Son of Dracula (1974 film)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Son of Dracula
Apple Films
Release date
19 April 1974 (U.S.)
Running time
90 mins
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Son of Dracula is a 1974 British

Apple Films
. It is also the title of a soundtrack released in conjunction with the film.

In the film,

Van Helsing to help him transform into an ordinary human
.

Plot

After the killing of his father (

), who agrees to enable the Count's transformation, much to the dismay of the residents of the Netherworld.

Despite the best efforts of a host of monsters, as well as one traitorous figure who is dealt with by the trusted Merlin, Van Helsing performs the operation and removes Downe's fangs. He then informs the Count that he can now live out his days in the sunlight, with Amber at his side.

Keith Moon of The Who and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin both appear in the film, alternating as the drummer in Count Downe's band.[1] Other band members include Klaus Voormann (another old friend of Starr), Peter Frampton, an uncredited Leon Russell, and the regular Rolling Stones horn section of Bobby Keys and Jim Price.

Cast

Production

Son of Dracula was made during a period when Starr, in between occasional single releases and session work, was concentrating on filmmaking and acting. Two films in which he had starred, 200 Motels and Blindman, had been released at the end of 1971, and before starting on this one, he had just finished work on his directorial debut, the T. Rex documentary Born to Boogie.

As well as producing Son of Dracula, Starr appears as

Maureen
brought him a copy, he did not even know that Son of Schmilsson had already used a similar theme.

Freddie Francis later said "at the end of the film I opted out. I said Ringo look, I'm ill at the moment, you better cut the film yourself. He had made it with a lot of his friends and that, the least said the better."[3]

Release

Filming was completed by November 1972, but Son of Dracula had to wait a year and a half for release. Soon after completion, Starr called in Graham Chapman, who was writing with Douglas Adams at the time and had been working on a proposed (but eventually unfilmed) television special for Ringo. Along with Chapman's other regular collaborator, Bernard McKenna, they were asked to write a whole new script to be dubbed over the film's lacklustre dialogue, and they recorded an alternative, Pythonesque soundtrack, but the whole idea was then shelved. Later, attempts were made to market the movie, but as Starr later said, ‘No one would take it.’

Showings over the years have been limited to

midnight movies and similar outlets. No official home video release has ever been made.[4]

Soundtrack album

Son of Dracula
RCA/Apple)
ProducerHarry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, Richard Perry
Harry Nilsson chronology
A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night
(1973)
Son of Dracula
(1974)
Pussy Cats
(1974)
Singles from Son of Dracula
  1. "Daybreak"
    Released: 25 March 1974 (U.S.); 7 June 1974 (U.K.)
Soundtrack
Review scores
SourceRating
The Essential Rock Discography
4/10[6]

The Son of Dracula album includes Nilsson songs that were showcased in the film, as well as some instrumental tracks composed by Paul Buckmaster and portions of dialogue used as bridging sequences. All the song tracks except one are from the previously released Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson albums.

The only new song, "Daybreak", was recorded in London sometime in September '72,[7] during a break in filming. Joining Nilsson and Starr on the sessions at Trident Studios were the likes of Voormann, Frampton, Keys and Price, once again, as well as George Harrison on cowbell.[8] Jim Price, along with pianist Gary Wright and orchestral arrangers Paul Buckmaster and Del Newman, also provided new, incidental music, some of which appeared in the film only. The U.S.

LP release of the soundtrack included a T-shirt iron-on advertising the film, and a companion songbook included a reproduction of the film poster. The single version of "Daybreak" edited out the words "it's pissing me off" (referring to daylight), repeating the lyric "it's making me cough" instead, and the fadeout is longer than on any LP or CD release of the song. The single peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100
but did not chart at all in the U.K. The album itself fared even worse, non-charting in Britain and climbing no higher than number 106 in America.

"Daybreak" was later covered by Nilsson friend and former Monkee Micky Dolenz. A version with completely new lyrics in German was sung as "Hamburg im Regen" by Mary Roos.

Album track listing

  1. "It Is He Who Will Be King" (Paul Buckmaster) – 3:07
  2. "Daybreak" (Nilsson) – 2:43
  3. "At My Front Door" (Ewart Abner, John Moore) – 2:40
  4. "Count Downe Meets Merlin and Amber" (Buckmaster) – 2:10
  5. "The Moonbeam Song" (Nilsson) – 3:20
  6. "Perhaps This Is All a Dream" (Buckmaster) – :47
  7. "Remember (Christmas)" (Nilsson) – 4:09
  8. "Intro; Without You" (Pete Ham, Tom Evans) – 3:47
  9. "The Count's Vulnerability" (Buckmaster) – 2:10
  10. "Down" (Nilsson) – 3:07
  11. "Frankenstein, Merlin and the Operation" (Taverner) – 3:20
  12. "Jump Into the Fire" (Nilsson) – 3:16
  13. "The Abdication of Count Downe" (Buckmaster) – 1:10
  14. "The End (Moonbeam)" (Nilsson) – 0:49

Personnel

  • Harry Nilsson : Vocals, piano, electric piano, mellotron
  • Jim Price : Organ, horns arrangements, trumpet, trombone
  • Gene Cipriano : Horns
  • Bobby Keys : Saxophone, tenor sax
  • Paul Buckmaster : Strings and horns arrangements and conducting
  • The Pop Arts String Quartet : Strings
  • Peter Frampton : Guitar, electric guitar
  • Chris Spedding : Guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki
  • John Uribe : Acoustic Guitar, Lead guitar
  • Klaus Voormann : Acoustic guitar, bass guitar
  • Herbie Flowers : Bass guitar
  • Jim Webb : Acoustic piano
  • Gary Wright : Piano
  • Nicky Hopkins : Piano
  • Ringo Starr : Drums
  • Jim Keltner : Drums
  • Jim Gordon : Drums, percussions
  • Ray Cooper : Percussions, congas
  • George Harrison : Cowbell

References

  1. ^ Badham, The Beatles Diary Volume 2, p. 80.
  2. ^ Keith Badham, The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001, Omnibus Press (London, 2002), p. 79.
  3. ^ "Interview with Freddie Francis". British Entertainment History Project. 1993–1994.
  4. ^ Giles, Jeff. "When Ringo Starr and Harry Nilsson Made a Movie, 'Son of Dracula'". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  5. ^ link
  6. .
  7. ^ Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik, All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975, Ballantine Books (New York, NY, 1976), p. 134.
  8. ^ Castleman & Podrazik, All Together Now, p. 216.

External links