While on a break between
Revolver and
Sgt. Pepper's in late 1966, and with touring now out of the question and
John Lennon off making the film How I Won the War,
Paul McCartney tried his hand at a film score -- with a lot of help from
Beatles arranger/producer
George Martin. The rather pleasing result is one of the most elusive souvenirs of
the Beatles' high tide in the '60s, long out of print, and commanding sky-high prices on the collectors' circuit. Only 24 minutes in length, Family Way is a collection of film cues based on a single
McCartney tune, "Love in the Open Air," a plaintive melody reminiscent in some ways of "Here, There and Everywhere." (
McCartney has since said that
Johnny Mercer was planning to write lyrics for the song, but
McCartney passed on it because at the time; he had never heard of
Mercer.) The resourceful
Martin then subjects
McCartney's tune to variations and restatements in several kinds of orchestrations -- including, among other combinations, a proper British brass band;
Duane Eddy-style guitar with soul organ; a small group with chamber strings, flutes, and classical guitar; and pre-echoes of
Sgt. Pepper's-era trumpets. The whole project reflects
McCartney's melodic and harmonic bents, as well as
Martin's distinct orchestral personality -- along with some commercial touches that definitively date this score as a product of the '60s. It also should have pointed the way toward
McCartney's classical collaborations with
Martin, which might have produced some masterful work (
McCartney, though, chose to work with other, less-simpatico orchestrators way off in the future). A United Artists single issued under the name of
the George Martin Orchestra in 1967 offers a completely different, rock-edged treatment of "Love in the Open Air" -- even including some then-fashionable Tijuana Brass-style horns. This, too, will be difficult to locate. ~ Richard S. Ginell