Based on the memoir of Elliot Tiber, Taking Woodstock recounts the young Tiber’s unwitting involvement in aiding the setting up of the famous ‘Woodstock’ music festival which took place on a farm in White Lake, NY in the summer of 1969.

The film, a comedy drama, is probably a well earned departure for director Ang Lee, coming off the back of two intensely emotional – and indeed controversial – dramas in the shape of Brokeback Mountain and Lust, Caution.  It is the music of the former with which Taking Woodstock bares the most resemblance, though this is no Gustavo Santaolalla guitar score; instead it’s a Danny Elfman guitar score.  The composer last worked with Lee on the ill-fated Hulk, but this time turns away from the cookie-cutter ‘big movie’ sound he’s created and returned to over recent years  Instead Elfman reels it in for this comedy, opting for an ultimately chilled out vibe well suited to the flower power, peace and love message found within the Woodstock ideal.

Woodstock was of course a music festival and the soundtrack of the film is littered with songs from some of the late 1960s most iconic groups – such as The Doors, Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead.  With that side of things in mind, Elfman also gets the chance to crank things up a little and rock out. 

Returning to his roots somewhat, the composer applies some convincing riffs and cool guitar licks, which aid and abet Lee in recreating a sense of the period.  ‘Elliot’s Place’, ‘A Happening (Office #2) and ‘Chocolate Milk’ are fine examples, the latter one of the many short cues on this disc – in fact almost half of the cues here are well below or just a little over the one minute mark and the disc itself is fairly brief at thirty minutes or so.

With ‘Groovy Thing (Office #1) and the aforementioned ‘A Happening (Office #2) Elfman creates a pair of legitimate songs without words, with the former being a really lyrical creation that must have inspired lyrics at some point in the process.  ‘Groovy Thing (Guitar Solo)’ is a more laid back take on the ‘song’ and is itself another album highlight.  These standalone tracks – seemingly produced with the album in mind – are joined later by ‘Woodstock Wildtrack #1’ and ‘Woodstock Wildtrack #2’, which are some of the longest recordings contained on the disc and feel like something of a jam session for the musicians.  Same goes for ‘Happy Guitars’ and ‘Guitar Improv’, the former a wistfully optimistic little number and a further standout track for me.

It’s not all guitars and funky vibes though as the likes of ‘Taking Woodstock Titles’ includes a little more traditional fare in terms of orchestration, with the addition of woodwind and cello.  There’s a distinctly Yiddish air about the clarinet – which returns with fiddle in ‘Get The Money’ and again in ‘Life Goes On’ – and together they form a brief emotional centre to the score, linking into young Elliot’s personal struggles and his relationship with his family.  It is perhaps all too brief, but the young protagonist is otherwise supported well by the sunny acoustic guitar threads throughout.

In a film so full of songs it’s a wonder there was room for original score at all, and some might say a thirty minute album of it is a waste of time.  I don’t agree though as this disc contains some very listenable ideas from a composer who has been faintly off the mark for quite a while.  While it’s obviously not the big, brash and colourful sound many Elfman fans have grown accustomed to – and indeed cry out for – Taking Woodstock finds the composer at his chilled out best.  Peace and Love.