Rare Gator Creek Vinyl LP from 1970

Rare Gator Creek Vinyl LP from 1970

I was very lucky to spot this album for sale within the UK this week, I’ve been after it for a very long time, but they’re usually tucked away deep within the United States rather than in Coulsdon in the London Borough of Croydon. The stars were perfectly aligned - not only was it the first pressing, but also the PRC Pressing (Philips Recording Company, Inc.) The LP of course is the self-titled album by Gator Creek - (in fact, it turned out to be their only album). The group had a pretty impressive line which included future High Plains Drifter composer Dee Barton, Gene Pello, Kathy Deasy, Kenny Loggins (yes, that’s Kenny Loggins of Footloose fame), Michael Omartian, Mike Deasy and Ray Neapolitan.

I suppose it’s fair to consider that Clint first got to know Barton from this project which may have led to him scoring High Plains Drifter.

Above Gator Creek - Dee Barton is far left.

I should at this point explain why this album is so significant. The album includes a great little track called Dirty Boogie, which may not mean a lot to some fans - while others will instantly recognise it as the main theme to Play Misty for Me. 

With all my years of collecting Eastwood and his movie music, there has never been anything officially released from Play Misty for Me - which is a great shame, the soundtrack is sprinkled with some classic cuts (inc all those performances from the Monterey Jazz Festival footage), Roberta’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Misty (of course) and Dee Barton provided a pretty cool and creepy score. So, landing the main theme from Misty isn’t a bad thing at all. 

Anyway, well worth looking out for, especially if you can avoid having a copy sent over from its native America. 

Cat details: Mercury – SR-61311,Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, PRC Pressing U.S.A. 1970. 

Credits: Arranged By – Dee Barton

Backing Vocals – Clydie King, Merry Clayton, Venetta Fields

Baritone Saxophone – Allan Beutler

Bass – Ray Neapolitan

Drums – Gene Pello, Nick Ceroli

Flute – Allan Beutler

Guitar – Kenny Loggins, Larry Knechtel, Louie Shelton, Mike Deasy

Keyboards – Dee Barton

Percussion – Kathy Deasy

Performer – Allan Beutler, Dee Barton, Gene Pello, Kathy Deasy, Kenny Loggins, Mike O'Martin*, Mike Deasy, Ray Neapolitan

Piano – John Banister, Mike "Smackwater" O'Martin*

Producer – Bob Todd, Dee Barton

Trumpet – Chuck Findley, Louie Gasca*

Vocals – Dee Barton, Kathy Deasy, Kenny Loggins, Mike Deasy

This Record was specially made to be played loud.

          

Rare finished concept artwork for the Quad cinema poster "Play Misty for Me" (1971)

Rare finished concept artwork for the Quad cinema poster "Play Misty for Me" (1971)

As comparison with the printed Quad shows, this was the finished concept that was commissioned for illustration for the UK Quad for the first release of the film. Artist John Stockle's composition features a photo-mechanical print showing a rough drawn image of Clint Eastwood's head with a dagger shaped aperture. In the aperture is the hand-painted design which was subsequently re-painted for the Quad but the image of Clint Eastwood was carried over onto the Quad without further alteration. The Donna Mills image appears more smiley and happier in the finished version. Hand annotations indicate Stockle wanted the Quad printed with a "pea green" background. There is an acetate overlay that largely mimics the finished Quad though cast/credits information was later added. John Stockle worked alongside the artist Vic Fair & the juxtaposition of imagery in this design was clearly influenced by Fair's fondness for this device (commercial artists frequently "borrowed" & adapted ideas from each other). 

Below: With the clear acetate overlay

The artist John Stockle was particularly known for his caricature illustrations (the kind used often for British comedies in the 1950’s-60’s) but he also did some posters for Hammer (Terror of The Tongs, The Revenge of Frankenstein, Camp on Blood Island) & others like Cockleshell Heroes, Obsession, Squirm and Virgin Soldiers. In the 80’s Stockle went through a period of “black” background compositions. Stockle (1928-2000) was a commercial and film poster artist, who worked in Wardour Street, London, from the 1950 to the 1980s. He worked with fellow poster artist Brian Bysouth (b.1936) and joined the notable and prolific commercial artist Eric Pulford (1915-2005) at the top London film publicity agency Downton Pulford.

Original Clint Eastwood movie poster artwork is rare. In 2017 Heritage Auctions sold Enzo Nistri finished art for the Italian poster for "High Plains Drifter" (1973) for £7,100. This lovely piece of original artwork is approx. 15"x 22" . It’s interesting also that the acetate overlay has a slightly different tagline – ‘and his Nightmare began!’ as opposed to the finished quad version, ‘and his Nightmare begins!’

Anyway, I’m very pleased and happy to own this rare and unique piece. 

Above: The production shot from which the main artwork was based, this would also be used later on The Eiger Sanction UK artwork

Above: The finished UK quad poster for Play Misty for Me

Below: The original art in a custom 'vintage Green' Gold edged frame

Cinema Retro’s latest issue featuring an extensive feature on The Eiger Sanction

Cinema Retro’s latest issue featuring an extensive feature on The Eiger Sanction

Well, at last I can announce this great piece of news. Cinema Retro’s latest edition has a great Film-in-Focus cover story (some 10 pages) on The Eiger Sanction. This excellently compiled piece is written by Simon Lewis. I was very proud to contribute many images to this piece, including the spectacular cover photo scanned from a photo I obtained from a Film Fair back in the early 80’s. 

The article is packed with information and is well worth ordering – or even better – sign up for a subscription. 

Also featured in this latest edition: Roger Moore’s Crossplot, Dave Worrall takes a look at Cliff Richard’s Sixties Musicals The Young Ones and Summer Holiday. Lee Pfeiffer pays tribute to Brigitte Bardot and Robert Duvall. We also take a look at Robert Mitchum’s The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, as well as all the latest Books, Blu-rays and DVD releases. Not to be missed. 

For ordering and subscribing please visit the Cinema Retro website HERE

Photo Opportunity #73: Dapper Days – Clint in Incident on the Road Back

Photo Opportunity #73: Dapper Days – Clint in Incident on the Road Back

For our May Photo Opportunity I thought we’d travel back to the Rawhide years and a rare chance to feature Clint as Rowdy – rarely seen out of his usual costume attire. Clint’s dress was rather dapper in the 1961 episode “Incident on the Road Back” (aired on February 24th). 

"Incident on the Road Back" was the sixteenth episode of the third season, and features the drovers Gil Favor and his crew as they gather for the next drive. The episode is regarded as something of a slow starter, which included a lengthy discussion about hangovers, followed by slapstick comedy and a prank by Gil Favor. However, the story picks up with Gil Favor's arrest for horse stealing, leading to a series of events involving the sheriff's wife and a mysterious plot involving the $50,000 he is carrying. The episode was directed by George Templeton. The Director went on to work on 33 episodes of Rawhide and work on the Elvis Presley western movie, Charro! (1969). 

The Outlaw Josey Wales Roy Anderson Artwork

The Outlaw Josey Wales Roy Anderson Artwork

Now here’s something you don’t see every day – so rare in fact – we didn’t even have it featured on the dedicated Outlaw Josey Wales page. Rather surprisingly this somewhat unique design is actually a British poster by Roy Anderson. In terms of size, it is effectively a Three-sheet measuring up at 40.75" X 61" and was commonly used and known in the UK as a ‘Bus Shelter’ poster. 

The design features a Three tone blend, which is rarely seen. I can’t say I’m particularly fond of this design, but I’d hardly worry abut it as I doubt very much I'd ever be owning one any time soon! There is currently one up for auction which is Linen backed and has an asking price of £1,036.23 or if you prefer, $1,400.00 – I wish you luck should you decide to go after this little collectable.

Why The Lack of Extras Really Gets My Back Up

Why The Lack of Extras Really Gets My Back Up

I suppose to regular readers here, some may know that I have a long and familiar gripe - which is that of extras and bonus material (or lack of) which is completely neglected and left abandoned from so many of Eastwood’s titles on DVD and Blu-ray. To be honest, we are lucky if we are blessed with a simple trailer. But what really bothers me is the lack of effort by labels such as Warner Brothers. More often than not, there are at least a couple of different trailers made to promote a film - if you go down the route of TV spots (ads which are designed in various lengths specific for TV) there are often something like 6 or more different versions. This is evident by some of the 16mm reels I have where the entire range is often featured on one reel.

A TV spot on a blu-ray is actually a complete rarity - they just don’t appear. The likelihood is, that the said studio probably hold these in their vaults - yet it seems like a complete lack of interest or a ‘can’t be bothered’ approach towards adding these little gems to where they rightfully belong - on the disc as extras! 

To illustrate this, I recently came across a seller in the United States who had a nice 35mm print of a Bronco Billy trailer. Now I know for a fact there is a rather lame trailer for the film on the DVD and the Blu-ray. It just isn’t very good, containing silly overdubs (anyone remember the kid in the bank robbery saying ‘wow’?), plus there are some silly cartoon noises added for effect - it just cheapens the whole film. 

Anyway, I was taking a closer look at some wonderful screen captures the seller had provided - and it soon became clear that this was an entirely different trailer. Looking at the reel it was also a fairly generous length. The most apparent of these shots appears to feature Sondra Locke in full character of Antoinette Lily, who is sitting in a crew chair (cigarette holder in hand) and addressing the camera! Behind her is Billy’s Red Convertible Coupe… All of which begs the question - where the hell is this content on the disc? 

Don’t get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Bronco Billy, I think it’s a sheer delight - however, the film also has a limited fan base - a great deal of Eastwood fans just can’t get into it, and in that sense, Bronco Billy really needs as many selling points as it can gather…. While other material is left to gather dust in the Warner Archives - it is not exactly tempting fans to commit to buying it. 

The result is, material such as this is simply going to be forgotten - unless of course you can project 35mm - and for me, that simply isn’t a viable option. There is so much material linked in to Bronco Billy - the whole promotion tour in France where Clint and Sondra both took part in various interviews. I seem to remember the UK program ‘Clapperboard' which had a  special feature at the Deauville Film Festival on September 11th, 1980. The couple were actually in Deauville to present Bronco Billy. So there is a great deal of material out there, if anyone can just be bothered to do some solid legwork… I have a feeling this will be an endless gripe, until something drastically changes - although I have a feeling that any generation who would be genuinely interested would also have moved on. 

Ah C'est la vie….

End of gripe.

Photo Opportunity #72: On the set of Breezy

Photo Opportunity #72: On the set of Breezy

For our April Photo Opportunity, I’m particularly pleased to bring us something new from Breezy (1973) – as it’s a film that we seldom look back upon. Breezy is a romantic drama directed by Clint, produced by Robert Daley, and written by Jo Heims. The film starred William Holden and Kay Lenz, with Roger C. Carmel, Marj Dusay, and Joan Hotchkis in supporting roles. It is the third film directed by Clint and the first without him starring in it.

William Holden was of course a Hollywood legend who was enjoying something of a comeback, the following year in 1974 he would go on to star in The Towering Inferno and several other movies including Network (1976) and Damien Omen II (1978). 

Kay Lenz however, began her career on TV before her first starring role as Breezy (or Edith Alice "Breezy" Breezerman) to attribute her full name. Lenz was the first wife of singer-actor David Cassidy. The couple were divorced on December 28th, 1983. Lenz has continued to work steadily in both film and television ever since Breezy. 

I am grateful to our long-time friend and former owner of The Clint Eastwood Appreciation Society (the fan club formed in the UK in the 1970’s) (and were most of us formed an allegiance), Dave Turner – who found this gem of a photo. Featuring Clint, Holden and Lenz – this superb photo on set is a new one to me. I am hoping the colour is genuine – one of my major grievances these days is the out-of-control use of Ai and the bastardising of original pieces. However, I have got to say if this is a tampered photo, it is remarkably good tampered photo. Unfortunately, in this day and age – the task of deciding what is real or what is fake, is becoming harder and harder to determine. Regardless of this, the photo is simply too good to ignore and it would be a genuine crime NOT to use it here. 

Distributed by Universal Pictures, Breezy was theatrically released in Los Angeles on November 16, 1973, and in New York City on November 18, 1973. The film earned 3 nominations at the 31st Golden Globe Awards, including Most Promising Newcomer – Female for Lenz. Despite this, the film was not a commercial success.