"There are already a number of good reviews of this CD here, and it seems to be out of print as I write this, but I still wish to add a few comments.
This disc includes, as has been pointed out by other writers, the original theme music from the 1960s TV series "The Fugitive". In addition, these recordings are not dubbed from film soundtracks, or in any other way removed from the source material, but are evidently transferred from original (possibly first-generation) master tapes.
The source used for these recordings is significant because even a transfer from a film soundtrack (as opposed to a master tape) adds a haze of background noise and removes some of the frequency range of the music.
The music on this CD leaps out of the speakers, and it is possible to hear detail that you may never have noticed no matter how hard you listened to the music when you watched the series on TV. Although the broadcast standards for the original 60s airing of the show were pretty good, your TV set probably had a "hum" in the sound due to video interference, and most television speakers weren't hi-fi quality. Thanks to this CD, your home stereo can deliver this music just the way you remember it, only better!
Just a few more brief notes. The music on this disc is all in mono, just as it was recorded--stereo television broadcasts were about a quarter of a century away when "The Fugitive" debuted. But don't mistake mono sound for inferior sound. This CD sounds fantastic! I'm afraid that most of the "episode cues" (which admittedly comprise most of this release) are not very interesting listening, and I routinely program around them when playing the disc. But I spent the money for the theme music, all of which (main and end titles, plus a "bumper" segment) is here, and I gladly paid the price of this CD for it.
Now, if only someone would make available the master recordings of Pete Rugolo's wonderful music from "Run for Your Life" and "The Felony Squad", I could die a happy person...."
"Pete Rugolo & The Fugitive"
J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 01/26/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The man was Dr. Richard Kimble, and the series was "The
Fugitive", which ran for four years, from September 1963 to
August 1967 ranked highest-rated drama and won the Emmy as Outstanding
Dramatic Series in its third season. David Janssen the star was
nominated three times as Best Actor in a Drama, creator Roy Huggins
made two suggestions - David Janssen play the title role and that Pete
Rugolo write the music.Rugolo worked with such greats as - Stan
Kenton, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Harry Belafonte and Mel Torme...and
produced the legendary "Birth of the Cool" featuring Miles
Davis. Between 1947 and 1954 won the "Down Beat" poll as
top jazz arranger five times.Musically speaking "The
Fugitive" was unlike any other hit series of the '60s, Rugolo
worked solely from a reading of the pilot script and the description
of the concept, working a lot of variations with every possible kind
of suspense cues, neutral cues, some sad cues and a lot of chases,
because he'd be running all the time. Every track on this CD, is
"pure classic" television scoring, ground-breaking for its
time.Silva Screen has released the long over-due score from this
classic series, every time you heard that theme you knew it was the
music for David Janssen, absolutely the best series done and unique in
its time...and for the baby-boomers, "The fugitive" will
always be Janssen - and the music of Pete Rugolo!Total Time: 47:18
on 24 Tracks...Silva Screen SSD-1106...(2000)
"
This is all that's left...
Mike Rophone | Philadelphia, PA USA | 06/12/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With the decision by CBS/Paramount to remove all the original music (except the show opening/closing) on the Season 2 DVDs, this is all that's left of the Pete Rugolo's music written for THE FUGITIVE.
When a copy of this CD shows up from Amazon Sellers, buy it.
Own a piece of television history.
Both DVD sets of Season 1 have most of the original music...so they too will become collector's items."
The Fugitive - A Musical Production - Starring Peter Rugolo
Michael Daly | Wakefield, MA USA | 02/24/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Fugitive remains among the greatest television dramas ever. The reasons for its quality - an intriguing premise, engaging characters, a superior cast, atmospheric cimematogrophy, superb scripts, and taut direction.One other strength lies in the series' music scores. Much of the series was scored with "library" tracks, mostly from CBS' TV library of tracks scored by John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. The backbone of the series score, however, came from the tracks composed by Peter Rugolo, who was a favorite of both producer Quinn Martin and of series star David Janssen. During the show's initial run a soundtrack album was conceived, but was never released, and in Ed Robertson's book The Fugitive Recaptured he notes the enormous audience draw to Rugolo's music and how Rugolo appreciated the positive feedback.Series creator Roy Huggins has thus finally filed in the gap the fans have long wanted - a series soundtrack. The roughly 47 minutes of music in this CD encompass just over half of the tracks used by music supervisor Ken Wilhoit in the series. The cues encompass the myriad different takes on the immortal main theme Rugolo created to fill in every conceivable mood in the show. The Main Theme is used in three seperate tracks, the full version that bookends the disc and also the stellar opening theme cue that backs the booming series, actor, and episode title credits that were a hallmark of the show in particular and of Quinn Martin productions in general.There is also the Lt. Gerard theme, a brassy, intimidating cue that switches to understated mystery, thus encompassing the enigma that, backed by Barry Morse's superlative performances, was "the police lieutenant obsessed with (Kimble's) capture."The only flaw in the disc is that some of the "library" tracks that also added power to the show's score could not be included. Nonetheless, this disc is a must for music and TV fans."