Henry Mancini - Breakfast at Tiffany's
Henry Mancini (composer, conductor, piano) & orchestra
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer (A1, B6)
1 LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Pallas
Label : Speakers Corner
Original Label : RCA
Recording: 1961
Production: Dick Pierce
Originally released in 1961
Reissued in 2011
Tracks :
Side A :
- Moon River
- Something For Cat
- Sally's Tomato
- Mr. Yunioshi
- The Big Blow Out
- Hub Caps and Tail Lights
Side B :
- Breakfast At Tiffany's
- Latin Golightly
- Holly
- Loose Caboose
- The Big Heist
- Moon River Cha Cha
Reviews :
« This soundtrack to the movie adaptation of Truman Capote's novel Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of Henry Mancini's best. The pleasing blend of pop (the perennial "Moon River") and swing stays fresh over the album's 12 tracks and shows off Mancini's considerable writing and arranging skills. The cuts range from the layered, big-band mambo "Something for Cat" to the transcendentally smooth lounge number "Sally's Tomato" with some vaudeville moments coming via "Mr. Yunioshi" (check out that banjo eating up the faux Japanese scales) and "Hub Caps and Tail Lights" (sounds like the "Addams Family Theme"). Mancini keeps the lounge/easy listening mood from collapsing in on itself with many fine jazz solos, a driving rhythm section, and his expert (yet pleasantly cheesy) handling of the liquid-toned chorus parts. He also strikes a nice balance here between his crime-jazz backdrops for the Peter Gunn TV show and Touch of Evil and the later, more streamlined soundtracks for The Pink Panther and Charade. Throughout Breakfast at Tiffany's solid program, Mancini makes it clear that he isn't just a peddler of Muzak but a fine composer. The 2005 Japanese BMG reissue offers crisp remastering to audiophile standards, similar to what was done with Elvis Presley's catalog in Japan -- the results are startling, with exceptionally vivid textures throughout, but nowhere more so than on "Moon River," where the opening quote of the central melody on the harmonica, the next instrumental verse picked up by the strings, and the third done by the chorus, all sound like they're right in your lap. The whole album sounds that way, with the result that all of the musicianship and Mancini's finely nuanced direction never seemed more up close and personal. » AllMusic Review by Stephen Cook
Long nights, dizzy parties, a variety of men-friends, and breakfast standing before the window display of the famed jewellery company govern the life of the dazzling Holly Golightly, who has in reality a very ordinary name and poverty-stricken background. All the more rich is the musical carpet that Henry Mancini lays beneath the feet of the exotic, wealthy-husband-seeking socialite.
The tender, plaintive worldwide hit "Moon River" apart, Mancini and his Hollywood musicians mix a sugar-sweet sound with enough acrid elements to glaze over the capricious lady’s character. The cool big band sound is spiced with a bold trumpet solo ("The Big Blow Out") and mellow violins with a suspiciously tame male choir ("Breakfast At Tiffany’s"). As is well known, there is a great deal of dancing in the film, including a number with a Latin-American rhythm ("Latin Golightly"), and a grooving mambo ("Loose Caboose"). At the end of the film even the "Moon River" swells to become a bubbling cha-cha, as though to say that a 'happy end' must in no way sound sentimental.
A further Mancini mix –The "Pink Panther" soundtrack (RCA LSP 2795) – is also available from Speakers Corner.
Ratings :
AllMusic : 4.5 / 5 , Discogs : Rate Your Music :