CITY SLICKERS (1991) - Marc Shaiman - Soundtrack Score Suite

The original City Slickers film was a curious comedy which placed Billy Crystal, among others as city executives who wanted to get away from it all and go on a cattle drive. Obviously, things don't go quite as planned and so they have adventures, find their true selves, blah, blah, blah... although the main point of the film was to be a comedy western. I don't recall whether it was any good or not, but they made a sequel so it must have been moderately successful. It is curious that Bruce Broughton got type cast as the only young(ish) composer who can write Western music since Marc Shaiman's hilariously over the top music for both City Slickers films is delightful and if he was given a serious Western to write music for, I think he'd be more than up to the task. The main title for City Slickers must go down as one of the more ludicrous overtures commited to celluloid, the main theme going through a series of variations and bouncing along at a break neck pace after which the orhcestra must have required oxygen. Perhaps the comic high point would be where there's a gunshot and everything stops.

The remainder of the disc goes through various episodes, Career End being a curious jazz number which doesn't seem to have anything at all to do with the Western genre at all, quite nice though. It is the law (I think) that all American comedy films must be sentimental to the hilt and so no Marc Shaiman comedy score is complete without a mushy episode and this is provided in Find Your Smile (which sounds like it could be the title of a Randy Newman song), fortunately, this breaks out after a few minutes and a rousing version of main theme appears rather from nowhere, to then go back to mush again, then the main theme again... oh I give up describing this track. Schizophrenic I think sums it up. Shaiman seems to be able to mix two genres quite cleverly when he mixes his Western theme with a lounge, caberet, big band, whatever style orchestration in Walking Funny, clever indeed - even throws in a bit of harmonica just to remind us that this is in fact a Western.

The River is a fraction more serious than most of the rest of the score and works reasonably well as an action cue, especially when the main theme is employed.
City Slickers, the original, is a fun score and worth picking up if you see it cheap, especially for fans of Marc Shaiman.

(http://www.soundtrack-express.com/osts/cityslickers.htm)

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Marc Shaiman
• Billy Crystal
• Jack Palance
• Western
• City Slickers
• Cattle Drive
• Colorado
• 1991
• Curly

[Horizons1]

Does anyone know where I could find a download a torrent of this score, as well as the score for the second movie? Just like City Slickers 3, a torrent of them does not seem to exist.

[Schnurpselbacke1]

@Horizons1, and I´m quite happy about it. You like to hear the whole music? Go and buy the soundtrack albums (btw, there is no third installment) and support the composer and film music releases in general. Thanks. :)

[HAIRCUT]

Looks Like Someone Didnt Know What The 1 Things Was.

[PoisonParadiseTV]

Marc Shaiman is one of my heros. And he really mastered that great wide open cowboy ranch sound. He did a fantastic rendition of the theme song from Dallas, on the soundtrack of the 1994 movie North starring Elijah Wood. Unfortunately that movie and soundtrack has been very much forgotten, (Didnt even go to DVD) and the soundtrack hard to find, but its gorgeous

[MsBongkong]

The music at 10:40 is brilliant. Can't help but cry at that point in the film. Fantastic score.

[RANTV3]

I loved this movie when it first came out. To me I felt this movie had a lot of heart in it. The way they stuck together even when it got rough for them at the end of the film People aren't this way any more. It's every person for themselves now a days. If only people were still this way.

[RANTV3]

1 thing just 1 thing

[RANTV3]

It's french roast. haha

[unnamednewbie13]

Curious.

[IronEngineer]

my internet D/C at the last held note, i threw my laptop out the window

[Die2Haufen]

i cannot understand why such a beautiful music has just arround 6000 cliks after 8 months

[StreifProductions]

1 person eats bacon every day for breakfast. You just can't do that.

[Horizons1]

@SndOfSlnc I know there wasn't. Hence the joke about it not existing.