix / Runout (Side D Etchings [Variant 1]): M-2-541-DS
Matrix / Runout (Side A Etchings [Variant 2]): M-2-541-AS-7 TI
Matrix / Runout (Side B Etchings [Variant 2]): M-2-541-BS-5 TI
Matrix / Runout (Side C Etchings [Variant 2]): M-2-541-CS-8 TI
Matrix / Runout (Side D Etchings [Variant 2]): M-2-541-DS-4 TI
Matrix / Runout (Side A & B Mastering Facility Stamp): TML-M
Matrix / Runout (Side C & D Mastering Facility Stamp): TML-S
John Williams, The
London Symphony Orchestra – Star Wars
Label:
20th Century Records – 2T-541
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: May 25, 1977
Genre: Classical, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Modern Classical, Contemporary, Score
Viewfinder links:
Star Wars
Episode VII ~ The Force Awakens in 3D (or am I cross-eyed yet?)
All things Star Wars
Carrie Fisher ~ Forever Princess Lea
Net links:
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Official Site
John Williams website
Star Wars: Episode IV Cast
Star Wars: Episode IV Plot
YouTube links:
Star Wars ~ Original Trailer (1977)
Star Wars - Opening Scene
Star Wars music
Main Title
The Dune Sea Of Tatooine
Cantina song
Princess Leia's Theme
Bicycle Thieves
Styrous® ~ Thursday, May 25, 2017
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