That first year, in , the famed Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich called Myrow one of the most inventive young composers he had seen during a tour of the United States. Myrow followed up this milestone with three Fulbright grants, three Rockefeller grants, and one Guggenheim fellowship in less than 10 years, and topped off the decade by becoming a resident composer at the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein.
Some part of him felt like he was missing out on something happening," said Rachael, alluding to the cultural revolution of the s and '70s. Myrow had also become good friends with Jim Morrison, the Doors' eccentric frontman. Myrow's luck changed a little later, when Quincy Jones turned down the opportunity to score the upcoming film Leo the Last. Director John Boorman liked Myrow and gave him the gig.
Myrow ended up signing a contract with Universal Studios to score movies, joining the long-established studio system. Things changed in the s. Studios stated to focus on distributing independently-made films like Easy Rider and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , which proved to be smash hits and made millions with small budgets. Studio heads also dropped the factory-like chain of production that provided Myrow steady work.
Myrow had his wife and three daughters to support. For the first time in his career, jobs weren't pouring in. Sometimes he'd come out after having done bills and he'd be very angry but not explain why. Around the time Myrow's studio work began drying up, a Universal executive named Peter Saphier suggested to Don Coscarelli, then a new director fresh out of film school, that he connect with Myrow.
The two hit it off and Coscarelli hired Myrow to score his first feature-length film, Jim the World's Greatest. Michael Baldwin -- another untapped talent Coscarelli discovered that would star in Phantasm.
During a promotional tour there in , Baldwin and crew were welcomed like rockstars , with " screaming Japanese girls" chasing the actors down the street to their limo. It was a genre that, at the time, guaranteed success in the States. Coscarelli had the perfect villain in Angus Scrimm, the tall, intimidating actor from the young director's first feature.
He wrote up a script about a teenage boy Baldwin who discovers that a creepy mortician known as the Tall Man Scrimm is killing people at the local funeral home and turning them into dwarf slaves. Coscarelli went to Myrow once again for a soundtrack. This time Myrow brought in a collaborator: Malcolm Seagrave, who, like Myrow, was a working composer and musician who also produced rock groups like the prog rock band Aviary.
Together, they pitched a soundtrack that revolved around a singular, simple theme. They were bouncing off the walls with excitement," Coscarelli said. For me that was an epic moment. Coscarelli took years to make Phantasm , filming all the scenes during long shoots on weekends.
Post-production took another few months; the soundtrack was recorded over a two-week session in a Long Beach studio. Myrow and Seagrave directed a small band -- guitar, bass, and drums -- while the duo provided melodies on a wide variety of keyboards. Coscarelli says the session consisted of "a lot of creative, long nights" as the band improvised and fine-tuned the music.
Sometimes the band struggled to find the right synth sound for a part, which was made more difficult by the unpredictability of the nascent synthesizer technology. In other moments, the musicians rocked out as they came up with new songs that referenced the popular music of the day. Phantasm came out in Though it received negative reviews from critics like Roger Ebert , it was a box-office hit.
And because he couldn't pay Myrow up front, Coscarelli gave the composer points on the film, which not only provided a big payday back then, but continues to generate royalties today. Myrow died in at the age of Uploaded by Jacket Audio on February 9, Internet Archive's 25th Anniversary Logo. Search icon An illustration of a magnifying glass. User icon An illustration of a person's head and chest. Sign up Log in.
Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses.
It appears your browser does not have it turned on. Please see your browser settings for this feature.
0コメント