Original Music from The TV Show The Untouchables
Original Music from The TV Show The Untouchables | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Nelson Riddle | ||||
Released | 1960 | |||
Recorded | 1960 | |||
Genre | Big band, pop | |||
Length | 30:52 | |||
Label | Capitol T1430/ST-1430 | |||
Producer | Lee Gillette | |||
Nelson Riddle chronology | ||||
|
Original Music from The Untouchables is a soundtrack album to the 1959 ABC television crime drama series "The Untouchables", composed and conducted by Nelson Riddle.
Conception
Desilu Productions produced "The Untouchables," which starred Robert Stack as Prohibition agent Eliot Ness, who assembled a team of federal agents to go up against the bootleg empire of “Scarface” Al Capone in 1920s Chicago. The theme music Riddle wrote for the series, said his biographer, “was one of the most fitting and identifiable weekly television themes ever written.”[1]
The program was an immediate hit and received four Emmy Awards in its first season, more than any single program.[2] This spurred Capitol Records to rush production on an album of original music from the show.[3] The album was released in September 1960.[4]
The liner notes characterize Riddle’s effort as “tabloid-headline music that evokes and reports on a bygone era of irresistible appeal,” including several tracks devoted “to the vintage jazz that punctuated the gunfire.” The memorable theme “marches on the listener as inexorably as Time marched on [gangsters] John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd.”[5]
Reception
The album was rushed to recording in June 1960, on the heels of “The Untouchables” having won four Emmy Awards, in a hopefully successful tie-in to the popular TV show.[3]
Cash Box attributed the "thundering impact which the [show] has had on audiences" in part to "the vivid Nelson Riddle score," including the "pulsating main theme."[6]
Billboard called the album a "strong package," which "features a haunting score" that included "catchy jazz-age-styled instrumentals of the 1920s and some dramatic musical impressions of mobsters of that era."[7]
Track listing
All compositions by Nelson Riddle.
Side 1
- "The Untouchables Theme" 2:16
- "Tender-Ness" 2:15
- "Dauntless-Ness" 1:50
- "Ebony and Ivory" 2:05
- "The Loop" 2:12
- "Speakeasy Blues" 3:58
Side 2
- "Reckless-Ness" 1:50
- "Wistful-Ness" 2:36
- "Linda" 2:34
- "Eliot Ness" 1:54
- "Dejected-Ness" 2:51
- "30-30" 2:14
- "Suspenseful-Ness" 2:17
References
- ^ Levinson, Peter J. (2001). September in the Rain; The Life of Nelson Riddle. Billboard Books. p. 197. ISBN 0-8230-7672-5.
- ^ "Capitol to Release Riddle 'Untouchables'". The Cash Box. New York NY. July 2, 1960. p. 24.
- ^ a b "Cap Rushes TV Track". Billboard. New York NY. July 4, 1960. p. 19.
- ^ "Sept. Album Releases". The Cash Box. New York NY. September 17, 1960. p. 19.
- ^ Original Music from The Untouchables (LP record). Nelson Riddle. Hollywood, California: Capitol Records. 1960.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Album Reviews – Popular Picks of the Week". The Cash Box. New York NY. September 3, 1960. p. 40.
- ^ "Spotlight Winners of the Week". Billboard. New York NY. August 29, 1960. p. 27.
- v
- t
- e
- The Music from Oklahoma! (Capitol, 1955)
- The Tender Touch (Capitol, 1956)
- Hey...Let Yourself Go! (Capitol, 1957)
- C'mon...Get Happy! (Capitol, 1957)
- Sea of Dreams (Capitol, 1958)
- The Joy of Living (Capitol, 1959)
- Sing a Song with Riddle (Capitol, 1959)
- Music of the Motion Picture "Can Can" (Capitol, 1960)
- Original Music from The TV Show The Untouchables (Capitol, 1960)
- Dance to the Music of "Tenderloin" (Capitol, 1961)
- Love Tide (Capitol, 1961)
- Magic Moments from "The Gay Life" (Capitol, 1961)
- Route 66 Theme and Other Great TV Themes (Capitol, 1962)
- Love Is a Game of Poker (Capitol, 1962)
- More Hit TV Themes (Capitol, 1963)
- The Best of Nelson Riddle (Capitol, 1963)
- White on White, Shangri-La, Charade & Other Hits of 1964 (Reprise, 1964)
- Original Music from The Rogues (RCA Victor, 1964)
- Interprets Great Music, Great Films, Great Sounds (Reprise, 1964)
- NAT: An Orchestral Portrait of Nat "King" Cole (Reprise, 1966)
- Music for Wives and Lovers (Solid State, 1967)
- The Bright and the Beautiful (Liberty, 1967)
- The Riddle of Today (Liberty, 1968)
- British Columbia Suite (Capilano, 1969)
- Nelson Riddle Conducts The 101 Strings (Marble Arch, 1970)
- Communication (MPS, 1971)
- Changing Colors (MPS, 1972)
- Rosie Solves the Swingin' Riddle! (RCA Victor, 1961)
- Love (Reprise, 1963)
- Unforgettable (Capitol, 1954)
- Nat King Cole Sings for Two in Love (Capitol, 1954)
- The Piano Style of Nat King Cole (Capitol, 1955)
- Ballads of the Day (Capitol, 1956)
- St. Louis Blues (Capitol, 1958)
- Cole Español (1958)
- To Whom It May Concern (Capitol, 1959)
- Wild Is Love (Capitol, 1960)
- Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book (Verve, 1959)
- Ella Swings Gently with Nelson (Verve, 1962)
- Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson (Verve, 1962)
- Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book (Verve, 1963)
- Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book (Verve, 1964)
- Ella Loves Cole
- Dream Dancing (Atlantic, 1972)
- The Best Is Yet to Come (Pablo, 1982)
- What's New? (Elektra, 1983)
- Lush Life (Elektra, 1984)
- For Sentimental Reasons (Elektra, 1986)
- Swing Easy! (Capitol, 1954)
- Songs for Young Lovers (Capitol, 1954)
- In the Wee Small Hours (Capitol, 1955)
- Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (Capitol, 1956)
- Close to You (Capitol, 1956)
- A Swingin' Affair! (Capitol, 1956)
- Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (Capitol, 1958)
- Nice 'n' Easy (Capitol, 1960)
- Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!! (Capitol, 1960)
- The Concert Sinatra (1963)
- Sinatra's Sinatra (1963)
- Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners (Reprise, 1964)
- Strangers in the Night (Reprise, 1966)
- Moonlight Sinatra (Reprise, 1966)
- I Wish You Love (Capitol, 1958)
- Swingin' Pretty (Capitol, 1959)
- Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New (Reprise, 1963)
- New In Town (Capitol, 1959)
- Glad To Be Here (Capitol, 1959)
- Shirley Bassey, Let's Face the Music (Columbia, 1962)
- Bing Crosby, Return to Paradise Islands (Reprise, 1964)
- Judy Garland, Judy (1956)
- Antônio Carlos Jobim, The Wonderful World of Antônio Carlos Jobim (Warner Bros., 1965)
- Peggy Lee, The Man I Love (Capitol, 1957)
- Dean Martin, This Time I'm Swingin'! (Capitol, 1960)
- Johnny Mathis, I'll Buy You a Star (Capitol, 1962)
- Oscar Peterson, Oscar Peterson and Nelson Riddle (Verve, 1964)
- Mavis Rivers, Take a Number (Capitol, 1959)
- Tommy Sands, When I'm Thinking of You (Capitol, 1959)
- Dinah Shore, Dinah, Yes Indeed! (Capitol, 1959)
- Phil Silvers, Phil Silvers and Swinging Brass (Columbia, 1957)