One From the Heart is the score to the most misunderstood of Francis Ford Coppola's films. Far ahead of its time in terms of technology, use of color, montage, and set design, its soundtrack is the only thing that grounds it to earth. Coppola's movie is a metaphorical retelling of the exploits of Zeus and Hera set in Las Vegas. According to Coppola's liner notes for the expanded, remastered CD issue of the soundtrack -- which also accompany the deluxe two-DVD edition --
Tom Waits' score was actually composed before filming started, and the director sculpted his narrative to fit. Coppola claims to have been taken with the male-female narrative implications of the track "I Don't Talk to Strangers," off
Tom Waits'
Foreign Affairs album. That cut was a duet with
Bette Midler.
Midler wasn't available for
One From the Heart, however, so
Waits chose
Crystal Gayle as his vocal foil. The result is one of the most beautifully wrought soundtrack collaborations in history. Along with producer
Bones Howe,
Waits and
Gayle cut their duets largely from the studio floor, live with the small combo-style studio band that included the saxophonist
Teddy Edwards, drummer
Shelly Manne, trumpeter
Jack Sheldon, pianist
Pete Jolly, and bassist
Greg Cohen, among others. The opening cut, a
Waits piano intro that flows into the duet "Once Upon a Town," is a study in contrasts: first there are the stark ivories and the tinkle of a coin falling upon a bar before
Waits' then-still-smoky baritone (now ravaged indescribably) entwines with
Gayle's clear, ringing, emotionally rich vocal, and then joined by
Bob Alcivar's string orchestrations before giving way to a jazzed-out down-tempo blues, where the pair sing in call-and-response counterpoint about the disappointments in life and love. These are echoed a couple of tracks later in another duet, "Picking Up After You," which is the ultimate starstruck breakup tune. And while there are only four duets on the entire set, they are startling in their ragged intimacy, contrasted with a stark yet elegant atmosphere and cool noir-esque irony.
Gayle's solo performances on the set, which include the mournfully gorgeous "Is There Any Way out of This Dream," with beautiful accompaniment in a tenor solo by
Edwards, and the shimmering melancholy of "Old Boyfriends," are among the finest in her long career. For his part,
Waits' "I Beg Your Pardon" and "You Can't Unring a Bell" fit deftly into his post-beat hipster canon, though they are offered with less droll irony and more emotionally honest flair here than they would have if they were on his own solo recordings. Likewise, the piano and vocal duet of "Take Me Home" offers
Waits' piano as a canny and intuitive counterpart to the deep sensuality of
Gayle's vocal. There are two bonus tracks included here, a solo piano/vocal tune called "Candy Apple Red" that accompanied a scene left on the cutting-room floor, and an orchestral ensemble medley of "Once Upon a Town" and "Empty Pockets." With wondrously remastered sound,
One From the Heart is a welcome addition to any soundtrack library to be sure, but also an essential one to the shelf of any
Waits or
Gayle fan. ~ Thom Jurek