Roy Budd: Get Carter

A classic movie needs a classic soundtrack, and composer and pianist Roy Budd delivered that with his music for Mike Hodges' iconic crime movie, Get Carter (1971). Without the opportunity of working with a grand orchestra, he made the most out of a low budget and tailored the sounds to the raw realism of the movie.

The ethos of Get Carter was based on minimalism and it's perhaps surprising how little incidental music there is in a movie that has been acclaimed for its soundtrack. But Budd understood that less can sometimes be more, and he created a powerful theme that became a motif and a psychological characterization of the main character, Jack Carter, and peppered the soundtrack with well-crafted pop songs and carefully constructed cues.

"Carter Takes the Train (Main Title)" has rightfully been canonized among the best movie themes ever made. The key to its brilliance lies in a combination of texture, ambience and catchiness. First of all, like the James Bond theme, it's simply a good melodic line that draws on the music of spy and crime movies, but Budd envisioned a surprising if sparse combination of bass, tablas and keys and used the strange sounds of the harpsichord in combination with electric piano.

Jeff Clyne starts out with a groovy bass ostinato and Chris Karan adds a propulsive lightness with the use of tablas, and then Budd enters with those characteristic harpsichord lines. Later an electric piano solo reveals his background as a jazz musician. The use of traffic sounds adds further ambience to the record and underlines the restless nature of the main character.

The theme can be found on a definitive version of Get Carter from Cherry Red Records that includes the original Japanese version of the soundtrack, a CD of Carter-related extras and not least a further bonus CD with a superb selection of Roy Budd movie music that underlines that the Carter theme was not a one hit wonder. The sumptuous 96-page booklet wraps it all up with loads of pictures, poster designs and information in well-written essays where every aspect of the movie is examined. It's a treatment worthy of a true classic.

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