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La-La Land Records and Universal Studios proudly present the twenty-first title within the acclaimed Universal Pictures Film Music Classics Collection – THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, a world premiere release of music from the original soundtrack for the very first collaboration between director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams (JAWS, E.T., SCHINDLER'S LIST).
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, released in 1974, stars Goldie Hawn as a Texas mother who breaks her husband (William Atherton) out of a prison farm when she is denied custody of their baby. Together they hijack a highway patrolman (Michael Sacks) and lead a convoy of media, onlookers, and countless police cars across the state. Spielberg's first feature film balances comedy, drama and action in what Pauline Kael of The New Yorker called "one of the most phenomenal debut films in the history of movies."
For decades, Maestro John Williams felt that the score for THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS was too brief for an album, especially in comparison to the more expansive and well known projects that followed, such as STAR WARS, SUPERMAN and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. The 50th anniversary of his partnership with Spielberg, along with a revisitation of the film for Universal Studios' new 4K restoration, yielded the proper conditions to at last create an original soundtrack, which now takes a place of honor in the successful Universal Studios Film Music Classics Collection.
While Spielberg originally hoped for a larger scale score for his first movie, Williams convinced him that THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS called for something more intimate. The great Belgian harmonica soloist Toots Thielemans became the principal musical voice of the film, supported by an ensemble of top guitarists and percussionists and a small string ensemble. The resulting music reflects the complex characters and the building tension of the story, with a bluesy, country vibe evoking the landscape and cultural backdrop of the tale. The album presentation, produced by the composer, delivers a distinctive musical journey and features material not used in the completed film.
Classics Collection producer Mike Matessino mixed, edited and mastered the album from high resolution transfers of pristine 8-track master tapes, archiving the material as well as conforming the music for a new stereo mix of the film. Matessino also contributes in-depth liner notes detailing the history of the production, the creation of the music, and its place in the legendary Spielberg/Williams collaboration. Art direction by Jim Titus appropriately celebrates this historic premiere release.
- LLL
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