Neil Young’s Dead Man Soundtrack Gets Official Reissue

Back in January of 2016, we published a post on the site titled 15 Record Store Releases That Should Exist, which included a number of out-of-print albums that I wanted to see finally get the vinyl reissue treatment, if not pressed to vinyl for the first time ever.  Since then, we’ve been fortunate enough to see some titles like Lucifer (Mort Garson) – Black Mass and both Invention and Of Snowdonia by Daedelus get checked off the list, as well as several other albums that we’d been waiting on by artists like Viktor Vaughn, Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Mkwaju Ensemble, and Haruomi Hosono.  With so many great reissues coming out at a quicker rate than ever, I’d like to believe that it’s only a matter of time before some of those hard-to-find rarities become accessible again, but it’s hard to know if/when that will be a reality and, with specific releases, it still feels as if that might never actually happen.  One album that made our list is the soundtrack to Dead Man, the 1995 Western starring Johnny Depp.  With music by Neil Young, it was first released by Vapor Records back in February of 1996, and has remained out-of-print ever since.  Although bootleg copies have appeared from time to time, there has never been another official pressing.  The good news is that, based on new information, that should all be set to change incredibly soon.

The story behind the soundtrack to Dead Man is that filmmaker, Jim Jarmusch simply provided Young with a fully edited copy of the film and Neil improvised the score to it live, as he watched it.  Here’s how the musical legend explained his process in a March 2004 interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air:

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“…when I did the score for “Dead Man,” I had the film projected on TV screens, and I had, like, about 20 TVs all around me, big ones, little ones, tiny little portables, and  wide screens and everything hanging from the ceiling in a big semicircle all the way around me. No, in full circle. And then I had my instruments inside the circle.

So the instruments were always close enough for me to go from one to another, and they were all set up and the levels were all set, and everything was recording. So the film started, and I started playing the instruments. So I watched the show–I watched the film go through, and I played all the way through live. I’d put my guitar down and walk over and play the piano in the bar when there’s a bar scene. I played the tack piano. Then when that scene was over, I’d walk over from the piano and go play the organ for another scene and then–a little pump organ I have, and then I’d pick up the electric guitar again and get all my distorted sounds out of that to go with the Indian drums and the things that were happening in the film. And basically, it was all a real-time experience. And so in that…“

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The result is a haunting, sonic masterpiece that not only reflects the tone of the film, but interacts with and informs it.  The music penetrates and engulfs, providing tension and immediacy, rumbling underneath the scenes like a dormant volcano preparing to erupt.  In speaking of Young‘s contribution, Jarmusch has stated, “What he brought to the film lifts it to another level, intertwining the soul of the story with Neil’s musically emotional reaction to it-the guy reached down into some deep place inside him to create such strong music for our film.”

The physical release featured dialogue interspersed periodically throughout the otherwise instrumental recording, but, surprisingly enough, one thing that was missing is the main theme of the film that plays during the beginning and ending credits — it was, however, released individually as a promotional single.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi-S9lrnLZ8

The inclusion of the main theme would definitely be a great addition, but I’ve seen very little, regarding specifics for the new reissue, other than a release date of March 8th.  The order page through Stranded Records does mention that the album with a double-LP and that it will feature liner notes by Jarmusch, but that’s about it.  As of now, there is no tracklist posted, but, to be fair, the original release didn’t have names for the tracks either; they were simply numbered.  We are seeing listings for other retailers pop up, which don’t even include a product image yet; so, it’s definitely early on, and we expect for more details to fill in over time.  A couple of things that I’d like to see carried forward from the original pressing are the printed inner sleeves and the weathered quality of the outer sleeve/packaging.  But, for most of us who have been waiting on this one, just seeing that it’s being repressed at all will probably be enough.

I, for one, have held an original in my hands, staring at the massive $200 price tag that it had slapped on it.  That’s the reason that I’ve never owned a copy.  As mentioned earlier there definitely have been low quality “unofficial releases” floating around for cheap, but the best way to tell the difference between those and the OG pressings is that the bootlegs don’t feature that weathered-style packaging, but rather come in a glossy jacket.  And while it’s great to know that, just because you’re seeing it for a reasonable price now, that won’t instantly be an indicator that it’s one of these knockoffs, it’s also a good idea to remember that, just because a new official pressing is on the way, that doesn’t mean that people aren’t still going to try and unload the bootleg stock that they already have on hand.  Taking this into account, our suggestion is to either buy yours in person, or order it through a reputable online outlet like Stranded, or Bullmoose, so you know what you’re getting.  And for those of you with local shops in your area, our number 1 recommendation is to support them by pre-ordering through a brick and mortar and/or have them hold you a copy.