(2021) Angelo Badalamenti – Blue Velvet: The Deluxe Edition  


Review:
David Lynch’s 1986 film Blue Velvet begins when college-student Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) discovers a severed ear in a field and the mystery as to its owner draws him into a world of crime and sexual perversion. Along the way he meets lounge singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) who is being terrorized by psychopath Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper). The movie was a return to a smaller scale and more psychological films like Eraserhead for Lynch after his dissatisfaction over how his adaptation of Dune turned out. Music plays an important part in the film, which featured songs such as Bobby Vinton’s version of “Blue Velvet” and Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams.” But the score was provided by Angelo Badalamenti. He was actually brought onto the film by producer Fred Caruso to help Rossellini perform “Blue Velvet” in the picture. Caruso and Badalamenti had worked together previously on the 1974 movie Law and Disorder.  He arranged an accompaniment for Rossellini’s performance, even appearing onstage with her.  He continued to hang around the film set and Lynch eventually tapped him to write the entire score, evoking Russian classical pieces and jazz.  Badalamenti had primarily worked on pop songwriting and only had two film scoring credits to that point, but something clicked with Lynch and a bond was formed.  Badalamenti has scored every one of Lynch’s films since Blue Velvet, including the television series Twin Peaks. In 1986, Varese released the original score on LP and CD in a 14-track program.  There were ten score tracks and four songs: Bill Doggett’s “Honky Tonk Part 1,” Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams,” Ketty Lester’s “Love Letters,” and Julee Cruise’s “Mysteries of Love” (an original song written for the film by Badalamenti and Lynch.  The pair would even work with Cruise on a later pop album.).  The first CD of this 2-CD presentation recreates that sequence while adding Bobby Vinton’s “Blue Velvet.”  The second CD is entitled “Lumberton Firewood” and features the beginnings of the scoring process the pair would utilize on future collaborations.  While Blue Velvet was scored in more traditional way, Badalamenti would compose orchestral tracks he dubbed “firewood” for Lynch to use in his sound design.  This would eventually lead to the more impressionistic scoring method the two would utilize on future films.  These orchestral pieces as well as other alternates and cues not used in the film comprise disc two. — SecondDisc





Track Listing:
Disc 1: The Original Soundtrack
1.Main Title (From the Motion Picture Blue Velvet)
2.Night Streets / Sandy and Jeffrey
3.Frank
4.Jeffrey’s Dark Side
5.Mysteries of Love (French Horn solo)
6.Frank Returns
7.Mysteries of Love (Instrumental)
8.Blue Velvet / Blue Star – Montage
9.Lumberton U.S.A. / Going Down to Lincoln – Sound Effects Suite
10.Alrcon Meets the Blues
11.Blue Velvet performed by Bobby Vinton
12.Honky Tonk Part I performed by Bill Doggett
13.In Dreams performed by Roy Orbison
14.Love Letters performed by Ketty Lester
15.Mysteries of Love performed by Julee Cruise

Disc 2: Lumberton Firewood
1. Alrcon Meets the Blues (alternate)
2.Lumberton U.S.A. Radio Ad
3.Timpo
4.Ribbon Scissor
5.Going Down to Lincoln
6.Organs and Sirens (take 2)
7.Sandy and Jeffery
8.Dorothy Alone
9.Mount Frank’s Eruption aka Frank (Film version without Clarinet)
10. Sloe Club Boys
11.High Gentle Memories
12.Stalking Out
13.Yellow Man
14.Sandy and Jeffrey (Version 2)
15.Ominously Yours II
16.Ominously Yours IV
17.Organ (Version 3)/Mysteries of Love
18.Organ Toots and Sirens
19.Cue 61A
20.Cue 05
21.Cue 09
22.Cue 09A
23.Cue 13
24.Cue 16
25.Cue 21 & 24
26.Cue 27
27Cue 36
28.Cue 46
29.Cue 48
30.Cue 50
31.Cue 56
32.Cue 65
33.Cue D
34.Cue 65 (Version 2)


Media Report:
Genre: original soundtrack
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits