THE WILD BUNCH (EXPANDED)

For its 250th (and final) release, Film Score Monthly wanted to do something special. Founder Lukas Kendall chose a personal favorite—a brilliant film by an inspired director with a stunning score by a gifted composer—as a fitting capstone for fifteen years of work in the soundtrack field.

Sam Peckinpah’s revisionist western, The Wild Bunch (1969) stands as one of the great films—a rare piece of Hollywood genre filmmaking in which a singular vision fuses all the technical and creative components into genuine art. The film’s powerful, Oscar-nominated score is arguably the greatest accomplishment of its composer, Jerry Fielding.
 
From the outset, Peckinpah wanted a score departing from Hollywood tradition. Fielding delivered in spades, with colorful, effective music that, to some extent, counterbalances the stark violence of the film and directly exposes the heart of Peckinpah’s characters. He evokes the Mexican setting by integrating popular folk tunes of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries into his score, while passages of action and suspense are shot through with lopsided, asymmetrical meters. Complex and edgy, Fielding’s score pays homage to his models while creating a brave new sound world for a new kind of western.
 
Film Score Monthly’s deluxe 3CD presentation of The Wild Bunch includes the complete score, sourced from studio masters; a re-mastering of the 1969 soundtrack album; plus extensive alternates, demo recordings and additional music. The 20-page booklet (designed by FSM’s art director Joe Sikoryak) includes informative liner notes by Lukas Kendall and John Takis. Additional notes (including a track-by-track commentary by Takis) are available online.

TRACKLISTING :

Disc 1: Film Score

1. Main Title (05:44)
2. From Coffer to First Shoot-Out (01:01)
3. They Cleared Out / Buck's Arroyo (02:36)
4. Judas Goat / Mexico Lindo / Half Hour of Light / To Sykes's Camp (02:18)
5. Angel Confronts the Gorch Brothers / 1st Denver Hotel ("With "Darkey's Awakening") (01:41)
6. Denver Flashback (With "Darkey's Awakening") (01:17)
7. Slow Motion Tumble / Aurora Mi Amor (03:01)
8. All Clear / Arriving at Angel's Camp (02:22)
9. Drunk With Wine and Love / Dance at Angel's Camp (04:30)
10. Entrance of the General (00:33)
11. Mariachi at First Cantina (02:17)
12. Song From The Wild Bunch / Angel Blows His Cork (03:19)
13. Give It to Him (01:04)
14. Ain't He the One? / Por Favor, I Need Him / Bodega el Bodega de Baño (05:38)
15. Give Him One / Aurora Mi Amor (02:55)
16. Assault on the Train and Escape, Parts 1 and 2 / Locomotive Wreck (06:38)
17. Assault on the Train and Escape, Parts 3 and 4 (03:19)
18. Drinking Song (02:07)
19. Santa Amalia (02:43)
20. Dynamite / Adventures on the High Road, Part 1 (02:40)
21. Adventures on the High Road, Part 2 (01:32)
22. Menace / Adventures on the High Road, Part 3 (01:57)
23. Sykes in the Sand Box or The Schidt Seen (00:48)
24. He's a Thief / How? (01:17)
25. Is That Sykes? / Bounty Hunters and Sykes's Indian (03:06)
26. Dragging Angel / Army Patrol / Dinner at Drunken Brawl (03:48)
27. Song From The Wild Bunch (guitar) (03:16)

Disc 2:
Film Score:
1. Attempt to Save Angel / I Gonna Give It to You (02:42)
2. Dirge and Finale (04:19)
3. La Golondrina (02:04)
Alternate and Additional Music:
4. Adelita (02:41)
5. B Natural Chord / Mexico Lindo / Half Hour of Light / To Sykes's Camp (02:04)
6. 1st Denver Hotel (Without "Darkey's Awakening") (00:40)
7. Denver Flashback (Without "Darkey's Awakening") (01:17)
8. Slow Motion Tumble / Aurora Mi Amor (03:02)
9. Brother Pike Needs Help (02:01)
10. All Clear (version 2) (00:46)
11. All Clear (version 1) (00:47)
12. Drunk With Wine and Love (01:45)
13. Song From The Wild Bunch (slow version) (03:20)
14. They're Coming (01:54)
15. In the Drink / After the Bridge (03:19)
16. Santa Amalia (03:21)
17. Adventures on the High Road, Part 2 (01:33)
18. Musica—Musica (00:20)
19. First Machine Gun Fiesta / Second Machine Gun Fiesta (00:56)
20. Is That Sykes? (version 2) (01:19)
21. Is That Sykes? (version 1) (01:19)
22. Fireworks (01:38)
23. Song From The Wild Bunch (harmonica) (02:47)
24. Long March (01:43)
25. Dirge (revised overlay pickup, take 3) (01:28)
26. Dirge (revised overlay pickup, take 1) (01:27)
27. La Golondrina (End Title, long version) (02:19)
28. La Golondrina (instrumental backing track) (03:03)

Disc 3:
1969 Soundtrack Album:
1. Song From The Wild Bunch (03:53)
2. Main Title (04:08)
3. Aurora Mi Amor (02:34)
4. Asssault on the Train and Escape (05:34)
5. Drinking Song (02:01)
6. Adelita (03:00)
7. Adventures on the High Road (02:29)
8. Bodega el Bodega de Baño (02:59)
9. Dirge and Finale (04:16)
10. End Credits (La Golondrina) (02:23)
Demo Score:
11. Demo #1 (Teresa's Entrance) (03:36)
12. Demo #2 (Dirge and Finale) (03:39)
Additional Recordings:
13. Teresa Ad Lib #1 (04:09)
14. Teresa Ad Lib #2 (02:04)
15. Teresa Ad Lib #3 (02:27)
16. Santa Maria #1 (03:38)
17. Santa Maria #2 (03:38)
18. Tender Theme (Teresa's Entrance) (02:36)
19. La Golondrina (End Title, short version) (02:06)  

TOTAL TIME • 03:10:31