Customer Reviews

The Music from Peter Gunn (1958-1961 TV Series)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(6)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This groundbreaking soundtrack to a show that defined what "cool" was changed the face of television forever. There have been some great TV themes over the past few decades, but this evocative Mancini score set the bar before the bar even existed.

Some excellent liner notes relate the story all Peter Gunn and Mancini fans know well. Henry Mancini had been kicking around Universal for six years. Most of his years there were a study in obscurity, the one exception being his scoring of "Touch of Evil" for Orson Welles. So the studio gave him his two week walking papers. Mancini, being Mancini, decided on one of his last days there to get a free haircut at the studio barber shop. He and the guy next to him got to chatting and hit it off. They had a lot in common. So that newly promoted director, Blake Edwards, says to Mancini, "Hey, how would you like to do this television show for me? It's called "Peter Gunn."

What followed was decades of film magic, and a collaboration that was the stuff dreams, and great films, were made of. Mancini's West Coast Jazz score for Peter Gunn was his defining moment. It is a masterpiece of mood and atmosphere and its orchestral jazz score would have an impact for decades to come. When listening to this, you feel like Peter Gunn. From the famous opening salvo of music, Peter Gunn, both the show and Mancini's score, were, and still are, the essence of cool.

You get sixteen wonderful tracks on this double Grammy winner as you cruise along with the hip detective, the sounds of the most innovative score ever written for television in the background.

Sometimes we're walking in a room and smell the cordite still fresh and lingering, and we better be careful (Fallout).

Other times we're just hanging out with an old pal, trying to figure a way out of this jam (Session at Pete's Pad).

Sometimes we're headed to our favorite jazz club, "Mother's," for a night out with our girlfriend Edie (The Brothers Go to Mother's).

There are also those times, late at night, when things are all wrapped up, and Mother herself hands us the keys so we and Edie can make a little time for romance (Dreamsville).

Mancini would make a career out of ambiance, and Peter Gunn was the impetus for all that was to come. This is an absolute must have for any serious collector. The best thing about picking this one up, aside from the great music, is that somehow, just by owning it, we are just a little bit cooler.

The music is terrific, but the sound on this Buddha re-mastering is not. I bought this, gave it away, and purchased the import RCA disc. The RCA import has excellent sound, the brass leaps out of the speakers, there is much fuller dynamic range, and it also has all 24 tracks from the two original Peter Gunn albums. Don't settle for this Buddha disc, and get the RCA import here at amazon. If you must have this disc, realize the sound is much better with a quality re-mastering. The Peter Gunn music is fun jazz with pop touches, sure to be enjoyed by most listeners.

For those of us of a certain age, the soundtrack from "Peter Gunn" is something that not only made Henry Mancini a celebrity and sparked a lifelong interest in jazz, but it also was the reason our parents upgraded to a "Stereo System" and gave us the old one-speaker "hi-fi" for our bedroom. I was a 9th-grader when this began happening to all my friends, and although I lagged behind, and in my house it was Johnny Cash that became the first stereo record buy, "Peter Gunn" sounded sensational in wondrous separation. Today I heard this music for the first time in 35 years, and it is still wonderful. Yes, it is real jazz of a distinct type. Yes, the soundtrack has held up better than the tv show that the music was supposed to enhance, not dominate. Yes, Henry M. was extremely talented and did a lot of things other than "Moon River." If you want a sense of what the Beatniks were listening to in the late Fifties, buy this masterpiece. The bongos will make you laugh, the vibes will make you smile. Upon its first release, this music became a must-buy for most middle-class households. At the time, it was adventurous, even daring, if you were'nt already a jazz fan. Today, it's still worth owning and listening to again and again.

I have the original pressing vinyl of this and was in the process of restoring it to burn to cd. I got lazy and decided to just go ahead and buy this re-issue and save myself a number of hours. Well I spent the best part of yesterday and this afternoon going back to work on my restoration from vinyl.
This seminal work has been turned into trash by the restoration engineer. It is so far away from the original in sonic perspective it is amazing. There is a ...trick in restoration to do it quickly. You cut off the high end add reverb
and a little spacial enhancement and your done. Thats exactly what this sounds like. None of the punch of the original, the sound stage has been destroyed to the point where it sounds like a very poor MP3. No dynamics at all....flat lifeless sound, the piano and vibes now sound as if they were played on a decent synth and not acoustic instruments. The Brass which knocks your socks off on the original, now sounds muted and bland. I would pass on this re-issue if you care about good sound quality, for this release does not have it. Sorry....it's such a waste of a timeless classic. Digital restoration done right can sound amazing; Digital restoration done poorly can sound like..........and this what you'll be buying.

Above all, Mancini was extraordinary as a composer. But he was also an extraordinary melodist and an extraordinary Maestro. The Peter Gunn Theme is the greatest hit in this album but ... listen to Dreamsville. All jazz fanatics claim Mancini wrote arrangements and musicians had little space to improvise. I wonder they have forgotten there was a film under the music. And Mancini was an extraordinary Mood creator. Many jazz musicians had always been hopeful to some day record with Mancini. Any thinking musician I know says Mancini was great, inspired, sensitive ... If Amazon decided to create a Beyond Category rate, this would be certainly one of my choices.

Okay, so everyone already knows that "Peter Gunn" is one of the great movie (TV) themes of all time, the essence of bad-ass before the term bad-ass was fit to print.
But next time you hear a crappy recording from the 60's or early 70's on CD, and someone tries to tell you they just didn't have the recording technology in those days, give a listen to what Henry Mancini did in a soundstage almost 50 years ago.

There have been a number of great covers, including the Blues Brothers, but nobody actually improves on Mancini's classic.

If you're just starting out into COOL JAZZ then there is no better place to begin than here! Mancini defines the genre through PETER GUNN, MR. LUCKY, CHARADE, & THE PINK PANTHER, wonderfully GREAT film (TV) music that reflected the mood & feeling of the WEST COAST jazz scene. Yeah, it's neat, it's cool, it's MANCINI!!!...Go on to Stan Getz, Mulligan, Brubeck,etc...but begin the journey here, with something that you're familiar with, outstanding film music that leaves you craving for that OH SO COOL sound that only fantasy alone can successfully transport you into...into the realm of TV detectives , spy-types, etc...into the world of Henry Mancini & the COOL SOUNDS of a long lost era....

Once again Mancini proves without a doubt, he is the trend-setter. This album is as exciting today as it was in 58'. What a sound and mood this album delivers. When you think of todays music that was influenced by his composing a taste of Jazz for a detective series "Peter Gunn" and not the same old drab European music that we were used to, what a risk and it worked, boy did it work. As Quincy Jones once said, "Thank God, for Henry Mancini". "Our Man In Hollywood"(Mancini) changed the way "TV/Film Score" would be composed now and forever. "Mancini Moments" you've gotta love em'.

Mr.Jim

Listening to the Peter Gunn soundtrack always brings back pleasant memories of this great TV detective series. I loved suave Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn and Lola Alrbight as his sexy, beautiful girlfriend who sang at Mother's, L.A.'s hip jazz club in TV land.

To make this series perfect, Blake Edwards asked Henry Mancini to provide the music. Mancini wrote it, scored it, and conducted the orchestra, comprised of L.A.'s top studio musicians, like Shelley Manne and Pete and Conti Condoli. Peter Gunn was the first TV series with a jazz soundtrack, raising the bar very high for the few shows that ever tried a jazz sound track again.

I wish the Peter Gunn series was shown regularly on cable TV. It is such a great series. At least we have the CDs and the DVDs.

It occurred to me the other day that most people today have probably never heard of Peter Gunn or have listened to this great music. How pathetically sad! This is jazz orchestration at its finest. Do yourself a favor: Buy this CD and the one that followed it, as well as the Mr. Lucky CD.

George Spink
Tuxedo Junction
http://www.tuxjunction.net

I cannot say more than what other people have said here, I find that the album is an altogether superb endeavor that defenately sways from Mancini's later "Easy Listening" roots. The horns are gutsy, the flute is grounded and raw, and the arangements are envigorating. I do not have a great number of jazz albums, but I nursed myself on this album in its' original Vinyl format before the nice remaster was issued. I also really appreciate the last 4 or so tracks, which did not appear on the original. Great fidelity, a bunch of extras. This one one album I definitely do not want to be without.