Casino Royale ('67) Soundtrack
JennyFlexFan
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Alright, am I the only one, or is this one of the best soundtracks EVER? So what if it isn't Barry, and while he's amazing, in my opinion it all starts to sound the same after awhile.
However, here you have Burt Bacharach, the master of all that is campy music composing your score with one of the ultimate swingin' 60s bands, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass performing the beautifully crafted title song and Dusty Springfield with her sultry rendition of 'The Look of Love'. Also, the sound quality is amazing! A bit distorted in some areas but that's because many of the other tapes were lost.
Alright, I've already said how wonderful the two songs are, but onto the background music.
1. Moneypenny Goes For Broke - The snare drums and the beginning snare you into listening to the track. Sounding like a march into battle, but watching the movie (I guess you could say it was what Moneypenny was doing) with the whole military aspect of Moneypenny crossing the line of "soldiers" to find the right one is stupendous! We then move onto the instruments playing the sadly unpublished "Let The Love Come Through" which I bet would've made a good song but makes for a wonderful love theme, maintaining its beauty as well as its semi-sleaziness.
2. Le Chiffre's Torture of the Mind - My favorite track and here's why. We start out with a relaxing 60s lounge type theme and then it turns into a dramatic waltz type number I'd expect to hear at a Russian ballet! Then comes the best part. You hear the faint sound of bagpipes. Many people hate the instrument but here it is used so amazingly, creating a beautiful melody along with the flute, drums and trumpet making a jolly Scottish march. I wish the bagpipe was louder actually on the track as that's what really gives its oomph!
3. Home James, Don't Spare The Horses - Should be called "Mata's Escape from the School" but whatever. This is the ultimate in 60s camp right here ladies and gentlemen, but that doesn't mean it isn't amazing. The melody is one you'll be humming all day long and did I mention that it's used for Stewie Griffin's "sexy parties" on Family Guy?
4. Sir James's Trip to Find Mata - Starting out with the sad, mournful violin music it quickly cuts to a loud brassy rendition of Casino Royale and then into some campy, Indian-style dance music that's a joy to listen to.
5. Look of Love (Instrumental) - A rehash of the main theme, and a good one at that, but I wish they used the more brassy version of where Vesper is kidnapped in keeping it so tamed throughout. Probably my least favorite one on the soundtrack.
6. Hi There Miss Goodthighs - With an exaggerated lead-in to the "Moneypenny Goes For Broke" theme, Hi There Miss Goodthighs is a romantic and sleazy little tune and it differs from MPGFB because it has that little fanfare for a minute there and changes and ends a little more subdued. Nevertheless a wonderful track.
7. Little French Boy - A simple yet beautiful track, with all the campiness but romancey in certain bits with the trumpet fanfares. Very beautiful track.
8. Flying Saucer - First Stop Berlin - Another brassy rendition of Casino Royale (you really honestly can't get enough of those, and I'm not being sarcastic, I really like the song) and First Stop Berlin is a great 60s background ambience music highlighting the location.
9. The Venerable Sir James Bond - A beautiful start, catapulting you into the tune with the first few notes, the next bit is a subdued trumpet melody and soon becomes big brass, toward the end a very pretty harp-ish piece is played, one of the best tracks on here.
10. Dream On James, You're Winning - The man with the silly English voice sings to a Casino Royale tune and then it turns into a wonderful rendition of The Look of Love.
11. The Big Cowboys and Indians Fight at Casino Royale - Casino Royale Reprise - MADNESS!!!! But in a good way. It combines all the themes of the other tracks, Little French Boy, Home James, Moneypenny Goes For Broke, etc. and the theme at the end is always nice, the vocal rendition is hilarious though.
All seem to have a "theme" though or were composed to a certain tune in my opinion, and these groups are.
"Let The Love Come Through" - Moneypenny Goes For Broke, Le Chiffre's Torture of the Mind, Hi There Miss Goodthighs, First Stop Berlin
"Home James" - Home James Don't Spare The Horses, Little French Boy, The Big Cowboys and Indians Fight at Casino Royale
Look of Love - Look of Love, Look of Love (Inst.), Dream On James..., Venerable Sir James Bond
And the rest are either standalone or based on Casino Royale.
All in all, one of the best albums for Bond EVER, withhold your transgressions of the movie, this is Bacharach at his finest, one of the few movie scores he composed, and arguably one of his best.
However, here you have Burt Bacharach, the master of all that is campy music composing your score with one of the ultimate swingin' 60s bands, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass performing the beautifully crafted title song and Dusty Springfield with her sultry rendition of 'The Look of Love'. Also, the sound quality is amazing! A bit distorted in some areas but that's because many of the other tapes were lost.
Alright, I've already said how wonderful the two songs are, but onto the background music.
1. Moneypenny Goes For Broke - The snare drums and the beginning snare you into listening to the track. Sounding like a march into battle, but watching the movie (I guess you could say it was what Moneypenny was doing) with the whole military aspect of Moneypenny crossing the line of "soldiers" to find the right one is stupendous! We then move onto the instruments playing the sadly unpublished "Let The Love Come Through" which I bet would've made a good song but makes for a wonderful love theme, maintaining its beauty as well as its semi-sleaziness.
2. Le Chiffre's Torture of the Mind - My favorite track and here's why. We start out with a relaxing 60s lounge type theme and then it turns into a dramatic waltz type number I'd expect to hear at a Russian ballet! Then comes the best part. You hear the faint sound of bagpipes. Many people hate the instrument but here it is used so amazingly, creating a beautiful melody along with the flute, drums and trumpet making a jolly Scottish march. I wish the bagpipe was louder actually on the track as that's what really gives its oomph!
3. Home James, Don't Spare The Horses - Should be called "Mata's Escape from the School" but whatever. This is the ultimate in 60s camp right here ladies and gentlemen, but that doesn't mean it isn't amazing. The melody is one you'll be humming all day long and did I mention that it's used for Stewie Griffin's "sexy parties" on Family Guy?
4. Sir James's Trip to Find Mata - Starting out with the sad, mournful violin music it quickly cuts to a loud brassy rendition of Casino Royale and then into some campy, Indian-style dance music that's a joy to listen to.
5. Look of Love (Instrumental) - A rehash of the main theme, and a good one at that, but I wish they used the more brassy version of where Vesper is kidnapped in keeping it so tamed throughout. Probably my least favorite one on the soundtrack.
6. Hi There Miss Goodthighs - With an exaggerated lead-in to the "Moneypenny Goes For Broke" theme, Hi There Miss Goodthighs is a romantic and sleazy little tune and it differs from MPGFB because it has that little fanfare for a minute there and changes and ends a little more subdued. Nevertheless a wonderful track.
7. Little French Boy - A simple yet beautiful track, with all the campiness but romancey in certain bits with the trumpet fanfares. Very beautiful track.
8. Flying Saucer - First Stop Berlin - Another brassy rendition of Casino Royale (you really honestly can't get enough of those, and I'm not being sarcastic, I really like the song) and First Stop Berlin is a great 60s background ambience music highlighting the location.
9. The Venerable Sir James Bond - A beautiful start, catapulting you into the tune with the first few notes, the next bit is a subdued trumpet melody and soon becomes big brass, toward the end a very pretty harp-ish piece is played, one of the best tracks on here.
10. Dream On James, You're Winning - The man with the silly English voice sings to a Casino Royale tune and then it turns into a wonderful rendition of The Look of Love.
11. The Big Cowboys and Indians Fight at Casino Royale - Casino Royale Reprise - MADNESS!!!! But in a good way. It combines all the themes of the other tracks, Little French Boy, Home James, Moneypenny Goes For Broke, etc. and the theme at the end is always nice, the vocal rendition is hilarious though.
All seem to have a "theme" though or were composed to a certain tune in my opinion, and these groups are.
"Let The Love Come Through" - Moneypenny Goes For Broke, Le Chiffre's Torture of the Mind, Hi There Miss Goodthighs, First Stop Berlin
"Home James" - Home James Don't Spare The Horses, Little French Boy, The Big Cowboys and Indians Fight at Casino Royale
Look of Love - Look of Love, Look of Love (Inst.), Dream On James..., Venerable Sir James Bond
And the rest are either standalone or based on Casino Royale.
All in all, one of the best albums for Bond EVER, withhold your transgressions of the movie, this is Bacharach at his finest, one of the few movie scores he composed, and arguably one of his best.
Comments
The CR spoof came out when I was five years old; I was probably eight or nine when it made TV...and I loved the movie---still, even then, I knew it was a travesty on one level...but the music was (and still is) aces.
Specifically, the Tijuana Brass theme...whenever I want to feel better, I play that one on my stereo---VERY LOUDLY. It sounds great crashing out of my Cerwin-Vegas...and I always feel better afterward.
Not every song has that kind of power B-)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
To this day, I still cannot figure out this film. It's absolute chaos. Take the final battle scene for instance, which involves bubbles, seals, cowboys, parachuting Indians, and a flying roulette wheel.
I'd call this film a joke, although that is undoubtedly what it was meant to be. Aside from a great extensive cast and a few good laughs, this film was a huge disappointment. What a waste of money.
On a positive note, Burt Bacharach's score was superb.
The "Casino Royale Theme" and Dusty Springfield's "The Look of Love" were definite highlights, however "The Venerable Sir James Bond" is probably my personal favorite track. Like JFF, I too am fond of the song which accompanies the end credits.
Here is a clip of one of Stewie's sexy parties (set to a bit of "Home James, Don't Spare The Horses") if you haven't seen it yet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFJvATunQsQ
-Roger Moore
BTW - does the soundtrack CD have the music from the milk float/car chase? Possibly my favourite in the film.
Yes, look no further than the track "Little French Boy."
-Roger Moore
And Bacharach's CR is one of the few that adorn my iPod in its entirety because it's that amazing.
I agree. I watch CR quite frequently because it is a fun way to spend a couple of hours. There are many moments which I just love (eg. the scene with Peter O'Toole.) And also I just love to watch the film in order to hear the music.
Burt Bacharach really did a great job. Someday I'll have to rank all of the soundtracks, this one will definitely be top 5.
"Excuse me, are you Richard Burton?"
"No, I'm Peter O'Toole."
"Then you're the finest man that ever breathed!"
I'm sure we disagree on many other things too JFF. For instance, I would definitely consider AVTAK to be my least favorite Moore film. And I certainly wouldn't rank NSNA above any of the official Bonds.
I will admit there is at least one reason to watch the 1967 version of CR:
To see Barbara Bouchet in her blue nightie. :x Yum!
-Roger Moore
Not many things though, but you still hold AVTAK in high esteem, though my opinions of NSNA and CR67 are radically different from yours, but for the most part we're on the same wavelength when it comes to taste in film.
Mentioning the Barbara Bouchet bit (and I couldn't agree more) it reminds me of the AgonyBooth review for Casino Royale (Moonraker and DAD have also been reviewed there and I sent in a suggestion that the abominable LTK should be next).
http://agonybooth.com/casino_royale/ Take a look! I don't agree with much of it, but it is humorous, not as much as the MR one though, and I like MR for the most part!
The singer's name was Mike Redway, btw.
Round about the 1920s it was not uncommon for singers to use a megaphone rather than a microphone for certain kinds of songs, usually ballads as opposed to belters- Rudy Vallee (I know you're too young to have heard of him! He was a singer way, way back; a parody of him features in Singin' In the Rain) was known for this, for example.
Redway's voice is processed to give this kind of effect on "Dream On James..."- in a similar way to that in which Paul McCartney's vocals on "Honey Pie" were treated on the White Album.
Perhaps he did though, becuase otherwise wouldn't he just use an extended version of Le Chiffre's Torture of the Mind?
It takes all kinds ...