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Chinatown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Black Friday Edition) Vinyl (Gold) Image 1
Sometimes, it doesn’t take very long to create something brilliant. When producer Robert Evans rejected Phillip Lambro’s original score for Chinatown, Jerry Goldsmith was hired to create another, from scratch, in just 10 days.
 
To say he rose to the challenge is an understatement. Goldsmith, a 20 year veteran of the TV and movie industry with credits including Dr Kildare, Planet Of The Apes and even The Waltons theme, turned in a work that was both a career peak for him and the saviour of Roman Polanski’s masterpiece of neo-noir.
 
What was clever about it? It wasn’t quite straight jazz, it wasn’t quite classical. It was identifiably a movie soundtrack, but an unusual one at that, leaning heavily on Uan Rasey’s mournful trumpet solos, sparingly using pianos, harps, strings and percussion, and employing sounds and crashes as overtures. It doesn’t try to speak to the film’s 1930s setting so much as to the mood and feel of the movie, a piece about political and moral corruption in a water-starved LA featuring Jack Nicholson at the absolute top of his game.
 
“I remember [Evans] speaking about the music having a contemporary feel, contemporary meaning the ‘30s,” Goldsmith said in an interview before his 2004 death. “I said, ‘Bob, I don’t think so – you see that on the screen, why should I do that in the underscore? … Emotions are timeless.’”
 
Originally released as a soundtrack in 1974, and long out of print, Cinewax’s reissue is remastered from the original tapes and is presented with brand new artwork by acclaimed illustrator and painter Sterling Hundley, with layout by Jay Shaw. Drop the needle and hear why Chinatown is, reportedly, David Lynch’s favorite soundtrack. Goldsmith was right about emotions…
 
  • Official Black Friday Record Store Day Release
  • Limited to 2,500 copies worldwide
  • Newly remastered audio, pressed on Gold wax
  • Features new artwork by renowned painter and illustrator Sterling Hundley with layout by Jay Shaw (Mondo/Death Waltz)
  • Housed in a deluxe Stoughton tip-on jacket with folded 18”x24” poster of cover art
 
Track Listing – 
 
  1. Love Theme From Chinatown (Main Title)
  2. Noah Cross
  3. Easy Living
  4. Jake And Evelyn
  5. I Can't Get Started
  6. The Last Of Ida
  7. The Captive
  8. The Boy On A Horse
  9. The Way You Look Tonight
  10. The Wrong Clue
  11. J. J. Gittis
  12. Love Theme From Chinatown (End Title)
Brand Cinewax
Artist Jerry Goldsmith
Character Series Chinatown
Franchise Chinatown

Customer Reviews

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Top Customer Reviews

Where reviews refer to foods or cosmetic products, results may vary from person to person. Customer reviews are and do not represent the views of The Hut Group.

Pure mood music.

5 stars out of a maximum of 5

A real gem of a record, difficult to classify musically, it tonally shifts, with subtlety & sometimes grand sweeping movements, mixing jazz & orchestral, like it ain't no thang! Almost a perfect soundtrack, up there with blade runner & alien, it's a majestic work of art. Unbelievable value for money! The packaging is superb, the quality, top notch. Gold vinyl, poster, EVERYTHING you could want! Influential to David lynch, this has it all. Highly recommended.

2020-08-24by Andy Beagle**Verified Purchase**

Iconic score for an iconic film

4 stars out of a maximum of 5

Glad I hadn’t missed out on this after record store day. A stirring and evocative album.

2020-07-03by Rm237**Verified Purchase**

A masterpiece moves back to Vinyl

4 stars out of a maximum of 5

Chinatown - the legendary Jerry Goldsmith producing a smouldering film noir score in a matter of weeks after replacing the original composer. This release is stunning. The artwork and presentation really brings out the feel of the solemn, melancholy trumpet of the main theme and allows another rediscovery of a score you thought you already knew....

2021-01-31by East Midlands Fox**Verified Purchase**

Chinatown Soundtrack

5 stars out of a maximum of 5

One of the best soundtracks from the 70s. An essential purchase for anyone who loves soundtracks. A very nice package which this soundtrack deserves.

2020-07-21by Scott**Verified Purchase**