Aleph Records
1971
Dirty Harry (Soundtrack)
About This Album
Despite his classical training, Lalo Schifrin had worked with Dizzy Gillespie and was something of a jazz enthusiast. His groundbreaking score for Don Siegel's Dirty Harry was initially inspired by Miles Davis' electronic excursions in "A Tribute to Jack Johnson" and B**ches Brew. Allowed to follow his musical instincts by veteran director Siegel, Schifrin orchestrates the score's driving percussion, restless electric bass, and eerie wordless vocals (as pioneered by Edda Dell'Orso under the direction of Ennio Morricone and his peers in Italy) into an organic mix that could best be described as acid jazz some 25 years before that genre began. The music cues for Clint Eastwood's Harry Callahan are energetic and exciting, but what kicks the score to a level all its own is Schifrin's theme for the serial killer, Scorpio, whom Callahan tracks through the bulk of the film. Its offbeat fusion combines modern classical music in a brilliant manner with Sally Stevens' creepy, ethereal vocals overlaying psychedelic rock of the time. This is perhaps best exemplified on the CD in the two opening cuts: "Prologue -- The Swimming Pool" and "Main Title.
Track List (try tracks 2,3 and 9)

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