9/30/55

We’re proud to announce our next limited-edition release, which is Leonard Rosenman’s dramatic score to 9/30/55.  The old MCA vinyl album has been out of print for over three decades and is making it’s CD debut today.  As many know, Rosenman scored two of actor James Dean’s biggest films, East Of Eden and Rebel Without A Cause both in 1955.  Though those two soundtracks have never been officially released, Rosenman used the themes he had created for East & Rebel, some 22 years earlier, as the basis for his score to 9/30/55.  Rosenman breathes new life into those classic themes with new orchestrations and the use of a few solo instruments like the harmonica, saxophone and banjo to reflect the southern location (Conway, Arkansas) of where the film takes place.
 
Beautifully directed by James Bridges (1936-1993), this intimate character drama starts with Jimmy J. (Richard Thomas) getting the news that his favorite actor, James Dean has died in a car crash.  Hysterical and moved to tears he calls his best friend Billie Jean Turner (Lisa Blount) to tell her the sad news.  Jimmy and Billie call upon a few of their friends (Tom Hulce, Dennis Quaid) to join them as they pay respect to the actor in their own way.  On that evening they try to conjure up the spirit of James Dean with a seance and what transcribes leaves Billie Jean with 3rd degree burns all over her body.  After a few weeks of soul searching Jimmy J. comes to the realization he must go on his own James Dean journey.  He needs to know the people who knew James Dean.  He needs to talk with them, learn as much as he can from them about his idol.  He must live where James Dean lived.  And so Jimmy’s now  “A New Rebel In Search For A Cause.”

1. Newscast, September 30, 1955 (:40)
2. Main Title – Theme From “9-30-55” ("East Of Eden") Narration by Richard Thomas (2:23)
3. On The Way To Criss Cross Meadow
    A. Stolen Liquor And State Police
    B. In The Jailhouse Now - Sung by Webb Piercer (Jimmie Rodgers)
    C. Prayer By The River (3:38)
4. Hasty Retreat From Criss Cross Meadow (2:12)
5. James Dean And Eden Revisited (9:43)
6. Theme From “9-30-55” ("East Of Eden") (3:21)
7. The Ghoulish Syndrome
    A. Assault On The Cemetery
    B. Making Believe - Sung by Kitty Wells (Jimmy Work)
    C. Tragedy Befalls Billie Jean (2:24)
8. Life Imitates Art
    A. Jimmy J. Visits Billie Jean / Narration by Richard Thomas
    B. Billie Jean’s Disenchantment
    C. Jimmy J. Smashes The Mirrors (9:21)
9. A New Rebel In Search Of A Cause (End Title: “Rebel Without A Cause”) (3:17)