The Stormy Man: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
For this next one we’re going way back to 1957 with the soundtrack to 嵐を呼ぶ男 (Kaze Wo Yobu Otoko) aka The Stormy Man. A movie filmed during the Shōwa era, directed by Umetsugu Inōue. One of my favourite eras in Japan and this movie might’ve been one my grandpa would’ve watched.
The plot revolves around a street jazz drummer hoping to propel himself into stardom and man there are some killer drum licks in this since they got legendary drummers Hideo Shiraki and Takeshi Inomata on this. Shiraki even appears in the movie for a drum solo battle with the lead actor, Yūjiro Ishihara.
This reissue is pressed by Super Fuji Discs, a sub-label of Disk Union with plenty of similar Shōwa era film scores pressed on 7-inch at 33rpm. I can imagine this was the format of choice then, similarly my grandpa had a collections of 45s.
The tracks were never named as they were likely only intended to be film music cues and not for a soundtrack release. This 2018 press is the only version of this score in existence so far (?). There is a 45 with the lead actor’s solo number in the movie, which isn’t included on this release however.
The tracks on side A consist mainly of 1960s swing, think Louis Armstrong and Glen Miller. “Track 1” starts off mysterious, moody, pretty much everything you’d imagine in a 1950s noir movie. “Sleepy” Matsumoto’s style of saxophone playing really befits his nickname, a sleepiness in the way he drags his notes with a tinge of Japanese-ness to it. His choice of using notes from the traditional scale comes off smooth and subtle, oddly gives off an Enka music vibe.
Side B though is where it’s at if you’re a beatmaker digging for samples. This is where the drum solos of Shiraki and Inomata take center stage. Pure 7-minutes of drummers trading lick after lick with unbridled intensity. Better plug that MPC in.
Takeshi Inomata is a name you’ll definitely be seeing pop up on this site as we go further having numbers of credits on different albums.
The Stormy Man 2018 reissue can still be found at Disk Union.
If anyone has this movie or knows where to get it, I’d love to check it out!
Credits
Film Director: 井上 梅次 (Umetsugu Inōue)
Music Composer (?): 大森盛太郎 (Ōmori Seitaro)
Musicians
白木秀雄 (Hideo Shiraki): drums
Shin Watanabe’s Six Joes
渡辺晋 (Shin Watanabe): bass
松本英彦 (Hidehiko “Sleepy” Matsumoto): tenor saxophone
安藤八郎 (Hachiro Ando): vibraphone
山崎唯 (Tadakazu Yamazaki): piano
松宮庄一郎 (Shōichiro Matsumiya): guitar
猪俣猛 (Takeshi Inomata): drums
