BRUCE LANGHORNE: The Hired Hand score

Bruce Langhorne

The Hired Hand score

© 2004 Joseph Bruce Langhorne

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A unique, folkly but ethereal piece of Americana film scoring.

notes

The soundtracks by Greenwich Village scenester and session guitarist Langhorne (his oversize tamborine inspired Dylan to write "Mr Tamborine Man") was, at times, an unbearably lovely needlepoint of ever-so-gently pyschedelicised instrumental Americana. Hillbilly figures morph into modular ragas and echoes of gamelan ring hypnotically. Four stars.

Danny Eccleston. Mojo Magazine. 2004

Predating the high plains melancholy of Ry Cooder's Paris, Texas soundtrack by more than a decade, Bruce Langhorne's gorgeous, spectral soundtrack for Peter Fonda's cult 1971 western The Hired Hand was recorded in 1969. The likes of fiddle, dulcimer, banjo, guitar, piano, harmonica and drum, augmented by an ancient, tube-based Echoplex and the wooden mouthpiece of a recorder, create a haunting soundscape that may clock in at under 24 minutes, but lingers in the mind's ear long after the music's over. Astonishingly for such a seminal figure, it is also his first-ever solo release.

Tim Cumming. The Guardian 2004

reviews

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  • The Hired Hand
    author: Jonny White

    Excellent soundtrack from Bruce Langhorne (Played with Dylan on the "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid" OST).Twangy, eerie and beautiful. Brilliant (but short:23 mins.)

  • The Hired Hand
    author: Richard Broadbent

    Ahhhh, Brother Bru Bru, no one plays quite like he has! So many different instruments. Though I'm a big, big fan of Dylan, I think it's quite arguable that Bruce's guitar stylings made the Bringing it all Back Home album, and contributed greatly to Freewheelin', Highway 61 and others, as well as Dick and Mimi Farinas best recordings. What a treat to hear this music. Bruce is virtually the inventor of a whole class of guitar style, according to Steve Gillette, who has shared much of what Bruce taught him many years ago. This is a wonderful little cd. I'd been looking for anything else recorded by Bruce for quite a while. Lovely. My wife came in the door the first time I was playing it, and asked what is that wonderful music. Get it! And don't miss Bro Bru Bru's African Hot Sauce either! It's as great as his music. Wish I could buy that on CDBaby, too!

  • The soundtrack is awesome, i always wanted this soundtrack.
    author: suresh
  • Tranquility
    author: Tim - Roseville CA

    The sounds Bruce concocts along with the flowing-river rhythms he employs succeed in setting moods and sculpting imagery in a fashion that instrumental pieces rarely achieve. You can have it on in the background for guests and they don't notice until it ends and they say wistfully, "Wow, what was that? I didn't realize it was so powerful until it stopped playing." Quite a musical achievement!

  • Bruce........at last.........thank you!
    author: Rob Gregory, Shrewsbury

    The internet was just a nano-net when this music entered, and stayed, in my head. I trawled record shops and spoke on Record Collectors on Radio Shropshire to get listeners help. All similar replies, even as far away as Sweden - who Bruce was, what he did but music from The Hired Hand was not available! I even contemplated writing to "Bruce c/o PeterF at Hollywood USA"! I was ecstatic to learn it was available and promptly purchased it Jun 06. If you read this Bruce/Peter... Great film, stunningly brilliant dirge Bruce. Thank you!

  • Miraculous!
    author: Michael Whyte

    I was 13 when I first encountered Peter Fonda's film The Hired Hand in a nearly empty theatre in Rockford, Illinois. The film and its miraculous soundtrack disturbed me, haunted me, moved me and has been a influence on my life and work ever since. Allow me to now tell Bruce Langhorne how much this music means to me. This is one of the most austerely beautiful soundtracks I've ever heard: rustic, raw, elegiac and endlessly expressive. Finally available and a definite "must have."

  • Well it's about time
    author: Bruce Peterson

    When I first saw the movie, the haunting music had me hooked. I was so disappointed when I found out that Fonda hadn't planned to release the soundtrack. Then when I finally found out that Bruce had released the music on his own; I couldn't wait to send for it. The music on it's own is simply exquisite, but when combined with the beautiful imagery of the movie, the memory stays with you for over thirty years. What is more remarkable is that Langhorne played every instrument himself. To paraphrase Peter Fonda, he’s like having a 40-piece orchestra for the price of a solo. This is quite simply a beautiful piece of art.

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