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BS: Folk music in film
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Subject: Folk music in film From: Mooh Date: 18 Apr 00 - 09:58 AM One of my reasons for liking a film can be the music. Do any of you have favourite films/movies with great folk music? I like Rob Roy, Last of the Mohicans and the like for both the tunes and the content. As always, thanks in advance for contributing. Peace, Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,Mrr Date: 18 Apr 00 - 10:05 AM Can't think of any really folksy movie scores, but does anyone remember the TV show Due South (speaking of US/Canada differences...)? They used to do in most shows a scene with a "featured song" which I always liked. In one episode the main guest star, the guy who coined the term "dogbreath" in Hill Street Blues, is setting something bittersweet up, I think to take the fall for a crime he believes his son to have committed, or at any rate doing something untoward to save a family member. The song over the scene was Henry Martin. It absolutely brought tears to my eyes, and this is commercially-interrupted TV! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Kelida Date: 18 Apr 00 - 10:46 AM I liked the score for Schindler's List, and my all-time favorite movie is still Doctor Zhivago--beautiful music there. Lara's Theme always makes me want to cry. Either that, or it makes me want to learn to play balalaika(sp?). Last of the Mohicans also had lovely music, as did Rob Roy. I'm not much into TV or movies, so I don't really know an awful lot about the subject. Peace--Keli |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: kendall Date: 18 Apr 00 - 10:46 AM After Dr. Zhivago nothing else measures up. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Peg Date: 18 Apr 00 - 10:53 AM Rob Roy's soundtrack was done by Capercaille; Last of the Mohicans was done by Clannad. Might I also recommend the coundtrack from "The Secret of Roan Inish": lots of great traditional stuff recorded in Rockport with Mason Daring; some songs in Irish, great instrumentals, etc. Also "Margaret's Museum" features some Nova Scotia style traditional music with the likes of Talitha McKenzie...it stars Helena Bonham Carter in a role originally written for Heather Rankin... I also highly recommend the soundtrack of "The Hanging Garden" also made in Nova Scotia; it includes some contemporary stuff by artists like Ani Difranco but there is also Ashley McIsaac (who has a cameo in the movie, as does Heather Rankin)=, Mary Jane Lemond, Leahy and other traditional artists... these are all great films BTW!!! It's not Celtic, but I do love the use of Leonard Cohen songs in "McCabe and Mrs. Miller"... peg |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: alison Date: 18 Apr 00 - 10:53 AM Local hero (especially "the mist covered mountains" why did they do such a bad mix of it on the CD????)...., Rob Roy(especially Karen Mathison singing "Alain Duine".. I'm sure that's not spelt right...by the fire), and The Secret of Roan Inish..... slainte alison |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Llanfair Date: 18 Apr 00 - 11:08 AM We're only just catching up on Due South, and it's on the non-commercial channel. I really like the music they use, but have no idea about the artistes or songs. "Far from the Madding Crowd" was the classic. And Robin Hood. Hwyl, Bron. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: catspaw49 Date: 18 Apr 00 - 11:46 AM I dunno' about y'all and that Zhivago thing. Maybe the music is good but they never show the movie on "Short Attention Span Theatre" so I really can't say. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Hyperabid Date: 18 Apr 00 - 11:59 AM Duelling Banjo's - Deliverance Hyp |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,john.envall@se.abb.com Date: 18 Apr 00 - 12:02 PM No one mentions Braveheart so I feel urged to do it. Some mother´s son (music by Bill Whelan). Titanic, from time to time, also contains some good stuff. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,James Date: 18 Apr 00 - 12:06 PM The openin scene of Margaret's Museum is worth the price of admission...it got a standing ovation in Sydnet. Also, some of the music from Places In teh Heart and my absolute favourite...Ken Burns, The Civil War documentary. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Amos Date: 18 Apr 00 - 12:12 PM Dylan's Billy the kid music, tho' not trad, was well fitted and sounded great in its day. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mbo Date: 18 Apr 00 - 12:25 PM Ah ah, you're forgetting Dougie MacLean's whoopup fiddle reels that were featured in "Last of The Mohicans." And DEFINATELY "Amen" from "Lilies of the Field." --Mbo |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Wesley S Date: 18 Apr 00 - 12:57 PM There is a scene I love in the John Sales movie "Matwan". In a workers camp there is a guitar player on his porch that stars a melody. A few cabins over a black hamonica players starts a counter melody and soon an Italian worker on his porch nearby starts playing his mandolin along with them. To me it was symbolic of the melting pot of American music. We've become a melting pot with our music if not our society. Great movie about union organizing. I assume you weren't asking for titles of movies like "Wasn't That A Time" about the Weavers. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,Okiemockbird Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:04 PM The Civil War was good, with its quiet instrumental rendition so "Johnny has gone for a soldier". And I admit that the pseudo-folk "Ashokan Farewell" is nice. Frank Warner was in a film called Run of the Arrow, wasn't he ? The Secret of Roan Inish a nearly perfect film; One of the greats. T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mooh Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:11 PM Mbo, right on. Dougie's great, ain't he? Someone mentioned Titanic. Now I'll have to watch it (my kids have a copy) in spite of my misgivings about the superimposition of a trite implausible love story over one of the great non-wartime human tragedies of the last century. My my, did that sound like a film review? There was a Dougie MacLean film that featured him and a plot about a fish plant, does anyone out there in cyberland know what it was called? I happened to catch the last few minutes of it late one night on TV then forgot to research it. Peace and thanks. Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Ely Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:13 PM _Matewan_!! Folk tunes from a couple of different cultures, early 20th century-style (written by John Sayles, I think) union songs, Appalachian gospel tunes, Hazel Dickens featured as the singer. Good movie, anyway. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mbo Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:23 PM Mooh, Dougie is THE MAN! He also wrote the theme & incidental music for the British TV program "A Mugs Game" (as featured on his album "RIOF") Also, in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of August Wilson's "The Piano" (I LOVE August Wilson) Charles S. Dutton, Courtney B. Vance, and other cast members gave a show-stopping performance of the blues song "Alberta". MAN! It was SO AMAZINGLY cool they could have restarted a dead man's heart with their singing! --Mbo |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: catspaw49 Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:25 PM Its interesting that a number of programs done for PBS have had such great music. Those who mentioned the Ken Burns "Civil War" ....... Much of the real guts of that series was done with music. Ungar did a wonderful job and Burns put true emotion into the stories with background music that fit so well. "Eyes on the Prize," a PBS series covering the Civil Rights movement, was another example of excellent scoring bringing the viewer into story. As an offshoot of the "Civil War" series, Ungar and Mason were asked to do the music for the documentary film, "Brother Keeper"......If you haven't seen this or heard the album from Jay and Molly of this soundtrack, you are really missing something wonderful. Bill Moyers did a PBS special on "Amazing Grace"..a multi-part history that covered the song being done everywhere and by everybody from the back porch of a cabin to Leontyne Price to a Shape Note church sing. I wish they'd run this one again soon as I'd love to tape it. PBS and Ken Burns took a lot of flak for the 18 hour series on Baseball, but again, Burns use of music helped to draw out the drama and the memories that so many of us have for the game. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mbo Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:28 PM Oh, how could I forget! The movie "Barry Lyndon" had a soundtrack with Irish music by The Chieftains. I found this record in the mildewy old closet at the Torii Station Library in Okinawa, Japan, when I was 16 years old....that album was the reason I got into Celtic folk music. "Mna na H-Eireann"...sheer beauty... --Mbo |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mooh Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:29 PM Mbo, DM, I've seen him live but once, but he held the crowd in the palms of his hands like no other. Non-singers were singing away lustily to choruses they'd heard for the first time and people actually cried. And laughed. Perhaps the biggest emotional rollercoaster inside of a short festival set as ever there's been. One man, one guitar, one thousand emotions. Peace. Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Willie-O Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:31 PM Heather Rankin playing the title role in Margaret's Museum? The mind boggles. Specially envisioning the ending. Maybe her family didn't want her to do a scene where she explains why she cut off her brother's...NEVER MIND! Laughing my ass off. It'd have done a lot to change her cute-n-perky little image. W-O |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Micca Date: 18 Apr 00 - 01:48 PM How about the music in "The Whicker Man" they just showed a "restored copy" with on Film 4 here in the UK with an extra 15+ minutes of previously missing scenes.And "Robin of Sherwood" Music by Clannad. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Grab Date: 18 Apr 00 - 02:08 PM Robin of Sherwood was a top series, Micca - wish they'd repeat that. It's never been shown again in the UK since they stopped it. Instead we're stuck with Xena and Hercules, and a Robin Hood trying to copy that. And the Kevin Costner version (with Bryan Adams singing) is best not discussed in public. Sometimes I could really get quite ratty with American studios... Music-wise, "The Piano" wasn't folk but the tune was lovely. It did go on for a bit, but it's a brilliant tune. Mission Impossible had a seriously good cover of the original MI tune. Again not folk, but a great bit of music all the same. Grab. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 18 Apr 00 - 02:11 PM Funny you should mention Last of the Mohicans. I fell in love with that soundtrack when I heard the music coming from another room at one of my teaching jobs. (Another teacher was showing the movie.) I watched the movie later, just to hear the music, and actually sat through the whole movie even though it was a bit violent for my tastes. Okiemockbird--can you analyze the theme music from that movie and tell me if it's in a certain mode? That's what I recognize as the "Scottish sound." I also fell in love with the background music in Ken Burns' Lewis and Clark special. It's the hymn tune Beach Spring and can be found here. Then there's the music from the BBC and A&E Pride and Prejudice miniseries. I love Voi Che Sapete from Mozart's Marriage of Figarro. But there are also lots of 18th Century (?) dance tunes and period pieces.
And don't forget How the West Was Won with: Then the John Wayne movie (Rio Grande) with Bold Fenian Men. Then the Highlander TV series with Bonny Portmore.
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Allan C. Date: 18 Apr 00 - 02:45 PM A nice version of "Wild Mountain Thyme" is threaded through the movie, "The Education of Little Crow" - a film which will forever remain on my "A" list. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,Justin Marquez Date: 18 Apr 00 - 02:49 PM I can't recall the name of the film exactly, but there was one set in Appalachia where an evil rich local guy (who had moved to the big city) was using a local coal mine to stash hazardous wastes - "Fire Down Below" or some title like that. He'd burn some of it at night, and it was making the locals sick. I think Steven Segal was the leading man in the film. The film was about "2-stars out of 5". Anyway, the closing titles used "Paradise", actually sung by John Prine as background music. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: zander (inactive) Date: 18 Apr 00 - 02:51 PM The film ' Moby Dick ' features the late A L Lloyd singing the shanty ' Blood Red Roses . andthe Mel Gibson version of ' Mutiny on the Bounty ' features Barry Dransfield as the Fiddler of thr crew. Regards, Dave |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,belter Date: 18 Apr 00 - 03:01 PM The PBS documentory about the Irish in america comes to mind. was it called A Long Jurney Home?
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Micca Date: 18 Apr 00 - 03:15 PM thwe music credit for the Wicker Man was Paul Giovanni but it was mostly Traaditional tunes, ie Rigs of Barley except for the memorable "Sumer is icumen in" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,Mbo_at_ECU Date: 18 Apr 00 - 03:54 PM "Prince of Thieves" had ONE plus, though...Jeff Lynne's song "Wild Times" is superb. --Mb |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,Mbo_at_ECU Date: 18 Apr 00 - 03:54 PM "Prince of Thieves" had ONE plus, though...Jeff Lynne's song "Wild Times" is superb. --Mbo |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: kendall Date: 18 Apr 00 - 04:16 PM All good choices.. how about The 3rd Man? love that zither. Good singing in "How green was my valley" too. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Dave (the ancient mariner) Date: 18 Apr 00 - 04:24 PM Clannad did most of the music for many of the films mentioned here. My favourite, and one that has deep meaning to me is the theme from Harry's Game. Great music by a great group. Yours, Aye. Dave |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Peg Date: 18 Apr 00 - 04:24 PM ooh, forgot about Robin of Sherwood; simply amazing. Very pagan, and beautifully done...I have a couple of episodes on tape; that soundtrack album (Legend) got me into Clannad (found it on vinyl in a Sam Goody's! will wonders never cease?), then I went searching for their older stuff... also, Micca, if you manage to tape that BBC 4 showing of The Wicker Man, please let me know!!! I have a way to transfer PAL (or even Beta) to VHS so I would pay to have you send me a copy...the only commercial version you can get of the film now (from Columbia House and the like) has the whole "Gently Johnny" scene cut out; and there is a new release of a supposed "soundtrack" album on CD which was recorded from this version, and it does not contain the song either! For any of you who really are into these, I have seen websites for die-hard fans where people can trade tapes and stuff...I would offer you the definitive Wicker Man website URL, but just this morning I discovered my entire folder of website bookmarks entitled "pagan" has disappeared! Poof, vanish, gone. I should start logging off before leaving my office at night, I guess...it makes me suspicious... peg |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Dave (the ancient mariner) Date: 18 Apr 00 - 04:24 PM Clannad did most of the music for many of the films mentioned here. My favourite, and one that has deep meaning to me is the theme from Harry's Game. Great music by a great group. Yours, Aye. Dave |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 18 Apr 00 - 04:48 PM A list of music from the PBS series, Long Journey Home, can be found here. I think the John Wayne movie, The Quiet Man, had lots of Irish Songs. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Bert Date: 18 Apr 00 - 04:57 PM Yer right Kendall! Can't talk about music in films without mentioning 'The Third Man'. Another film which surprised me was 'Carry on Cowboy' The intro song was absolutely perfect. A real old timey cowboy song. Bert. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Wesley S Date: 18 Apr 00 - 05:27 PM I'm not going to debate if Cat Stevens is folk music or not but I enjoyed his songs in "Herold and Maude" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,Rich(stupidbodhranplayer......) Date: 18 Apr 00 - 05:40 PM I agree with Wesley on "Harold & Maude". A fine soundtrack for a nice film. Also, as a lot of people have already said, "the Secret of Roan Inish". And just in case any one here is in the habit of skipping the credits on movies, I highly recommend going back and listening to the reels during the closing credits (Over the Moors to Maggie> The Bucks of Oranmore) Rich |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 18 Apr 00 - 06:11 PM Dave Swarbrick was the fiddle player in "Far From the Madding Crowd", which Llanfair mentioned earlier. Malcolm |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Lanfranc Date: 18 Apr 00 - 06:31 PM How about Ry Cooder's contributions to "Paris, Texas" and "Long Riders(?)" - oh and "Crossroads". Blues rather than folk, but .... Wasn't there a biog of Woody Guthrie ?"Bound for Glory"? The version of "Bushes and Briars" sung in "Far from the madding crowd" was the Essex rather than the Dorset version, but that's being picky. Further Guthrieana - "Alice's Restaurant" Film music from my youth that still raises the hair (what's left of it!) Nino Rota's "The Legend of the Glass Mountain" and Walton's "Spitfire prelude and fugue" from "The First of the Few" and Coates' "Dam Busters' March". "The green leaves of summer" from "The Alamo" I'll stop before nostalgia gets the better of me.
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Amergin Date: 18 Apr 00 - 06:36 PM Noticed no one mentioned one of my favorite films of all time: The Grapes of Wrath. I remember them singing Going Down the Road Feeling Bad in the jungle camp. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mbo Date: 18 Apr 00 - 06:41 PM Whoa! Alan, I LOVE the Dam Busters March by Eric Coats! I seriously doubted that anyone else knew it but me! YES! --Mbo |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Linda Kelly Date: 18 Apr 00 - 06:43 PM Mark Knopfler wrote some haunting soundtracks including Local Hero and some fabulous music for Last Exit to Brooklyn. There was a beatiful song played at the end of Trip to Bountiful and if anyone knows what it was I should be grateful |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Lanfranc Date: 18 Apr 00 - 06:47 PM I have a vague and drunken memory of the Strawbs (when Rick Wakeman played with them) ending their set with the Dam Busters, and Jethro Tull also used it, if memory serves. Don't talk about the war! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: GUEST,Sinsull Date: 18 Apr 00 - 07:03 PM Does anyone remember the old English movie "I Know Where I'm Going?" The handsome laird, the cursed castle, the drowning lovers? I get misty just thinking about it. And the music... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: sophocleese Date: 18 Apr 00 - 07:09 PM Rabbit Ears video does some beautiful stuff with children's stories. The sound track for Finn MacCool was lovely but I forget who did it. The Chieftains back up Cher's reading of The Tailor of Gloucester, she does a good job and so do they. Both the kids and I love hearing Robin Williams reading Pecos Bill with a soundtrack by Ry Cooder. There are other excellent ones that I can't remember now. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: kendall Date: 19 Apr 00 - 10:46 AM Roy Rogers sang Pecos Bill back in the 40's. I dont know what song you refer to at the end of Trip to Bountiful, but somewhere in it a woman sang "Softly and Tenderly" and I have never heard it done better. Hellava sad story. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Peg Date: 19 Apr 00 - 10:50 AM re: the last song in Trip to Bountiful, seems to me it was "The River" wasn't it??? Or was that in The River (with Sissy Spacek)? I remember it being a very sentimental old fashioned song...when the woman is running across the field of bluebells to hug her little boy? It is a flashback I believe...in slow motion... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Clifton53 Date: 19 Apr 00 - 12:21 PM I can remember a silly movie from the 60's called "Hootenanny Hoot". Pam Austin starred and it featured music by Sheb Wooley, Mark Dinning and The Gateway Trio among others. Haven't seen it in a few years but it use to be a staple of late night potato land. Anyone else ever seen it? It was kind of silly as I said, even had a group singing and bouncing on a trampoline as I recall. But it did feature folk music. Clifton53 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: catspaw49 Date: 19 Apr 00 - 12:42 PM So Cliffie....Did they do "Tramp on the Street" or what? Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Clifton53 Date: 19 Apr 00 - 02:32 PM Nah Spaw, they did 'Tramp Tramp Tramp', hitting all the high notes. Clifton |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Dharmabum Date: 19 Apr 00 - 03:02 PM Hunters moon, definitely not destined to be a classic,but a soundtrack of appalachian folk ballads by Custer LaRue & the Baltimore Consort. I don't think there's a soundtrack available but I'm certain all the songs from the movie are on her True Lovers Farewell album. Ron. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: DougR Date: 19 Apr 00 - 09:14 PM Yep, Mary from Kentucky, The Quiet Man did have some good Irish songs, Wild Colonial Boy immediately comes to mind along with The Isle of Innisfree and Galway Bay. Not sure the latter two are really folks songs age wise though. Burl Ives sang some folks songs in his movies too: Stations' West (filmed right here in Arizona at Oak Creek Canyon), So Dear to My Heart and others. DougR |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: DougR Date: 19 Apr 00 - 09:15 PM Oops! I forgot to mention the movie, "Smoky," based on the Will James book with Burl Ives. DougR |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mooh Date: 19 Apr 00 - 10:25 PM Hi all, and thanks for all your ideas and recollections! When I started this thread I wasn't sure how much I'd get, but now I'm thinking if only I had time to write a book on the subject. I suspect there's tracable lines of influence from one film genre to another, and marked trends in the folk music themes etc by era, if you get my drift. Does anyone know of a book specifically about folk music in film? Peace, Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Wotcha Date: 20 Apr 00 - 04:31 AM Paul Robson sang a most powerfully delivered version of "Blow the Man Down" in some 1930s movie. A recent remake of Tess of the D'Urbevilles (seen on American PBS), had a wonderful dance scene with traditional English horns and reeds. The 1960s movie On the Beach featured "Waltzing Matilda" delivered in MANY different ways: it was the only music apart from a Salvation Army band (I guess after the producers paid the big name actors, they ran out of money for music). The movies White Squall and Jaws featured snippets of sea chanteys ("South Australia" and "Spanish Ladies" respectively). Mick Jagger sang "Wild Colonial Boy" in the movie Ned Kelly, but best not seen more than once in a lifetime. I am pretty sure Rob Roy featured the Chieftan's version of Sullivan's March (which struck me as incongruous for a movie about a Scotsman). The 1980 movie The Long Riders (a Jesse James/Younger boys story) featured some interesting tunes (inlcuding a nice "Union Forever") delivered by Ry Cooder. Another early 80s movie, Southern Comfort, featured some Cajun tunes before Zydeco became hip. I seem to recall a 70s TV series about gold prospectors in Australia with a token American actor to give the series credibility and a western flavor but it did feature some reels and jigs. Breaker Morant featured some nice songs including the Afrikaans version of Sarie Marais. Cheers, Brian |
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Subject: RE: BS: Folk music in film From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 20 Apr 00 - 03:49 PM Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral in Going My Way starring Bing Crosby Today in Advance to the Rear starring Glen Ford Shenandoah in a Civil War movie (Shenandoah?) starring Jimmy Stewart |