INTRADA Announces:
WHITE LIGHTNING
Composed and Conducted by CHARLES BERNSTEIN
INTRADA Special Collection Volume 131
Intrada continues its series of Charles Bernstein releases with an early release from his career: the 1973 MGM film White Lightning, featuring Burt Reynolds' breakout role as Bobby "Gator" McKlusy. Though he had only a few small credits to his name, Bernstein got a shot at scoring White Lightning by producing a demo that was enthusiastically received by the producers and director Joseph Sargent. Knowing how unlikely it might seem for a composer who was steeped in classical and jazz to suddenly veer into bluegrass, Bernstein gave himself a crash-course in Gator’s preferred kind of music. Since Burt Reynolds was most closely associated with Deliverance’s “Dueling Banjos,” Bernstein would incorporate that acoustical sound with his own love of the orchestra and Lalo Schifrin jazz stylings. The end result would be a unique hybrid score that combined all of these approaches, yet did so in an uncondescending, vibrant way that always put country in the driver’s seat with McKlusky. “Before White Lightning, they’d usually just throw a banjo or a harmonica under the orchestra and call it a day. But I didn’t want that kind of ‘sophisticated movie’ sound,” Bernstein recalled. “This was about getting into the rhythm and color of the thing. So I forced myself to put the symphony in the background, and hired the best country music players I could find. I wanted to create a context where the orchestra could work in a subordinate way, because folk instruments weren’t going to be decorations any more.”
Gator McKlusky is a modern-day outlaw, getting a pass from jail so he can go undercover to discover the truth behind his brother’s murder at the hands of Bogan County’s corrupt sheriff J.C. Connors (Ned Beatty). Serving as a “blocker” to run interference for the moonshine convoys of “Rebel Roy,” Gator’s swagger, and steering ultimately earns the hero suitable payback from Connors.
This release is limited to 1000 units and features the complete score from the original mono elements stored by the composer in excellent condition.
INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 131
Retail Price: $19.99
AVAILABLE 5/11/2010
For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.6606/.f
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