The Subterraneans (1960)





Limited Edition of 3,000 Copies.
Composed by: Andre Previn

Released by Special Arrangement with Turner
Classic Movies Music The Subterraneans (1960)
was an attempt to package the Beat generation
for mainstream consumption. Based on the novel
by Jack Kerouac, the film was produced by the
legendary Arthur Freed and starred George
Peppard, Leslie Caron and Roddy McDowall. Its
reception was mixed but stellar in one key respect:
the progressive jazz soundtrack -- one of the all-time
best -- composed and conducted by Andre Previn.

Previn was the ideal composer to pull off such a
marriage: at once a classically trained musician
who scored a bevy of high-profile pictures for M-G-M
in the 1950s, he was also a talented jazz pianist
who soaked up the atmosphere of the West Coast
jazz movement -- all at 31 years of age.

Previn assembled a world-class roster of jazz artists:
Gerry Mulligan (who also acted in the film), Carmen
McRae, Shelly Manne, Red Mitchell, Buddy Clark,
Dave Bailey, Art Pepper, Russ Freeman, Bill Perkins,
Bob Enevoldsen, and Jack Sheldon. Previn himself
appeared on-screen performing with The Andre Previn
Trio. Previn composed an underscore that married his
jazz source cues with the romantic aesthetic of the
Hollywood symphonic style -- the venerated soloists
move in and out of Previn's romantic, often modernist
sound.

The Subterraneans was released on LP at the time
of the film, and in recent years several of the jazz source
selections were included on a Rhino compilation. This
CD presents the definitive Subterraneans soundtrack
running over 79 minutes: the original album program
followed a new program of bonus selections, containing
all of the previously released music and much more,
including the underscore. Unlike most FSM CDs, the
selections are not presented in film sequence, because
in this case the score -- with the jazz source cues --
would not play well in literal film order.

The music has been remixed and remastered in
stereo from the original 35mm three-track masters,
with the exception of certain source cues which were
recorded on monaural 17.5mm film. Liner notes are
by Jeff Eldridge and Lukas Kendall.