Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2014 January 13 • Monday

The 301st Soundtrack of the Week is Dimitri Tiomkin's score for Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Almost every cue is a variation on the main theme, a great piece of music occasionally performed as a vocal number by Frankie Laine (who also sang the theme song to 3:10 to Yuma). The song pops up at various points in the movie and comments directly on the action. "Duty calls / my back's against the wall. Have you no kind word to say / Before I ride away?"

I've never forgotten this song even though it's been almost thirty years since I last saw the movie. It's very exciting to hear it in all its different forms on this CD, which also incorporates Tiomkin's wonderful dramatic scoring, source music cues and some interesting extras such as demo versions of the theme song by Rex Allen and Tony Romano.