News & Updates — soundtrack

Joe Meek may very well be rock's first independent producer/auteur. He is like an early rock & roll Lee Perry, a man with a strong artistic inclination and a home studio, eccentric tendencies and behaviors, and experimental processes to create otherwordly results. He had a background as an electrician and started cutting his own records in the '50s. He set up perhaps the first home recording studio in rock (he loved to bother his neighbors). He produced "Tornado", a major international hit by the Telstars in '62, becoming the first British group to top the US charts. He utilized separation...

Musique concrète composer and writer Tod Dockstader was from Minnesota but went to Hollywood in the '50s where he lined up a job doing music to accompany the Tom & Jerry cartoon. Dockstader also wrote a couple of the episodes. He also contributed sound effects for Mr Magoo. His first album Eight Electronic Pieces was self-released before being picked up by Folkways in 1961. Music from those recordings were later used in the film Fellini Satyricon. He released his organized sound masterpiece Quatermass in the mid '60s. He continued his experimental sound art into the '70s, while also composing and...

This entry into the series may well stand as one of the controversial ones, given not only some of the cheese that Les Baxter was involved with, but also for his role in the 1950's phenomenon of the white man's interpretation of "Jungle Drums", etc...as well as (unsubstantiated, and seemingly likely untrue when looking at it deeply) claims of compositional theft made by his understudies. But since it is my piece to write here, I am not going to flinch on calling myself a fan of Baxter's wacky arrangements, particularly in the field of "exotica" and exploito-film scores. Regardless of...

The career of the great Bobby Womack spanned many generations, styles and roles...from the doo-wop with his brothers in The Valentinos to session work with everybody from the Rolling Stones to Sam Cooke. He was a major influence on Jimi Hendrix. He was a left-handed guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, producer, soundtrack composer (Across 110th St is a classic!), label head...you have certainly heard the work of Bobby beyond the few songs of his on oldies radio. Just a SMALL sampling of artists he collaborated with include Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Sly & the Family Stone, Gabor Szabo,...

The Charles Mingus 1968 documentary is now available in full on Youtube. Shot by then-23 year old Thomas Reichman captures Mingus being evicted (actually in '66, when times were tough for the Mingus family), dealing with police (he gets arrested) and his possessions on the sidewalk. Candid moments of Charles and his daughter are here, as well as some concert footage shot in Massachusetts at Lenny's-On-The-Turnpike. Players include Dannie Richmond, Walter Bishop, Charles McPherson. Reichman committed suicide in '75. Check it out while it is up: More info on the flick can be found here.