Night of the Living Dead (1968)

When George A. Romero's zombie classic Night of the Living Dead was released in 1968, its straightforward documentary style and gruesome black-and-white imagery shocked audiences. It was perhaps the first time that such a fantastic concept was handled in such a realistic manner. It's a completely effective film that is a must-see for everyone, not just horror or genre fans.

Check out the theatrical trailer for Night of the Living Dead:



Shot on a shoe-string budget in Pittsburgh, PA, this production didn't have the luxury of hiring a composer to create a soundtrack. Instead they used library music. Library music generally consists of various soundtrack cues created by production houses to be used in movies, TV shows, commercials, whatever and pressed to vinyl. By purchasing the record itself, you are paying for the right to use any of the cues or background music in your production. Using pre-produced library music was a cost-effective way to add production value. These limited run library music LPs have become sought-after collectibles. There are several full-album music blogs online that offer rips of library music vinyl. They're well worth pursuing as the music is often quite eclectic, particularly as you enter the late-60s and early-70s.

The filmmakers for Night of the Living Dead went with cues from Capital Hi-Q 1950's Production Music Library. In 1982, Varèse Sarabande compiled the various cues used, added some dialogue bits and released it as an LP soundtrack. This has never seen an official CD release. I grabbed this excellent vinyl rip off Usenet years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of who did the rip (or they didn't say), but I did place the following info in the "Encoder" tag: Vinyl Rip - Sound Forge 5 w/Vinyl Restoration - Lame 3.88. The original poster went a little overboard encoding these single-channel mono MP3 files at 192kbps, but I appreciate the desire to keep the quality as high as possible.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)
1. Spencer Moore - Driveway to the Cemetary (Main Title) (2:18)
2. William Loose / Loose-Seeley - At the Gravesite / Flight / Refuge (3:42)
3. George Hormel - Farmhouse / First Approach (1:17)
4. Ib Glindemann - Ghoulash (JR's Demise) (3:29)
5. George Hormel / Loose-Seeley / Ib Glindemann - Boarding Up (2:59)
6. Phil Green / George Hormel - First Radio Report / Torch on the Porch (2:26)
7. George Hormel - Boarding Up 2 / Discovery: Gun 'n Ammo (2:07)
8. Spencer Moore - Cleaning House (1:35)
9. Ib Glindemann - First Advance (2:41)
10. George Hormel / Jack Meakin - Discovery of TV / Preparing to Escape / Tom and Judy (4:19)
11. George Hormel - Attempted Escape (1:30)
12. George Hormel / Karl Hardman - Truck on Fire / Ben Attacks Harry / Leg of Leg (3:39)
13. George Hormel - Beat 'Em or Burn 'Em / Final Advance (2:51)
14. Karl Hardman / Spencer Moore - Helen's Death / Dawn / Posse in the Fields / Ben Awakes (3:05)
15. Spencer Moore - OK Vince / Funeral Pyre (End Title) (1:08)

56.86MB RAR archive
MP3: Constant bitrate (192kbps)
Sound Forge 5 (Vinyl Restoration plug-in) w/LAME 3.88

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