Scott Bradley LP RaervinylR

staxwaxstaxwax 1,474 Posts
edited September 2013 in Strut Central
This is something Ive always wanted and wondered about and was suddenly reminded of when I saw this.



I've always loved his music and have wanted to own a record of it. Kind of like like gershwin meets stravinsky on a sugar high

Does anyone here know of or own any 'cartoon music' vinyl?
Scott Bradley Tom and Jerry in particular? Its not on discogs or anywhere if it exists at all.
So Im guessing its the raerness :balla:


fyi

Scott Bradley (November 26, 1891 - April 27, 1977) was an American composer, pianist and conductor.

Bradley is best remembered for scoring the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) theatrical cartoons, including those starring Tom and Jerry (Hanna-Barbera Years 1940-1958, 113 of 114 episodes), Droopy (all 24 episodes), Barney Bear (all 26 episodes), and many one-shot cartoons.

Bradley was a conservatory-trained english horn player as well as a composer and pianist. He studied under Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco for a time, and was also an admirer of Arnold Schoenberg. In 1934, Bradley began composing for Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising, who were hired to produce cartoon shorts for MGM. After MGM established its own cartoon studio in 1937, Bradley was hired permanently, and he remained with MGM until his retirement in 1957.

His early style incorporated fragments of popular and traditional melodies, as was common practice in scores for animation. However, by the late 1940s, Bradley's compositions and orchestrations had become more original and complex, occasionally utilizing the twelve-tone technique devised by Schoenberg who, along with B??la Bart??k, Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith, influenced Bradley's approach. "Scott writes the most blank-blank-blank difficult fiddle music in Hollywood", concertmaster Lou Raderman was quoted (complaining good-naturedly) in Sight & Sound magazine. "He is going to break my fingers."

Bradley expressed considerable pride in his "funny music" and believed scoring for animation offered far more possibilities to the serious composer than live-action films. About his score for MGM???s Puttin??? on the Dog, Bradley later wrote:

I hope Dr. Schoenberg will forgive me for using his system to produce funny music, but even the boys in the orchestra laughed when we were recording it.

His music was originally published with the signature "red cape songs". No scores are in print as of 2009.

Bradley retired in 1957 when MGM closed its cartoon department. He died on April 27, 1977 in Chatsworth, California.

  Comments


  • ppadilhappadilha 2,244 Posts
    I'm pretty sure there are Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies records from the 60s. Spike Jones did music for a few cartoons, all of his music is very cartoony.

    I've always wondered about the music in Thundercats.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I have a lot of Hanna Barbera records.
    They are short on music and long on dialog.
    I'll try to dig the box out and see if there are some Tom & Jerry.
    Top Cat is my favorite.

    There are Tom and Jerry records, check Collectors Frenzy or ebay to see some. Again, expect them to be long on dialog and short on music.

    Carl Stallings was doing the same thing at Warner Bros with Bugs Bunny and the gang.
    He got a lot of shine in the early 90s and there are 2 excellent CDs of his scores.

    I saw Eddie Harris play in the late 70s and he told us that he continued to do studio work, mostly cartoon music.
    He loved doing it because it was so difficult to play and really helped with the sight reading.

  • staxwaxstaxwax 1,474 Posts
    thanks for the info guys - id be interested to see what you have stashed. I have a few hanabarbera lps whuch i copped mostly for the covers. Ill follow up on those tips!

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I have way too much of this stuff.
    Nearly half of these are H-B stuff.
    I think the soundtracks are better heard/appreciated by watching the movies.
    I have more somewhere.

    The Cook Shack 025
    The Cook Shack 027
    The Cook Shack 028
    The Cook Shack 029

  • staxwaxstaxwax 1,474 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    I have way too much of this stuff.
    Nearly half of these are H-B stuff.
    I think the soundtracks are better heard/appreciated by watching the movies.
    I have more somewhere.

    The Cook Shack 025
    The Cook Shack 027
    The Cook Shack 028
    The Cook Shack 029

    love those covers - thanks for posting those. are any of those just music - without dialogue or fx?

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I have not listened to any in a long time, but they are all story time with the kiddies, and typically lack the humor and creativity of the cartoons. What I have always looked for, and most don't have, is the theme songs.

    Thanks for putting me up on Scott Bradley. I picked this up today which has one cut of Scott Bradley "music for animated films" excerpt.
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