Los Angeles, CA. (Top40 Charts/ CineMedia Promotions) - Historically Westerns have produced some of the most memorable music in cinema history. Composer Jeff Beal's take on the genre is featured on the Lakeshore Records soundtrack for APPALOOSA, available via iTunes and Amazon
Digital on
September 16th and in stores on October 28th. In addition to Beal's score, the album will feature the track, "You'll Never Leave My Heart" sungby the film's director and co-star Ed Harris.
Composer Jeff Beal first worked with director Ed Harris on Harris' feature film directorial debut, Pollock. A three-time Emmy Award winner for the main title of Monk, the original dramatic score of TNT's telefilm Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, and most recently for The Company, Beal has also been Emmy-nominated five other times, including three nods for the HBO series Rome and one for Carnivale.
Beal composed the score for the upcoming film Salomaybe?, directed by Al Pacino. His other film composing credits include the documentary The Pixar Story, Ping Pong Playa, Spirit of the Marathon, and The Passion of Ayn Rand. Steven Schneider (regular contributor to the NY Times) wrote of "...the richness of Beal's musical thinking - the ways in which he conceives of his solos as fully-developed mini compositions, while his compositions often capture the liveliness and unpredictability of the best improvisation."
In addition to the score, Beal wrote the music for "You'll Never Leave My Heart", which features lyrics by Ed Harris. In describing writing music with Ed Harris, Beal explains, "It so fun to hear this voice come out of him - right in character of the lyric as he wrote it, and so musical. He's definitely a natural! We tried to make it feel like a classic cowboy song from the 50's."
Also on the soundtrack is the song "Ain't Nothin' Like A Friend" performed by Donald Rubinstein, which was co-written by Rubinstein and Harris.
Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen, four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris, Academy Award winner Renee Zellweger, and Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons star in the Western APPALOOSA, adapted from the Robert B. Parker novel.
Set in 1882 in the Old West territory of New Mexico, APPALOOSA revolves around city marshal Virgil Cole (Harris) and his deputy and partner Everett Hitch (Mortensen), who have made their reputation as peacekeepers in the lawless towns springing up in the untamed land. In the small mining community of Appaloosa, a ruthless, powerful rancher named Randall Bragg (Irons) has allowed his band of outlaws to run roughshod over the town. After the cold-blooded murder of Appaloosa's city marshal, Cole and Hitch are hired to bring the murderer to justice. While establishing new authority with equal parts grits and guns, Cole and Hitch meet provocative newcomer Allison French (Zellweger), whose unconventional ways threaten to undermine their progress and to destroy the two lawmen's decade-old partnership.
New Line Cinema presents APPALOOSA in theaters on September 19, 2008. APPALOOSA original soundtrack on Lakeshore Records will be available via iTunes and Amazon Digital on September 16, 2008, and in stores on October 28th.
