A Celebration of Dimitri Tiomkin

The Russian-born film composer Dimitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) famously thanked all the classical greats when accepting his 1955 Academy Award for The High and the Mighty. But Beethoven and Tchaikovsky would not have thought of having a whistler warble a memorable (and eerie) theme for one of their works - a theme that would become a huge popular success.

Tiomkin may have had roots in the classics, but he also was a powerful hit maker, writing both sweeping scores for his film assignments and theme music that often topped the charts.

Today we look at both sides of Tiomkin via:

• The Popular Dimitri Tiomkin, a set of 21 theme songs from his most fertile decade (1952-61), representing both huge successes and more modest but still worthy efforts.

• Movie Themes from Hollywood, Tiomkin's own 1955 LP of his compositions

• Return to Paradise, his unusual 1953 album of music from the film, with star Gary Cooper narrating the story

• Dimitri Tiomkin Obscurities (on my other blog), with such items as his first record (from 1934), foreign language versions of his themes, a mambo rendition of The High and the Mighty, and other items

The Popular Dimitri Tiomkin

Tiomkin's first huge hit was the theme from the Western High Noon, also known as "Do Not Forsake Me" with Gary Cooper's Quaker wife (Grace Kelly!) threatening to leave him if he shoots the bad guys. It's a bleak tale, with no one in the town willing to stand up to evil, except for Coop.

The story goes that the film was a flop in previews, so the studio wanted to shelve it. But Tiomkin paid for a recording of the title song - the version by Frankie Laine, which became a hit. That led the studio to release the film, which did well. The soundtrack version was by the sonorous Tex Ritter, who also recorded a single for Capitol that sold nicely. Both Laine and Ritter are in our collection.

It of course helped that the simple song was unforgettable. Catchy themes (and Westerns) would mark Tiomkin's career henceforth. The lyrics for "High Noon" were by the brilliant Ned Washington (1901-76), who won his second Oscar for this collaboration with Tiomkin. (The composer won a total of four.)

Our second film is another Western, The Big Sky, but it did not yield a hit for Tiomkin. From that score we do have a heartfelt ballad "When I Dream," sensitively done on a Capitol release by Bob Eberly, the former Jimmy Dorsey vocalist. I don't believe this is sung in the film.

Dimitri Tiomkin with Frankie Laine, Paul Francis Webster (seated), probably producer Milton Sperling, and Ray Heindorf, likely at the Blowing Wild sessions

Tiomkin again teamed with Gary Cooper and Frankie Laine for yet another Western, Blowing Wild, but Dimitri's music and Laine's histrionics did not lead to a hit the size of "High Noon." Paul Francis Webster (1907-84), another frequent Tiomkin collaborator, was the lyricist.

The war film Take the High Ground! did have a theme song, but today we hear the ballad "Julie," a tribute to Elaine Stewart's character. The beautiful Tiomkin melody is graced by a superior performance from studio vocalist Stuart Foster. I've presented this record before, but it merits a reprise.

Like South Pacific, Return to Paradise was based on a James Mitchener story, with Gary Cooper the filmic protagonist. The atmospheric title number was sung by the excellent Kitty White for the soundtrack, but here we have the fine singer Alan Dale with his lovely version for Coral.

The 'Hajji Baba' creative team: Nat King Cole, Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington

Hollywood (and the musical world) were fixated on exotica in the 1950s, and Tiomkin and Washington managed to make it pay off with their hit title song for The Adventures of Hajji Baba. For "Hajji Baba" they had the good fortune to have the perfect vocalist, Nat King Cole, on both the soundtrack and the Capitol recording, arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle.

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The song is very dated - and more than a little creepy - but nonetheless memorable, and a big hit.

The promotion for the Western A Bullet Is Waiting promised "Explosive and overpowering hate and drama in the High Sierras!", but the single from the film spares us the angst and instead provides a pleasing instrumental number called "Jamie," here performed by LeRoy Holmes and his orchestra. The title is mysterious because none of the film's characters is named Jamie. Also, the song has lyrics (which seem to be by Manny Curtis), but those aren't included here. Still, a nice number.

In a very real way, the star of the airplane melodrama The High and the Mighty is the theme music. Based on a tune whistled in the film by the first officer (John Wayne), it has an otherworldly aura that could portend tragedy or intervention by God (and Wayne). The latter is, of course, what happens. Otherwise, the film is an airborne Grand Hotel.

The theme became massively popular because of its haunting quality. The biggest-selling single may have been the LeRoy Holmes record with whistling by Fred Lowery. I've chosen Victor Young's version with perfect and rather godlike whistling by Muzzy Marcellino, who was also heard on the soundtrack. Marcellino was a former Ted Fio Rito vocalist.

Click to enlarge

There were no lack of recordings of the theme. Jumping on the bandwagon (or airplane) in this Cash Box graphic were Tiomkin, Harry James, Perez Prado, Johnny Desmond, Les Baxter, Richard Hayman, Georgie Auld, Eddie Manson, Young, Holmes, Joe Loco, Leo Diamond and the Dorsey Brothers. Prado's mambo version and Desmond's singing can be heard on my other blog. The lyrics, which have nothing to do with the film's plot, were by the ubiquitous Ned Washington. By the way, Tiomkin's own record, which is in his LP below, replaces the whistling with a theremin.

In Friendly Persuasion, Gary Cooper once again starred in a tale of Quaker pacifism contending with a threat to the community The film produced another hit record for Tiomkin, this time working with Paul Francis Webster.

"Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)" was sung both on the soundtrack and on records by Pat Boone, who was otherwise known for covers of R&B hits. (Note that the flip side of "Friendly Persuasion" was a remake of a Big Joe Turner single.) Boone was actually a crooner in the Crosby vein, and quite a talented one as his version of Tiomkin's gorgeous theme song amply displays.

The Rock Hudson-Elizabeth Taylor-James Dean epic Giant actually had two theme songs: "Giant" and "There's Never Been Anyone Else But You (Love Theme from Giant)." Both were recorded, but the love theme more often, so I've chosen it for this collection. It gives me a chance to showcase some excellent vocalese from June Brown on the Mercury record by David Carroll and band. 

Giant was Dean's final film before his early death in a car crash. About 15 years ago I posted two different Dean exploitation records, while are still available.

We're back in the old West with Tiomkin, Washington and Frankie Laine for the title song of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It's a legendary tale loosely based on real incidents in Tombstone, Arizona in 1881, involving the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday and a band of outlaws. In the film, Burt Lancaster is Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas is Doc Holliday.

Laine's inimitable singing was a popular success, although the record did not become as iconic as High Noon.

The film Wild Is the Wind takes place on a ranch but only in that sense is it a Western. Otherwise it's a tale of love, loss and betrayal among Anna Magnani, Anthony Quinn and Tony Franciosa.

Johnny Mathis sang the magnificent theme song both on the soundtrack and on records. It's a unique performance, and a favorite of mine. (I owned the single when I was eight.) It only rose to the 22nd spot on the Billboard listing, but even so sold a huge number of records by virtue of its inclusion on Johnny's Greatest Hits, an LP that was on the charts for 10 years!

This is one of the best things Tiomkin and Washington did, and it shows their range following Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Tiomkin and John Wayne re-teamed for Rio Bravo, bringing along two singers as accomplices - Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. We have three songs from the film, all transferred from a Capitol promo disc in my collection. Dino sings the title song, as he did in the film, and "My Rifle, My Pony and Me," a better song than title. Paul Francis Webster was the lyricist.

Ricky also sings this in the film, but not on the disc. His hit from the film was the traditional song "Cindy," which I've not included here but which can be heard on YouTube in an extract from the Nelson family's TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. You can spy guitarist James Burton in Ricky's band. The appropriate excerpt from Rio Bravo also is online.

Billboard ad

The third number is "El Degüello" (on the Capitol label "De Guello"). Tiomkin patterned this baleful trumpet motto on the music played by Gen. Santa Anna's buglers before the siege of the Alamo in 1836. "Degüello" literally means "throat-slashing" - it portends that the attackers will show no mercy. Santa Anna's men did not.

For the Capitol recording, Nelson Riddle was in charge, Manny Klein the trumpeter. Tiomkin and Wayne soon were to reuse the theme in Wayne's film The Alamo.

"Degüello" was very influential. Such ominous trumpet themes are a feature of the "spaghetti Westerns" of the 1960s.

When it came to the theme song for the Eric Fleming-Clint Eastwood Western TV show Rawhide, Tiomkin and Washington turned to (who else) Frankie Laine, and for inspiration Frankie's 1949 hit "Mule Train." In one, Laine was driving a team of mules, for the other a herd of cattle. In both cases, he got to shout "hee-yah!" to striking effect.

This stereo version is from Frankie's LP Hell Bent for Leather. The conductor is Johnny Williams, who later turned into famed film composer John Williams.

John Wayne's The Alamo spawned two outstanding songs. "The Ballad of the Alamo," written by Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster, was clearly inspired by Marty Robbins' incredible "El Paso" of the year before. Fittingly, Robbins got the assignment to perform Tiomkin's story-song. It's an affecting record, even if it does use the same Spanish guitar backing as "El Paso," played by the same guitarist, Grady Martin.

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Almost as fine is the elegiac ballad "The Green Leaves of Summer," here in the hit version by the folk group The Brothers Four. They are effective, but I also recommend the intense Spanish language single by the superb Lucho Gatica, which can be found in the collection on my other blog.

There were no big hits from the war film The Guns of Navarone, but the theme music did stimulate several instrumental versions. This collection includes the adaptation by guitarist Al Caiola, who simplified the film's title to "Guns of Navarone."

The final selection from Tiomkin's great period is the title song from "Town without Pity." Washington's lyrics don't have anything to do with the plot except in a general way. I believe the song is used in the film as source music from a jukebox.

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Despite this throwaway use, it's a great number that was a huge hit for Gene Pitney in his first outing on record. Pitney's distinctive vocalizing became one of the best things about early 1960s music. The singer's next hit was "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," based on the Western of the same name but not used in the film. This is the type of song that Tiomkin and Washington could write, but it was actually by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

These selections come from Internet Archive and my collection.

LINK to The Popular Dimitri Tiomkin

Movie Themes from Hollywood

The Coral label invited Tiomkin to make an instrumental LP of his finest movie themes in 1955. Here are a few words about each of the songs, many of which are covered elsewhere.

The High and the Mighty - as mentioned above, Tiomkin uses a theremin rather than a whistler in this version. Heretical but ethereal (and spooky).

Champion - For this Kirk Douglas boxing melodrama, Tiomkin produced a tune that veers too close to "The March of the Wooden Soldiers" at times. There also was a ballad from the film called "Never Be It Said," which can be found in the collection on my other blog.

A Bullet Is Waiting - Tiomkin's version of the ballad "Jamie," also in the collection above via the LeRoy Holmes single.

Strange Lady in Town - This ambling Western tune was a tribute to the "strange lady" - Greer Garson as a doctor who moves to Santa Fe.

Dial "M" for Murder - Tiomkin's dramatic theme for the Hitchcock film can also be found in my collection of "Alfred Hitchcock Obscurities."

Return to Paradise - We have full coverage of this score, with Tiomkin's theme here, the music from the soundtrack below, and a vocal version of the theme on my other blog.

High Noon - Tex and Frankie are above, Dimitri here, "Forlad mig ikke" on the other blog.

Land of the Pharaohs - This one involves Jack Hawkins designing a tomb for a pharaoh. Somehow Joan Collins shows up in a bikini. The music is good, though, and if you want to hear it on a harmonica we have that, too. There's also a song based on the the score, added as a bonus below.

Hajji Baba - You certainly don't need anything but Nat Cole above, but Tiomkin's version is from the source.

Duel in the Sun - This dates back to 1946. A Western with Joseph Cotten and Gregory Peck vying for Jennifer Jones. Fiedler and the Boston Pops did an album of the music back in the day.

I Confess - Another score for Hitchcock. An enjoyable theme that also can be found in an odd tea-dance version on my other blog.

Lost Horizon - Tiomkin's first big success was with the score for this popular 1937 film.

BONUS: "This Too Shall Pass" from Land of the Pharaohs. Tiomkin recorded a single of this number for Coral with Johnny Desmond singing Ned Washington's words. Worth hearing even if Johnny is a little overbearing. I don't believe a vocal was used in the film.

The LP is from my collection.

LINK to Movie Themes from Hollywood

Return to Paradise

Return to Paradise came soon after High Noon, and was a departure in locale and music. The soundtrack LP also was a departure - Coral took music from Tiomkin's soundtrack and added a narration voiced by the lead character, Gary Cooper.

It's a good idea that comes across well on the first listen, but I'm not sure how often you might want to listen to Coop's laid-back delivery.

The music is, however, well worth your time.

I remastered this from an LP on Internet Archive. 

All the selections throughout this post are in ambient stereo, with the exception of Frankie Laine's stereo running of the cattle in Rawhide.

LINK to Return to Paradise

GM's 50th Anniversary Show, Plus Bonus GM Songs

As 1957 drew to a close, General Motors was looking forward to its 50th Anniversary. The previous year had not been its best. Despite offering cars that still are considered classics - particularly by volume leader Chevrolet - that marque had been dethroned in the 1957 sales race by Ford. GM was determined not to have that happen again.

And so for the traditional fall unveiling of the new models, GM went all out to ensure that its cars would be noticed in the market during its 50th year. They started by pumping up the size of their relatively svelte 1957 counterparts. The Chevy Bel Air, for example, gained nine inches in length on a stretched wheelbase, and acquired a bloated look accentuated by new double headlights up front. You could order the Chevy (or any other GM line) in a hideous "Anniversary Gold" that would guarantee they would see you coming down the road.

"Anniversary Gold"

Meanwhile the other GM models gained all manner of chrome gee-gaws on their similarly bulging exteriors - rockets on the Pontiac, glitzy quarter panels on the prestigious Cadillac, and multiple accent pieces on the Oldsmobile and Buick.

GM planned a two-hour television special to mark its 50th, and, unlike the products it had newly introduced, it took pains to make it as tasteful and distinguished as possible. The show had a long list of celebrities taking part, everyone from actor Ernest Borgnine to dancers Jacques d'Amboise and Bambi Lynn. There was comedy with Eddie Bracken and Alice Ghostley, drama with Don Ameche and Peg Lynch, and the obligatory moment of prestige with Helen Hayes intoning a poem written for the occasion by scriptwriter/lyricist Helen Deutsch.

New York Times ad, November 17, 1958

About half the program was given over to music, and much of that was captured on a commercial LP issued by RCA Victor, which is the first musical specimen presented in today's post. (Please see below for bonus items.)

The show began with a Sammy Fain number written for the occasion, "The Happiness Theme," befitting the special's theme, "The Pursuit of Happiness." 

The vocal numbers start with Pat Boone, who had made his name with bland covers of R&B hits and latterly had become a GM spokesperson. Based on his vocal style, I'd say Boone was a follower of Bing Crosby rather than Little Richard, and here he is assigned "Where Are You," a 1937 Jimmy McHugh-Harold Adamson piece that Frank Sinatra had revived a few months earlier for the title song of one of his best Capitol LPs. Boone is not at all a bad singer, some insecure intonation aside, and he does well here.

Steve Lawrence

Up-and-coming crooner Steve Lawrence had the next spot, at least on the LP, and works wonders with 1948's "Far Away Places," often heard on the variety shows of the time. It lent itself to exotic scenery.

Lawrence sticks around for a less-familiar novelty, "The Bullfrog Patrol," penned by none other than Jerome Kern with lyricist Anne Caldwell for the 1919 show, She's a Good Fellow. Joining in are musical comedy veteran Dan Dailey and newcomer Carol Burnett, who had recently become popular on television and in night spots.

Just as recherché was the next number, "The March of the Ill-Assorted Guards" from the 1956 Producer's Showcase television musical Jack and the Beanstalk. The March seems to have been assigned this outing because it was penned by scriptwriter Helen Deutsch in collaboration with Jay Livingston.

The proceedings turned strange for the following number. Not that the song "Mutual Admiration Society" was strange. It was at the time inescapable whenever two people who could carry a tune found themselves on the same stage. The song comes from 1955's Happy Hunting, the Ethel Merman starrer, where it was an attempt to replicate the success of the duet "You're Just in Love," featured in Merman's Call Me Madam of a few years earlier.

Claudia Crawford and Cyril Ritchard

No, the strangeness came from the setting, in which seven-year-old Claudia Crawford talks that old scene stealer, Cyril Ritchard, out of a suicide attempt. The melodrama ends with a traversal of "Mutual Admiration Society," and everyone goes home happy (as was the theme of the show).

Doretta Morrow

Doretta Morrow made the first of her three appearances with "Hi Lili, Hi Lo" (another Deutsch song). Morrow had an active career at the time, both on Broadway (Where's Charley?, The King and I and Kismet) and in Hollywood, (opposite Mario Lanza in Because You're Mine). Earlier in 1957 she had toured in Fanny.

1958 ad plugging RCA TVs and Dinah's Chevy show

No GM show would have been complete without an appearance or three by long-time Chevy mouthpiece Dinah Shore. She is exceptionally good in "They Say It's Wonderful," mostly keeping Dan Dailey on pitch. The always-welcome Howard Keel is characteristically sonorous in "Where or When," then Doretta Morrow returns for another Rodgers and Hart song, "My Romance."

These vocal items are punctuated on the LP by instrumentals from an orchestra led by Bernard Green - "It Might as Well Be Spring," "Out of Nowhere" and "Lover." On television, the latter two were backings for dance numbers from Jacques d'Amboise, Bambi Lynn and Chita Rivera. The orchestrations by Sidney Fine and Milton Weinstein are excellent.

Dan Dailey

Dinah has a solo spot with "These Foolish Things," an Eric Maschwitz-Jack Strachey piece from 1936, and includes the seldom-heard verse. Doretta Morrow and Howard Keel follow with a pleasing medley. The show's finale, "Taking a Chance on Love," was allotted to Dan and Dinah.

There are a quite a few excerpts from the show on YouTube, mainly provided by the son of producer Jess Oppenheimer. The program was broadcast in color, but the excerpts are from black-and-white kinescopes.

• Introductions
• Bullfrog Patrol
• Carol Burnett, Steve Lawrence, Dan Dailey, Chita Rivera
• Eddie Bracken and Alice Ghostley sketch
• Claudia Crawford and Cyril Ritchard
• Extended excerpt

The Anniversary Show was well received. The New York Times' Jack Gould was ecstatic, calling it "artistic television of a high order." Perhaps it was, but it was hardly diverse, neither in participants nor material. And while the LP is pleasant to hear, it leaves out any hint of the unconventional or experimental.

The Fisher Body version of GM's 50th Anniversary graphic

Bonus: I Want a Merry Little Lavender Rocket 88 (GM Songs)

You don't need me to tell you that music was changing at the time, and other musical traditions besides the pop song and musical comedy were becoming increasingly popular. Although GM did not acknowledge these in its program, the practitioners of various alternative musical genres had been extolling the merits of GM cars for many years.

Indeed, the most famous song about a GM product was written even before there was a General Motors. That was Gus Edwards' "In My Merry Oldsmobile," from 1905. It also was the first of many tunes to equate the automobile with freedom and even sex! As young Johnny Steele tells his Lucille, "You can go as far as you like with me / In my merry Oldsmobile."

The hit version of the song was by the prolific Billy Murray on Victor. Murray recorded it in 1905, 1906 and 1909, under the same catalogue number. The pressing in this set could be any of those.

A second version of "In My Merry Oldsmobile" dates from about 1918 and was produced specifically for Oldsmobile, with unidentified artists. Olds would go on to use the song for promotional purposes for many years.

Next we have a 1924 record from Bennie Krueger, his alto sax and orchestra. "Ray and His Little Chevrolet" drolly tells the tale of how the protagonist has no trouble attracting girls despite his undersized equipment. The vocalists are studio regulars Billy Jones and Ernest Hare.

Switching genres, we move to 1930's "Riding in a Chevrolet Six" with Oscar Ford, one of the Georgia string band musicians who also included Gid Tanner and Riley Puckett. (Puckett plays on this record.) Oscar tells us that "If you're single and you wanna get a wife / Just buy you a Chevrolet Six." He also advises that "You can outrun the revenuers night and day / If you travel in a Chevrolet Six."

Ben Webster, with Buck Clayton at right

The enduringly popular Cadillacs were the subjects of a few jazz songs, including Dizzy Gillespie's "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac." But today we turn to alto saxophonist Benny Carter and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster for the latter's terrific instrumental "Cadillac Slim" from 1946. The record was issued under Carter's name, but the bulk of the solo space is given over to Webster, although Carter and trumpeter Buck Clayton also appear. Interestingly, Webster's solos are entirely in the swing idiom, but the theme is clearly influenced by the then-new bop music.

Sonny Boy Williamson

Now we move over to the blues realm for "Pontiac Blues" by Sonny Boy Williamson. This is the musician sometimes called Sonny Boy Williamson II, whose real name was Aleck or Alex (or Rice) Miller. Miller had rebranded himself in the early 40s to capitalize on the fame of another harmonica player. By the time of this 1951 record, Sonny Boy Williamson I had died, so Miller had the name to himself.

I don't mean to take anything away from Miller. "Pontiac Blues," an early issue on the Trumpet label, is a entertaining opus featuring Sonny Boy's powerful harmonica. He tells us, "I found out what my baby likes. / That's a whole lotta lovin' / And that straight-eight Pontiac."

Bea (soon to be LaVern) Baker

From that same year comes a wonderful 78 on OKeh, the first to be issued on the label's new incarnation as Columbia's R&B outfit. It also was the first record by Maurice King and the Wolverines. King was previously music director for the International Sweethearts Of Rhythm. Singer Bea Baker (later to become very well known as LaVern Baker) insists that "I Want a Lavender Cadillac," assuring us that if she gets what she wants, "I'll be good to you."

The final song is "Rocket 88," a big hit for Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats on Chess. The band was actually Ike Turner and His Kings of Rhythm (Brenston being one of the royal family), but Jackie sang and got the credit. The story is that producer Sam Phillips changed the attribution when he shopped the master to Chess records.

Jackie Brenston emotes while Ike Turner stares

Whoever gets credit, it's a deservedly famous record. Jackie assures us that "Takin' my Rocket on a long, hot run / Ooh, goin' out, oozin' and cruisin' and havin' fun!" (Rocket 88 was an Oldsmobile model, by the way.)

"Rocket 88" is sometimes claimed to be the first rock 'n' roll record, a pointless discussion if ever there was one. What is true is that it has musical antecedents, among them boogie-woogie pianist Pete Johnson's "Rocket 88 Boogie" and jump blues artist Jimmy Liggins' "Cadillac Boogie." The Brenston record is an amalgamation of both styles, accentuated by Ike Turner's terrific band and the novelty of a fuzztone guitar playing the bass figure. The fuzztone was supposedly caused by the an accidental tear in the amplifier speaker, which sounds like an apocryphal tale. Whatever, it's most effective.

There have been many more songs about GM cars, but these are a few of the ones that preceded the GM 50th Anniversary Show, and present a more diverse range of styles. The 50th Anniversary Show album comes from my collection. The 78s are from the endless reaches of the Internet Archive. The sound on the LP was shrill, which I have amended. The 78s can be a bit crackly, but even the Billy Murray record is more than listenable.

In its heyday, GM had five marques - in ascending order of prestige, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. Only Buick is unrepresented here; however, I have posted two different versions of the promotional song, "My Buick, My Love and I" on my singles blog, where I also detail a few other Buick songs.

If you are more inclined to the Ford lineup, this blog has a post devoted to a 1970 album by The Going Thing, a semi-folk-rock, Ford-sponsored group, and another to the dealer introduction show for the ill-fated Edsel, not one of Ford's better ideas. Nothing yet from Chrysler!