Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email


2025 August 18 • Monday

The middle of August is about as summer as it gets. Watch out for sharks! Especially Morton Stevens's score for Great White (a.k.a. The Last Shark), the 870th Soundtrack of the Week!

I would see this movie. Apparently it's like Jaws but with a lot of wind surfing. It's so much like Jaws that there was legal action when it came out.

Stevens came up with a great main title theme in 3/4, using harpsichord and various percussion instruments along with frantic string parts, a sweeping and dramatic melody and driving rhythms.

The main title theme returns in a slightly more exotica mode for "Teen Folly No. 1", which switches to more dramatic horror sounds with blended strings adding power to the melody.

I guess somebody died, because "Chewed Up Surfboard" has that sad feel to it, with strings starting in a very high register before plummeting, joined by melancholy piano.

Low sounds (with sustain pedal piano used effectively) and some delicate swirling flute notes create a claustrophobic atmosphere for "Drivers Trapped" that soon gives way to what certainly sounds like shark danger.

And sure enough "Shark Attack" is next, with strings and percussion relentlessly pushing forward while horns create music for a hunt.

Then some long tones, a lovely piano part and a sensitive and beautiful part for the strings, referencing the main title theme, come together for a great cue called "Coma".

The underwater piano and flutes from "Divers Trapped" return for "Drivers Set Trap". They're similar but have different feels.

"Teen Folly No. 2" starts with a harp feature and then begins another swirling, driving piece with the strings in the forefront, using the harmonic structure of the main title.

Then the hunting horns, pounding percussion, swirling strings and frenetic flutes join forces for "The Final Shark Attack", an exciting action/horror cue that certainly sounds like a climax.

A sad and wistful version of the main title theme appears for the "Aftermath".

After the movie was banned from the United States, Stevens arranged his score for concert presentation, a three-movement piece called Tiburon.

That's included here at the end of the program and it's also excellent.