The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Jerry Goldsmith's score to the unexpectedly sentimental Sam Peckinpah film The Ballad of Cable Hogue is an inspired and offbeat interpretation of traditional Western themes and motifs, effortlessly weaving familiar genre elements like banjo, harmonica, and guitar to create an impressively lyrical and textured evocation of life in pre-industrial America. By turns playful and melancholy, this brief score manages to evoke the vast emotional panorama of Peckinpah's underrated but deeply personal feature. Richard Gillis' folksy performance of the main title theme "Tomorrow Is the Song I Sing" and stars Jason Robards and Stella Stevens' rendition of "Butterfly Mornin's" further underscore the music's weathered, lived-in charms. Essential listening for Goldsmith aficionados. ~ Jason Ankeny