Kenyon Hopkins THE HUSTLER - Expanded! From Intrada!

[Teasing the Korean]

26 minutes ago, paul secor said:

You're correct that most soundtracks were recorded on the West coast, but there were plenty of regular studio musicians in the East then, and Roswell Rudd wasn't among those guys. I just wondered how he was chosen. Perhaps Hopkins knew him?

Maybe, or maybe one of the musicians recommended him when one of the usual suspects wasn't available.

[sgcim]

4 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Actually, the usual soundtrack crew in the US was on the West Coast, and Hopkins seemed to prefer recording with East Coast cats. 

I have all of those.  Rooms is indeed different, but you an certainly hear some of his devices in that one.  

Have you ever heard the albums he arranged for Joe Bushkin on Capitol?  I never have. 

I've never heard the Bushkin things, but thanks for the heads up. 'Rooms' was originally a ballet. Hopkins said he was going for a claustrophobic feeling on the piece, and he certainly achieved it AFAIC; it scared the hell out of me!

[Teasing the Korean]

Interesting story:  In the 1990s, way back in the early days of the interwebz, my wife posted on something called the "Exotica Mailing List."  It included discussion of exotica, 60s-70s soundtracks, space-age bachelor pad music, etc.  Anyway, there was discussion of Kenyon Hopkins at one point, and one of the participants suggested that Hopkins' ABC-Paramount albums were released under Creed Taylor's name because Taylor bankrolled the sessions.  Someone on the list apparently knew Creed Taylor, and Creed Taylor responded with a statement saying that the only reason the albums came out under his (Taylor's) name was because Hopkins was contracted to Capitol at the time.

Edited March 3, 2018 by Teasing the Korean

[sgcim]

4 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I read that Gerry Mulligan included Johnny Mandel's "I Want To Live," which Mulligan played on the soundtrack, in his sets for many years.  Is there any evidence that Phil Woods ever played "The Hustler" at his gigs?

I never heard him play it, and I caught Phil whenever he was in town. i was surprised that it worked so well as a small group tune on the Intrada CD, so it's a possibility.

Woods never even played any of the pop tunes he had well-known solos on at his gigs (Billy Joel, Steely Dan, Paul Simon). Shortly after 'Just the Way You Are' came out, Woods happened to be playing a show opposite Billy Joel somewhere, so he went backstage to introduce himself to Billy Joel. He said, "Hi Mr. joel, I'm Phil woods, the guy who played the alto solo on JTWYA." 

Joel shrugged his shoulders, told him he never heard of him, and fluffed him off!

When Woods was flown in to play the solo on 'Dr. Wu' by Steely Dan, they put him up in a swanky hotel with full room service in LA. 

He called every alto player in LA to party their brains out all night on SD's bill, and then showed up at the recording studio with no sleep in a hangover the next morning.

Walter Becker was the only one there, and he played a tape of the section he wanted him to solo on. Phil played it once, and Becker said, "Okay, we're done", and Woods walked off with a bundle.

The Billy Joel solo was also a first take.

[Teasing the Korean]

22 minutes ago, sgcim said:

Shortly after 'Just the Way You Are' came out, Woods happened to be playing a show opposite Billy Joel somewhere, so he went backstage to introduce himself to Billy Joel. He said, "Hi Mr. joel, I'm Phil woods, the guy who played the alto solo on JTWYA." 

Joel shrugged his shoulders, told him he never heard of him, and fluffed him off!

What a jerk.  Phil Ramone was the engineer on many of those Creed Taylor sessions.  I'm sure it was his idea to use Phil Woods. 

sgcim, I know you are a fan of Bernard Herrmann.  Had you heard that Hopkins was considered for Torn Curtain after Hitchcock fired Herrmann?

Edited March 3, 2018 by Teasing the Korean

[medjuck]

On 3/2/2018 at 2:01 PM, sgcim said:

, after listening to all the out takes featured in the Jazz In the Movies that featured Phil Woods, Billy Bauer and others in some fantastic music that never made it into the movie. I 

What is this? Is it a cd? Where can I hear it?  

[sgcim]

2 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

What a jerk.  Phil Ramone was the engineer on many of those Creed Taylor sessions.  I'm sure it was his idea to use Phil Woods. 

sgcim, I know you are a fan of Bernard Herrmann.  Had you heard that Hopkins was considered for Torn Curtain after Hitchcock fired Herrmann?

8 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Actually, the usual soundtrack crew in the US was on the West Coast, and Hopkins seemed to prefer recording with East Coast cats. 

I have all of those.  Rooms is indeed different, but you an certainly hear some of his devices in that one.  

Have you ever heard the albums he arranged for Joe Bushkin on Capitol?  I never have. 

I've never heard the Bushkin things, but thanks for the heads up. 'Rooms' was originally a ballet. Hopkins said he was going for a claustrophobic feeling on the piece, and he certainly achieved it AFAIC; it scared the hell out of me!

I never knew that about Hopkins; maybe he turned it down out of respect for 'Benny'. I bought the vinyl for Benny's turned down version of TC. Hitch should've been ashamed of himself. They finally issued 'Obsession' on CD, one of Herrmann's crowning works; have you checked it out yet?

Yeah, Phil Ramone was an old buddy of Phil's from Julliard. 

[Teasing the Korean]

14 hours ago, sgcim said:

I've never heard the Bushkin things, but thanks for the heads up. 'Rooms' was originally a ballet. Hopkins said he was going for a claustrophobic feeling on the piece, and he certainly achieved it AFAIC; it scared the hell out of me!

I never knew that about Hopkins; maybe he turned it down out of respect for 'Benny'. I bought the vinyl for Benny's turned down version of TC. Hitch should've been ashamed of himself. They finally issued 'Obsession' on CD, one of Herrmann's crowning works; have you checked it out yet?

Yeah, Phil Ramone was an old buddy of Phil's from Julliard. 

Agree about the claustrophobic feeling on "Rooms."  I have the "Torn Curtain" LP also, conducted by Elmer Bernstein.  I have "Obsession" on LP.  When the two competing CD versions came out at the same time, I sprung for the re-recording, being that I already had Herrmann's version on LP.  

Edited March 4, 2018 by Teasing the Korean

[Teasing the Korean]

Treated myself to "The Hustler" on Blu-ray.  We watched it last night for the first time in ages. I loved hearing Hopkins's music in the context of the film. 

The scene with the track title "Contract with Depravity" is striking. It sounds like Twilight Zone music. 

Any "Mad Men" fans here? I know that Matthew Weiner scoured old films for various details. I wonder if Midge's Greenwich Village apartment was patterned after Piper Laurie's in "The Hustler."

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by Teasing the Korean