"The Big Empty" soundtrack

One night, about a year ago, I was flipping through channels on TV and came across this goofy movie from 2003 called "The Big Empty." I'd never seen it or even heard of it before.

"The Big Empty" stars Jon Favreau who agrees to deliver a package for money to pay off his debts, and ends up with a whacked-out cast of characters in a desert town. Along the way, there's an oddball neighbor, a jealous boyfriend, a mysterious cowboy, space aliens and a conspiracy theorist. It's a crazy dark comedy, sort of in the same realm as "Repo Man" and "Roadside Prophets." And the fact that Favreau plays a struggling actor in L.A. almost makes it seem like a bizarre sequel to "Swingers."

Honestly, it's kind of surprising that not only did a movie with such a quirky story get made, but that the filmmakers managed to enlist such actors as Favreau, Daryl Hannah, Sean Bean, Bud Cort, etc.

Anyway, besides enjoying the movie, I also liked the soundtrack, which included mostly country-rock tunes. When I looked it up, I discovered that while the movie score by Brian Tyler was released, an actual soundtrack that included the songs had not. That led me to gather them all into one place.

1. 18 Wheels & A Crowbar – BR549
2. Silver Pieces – Carnival Dogs
3. Go Cat Go – Carl Perkins
4. Last Go Round – Ron Levy
5. Lucky’s Lullaby – The Country Cabin Boys
6. Truck Driver Man No. 1 – Sonny George
7.  Walk Way – Smokestack Lightnin’
8. I’m Your Breadwinner, Baby – Lazy Lester
9. Rolling Stone from Texas – Don Wasler
10. Duckwalk – Roy Rogers
11. Strange Things Happen – Lazy Lester
12. All I Know – Dead Rock West
13. The Longest Goodbye – Tim Gales
14. Almost Out of Gas – Greg Brown
15. That’s Alright – John Lee Hooker, featuring Charlie Musslewhite and Roy Rogers
16. We Who Are Not as Others – Sepultura
17. This – Sheila Chandra
18. Honkytonk Maniac from Mars – Jason Ringenberg

This is a fun collection of tunes and kind of benefits from the inclusion of fairly obscure artists to most people (Carl Perkins and John Lee Hooker notwithstanding). The only song that doesn't fit with this otherwise bunch of blues and honky tonkers is the Sepultura death metal song. You may want to skip that one.

For a cover, I simply took an image of the movie poster (or maybe it's the DVD cover) I found on the web and manipulated it a bit.

"Two-Lane Blacktop" soundtrack

Some of these projects are fairly easy to compile. And then there are ones like this one. At some point in the not-too-distant past, I read that the cult 1971 film “Two-Lane Blacktop” never had a soundtrack album. This was likely due to the fact that there were licensing issues involved. The rights to use one of the songs in the film, The Doors’ “Moonlight Drive,” prevented the movie from coming out on video for a while.

To determine which songs appeared in the film, I went to the Independent Movie Database (IMDB). While that website is usually a good source for such things, this time around, it was less so. Some information turned out to be incorrect or incomplete.

As a result, I decided to sit down and watch the film and pick out the songs. I hadn’t seen the movie in years, so seeing it again was at first kind of fun. However, sometimes, only tiny snippets of songs are used. And despite a couple of easily recognizable tunes, several were unfamiliar to my ears. Using SoundHound and Shazam music apps was only helpful some of the time.

One odd thing about this film is that it stars two musicians -- James Taylor and Dennis Wilson -- yet neither one sings or plays a lick in the entire movie.

SIDE A

1. Hit the Road Jack – Jerry Lee Lewis (from The Locust Years…)

2. Moonlight Drive – The Doors (from Strange Days)

3. Gee – Eliza Gilkyson (from Eliza [out of print, good luck!])

4. John Henry – Kentucky Colonels (from Kentucky Colonels featuring Roland and Clarence White)

5. Truckload of Art – Terry Allen (from Lubbock (on everything))

6. Cattle Call – Eddy Arnold (from Cattle Call)

SIDE B

1. Me and Bobby McGee – Kris Kristofferson (from Kristofferson)

2. Maybelline – John Hammond (from John Hammond)

3. Peace in the Valley – Red Foley (from Old Shep)

4. Stealin' – Arlo Guthrie (from Running Down the Road)

5. No Money Down – John Hammond (from Big City Blues)

6. Girl of My Dreams – James Clarke (from KPM 1000 Series: Gentle Sounds, Volume 3)

A short snippet of "Cattle Call" is played at one point, but I couldn't identify which version it was, even after listening to about a dozen versions. It may be the Eddy Arnold version, but it's definitely not Tex Owens or Slim Whitman or a gaggle of other yodelers that I listened to on YouTube. It could be just some friend of the director singing and strumming a guitar. I went ahead and included the Eddy Arnold version, but note that it may not be correct.

There's some mariachi music played early in the film that I couldn't figure out either. Plus, IMDB lists songs "Early Cocktail" and "Taylor Made" as being in the film, but I never noticed them, even though I went through the film twice.

But even the identified songs aren’t all easy to find. This is especially true for the song “Gee” by Eliza Gikyson. Her album has been out of print for years. If you can track down all the songs, you'll end up with an interesting and rather unique collection that flows together nicely, I think.

For a cover for this soundtrack, I used existing poster artwork and made some alterations.

"After Hours" soundtrack

Here's the third and final of my Martin Scorsese film soundtracks that were never released.

“After Hours” is one of my favorite Scorsese movies. The dark comedy is about as wacky as the director has ever done. If you haven’t seen the film, a man (Griffin Dunne) goes across town to meet a girl (Rosanna Arquette), loses his money, and has to deal with one crazy character after another in his attempt to get back home.

Howard Shore’s eerie electronic music adds to the bizarre atmosphere, while the collection of oldies is somewhat typical of Scorsese soundtracks. I still laugh every time I see the scene where Teri Garr’s character asks, “Hey, you like the Monkees!?”   

SIDE A

1. Symphony in D Major "No. 45" K. 95 I. Allegro (Mozart) – The Academy of Ancient Music and Jaap Schroder

2. 9 PM – Howard Shore

3. En La Cueva – Cuadro Flamenco

4. Sevillanas – Manitas de Plata

5. You're Mine – Robert and Johnnie

6. We Belong Together – Robert and Johnnie

7. Angel Baby – Rosie and The Originals

8. Midnight – Howard Shore
9. Last Train to Clarksville – The Monkees

SIDE B

1. Chelsea Morning – Joni Mitchell

2. I Don't Know Where I Stand – Joni Mitchell

3. Over the Mountain, Across the Sea – Johnnie and Joe

4. One Summer Night – The Danleers

5. 3 AM – Howard Shore

6. Pay to Cum – Bad Brains

7. Is That All There Is? – Peggy Lee

8. 6 AM – Howard Shore
9. Air Ouveture No. 3 in D Major (Bach) – Collegium Aureum

As with the previous two Scorsese soundtracks I have covered, you really have to do some searching to track down all of these songs. The Howard Shore music can be found here:

https://www.musicbox-records.com/en/cd-soundtracks/766-howard-shore-collector-s-edition-vol-1-after-hours-heaven.html

I had a terrible time tracking down the two classical works and ended up using different versions for my album for now.

The rest of the songs can be easily found on iTunes or Amazon. For the cover, I used a DVD cover I found online and cropped and altered it.

UPDATE: As noted in the comments below, I missed a song when I originally posted this: "You're Mine" by Robert and Johnnie. I've now added it above. But in checking on this, I discovered that I'm actually missing four other tunes: "Night and Day," "Body and Soul," "Quando, Quando, Quando" and "Someone to Watch Over Me." The film credits don't list who performs these, only that they're "courtesy of Warner Bros. Music." My guess is that they're all instrumentals from Warner Bros.'s vast music library that can be used as incidental music in films. So, you have choices here: 1) Ignore them; 2) Include versions of the songs (since they're all standards you'll find lots of them available); or 3) Track down the Warner Bros. library versions (and good luck with that). They should appear in the order listed above between "Sevillanas" and "You're Mine."

"Mean Streets" soundtrack

Here's my second of three Martin Scorsese film soundtracks that haven't been released. The film Mean Streets came out in 1973 and gave notice to the film world that a young filmmaker was on the rise.

SIDE A

1. Be My Baby -- The Ronettes
2. Tell Me (You're Coming Back) -- The Rolling Stones
3. I Looked Away -- Derek and The Dominos
4. Jumpin' Jack Flash -- The Rolling Stones
5. Desiree -- The Charts
6. I Met Him on a Sunday -- The Shirelles
7. Florence -- The Paragons

SIDE B

1. Those Oldies But Goodies -- Little Caesar and The Romans
2. Please Mr. Postman -- The Marvelettes
3. You -- The Aquatones
4. Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss) -- Betty Everett
5. I Love You So -- The Chantels
6. The Ship of Love -- The Nutmegs
7. Rubber Biscuit -- The Chips

SIDE C

1. Pledging My Love -- Johnny Ace
2. Baby Oh Baby -- The Shells
3. Mickey's Monkey -- The Miracles
4. Steppin' Out -- Cream

SIDE D

1. Addio Sogni di Gloria -- Giuseppe di Stefano
2. Canta Per' Me -- Giuseppe di Stefano
3. Munasterio di Santa Chiara -- Giuseppe di Stefano
4. Marruzella -- Renato Carosone
5. Scapricciatiello -- Renato Carosone
6. Ritmo Sabroso - Ray Barretto
7. Malafemmina -- Jimmy Roselli

A lot more songs were included in Mean Streets than Scorsese's debut, Who's That Knocking at My Door? But like that previous film, Mean Streets includes a lot of doo wop songs. This soundtrack also includes two Rolling Stones songs, as do many of Scorsese's films. Side C has the fewest songs because the Cream song is over 13 minutes long.

There are seven songs in Italian. While they work throughout the film for various scenes, I didn't think they worked on the soundtrack mixed among rock and pop tunes. So I included all the Italian songs on the fourth side of the album.

You have to do a fair amount of searching for some of these songs, but they're out there. For a cover, I found this image on the web and cropped it. I think it was originally for a DVD cover.

"Who's That Knockin' on My Door?" soundtrack

This is my first in a series of soundtrack albums for three Martin Scorsese films that were never released.

Who's Knocking on My Door? was Scosese's first feature film, released in 1967. Not only was no soundtrack album released, but the songs in the film weren't even credited in the film.

Using the Independent Movie Database website, I found a full list of the songs used in the film to build the album.

SIDE A
1. Jenny Take a Ride -- Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels
2. I've Had It -- The Bell Notes
3. El Watusi -- Ray Baretto
4. Shotgun -- Jr. Walker and the All-Stars
5. Our Love is a Vow -- The Victorians
6. Don't Ask Me (to be Lonely) -- The Dubs
7. Ain't That Just Like Me -- The Searchers

SIDE B
1. The End -- The Doors
2. The Closer You Are -- The Channels
3. The Plea -- The Chantels
4. Who's That Knocking -- The Genies

The song selection is heavy on doo-wop. Whether this was because Scorsese really liked doo-wop or because getting the rights to use them in his film was cheap, I don't know.

I am a little surprised he got the rights to a Doors song. I wouldn't think that would be very economical for a low-budget film since the band was a very hot commodity in 1967. Due to the length of "The End," only four tracks are on the second side.

I used a picture from a DVD to make an album cover.

Some Music Hiding Down There - San Diego Nuggets, 1965-68

In 2007, Rhino released the Love is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets, 1965–1970 box set and followed up that with 2009's Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965–1968 box set. But so far, there's been no "Nuggets" box set for California's second largest city, San Diego. 

For the uninitiated, San Diego may not seem like a hotbed of musical activity. But this is where Iron Butterfly, The Cascades and Gary Puckett and the Union Gap started. Those three groups alone issued six albums in 1968. San Diego was also home to Bob Mosley of Moby Grape, Joel Scott Hill (of The Strangers and later Canned Heat), and a wide variety of rock, pop, soul and R&B performers.

So below is a track list for a four-CD box set that I'm titling, Some Music Hiding Down There: San Diego Nuggets, 1965-1968. For the most part, these were all A or B sides of singles, and I've arranged them chronologically by year.

DISC 1

1. Why? – The Other Four
2. What Good am I (without You) – Mickie Champion
3. The Animal in Me – The Orfuns
4. So What!! – The Lyrics
5. Sweet Sixteen – Lenni Groves
6. I’m Gonna Get Some Love – The California Sons
7. I Really Love You – The Accents
8. A Million Years Ago – Lenni Groves
9. Duck “All Over Town,” Parts 1 & 2 – Arlene Williams
10. She’ll Love Again – The Cascades
11. I Can’t Get Through to You – The Outcasts
12. The Hurt Still Lingers On – Mickie Champion
13. Bye Bye Baby – Lenni Groves
14. Searching for My Love – The Other Four
15. What Do You Want to Do (Little Darlin’) – The Accents
16. Oh-No – The Man-Dells
17. They Can’t Hurt Me – The Lyrics
18. Rising Sun – The Deep Six
19. Baby Please Dance with Me – The California Sons
20. Kids Together – Ervin Rucker
21. Longer Than Forever – Garnet Sykes
22. Good Show – Lennie Groves
23. Bonnie – The Man-Dells
24. She’s Alright – Ervin Rucker
25. Strollin’ Blues – The Deep Six

In 1965, tiny soul label Musette Records opened up shop and issued about a dozen singles that are highly prized today by collectors. The R&B tracks by Garnet Sykes, Mickie Champion, Arlene Williams and Lennie (aka Lani) Groves are from Musette, as are the two tracks from The Other Four, the only garage rock band on the label. The Deep Six, a folk-pop band, released a self-titled album in 1966 on Liberty Records. The Outcasts was a pre-Union Gap band of Gary Puckett. The Cascades had had a huge hit with "Rhythm of the Rain" in 1962. Although the group continued performing and releasing records through 1972, they would never have anything approaching that initial success. "So What!!" by The Lyrics has become something of a '60s garage rock classic (it was featured on the box set Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era). 

DISC 2

1. I Can Make It with You – The Hard Times
2. Cheryl’s Goin’ Home – The Cascades
3. Hey Love – Mr. Clean and The Soul Inc.
4. Once and For All Girl – The Other Four
5. On the Run – The Accents
6. There'll be a Time – The Hard Times
7. She Didn’t Care – The Contrasts
8. I Wanna Shout – The Deep Six
9. Patricia’s Delight – Willie Bovain and The Rocks
10. Patricia (Here I Come) – Janis And Prince And The Mix Breed
11. Ooh Poo Pah Doo – Esse and the Showmen
12. Cry Baby – The California Sons / The Magic Mushroom
13. All’s Fair in Love and War – The Cascades
14. You’re Bound to Cry – The Hard Times
15. My Son – The Lyrics
16. The Things We Say – The Deep Six
17. He’s the One – The Accents
18. Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night – The Other Four
19. So Glad – The Lyrics
20. Come to Your Window – The Hard Times
21. Image of a Girl – The Deep Six
22. Run Away – The Outcasts
23. I’m Gone – The California Sons / The Magic Mushroom
24. How Do You Tell a Girl – The Other Four
25. Little Bit of Heaven – The California Suns
26. Baby Can’t You Feel It – San Diego Marauders (with Ervin Rucker)

The Hard Times was a house band for the TV show "Where the Action Is" and recorded one album, Blew Mind, released in 1967. The Accents single "On the Run" b/w "He's the One" was the last by a group that was very popular in San Diego, but never found much success outside of their hometown. Gabe Lapano of the group went on to replace original lead singer John Gummoe in The Cascades. The California Sons/Magic Mushroom/California Suns puzzle took a bit of work to figure out. The California Sons recorded "Cry Baby" b/w "I'm Gone." The exact same song was re-released soon afterward on a different label, but credited to The Magic Mushroom. And then the California Sons changed their group name's spelling to California Suns. See more about them below.

DISC 3

1. These are the Words – The Other Four
2. That’s All I’ll Do – The Hard Times
3. C’mon Baby (Blow Your Mind) – The Deep Six
4. Soul in the Morning – Willie Bovain Trio
5. The Masked Grandma – The California Suns
6. Shake a Tail Feather – The Roosters
7. Say That You Love Me – Love’s Special Delivery
8. Mr. Custer – The Search
9. Hey Little Girl of Mine – The Cascades
10. Baby, I Can’t Stop Myself – Johnny Parris & Co.
11. True Love – Big Daddy Rucker
12. Wait – The Lyrics
13. Too Young – The Search
14. Don’t Look Down on Me – Iron Butterfly
15. Mr. Man – The Lyrics
16. Never to Leave – Two Bits
17. Everybody’s Searchin’ – The Search
18. I’ll Run – Johnny Parris & Co.
19. Rooster Walk – The Roosters
20. Woman, Woman – The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett
21. Flying on the Ground – The Cascades
22. I’m Goin’ Home – Big Daddy Rucker
23. Things Must Change – Two Bits
24. Climate – The Search
25. Don’t Talk to Strangers – Chris Gaylord
26. On the Run – The 7 Sons

From what I've read, "The Masked Grandma" was originally planned as a song for Jan & Dean. But when Jan Berry was hurt in a car crash and the duo went into hiatus, the song was offered to the California Suns. Both Johnny Parris & Co. and Two Bits are actually former Cascades singer John Gummoe and session musicians. "Don’t Look Down on Me" was on the A-side of Iron Butterfly's first single and has never been released on any of the band's albums, compilation or otherwise. Chris Gaylord was the original singer of The Lyrics, but instead of a garage rock shouter, "Don't Talk to Strangers" has him doing his best Bob Dylan impression.  

DISC 4

1. The Direction – Framework
2. Never Hurt Again – Pale Fire
3. Smoking at Windsor Hill – Brain Police
4. Unconscious Power – Iron Butterfly
5. Young Girl – The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett
6. They Said No – The Hard Times
7. Why’d He Go – The Lyrics
8. You’re Going Home – Framework
9. Eye Girl – Pale Fire
10. Wake Up to My Voice – The Lyrics
11. Possession – Iron Butterfly
12. Just Do Your Thing - Big Daddy Rucker
13. Please Help Me – The Generations
14. Lady Willpower – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
15. My World of Wax – Brain Police
16. Back Home – Pale Fire
17. Give to Me Your Love – The New Phoenix
18. Can’t See You Anymore – The Lyrics
19. I’m Gonna Move – Framework
20. In-a-Gadda-da-Vida [single version] – Iron Butterfly
21. Maybe the Rain will Fall – The Cascades
22. Over You – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
23. You’re My Girl (I Don’t Want to Discuss It) – Rhinoceros
24. Ups and Downs – Pale Fire
25. Tarnished Angel – Anita May and Interstate 5
26. Set Me Free – The Generations
27. Christmas in the Ghetto – Big Daddy Rucker

"Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap is probably the biggest hit on this collection. It went to #2 in the U.S. and #1 in the U.K. And most people don't need an introduction to Iron Butterfly's "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida." I mercifully use the shorter single version :). Rhinoceros featured some former members of Iron Butterfly. Ervin "Big Daddy" Rucker is often confused with Ervin "Big Boy" Groves. It doesn't help that Rucker often worked with Groves and recorded some of his songs. But in fact, they were two different people. I thought a holiday song by Rucker was as good a way as any to end the collection.

There are dozen or so songs that I wanted to include in this collection, but I've sadly been unable to track them down so far. These include the first some rare sides of Musette Records, the first single by the California Sons, B-sides from The Outcasts, and others. But even without these songs, this is a great collection that shows off a wide variety of styles from the growing Navy town on the Mexican border.