Agatha

Ever start a new project, a new activity that you’re interested in, perhaps even passionate about, but have no idea where it’s going, and how, or if it will end? Yeah, well that’s what we’re doing here, right now. If you’ve ever done this, I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

See, I’m familiar with this arena, I’ve written so many songs this way, gone into so many recording sessions with a form, with a skeleton of what the music wanted to be, but was relying almost totally on the skill and musicianship of the players I’d hired. They always came out better than I imagined, partially because I wasn’t able, from time to time, to imagine the finished product. And, of course, because some of my musicians could see into the piece some of the places I didn’t ( or couldn’t ) see into.

And just in case you’re about to leave me here, the take away is this – as satisfying as it is to finish something totally by yourself, it most likely would have been better with the help of other good folk. Yes, we still need each other, now more than ever. TikTok and chatGPT are not going to fix any of our current problems.

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Agatha Christie

I saw a late-night movie on tv last week, Agatha. Dustin Hoffman, Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Dalton.So good. Cast in London in the ’20’s, it had everything I love about a good movie – period, location, great talent, production excellence… ahh, production excellence. That would include the camera work, the editing, the direction, and a good story line to begin with. Oh, and a great music score!

And see, that’s usually the thing that gets me… the music to the film. I never really liked “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” all that much, though I adore Audrey Hepburn and everything she’s ever done, Her Holly Golightly didn’t do a thing for me, though, and here’s why – I dated several “Holly Golightly’s” back in the day, and they always ended up flitting away, blown by momentary emotional and passionate breezes that only they could feel and respond to.

Okay, all that to explain that, for me, the music often enhances the entire feel of a movie, often right to the core. Henry Mancini’s score to Breakfast At Tiffany’s did that for me. I loved it, and still do. Another movie that the music simply killed me in, was the movie “The Sandpiper,” Liz Taylor and Richard Burton. Johnny Mandel did the music to that movie. Remember, “The Shadow Of Your Smile?” Yeah, that one.

Johnny Mandel

Another movie that bowled me over was “The Americanization Of Emily.” Again, music by Johnny Mandel. A few of the songs – Emily, Softly As I Leave You, Dear Heart. And again, deep in quality on all levels of the production. I was left with the understanding of how powerful we are, as a people, when those of us who take pride in the quality of our work, work together with a single purpose.

Which is one of the reasons the movie “Agatha” knocked me out. Mandel’s music was so right, so powerful, so in tune ( if you will ) that I was immediately and hopelessly pulled into the story and the wonderful production. And upon researching Agatha Christie’s biography the next day, I found that the movie stuck to and delivered accurately, a real event in her life. The only fictional addition that I could find was Dustin Hoffman’s part, as a newspaper columnist from New York. There was no mention of his part in her 11-day disappearance, but man was it a welcome and necessary part!

Does a movie ever leave you feeling things you seldom feel, thinking about things you seldom, if ever, think about? Does a movie ever change your perception of things, of life, of what is real, of what is important? That’s what this one has done to me.

I learned much about myself from Agatha… that I secretly long to have lived in the “20’s. ( that’s 1920”s, btw ) Actually I knew that already, as I would have loved to live in Paris during 1910-1920’s, that magical Impressionistic period for art of all kinds. And Agatha just reinforced that. I have learned to almost smell the quality that lifts off a really good movie, a movie that 100’s of people have working on, with great guidance, with excellence at every level. Just think, if those kind of brilliant people were our politicians…

And I learned something about scoring for film that I never knew in 40-some years… that once the period music has been established, one can score the incidental music ( background music to a scene ) in a more contemporary style… and it works! In Agatha, Johnny Mandel did that to perfection.

Here is the link to the theme song, “Close Enough for Love”
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAFRuaDJNdI

You know the dictionary’s definition of “wistful,” right? If you listen to this piece, you will discover music’s depth of the definition of wistful.

Close Enough For Love
Music By Johnny Mandel
Lyrics By Paul Williams
Vocal by Pattie Brooks

And here are the lyrics-

You and I, an unmatched pair
Took the time to touch, to share
Worlds apart the night we met
We braved the odds and won the bet
Not perfect yet
But close enough for love

How old-fashioned, pure romance
We shared a kiss, we shared the dance
We shared the body and bouquet
And we’ll taste the wine another day
When you and I
Are close enough for love

Not just lovers, more than friends
Who knows where one starts and one ends
Tracing lights through sleepless nights
That I’ll remember always, always

Long goodbyes and tearful looks
Hold up well in poems and in books
But you and I have life to hold
The greatest story never told
Not perfect yet
But close enough for love

That’s what we get when a great music writer meets a great lyricist. The real meaning of “wistful.” Ahh, that music… it’s powerful, isn’t it? A week later, that song still brings tears.

Remember where we started? With an idea, to tell you about my experience with a movie I saw several nights ago. We started, not knowing where we were really going, but simply let the story tell itself, showing us where to go next. Stories, music, art of any kind, even life, can work that way. And now you know.

Steve Hulse

And in case you’re interested –

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), was an English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers, particularly in the mystery genre.[1][2] A writer during the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction”, Christie has been called the “Queen of Crime”—a nickname now trademarked by her estate—or the “Queen of Mystery”

Agatha Christie, known as the queen of mystery, “was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. Following the breakdown of her marriage and the death of her mother in 1926, she made international headlines by going missing for eleven days.” Wikipedia