Music From M Squad / Music From Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer by Various Artists

These two albums, with hard-hitting '50s-style Jazz scores, are the soundtracks to two of the most successful TV detective shows of their day. On the "M Squad" album, the orchestra is conducted by Stanley Wilson; arrangements are by Benny Carter, John T. Williams, and Pete Carpenter; The "M Squad Theme" was composed by Count Basie; other tracks composed by Johnny Williams, Benny Carter, and Stanley Wilson. The music on the "Mike Hammer" album was composed by Dave Kahn and Melvyn Lenard, and includes musicians Ted Nash, Cappy Lewis, Frank Rosolino, Bud Shank and others.

2 LPs on 1 CD: THE MUSIC FROM M SQUAD (1959)/THE MUSIC FROM MICKEY SPILLANE'S MIKE HAMMER (1959).

THE MUSIC FROM M SQUAD arranged by Benny Carter, John T. Williams and Pete Carpenter. THE MUSIC FROM MICKEY SPILLANE'S MIKE HAMMER composed by Dave Kahn and Melvyn Lenard.

Originally released on RCA (2062) & RCA (2140). Includes liner notes by Lee Marvin and Mickey Spillane.

Arrangers: Pete Carpenter; Skip Martin ; Benny Carter .

This CD is a smart idea, combining two top-notch jazz soundtracks from television on one disc. The M Squad material, featuring the music of Count Basie, Benny Carter, and Johnny Williams (later better known as John Williams, the Jaws/Star Wars composer), holds up somewhat better than the Mike Hammer material, but all of it is among the best jazz soundtrack material written for television during the 1950s, in many ways several steps above and ahead of the famed Peter Gunn soundtrack, which was the big hit in the field. Collectables' disc is less expensive than either of the imported versions of the individual soundtrack CDs from RCA's European branch, and the sound is just as good. ~ Bruce Eder

Genre:

• CD Soundtrack

Labels:

• Collectables Records

Music Categories:

• CD Soundtracks

Product Groupings:

• Collectables Records - Audio CDs