Audio Watchdog By Douglas E. Winter
THE PRISONER This is Number 1
Inspired by Tim Lucas’ journey to Portmeiron in VW 142, then compelled by Patrick McGoohan’s final escape from the Village in January, I returned to THE PRISONER on DVD, revisiting all its won- ders (and warts) in a matter of days. This quirky countercultural allegory, one of my favorite televi- sion series, is insistently aural with soundscapes and sound effects essential to its unique blend of espionage and science fiction, paranoia and irony, black humor and grand gestures.
Although often credited to Ron Grainer—who composed the iconic title theme, but was fourth choice for that role—the music for THE PRIS- ONER is instead a mighty patchwork that owes much to music editor Eric Mivall (who replaced Bob Dearburg after three episodes), Albert Elms (who composed original cues used in 15 of the 17 episodes) and the Chappell Recorded Music Production Library.
To enjoy and appreciate the music of THE
PRISONER outside the confines of the individual episodes, listeners must pursue (hmm...) six discs. The starting point is THE PRISONER: ORIGI- NAL SOUNDTRACK, a three-disc collection of the original music recorded for the series (Netwerk 79589000, England, $59.98, three discs, 235 tracks, 218m). Remastered by Mivall from ses- sion tapes, the set presents the music in the
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order of recording (which was based, in turn, on the order of episode completion). The diversity and eclecticism of THE PRISONER’s music is not entirely the result of McGoohan’s iconoclasm and ambition or the jagged shooting schedule. The first disc, “Search for a Theme,” should probably be subtitled “Search for a Com- poser.” Ted Astley (DANGER MAN), the original musician of choice, opted to focus on THE SAINT— and fathering Pete Townshend’s future wife—with- out composing or recording a note. Robert Farnon (EXPRESSO BONGO) stepped in to score the pre- miere episode, “Arrival,” but he took McGoohan’s enthusiasm for Jerome Moross’ THE BIG COUN- TRY literally, delivering a derivative—and swiftly re- jected—theme (which Mivall’s liner notes describe correctly as “like listening to a toothache”). Only two weeks later, Wilfred Josephs (DIE! DIE! MY DARLING), recorded his own score for “Arrival,” but his main title—a jazzed-up echo of “I Spy”— also fell short (although it may be heard over the credits of the “alternate version” of “The Chimes of Big Ben”).
Not all was lost. Cues from the Farnon/ Josephs sessions feature as incidental music in “Arrival,” “Chimes of Big Ben” and “Queen’s Pawn” (retitled “Checkmate”). Most of those tracks, curiously enough, are adaptations and not original compositions—Farnon’s version of “Pop Goes the Weasel,” Josephs’ recording of Johann Strauss’ “Radetsky March” (a signature theme of the Village band), and both compos- ers’ takes on “What Do We Do with the Drunken Sailor?” and the nursery rhyme “Boys and Girls Come Out to Play.”
In March 1967, Ron Grainer, already engaged for ITC’s espionage series MAN IN A SUITCASE, entered Anvil Studios in Denham—later home to John Williams’ recordings for STAR WARS (1977) and Jerry Goldsmith’s recordings for ALIEN (1979). He offered McGoohan his com- position “The Age of Elegance.” Its demos, included here, are otherworldly chamber psychedelia, performed on harpsichord, lute and recorder—a sublime evocation of McGoohan’s vision, but too gentle for McGoohan’s ears. The star/executive producer urged Grainer to ramp up the tempo, the volume, the instrumentation. The disc features eight takes (false starts in- cluded) chronicling Grainer and his pop en- semble evolving the theme into its broadcast incarnation.
The title themes were Grainer’s sole contribu-
tion to THE PRISONER, save for previously recorded library tracks used in “Dance of the Dead.” Albert
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