THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,829) The British Lion Orchestra — “Big Bare Beat”
From the movie Girl on a Motorcycle starring Marianne Faithfull (see #111, 430) and Alain Delon, here is a “[b]ig beaty and grooving to the max – fab!!!!” (narinderdhanjal221, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yap7FwYnQX4) orchestral number written and arranged by Les Reed.
The soundtrack is “[p]ulsing with the spirit of the late ’60s[, ] blending lush orchestration with psychedelic grooves to mirror the film’s sensual, dreamlike journey, [a] bold fusion of pop, jazz, and cinematic flair, [that] remains a mesmerizing snapshot of an era defined by freedom and artistic experimentation.” (liner notes to the digital reissue of the Girl on a Motorcycle soundtrack, https://thebritishlionorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/the-girl-on-a-motorcycle-music-from-the-soundtrack-of-the-british-lion-film)
Richie Unterberger adds:
The late-’60s film starring Marianne Faithfull and Alain Delon has a cult reputation, if only because it’s one of Faithfull’s few film appearances (and has rarely been seen, especially in the U.S.). The soundtrack has enough of a groovy late-’60s period feel to merit a cult reputation of its own, with its bordering-on-bizarre mix of solid ’60s Hammond organ grooves, soothing quasi-classical interludes, lush ’60s Europop along the lines of the theme from A Man and a Woman, and brief flashes of psychedelia and avant-gardisms. . . . The recurring motifs are quite insinuating, and treated with a number of imaginative arrangements, making this a pretty interesting find for fans of ’60s Euro easy listening/pop hybrids . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/album/girl-on-a-motorcycle-mw0000056242
The liner notes to the reissue of the soundtrack have more to say:
Life, for a young girl longing at one time for security then the abandoned passion of maturity, is all these things and more – her motorcycle for The Girl on a Motorcycle. Rebecca (Marianne Faithfull) the food of her love is Daniel (Alain Delon), the security her husband Raymond (Roger Mutton), her passion and the link between the three-the motorcycle. To capture these turbulently youthful emotions in cinema form is an artistic achievement, but to amplify them and the action of a film-is aesthetically almost impossible. That brilliant young composer, Les Reed, has succeeded is evident not only to the filmgoer but also to the listener of this album. Using a wide range of orchestral and pop sounds, he follows the film situations with musical images complementing the many moods of Rebecca. In the context of the film the music is an integral part of the atmosphere, but taken as a separate entity re-creates the same moods of passion, exhilaration, despair and violence. . . . Tetragrammaton Records wasn’t built to play it safe. Launched in 1968 by Hollywood risk-takers Bruce Post Campbell, Roy Silver, and Bill Cosby—alongside industry veteran Artie Mogull—the label thrived on fearless creativity.
Finally, William:
The great Les Reed has a host of film scores under his belt and production tags . . . but my favorite will always be the shimmering, funky, kitschy soundtrack to the Alain Delon/Marianne Faithful celluloid turkey Girl On A Motorcycle. Composed and arranged by Reed it was conducted by Denis Comper and Peter Knight (the latter had previously conducted the classical music on The Moody Blues Days Of Future Passed LP). The soundtrack LP released on Polydor in the U.K. and was issued in the States on Bill Cosby’s fledgling Tetragrammaton label (which he ran with his manager Roy Silver). However the title theme was never issued as a 7″ in the U.K. (or anywhere else for that matter that I am aware of) but here in the U.S. it was released in December 1968 . . . . Curiously the main title theme was the flip side to the confusingly titled “Theme To Girl On A Motorcycle (Souvenirs Of Stefan)”. This track was later covered with lyrics by Dana Gillespie [see #11, 106] on her rare 1968 US only LP Foolish Seasons . . . and as a schlocky/dreadful 45 by French artist Mirelle Mathieu (which was incidentally produced by Les Reed).
As to Les Reed, All Music Guide tells us:
A pianist, conductor, arranger, musical director, and highly successful composer, particularly in the 60s and 70s. . . . [He received a] Royal College of Music scholarship and [performed his] National Service in the Royal East Kent Regiment. As well as learning clarinet, he also played piano in a mess dance band . . . . On demobilization in 1956, Reed became a freelance session player, then joined the John Barry Seven who, as well as playing in concerts and on records in their own right, backed other artists – notably those appearing on Jack Good’s Oh Boy! television series. Among them was Adam Faith [see #1,274], for whom Reed wrote a b-side. From this small beginning as a pop composer, Reed’s 60 or more major hits since have earned numerous gold discs, Ivor Novello awards and, in 1982, the British Academy Gold Badge Of Merit. In the mid-60s, it was unusual for a British singles chart not to list a Les Reed song (usually with collaborators like Gordon Mills, Geoff Stephens or Barry Mason). Among numerous Top 30 acts indebted to Reed as writer and arranger are the Applejacks [see #973, 1,569] (‘Tell Me When’), Tom Jones [see #330, 380, 1,691] (‘It’s Not Unusual’, ‘Delilah’), P.J. Proby [see #1,186], Mirielle Mathieu, Engelbert Humperdinck (‘The Last Waltz’), Des O’Connor (‘I Pretend’) and the Dave Clark Five [see #208, 320, 411-12, 565, 716] (Everybody Knows’, 1967). In 1969, towards the end of their regular partnership, Reed and Mason wrote ‘Love Is All’, a powerful ballad with which Malcolm Roberts triumphed at the San Remo Song Festival. Reed subsequently became one of the best-known faces at annual song festivals all over the world . . . . His work in the late 60s included two songs with Robin Conrad, ‘Don’t Bring Me Your Heartaches’, a hit for Paul And Barry Ryan [see #88, 264-66, 317, 671], and ‘Leave A Little Love’, which received a compelling treatment from Lulu [see #960]. Reed also collaborated with comedian Jackie Rae for ‘When There’s No You’, another of Humperdinck’s US hits, and ‘Please Don’t Go’, which provided veteran singer Donald Peers with his first chart entry. Both songs were adapted from classical pieces. Reed’s renewed working association with Geoff Stephens in the late 60s and early 70s resulted in ‘There’s A Kind Of Hush’ for Herman’s Hermits [see #300, 613, 639, 841], ‘Daughter Of Darkness’ for Tom Jones, and a Leeds United football song. . . . Reed and Stephens also won the Silver Prize at the 1973 Tokyo Music Festival for their composition ‘Sandy Sandy’ which was sung by Frankie Stephens. Four years later, Reed and Tony Macaulay won the International Song Contest at Mallorca with ‘You And I’. And in 1980, together with lyricist Roger Greenaway and singer Marilyn Miller, Reed carried off the Grand Prix Award in Seoul for ‘Everytime You Go’. Other artists who have recorded Reed’s songs over the years have included Elvis Presley [see #80, 879] (‘Girl Of Mine’), Shirley Bassey (‘Does Anybody Miss Me’) and Bing Crosby (‘That’s What Life Is All About’ . . .). Reed has also composed several film scores including Crossplot, Girl On A Motor Cycle, One More Time, My Mother’s Lovers, Bush Baby, and Creepshow 2, and has written for stage musicals such as The Magic Show, American Heroes and And Then I Wrote. . . . [H]e was estimated to have written more than 2,000 songs. . . . In 1998 Reed was awarded an OBE . . . . In 2004 his musical Beautiful And Damned opened in London. He co-wrote it with Roger Cook and was based on the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/les-reed-mn0000818640#biography
As to the movie, Macnemo writes:
Rebecca (Marianne Faithfull), a dissatisfied and restless young woman prone to talking to herself way too much leaves her boring, effete schoolteacher husband (“You never do what you want to do, only what you ought to do.”) and hits the road from France to Germany to be with her more virile Swiss lover Daniel (Alain Delon). If you dig cult cinema; the 60s when free love was happening, Baby; and an offbeat, erotic story told in a visually dazzling and kinetic fashion, then this . . . offers you a wild, sexy trip through her far-out mind that I think you’ll definitely dig! Hop on and go for a spin, Daddy!
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063013/reviews/?featured=rw0102332&ref_=tt_ururv_c_1
Moonspinner55’s opinion is less flattering:
Jack Cardiff co-wrote, directed and photographed this low-rent film about a girl (on a motorcycle!) rushing to see her former lover on a whim after being unhappily married to a milquetoast teacher for two months (Cardiff shows us a snippet of the teacher at work; he can’t control his pre-teen students and trembles when they get rowdy). Wretched script combines the usual rebel pretensions with the young woman’s wistful thoughts about Life, some of which are fairly funny (while passing a cemetery, she thinks, “Not everyone who is buried is dead!”). Padded with flashbacks and dream-sequences, which are also amusing, we do get to see Marianne Faithful nude, which seems to have been Cardiff’s Modus Operandi (so much for his classy reputation). The picture does have a moody, misty-morning feel which, despite being somewhat enervating, is certainly fascinating, but the slim budget and the lack of real imagination keeps this Girl grounded.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063013/reviews/?featured=rw0102332&ref_=tt_ururv_c_1
Here is a trailer:
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