The Legacy of John Williams

The Missouri Breaks

Table Of Contents

Film Details

Year: 1976
Studio: United Artists/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Director: Arthur Penn
Producers: Elliott Kastner, Robert M. Sherman
Writer: Thomas McGuane
Main Cast: Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Kathleen Lloyd, Frederic Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton, John McLiam
Genre: Drama – Western

For synopsis and full cast and crew credits, visit the IMDb page

Music Credits

Music Composed by John Williams

Guitar Soloists: Jay Berliner (film), Tommy Tedesco, Dennis Budimir (album)
Harmonica Soloists: Tommy Morgan (film and album), Toots Thielemans (film)

Music Editor: Kenneth Wannberg
Film Sessions Recorded on February 26, 27, 28, March 2 and 11, 1976 at A & R Studios, New York City, NY
Album Sessions Recorded on March 23 and 24, 1976 in Los Angeles (location unknown)

Essential Discography

Original Soundtrack Album and Expanded Reissues

Original Motion Picture Score – LP (1976)
United Artists Records – UA-LA623-G
Engineered by John Norman
Album featuring selected cues expanded and re-recorded for album presentation

Original MGM Motion Picture Soundtrack – CD (1999)
Rykodisc – RCD 10748
Produced by Ian Gilchrist
Mastered by Dr. Toby Mountain
Production Assistance: Lukas Kendall
Liner Notes: Jeff Bond
Remastered reissue of the 1976 soundtrack album with three additional tracks from the film recording

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – CD (2004)
Varèse Sarabande VSD-6587
Executive Producer: Robert Townson
Mastered by Erik Labson
Liner notes: Jerry McCulley
Reissue of the 1999 Rykodisc release with remastered sound and new liner notes

Original MGM Motion Picture Soundtrack – 2-CD Limited Edition (2013)
Kritzerland – KR 20026-0
Produced by Bruce Kimmel
Mastered by James Nelsons
Liner notes: Bruce Kimmel
Premiere release of the original film recording on Disc 1; remastered reissue of the OST album recording on Disc 2

Selected Re-recordings


The Music of John Williams: The Definitive Collection (2014)
Silva Screen – SILCD 1382 (6-CD boxset)
contains “Love Theme from The Missouri Breaks”
Performed by members of the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra

In Williams’ Words

“Arthur Penn is a theatre director principally – although he’s done a number of distinguished films – and he’s not a man, I think, who is comfortable with opulent scores. He wanted The Missouri Breaks to be spartan, personal, so I tried to achieve that with a small ensemble. He seemed to like it very much; it seemed to fit his preconceptions of what the sound ought to be. He didn’t want any large orchestral, Coplandesque, Big Country sound at all; he was very specific about that.” 1

Quotes and Commentary

I had a variety of reasons for my choice for this month’s column. First of all, John T. Williams (Oscar award winner for the musical score of Jaws) is one of the giant composers of movie scores in the industry.
Secondly, the guitar parts were some of the most difficult I have had to play in a year or so. Thirdly, since the movie score was made in New York earlier in the year, there was a natural competitiveness to do as well as our New York counterparts.
I was fortunate to have as second guitarist Dennis Budimir. The man sitting alongside you is a major contributing factor in the success of the date. Many parts have been thrown out because the guitarist didn’t convey the feeling of playing together. When I have a choice, I pick Dennis as my partner; this makes my job much easier.
Since we did not see the music until the date started, there were many things to change around to make it more playable.
Contrary to popular belief, we studio musicians do not play everything put in front of us as is. We do the best we can to play what is there, and what we can’t play we change as quietly as possible so it sounds like it was originally intended. At times we are the impostors of the industry.2
– Tommy Tedesco, guitarist

Williams had already done big, brash, outdoorsy Americana before with The Reivers and The Cowboys. But The Missouri Breaks wasn’t big and brash, and so required a different kind of score – smaller in scale, but one that would capture the characters and the drama as well as the period and the feel of the film. And, of course, Williams delivered a perfect score (albeit atypical for him during this period), mostly composed for guitars, harmonica, percussion, and a handful of other instruments. Williams never wants for coming up with an instantly memorable and beautiful theme and The Missouri Breaks has a beauty in its love theme – never overused, always right. His main title music sets the mood with tense bass notes, and off-kilter harmonica and guitar – it’s wonderfully evocative and haunting. There are up-tempo infectious cues and cues for Brando that are really off-kilter. It’s Williams doing what he did (and still does) better than anyone, and it’s a score that’s completely unique to him.3
– Bruce Kimmel

Videos

The Missouri Breaks Original Trailer (featuring music by John Williams) | United Artists – M-G-M

Brett Mitchell performs his original piano arrangement of John Williams’ “Love Theme from The Missouri Breaks“

Bibliography and References

. Bond, Jeff – The Missouri Breaks – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack liner notes, Rykodisc, 1999
. Canby, Vincent – “‘The Missouri Breaks,’ Offbeat Western,” The New York Times, May 20, 1976
. Elley, Derek – “The Film Composer: John Williams – Pt. 1,” Films and Filming, July 1978
. Kimmel, Bruce – The Missouri Breaks – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Limited Edition liner notes, Kritzerland, 2013
. McCulley, Jerry – The Missouri Breaks – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack liner notes, Varèse Sarabande, 2004

Legacy of John Williams Additional References

John Williams and the American Sound, essay by Maurizio Caschetto

Footnotes

  1. Quote from interview with Elley, Films and Filming, 1978 ↩︎
  2. Tedesco, Guitar Player magazine, February 1977 ↩︎
  3. Kimmel, The Missouri Breaks – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack liner notes, 2013 ↩︎

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