On the occasion of the broadcast of Michael Hirst’s new series on Billy The Kid, a look back at the musical ride of this well-known bandit from westerns.
[« SérieFonia : Season IV : Opening Credits » – Jerôme Marie]
[Extrait Sonore « Young Guns II »]
[« Blaze of Glory, Young Guns II – Billy Get Your Guns » – Jon Bon Jovi]
In 1990, Jon Bon Jovi signed the concept album Blaze of Glory, whose entirety of the songs were inspired by the film Young Guns II, with Emilio Estevez in the skin of the legendary Billy the Kid. It was fresh, it was fun. A real proposal that we will talk regarding in a few minutes. But if I wanted to go back to the musical ride of Henry McCarty, better known as Willam H. Bonney, outlaw shot dead in cold blood at only 21 years old by sheriff Pat Garrett while he was not even armed on July 14, 1881, it is above all because for a few weeks, on Epix, a new series is devoted to him…
[« Billy the Kid (2022) – Title » – Marc Korven]
After The Tudors and Vikings, the creator and screenwriter Michael Hirst therefore tackles the destiny of the Kid, from his youngest years until, we hope, the end of his too short life. Starring Tom Blyth, seen in The Gilded Age and Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, in the title role, the series is set to music by Mark Korven, who you may know from The Border, The Terror or The Lighthouse. Totally embracing both the tradition of the western and that of the biopic with an epic tendency, the composer imposes a paste at the crossroads between cultural references and modernity, which are done wonderfully with the approach certainly once once more romanticized but no less respectful of Michael Hirst. The proof…
[« Billy the Kid (2022) – The other Life » – Marc Korven]
During his lifetime, the legend of Billy the Kid spread like wildfire. His alleged 21 victims… The death of his mother when he was only 15… His first robberies and horse thefts. His repeated escapes… His providential encounter with John Henry Tunstall… His involvement in the Lincoln County War… His vengeful missions as Regulator… And, finally, his desperate flight to Fort Sumner, New Mexico… Everything has already been said, told, twisted or glorified regarding him. Yet he keeps coming back. Forever and ever. Cinema, television, books, comics, documentaries… Difficult to draw up a complete list of his “appearances”. Remember, he even met Lucky Luke!
[« Lucky Luke, Episode 13 – Extrait sonore »]
More seriously, his legend begins in the cinema in 1911, and through no less than two films! Billy the Kid by Laurence Trimble and The Adventures of Billy by DW Griffith. Funny detail: in both cases, it is played by women: Edith Storey and Edna Foster. Supposedly Billy was actually a girl disguised as a boy… It was Woke before its time… In 1930, on the other hand, he becomes a man once more in the person of John Mack Brown, under the direction of King Vidor. The film was remade in 1941 by David Miller, with Robert Taylor as Billy… The music was signed by David Snell. Unfortunately, I don’t have it. On the other hand, here is that of Victor Young for The Banished, directed by Howard Hughes in 1943…
[« The Outlaw – Main Title » – Victor Young]
Well, on this one, you shouldn’t have been looking for the absolute truth either… After many more attempts, all more or less identical, it was not until 1958 that Le Gaucher directed by Arthur Penn on music by Alexander Courage finally brings a little “gravitas” and authenticity to its story. In addition, Billy was played there by a very young Paul Newman… Which does not spoil anything. And since we are talking regarding a legend, transmitted generation following generation, Alexander Courage opted for an opening in the form of a stroll…
[« The Left Handed Gun – Ballad of the Left Handed Gun (Main Title) » – Alexander Courage]
Well, the thing is, in fact, we are still not very sure that Billy was really left-handed… But the film, quite beautiful, is adapted from a screenplay originally written 3 years earlier for television by Gore Vidal. Scenario which will be reused in 1989 for the (superb but very rare) TV movie by William Graham with none other than Val Kilmer in the skin of the Kid. On the music, we found the excellent Laurence Rosenthal. Yes, the same as on Clash of the Titans and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones…
[« Billy the Kid (1989) – Theme » – Laurence Rosenthal]
So… I rewind a bit and go back to 1973. Because it often happens that a legend inspires others. With Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, the historical legend inspired the cinematographic legend that is Sam Peckinpah, also director of The Wild Horde in 1969, who, in turn, inspired the musical legend that is Bob Dylan… Because yes, that’s where his famous song “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” comes from… In addition to composing the entire soundtrack of the film, the musician also appears on screen in the role of Alias… character that Billy crosses into the fourth episode of the 2022 TV series… And the legend of Billy according to “Bobby”, it went like this…
[« Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid – Main Title Theme » – Bob Dylan]
A few other examples before arriving at the essential of 1988… In the John Wayne genre, yeah because John Wayne is a genre all by itself, there was Chisum in 1970, where the cowboy-comedian embodied the Cattle farmer George Chisum while the Kid rather played supporting roles on a score by Dominic Frontiere…
[« Chisum – Suite » – Dominic Frontiere]
And I would be remiss if I did not mention this monument, this masterpiece, this quasi-documentary that is Billy the Kid versus Dracula, made by William Beaudine in 1966 and set to music by Raoul Kraushaar… Yes, I know, full of names that mean absolutely nothing to you…
[« Billy the Kid versus Dracula – End Credits » – Raoul Kraushaar]
As for the essential of 1988… That’s it!
[« Young Guns – The Campfire » – Anthony Marinelli & Brian Banks]
Young Guns, by Christopher Cain! With Emilio Estevez in the role of Billy but not only… Remember: Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jack Palance and Terence Stamp… A fucking cast for a fucking movie… A revival of the western style “brat pack” on the more than audacious themes of the duo Anthony Marinelli and Brian Banks. Come on, let’s reject a little…
[« Young Guns – Main Title » – Anthony Marinelli & Brian Banks]
And we don’t forget the sequel in 1990, perhaps even better than the first with, therefore, songs by Jon Bon Jovi…
[« Blaze of Glory, Young Guns II – Santa Fe » – Jon Bon Jovi]
And a masterful score by Alan Silvestri…
[« Young Guns II – Scars » – Alan Silvestri]
Ah, it feels good… I love these two films… It’s also thanks to them that my z’amis call me from Vivi ZeKid… In short, if you’ve never seen this, you know what You still have to do… Especially since a third opus, entitled Guns III, is supposed to arrive soon. In the meantime, it’s on the music of a documentary that I’m going to close this pastille… The one made in 2011 by John Maggio as part of the American Experience series. If you want to know everything regarding the real Billy, this is the doc to watch. It has also been broadcast several times on Arte. So I’m leaving you on the aptly named “shotgun and legend”, composed especially by Gary Lionelli and I’m leaving at a gallop towards the setting sun…
[« American Expérience, Billy the Kid – Shotgun and Legend » – Gary Lionelli]
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