From The Archives: Revenge of the LP

Waxing Star Wars on vinyl...

This post was originally published in Vol. 20, No. 12 of Film Score Monthly, in December 2015. Some text was modified to make it up to date.

A long time ago... well, 38 years ago to be exact, a soundtrack was released that would not only make huge waves throughout the industry but also make film score fans out of thousands of like-minded souls. I don’t have to tell you that it was John Williams’ “Star Wars.” Following a few years later were the sequel soundtracks, “The Empire Strikes Back” in 1980 and “Return of the Jedi” in 1983, and the three together would make a beloved trilogy of music that still holds up in terms of musical quality as well as nostalgia. With “Jedi” hitting its fortieth anniversary next month, it’s time to set the turntable to lightspeed and look at what made those first three records so special.

With the constant clamour for complete and chronological editions of even the lamest scores, it’s probably shocking to some just how cut up these albums were—and how satisfying they were, and still are. You may say it’s a case of hindsight here, but “Star Wars” and “Empire” are brilliant records. “Jedi”... well, more on that later.

Star Wars, Nothing But Star Wars

The original “Star Wars LP” (1977, 20th Century Fox 2T-541) came in a beautiful gatefold sleeve with simple artwork: On the front, the film’s logo with “Music Composed and Conducted by John Williams” and “Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra” underneath; on the rear, Darth Vader’s noggin as illustrated by Tom Jung, who also painted the theatrical “A”-style one-sheet. Open it up and there were a bunch of photos from the film, while inside was a double-sided insert featuring a rundown of the tracks from Williams himself, as well as a gorgeous fold-out poster by artist John Berkey. Running just under 74 minutes, the album gave us a very generous amount of music, with the full recorded score running 89 minutes (78 without the source cues and concert suites).

It’s worth noting that the original album was configured for record changers, so Side One and Side Four were on one platter and Side Two and Three another so that when you played them in the machine it would sequence the album correctly without you needing to turn the record over. Lazy!

Of course, the album begins with the main title, here in its concert version, which segues from the post-crawl strains of the ‘Rebel Fanfare’ into the end titles, providing an overture of sorts and introducing both Luke and Leia’s themes before the score proper begins with ‘Imperial Attack.’ After that hefty track, running 6:17, we have a breather with the beautiful Princess Leia theme suite and ‘The Desert and the Robot Auction,’ which not only gives us the music for the Jawas but also the wonderful in-film introduction to Luke that ends Side One (the film coda of the cue is not included).

Side Two starts with ‘Ben’s Death’ and the resulting ‘TIE Fighter Attack’ before slowing things down with more of the Jawa music. This is a contrast to the rest of the side, which is full of exhilarating action music, with the ‘Chasm Crossfire’ cue (titled here as ‘Rescue of the Princess’) and music for the Death Star, before finishing with the classic ‘Cantina Band’ (the second Cantina cut would not be released until 1993). Side Three continues with the music from Luke’s search for R2-D2 in his landspeeder (including thematic material not present in the film) and the subsequent battles with the vicious Tusken Raiders.

Again, we are given a respite as the cue follows the film chronologically by playing the magical and ethereal music used to introduce Ben Kenobi. This is immediately followed by the humorous ‘Mouse Robot’ and its tense music for Luke and Han as they try to find the Princess, but here Williams throws us for an enjoyable loop. As the music builds, prior to Han Solo’s line “Look out, he’s loose!” in the film, the corresponding film cue (‘Detention Block Ambush’) is replaced by the huge brass swell as the Millennium Falcon takes off from Mos Eisley (‘Blasting Off’). It’s a fantastic moment and an example of how well these records were put together for listening, rather than slavishly following the order of the film.

Later, we have more musical development for Luke, with ‘The Walls Converge’ sandwiched between ‘The Return Home’ and ‘The Princess Appears,’ which includes the iconic ‘Binary Sunset’ cue to end Side Three. Interestingly, the second half of ‘The Walls Converge’ is actually the preceding cue, written for the attack of the Dianoga monster in the trash compactor but never used in the film. Side Four is technically only two tracks long but is made up of several cues. ‘The Last Battle’ begins with the detention block cue (the successor to ‘Mouse Robot’) and moves on to the score for Ben Kenobi disabling the tractor beam (named by Williams as ‘Ben Creeps Around’) and the stormtroopers being chased by Han and Chewie. This appropriately (given the title) shifts into the music from the final space battle, made up of ‘X-Wings Draw Fire’ and ‘Use the Force,’ before the album finishes in the same way as the film: with ‘The Throne Room and End Title.’

As you may know, the LP was a resounding success, selling enough copies to fill the Death Star—or so you would imagine. Even more than a financial triumph, the album won two Grammy awards and in 2005 was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry alongside albums like Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” the Muddy Waters song ‘I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,’ and, perhaps most appropriate, the recording of Neil Armstrong’s iconic “One small step...” speech as he walked on the moon in 1969. It’s a small wonder that the rights to the soundtrack for “The Empire Strikes Back” were sold for a huge $1,000,000—by Lucasfilm to RSO Records, whose president, Robert Stigwood, was less than thrilled when he heard the score, claiming that Williams “only gave me one new song! Everything else is still the old Star Wars!”

John Williams Strikes Back

As before, “The Empire Strikes Back” was given a double LP with a gatefold cover (RS-2-4201), utilizing the image of Darth Vader’s helmet from the advance one-sheet, with the reverse containing Roger Kastel’s “Gone With the Wind”-style “B” art. Inside was a full-color booklet attached to the sleeve, which caught up on what the heroes were up to now, as well as track commentary by Williams. Like “Star Wars,” the album ran around 74 minutes, although “Empire” contained a lot more music in the film itself—including suites and the reworked opening, the score ran over two hours.

As you’d expect, the album opens with the “Star Wars” main titles, but the music that follows (‘The Imperial Probe’) does not immediately correspond with the movie itself. The opening was re-scored—while a more ambient and atmospheric cue begins the theatrical film, the original track is more dramatic, with clashes of brass scoring the unleashing of probe droids into the wilderness of space. A fine introduction to the album, it segues into the film version of Luke on his tauntaun as he is attacked by a snow wampa. It then reaches a climax with the addition of the music where the Millennium Falcon escapes from the “cave” [in fact a giant space slug nestled in Hoth’s asteroid belt].

Things understandably slow at that moment, allowing for the premiere of ‘Yoda’s Theme.’ A distillation of the character’s wisdom and tranquillity, this piece is followed up by another dose of unused music: ‘The Training of a Jedi Knight,’ which was meant to score the scene of Yoda’s teaching prior to the “Magic Tree” sequence, perhaps not used because its jaunty nature clashed with the heavy symbolism of the movie. Side One ends with ‘The Heroics of Luke and Han,’ a track made up of music from Luke’s escape from the wampa cave (and more unused music following that) and the final part of the Battle of Hoth where Han and company escape in the Falcon. It ends with the flourishing quote of the love theme that, in the film, scored Luke’s departure to find Yoda.

Side Two kicks off with the dark side—literally. ‘The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)’ was iconic the moment it debuted (on the PBS show Evening at Pops in its full concert version, and a snippet was also featured in the “Empire” theatrical trailer), and it dominated the score and subsequently the album. Williams followed this up naturally, using similarly bellicose strings for the second Lando turncoat moment, along with Leia and Chewie trying to stop Boba Fett, and finally more unused score for the duel between Vader and Luke. Taking the breathing spot this time was the scene for a certain first kiss, ‘Han Solo and the Princess.’ But while the classic romantic theme opens the track, it isn’t long before Vader’s theme returns, followed by mysterious tones as he communicates with the dreaded Emperor.

Making up the rest of Side Two are two intense tracks, ‘Hyperspace’ and ‘The Battle in the Snow.’ While the former flies at high speed for the Falcon’s escape from Cloud City and Darth Vader’s gigantic Super Star Destroyer, the latter lumbers along like the AT-AT walkers it underscores, although its wonderful piano opening was cut from the film. As Luke Skywalker and his snowspeeders shoot toward the walkers, the brass section goes hell for leather, ending with a short triumphant section after one of the behemoths falls, its legs tangled by a snowspeeder tow cable. Moving to the next record is our only chance for relief, with Side Three opening with the virtuoso cue ‘The Asteroid Field.’ ‘The City in the Clouds’ is a medley track, introduced by the soft strains of The Force theme (aka Ben’s theme) in the film cue ‘Yoda’s Teaching’ as Yoda, well, reveals himself to Luke. The track then transitions into a truncated version of the Cloud City introductory cue, which, while not exactly calming, is a pause next to the following track.

‘Rebels at Bay’ also features unused music, this time ‘Luke’s Rescue’—in the film, the scene of Luke and Han being rescued by snowspeeders was tracked with the intense strains of ‘Hyperspace.’ From there, the record moves straight to more of the Hoth battle, in this case, the Rebel retreat, with that powerful brass rendition of the Force theme as the AT-ATs advance. This is followed by swashbuckling heroics by Luke as he takes down one of the walkers, scored by the Rebel fanfare. Ending the side is a track that, while being of the slower persuasion, still packs an emotional wallop. ‘Yoda and the Force’ opens with wild synthesizer chords followed by affecting strings as Luke fails to raise his X-Wing fighter from the swamp that swallowed it. Yoda’s speech is legendary, scored by a wise and warm rendition of the Force theme before it swells into a grand arrangement of Yoda’s theme as he shows Luke his true power. Size matters not, indeed.

Side Four is no less intense, emotionally or otherwise. It opens with ‘The Duel’—its huge malevolent rendition of Vader’s theme and swirling strings mimicking the wind as Luke clings to the gantry before Yoda’s theme comes back to score the escape of Leia, Lando, Chewie and the droids from Bespin. A lovely rendition of Lando’s theme (its first appearance on the album) gives way to the Force theme on brass before R2-D2 comes to the rescue, scored by an epic version of the love theme. The action slows with ‘The Magic Tree,’ its uncanny synth tones beneath a foreboding version of Luke’s theme as he takes his test. This eventually gives way to dramatic brass chords as he fights an apparition of Vader.

‘Lando’s Palace’ is the penultimate track, with the charming theme so appropriate for the character, although after a dissonant section (where C-3PO is shot by a stormtrooper) the score moves back to Dagobah as Luke readies to leave after seeing a vision of his friends in danger. Here, we are treated to wonderful variations on the Force theme as he appears as a ghost to support Yoda’s warning, with Yoda’s theme not far behind. As Luke chooses to go, the pair give him their advice, but as he leaves there is a lovely flourish of the Force theme, which quickly turns downbeat. The album concludes with ‘Finale,’ which finds our heroes broken but not beaten. The Force theme follows Luke as he bids farewell to Lando and Chewie, who depart in the Falcon under a dramatic, swelling rendition of the love theme. Hope remains, and Williams illustrates this with an optimistic section (truncated in the film). The love theme then gives way to the crash of the end titles and a regal presentation of the themes for Yoda, Vader and Han and Leia.

Released in May 1980 and certified gold by August, “The Empire Strikes Back” was another huge success—which makes what came next all the more upsetting...

RSO Strikes Out

It’s not clear why “Return of the Jedi” only received a single LP, especially considering the length of the actual score at two-and-a-quarter hours, but the final album (again published by RSO) ran at just under 45 minutes—a whole 30 minutes or so less than the albums for “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back.” Perhaps Europe had foreseen this, as they were not privy to the “Empire” double LP, instead receiving a single-disc album that had incorrectly printed labels, meaning that Side One began with ‘The Imperial March’ and the main titles opened Side Two!

“Return of the Jedi” (RSO 811 767-1 Y-1) starts with the main titles, here followed as in the film with stately variations on Vader’s theme as he arrives on the new and improved Death Star, with ominous synth undertones for his shuttle departing from the Star Destroyer. The playlist immediately jumps into the chaos of ‘Into the Trap,’ a major new action piece that scores the Rebel fleet’s arrival at the Death Star, featuring jagged brass bursts and a propulsive fighter motif. Following this are two tracks that slow the album down, perhaps too much: concert suites for a pair of new themes for the film—the melancholy ‘Luke and Leia’ and the somewhat Prokofiev-esque ‘Parade of the Ewoks.’ This is followed by the enigmatic tones of ‘Han Solo Returns (At the Court of Jabba the Hutt),’ punctuated by a brief but stately reading of the love theme that moves into a section of Jabba’s theme, including a wonderful tuba solo.

Side One closes with ‘Lapti Nek,’ the strange jazz-rock song that the Max Rebo band plays in Jabba’s palace. The track is a different recording than the actual film (which has never been released). Side Two subsequently opens with the concert suite ‘The Forest Battle,’ a raucous piece that is exhaustingly good but begs for a moment of repose to follow. Answering the call is ‘Rebel Briefing,’ a mistitled track that is actually a medley of ‘Leia Breaks the News’ and the original version of ‘Funeral Pyre for a Jedi’—it’s a strange placement and feels disarranged. Next is ‘The Emperor,’ which is just ‘The Emperor’s Death’ without the spoiler title, although there is a cool little “siren” in the mix at 0:33 that is not on any other released version of the cue.

It feels here like Williams, or whoever was assisting him, gave up. The cue seems so randomly inserted, especially given the next track, ‘The Return of the Jedi,’ which is the music for the battle above the Sarlacc (another re-score). Partially based on sections from the first score (including Williams’ concert arrangement of ‘The Final Battle’), it feels like a greatest hits track. It’s a fine cue but feels odd on the album, with its first-act climax out of place at the end of the score. The final track, ‘Ewok Celebration and Finale,’ which gave the film and resulting trilogy such a satisfying musical end, comes across as a celebration of nothing. It doesn’t feel earned—it just feels, once more, like it’s out of nowhere.

It’s worth mentioning that there were other options at the time for a better “Jedi” listening experience (at least until the score was expanded for the 1993 anthology box set (Fox 07822-111007-2)), one of which was conducted by the late Charles Gerhardt. In the years preceding the trilogy, Gerhardt had embarked upon a remarkable series of recordings with London’s National Philharmonic Orchestra under the “Classic Film Scores” series on RCA Red Seal, tackling music by such luminaries as Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner and Alfred Newman. While mainly recording music from the Golden Age, Gerhardt made an exception for Williams and prepared three albums based on the trilogy. The first score (paired with “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”) and the third were both on RCA (ARL1-2698 and RL 14748, respectively), while “Empire” was published via Chalfont Records (SDG 313).

Gerhardt’s “Jedi” was vastly different from Williams’. While not chronological, the former nevertheless moved ‘The Return of the Jedi’ to the end of Side A and arranged a more climactic ending for the track. Two cues made it onto Gerhardt’s album that weren’t on the RSO LP: ‘Fight in the Dungeon,’ the music for Luke’s battle with the Rancor monster, was cleverly merged with ‘Into the Trap,’ while the bright ‘Heroic Ewok’ scored one of the little creatures committing Grand Theft Speeder Bike.

At the same time, Varèse Sarabande released an album of new recordings from the trilogy by Lebanese conductor Varujan Kojian. “John Williams: The Star Wars Trilogy” (VCDM 704.210) devoted the entirety of its second side to Jedi, with ‘Fight with TIE Fighters’ and ‘Darth Vader’s Death’ making their debut, along with a full recording of the ‘Jabba the Hutt’ suite. Interestingly enough, like “The Empire Strikes Back,” the “Return of the Jedi” score still hasn’t been released in its complete form.

The Revenge of the Return

But what if RSO had given Williams’ score its proper due and allowed it the deluxe double-LP treatment? Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but here it’s something that affords a different look. With this in mind, I tried to construct an idea of what might have made it onto a full “Jedi” double album back in 1983. I set out a few simple rules: I would build the album around the existing tracks on the original LP and I would try and forget the chronological order—a hard task considering this is the way I had been listening to the score for decades. Also, I would limit the time to around the same length as the “Star Wars” and “Empire” albums.

I started the same way as the RSO LP (not up to me to change tradition) with the main titles, following with ‘Into the Trap.’ Next, I skipped ahead to ‘Parade of the Ewoks’ and then slowed things down a bit with ‘Father and Son,’ where Luke surrenders himself to Vader. It’s a nice emotional piece and it works in tandem with ‘The Fleet Enters Hyperspace,’ which is a short but wonderful cue that makes a fine climax for Side One.

Side Two starts with a bang (of sorts)—’Lapti Nek’— followed by ‘Han Solo Returns’ and ‘Luke and Leia,’ and then finishing off with another good climactic track, ‘The Forest Battle.’ Side Three is where the new material really works its way in, beginning with ‘The Emperor Arrives’ and then ‘The Death of Yoda.’ The tracks fit together well, with the fury of the huge Imperial March statements preceding the solemn and reflective music for Yoda, although I decided to rename the latter ‘One With the Force’—no ‘Qui-Gon’s Funeral’ here, thanks! It then moves to ‘Rebel Briefing,’ but I used the actual briefing cue along with ‘Faking the Code,’ which racketed up the tension nicely for the finish with ‘The Return of the Jedi’ (it has, however, been renamed with its original cue title, ‘Jabba’s End’).

Side Four is where things are now in chronological order. I find this is often how Williams does his albums, with the last quarter or so mostly in order. It kicks off with the iconic ‘The Final Duel’ and its amazing choral work, followed by more of the same in ‘The Revenge of the Jedi,’ which is comprised of ‘The Emperor’s Death’ and ‘Darth Vader’s Death,’ retitled to signify the importance of the cue in the scheme of things, and again avoiding nasty spoilers. ‘Through the Flames’ comes next, followed by ‘Leia Breaks the News,’ which is just the original ‘Rebel Briefing’ track with a more accurate title. It all wraps up as usual with ‘Ewok Celebration and Finale.’ I toyed with cheating and maybe using the choral version, but in the end, I decided to stick with my own rules—it’s what a Jedi would do, right?

Here is a recipe for you to try this at home and maybe come up with your own album variation. Since the ’93 anthology, we’ve also had a two-disc special edition release of “Return of the Jedi” (RCA/BMG 09026-68748-2) with even more music. When the powers that be did the right thing and gave the music as much space as it needed, it showed just how amazing these scores could be as their own listening experience. If it’s good enough for John Williams, who are we to argue?

Side One

1. Main Title (The Main Story Continues) AD3T2

2. Into the Trap AD3T11

3. Parade of the Ewoks AD3T8

4. Father and Son and The Fleet Enters Hyperspace SED2T3 3:08 - 7:31 + AD4T3 2:00 - 3:08

Side Two

1. Lapti Nek AD4T11

2. Han Solo Returns AD3T3

3. Luke and Leia AD3T9

4. The Forest Battle AD3T13

Side Three

1. The Emperor Arrives AD3T6

2. One With the Force AD3T7

3. Rebel Briefing and Faking the Code SED1T9 + AD4T13

4. Jabba’s End AD3T5

Side Four

1. The Final Duel AD3T14

2. The Revenge of the Jedi AD3T15,16

3. Through the Flames AD3T17

4. Leia Breaks the News AD3T18

5. Ewok Celebration and Finale AD3T19

Key: T=Track, D=Disc, A=1993 Anthology, SE=1997 Special Edition

(The anthology was primarily used for the sake of sound quality.)

Special thanks to Neil S. Bulk and Pablo Hidalgo.

Go here for a more in-depth piece on the score for “Return of the Jedi.”