In 1957 a young Robert Altman (future director of Nashville, MASH, and The Player) co-directed a documentary about James Dean, with a soundtrack written by Leith Stevens (who also scored The Wild One, subject of a previous Night Lights program). The soundtrack was recorded by a group of West Coast jazz musicians led by trumpeter Chet Baker and alto saxophonist/flutist Bud Shank; we’ll hear selections from it, as well as dialogue clips from Altman’s film.
The website James Dean in Death offers all sorts of information about Dean’s final day (9/30/55); you can even take a virtual trip that parallels his movements that fateful morning and afternoon.
Music Heard On This Episode
Miss D.D.
Mary Lou Williams — Black Christ of the Andes (Smithsonian Folkways, 1964)
