Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003): The Lonely Shepherd by James Last & Gheorghe Zamfir

Source: Soundtrack: “The Lonely Shepherd“ Written by James Last Performed by Gheorghe Zamfir Director: Quentin Tarantino Stars: Uma Thurman, David Carradine and Daryl Hannah Awards: Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 12 wins & 42 nominations Genres: Action | Crime | Thriller Country: USA Release Date: 17 October 2003 Budget: $55,000,000 (estimated) Runtime: 111 min | Japan: 112 min Storyline The lead character, called ’The Bride,’ was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, lead by her lover ’Bill.’ Upon realizing she was pregnant with Bill’s child, ’The Bride’ decided to escape her life as a killer. She fled to Texas, met a young man, and on the day of their wedding was gunned down by an angry and jealous Bill (with the assistance of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad). Four years later, ’The Bride’ wakes from a coma, and discovers her baby is gone. She, then, decides to seek revenge upon the five people who destroyed her life and killed her baby. The saga of Kill Bill Volume I begins. Soundtrack The Lonely Shepherd“, recorded with the James Last Orchestra, is featured in Quentin Tarantino’s film Kill Bill Vol. 1. The melody “The lonely shepherd“ was written by James Last and first released on his album “Memories from Russia“, released 1977 (Polydor Germany 2371 856). The panflute was played by Gheorghe Zamfir, who had a contract with the Philips record company. An agreement was made that Philips could release “The lonely shepherd“ as a single (45 rpm) on the Philips label. James Last James Last (also known as “Hansi“, born Hans Last on 17 April 1929 in Bremen) is a German composer and big band leader. Last first released albums in the U.S. under the titles The American Patrol on Warner Brothers around 1964. He also released a series of 9 albums in a series called Classics Up To Date vols. 1--9 which served up arrangements of classical melodies with strings, rhythm and wordless chorus from the mid sixties through the early seventies. Last released an album, Non-Stop Dancing, in 1965, a recording of brief renditions of popular songs, all tied together by an insistent dance beat and crowd noises. It was a hit and helped make him a major European star. Over the next four decades, Last released over 190 records, including several more volumes of Non-Stop Dancing. On these records, he varies his formula by adding different songs from different countries and genres, as well as guest performers like Richard Clayderman and Astrud Gilberto. He also had his own successful television series in the 1970s with guests ABBA and Lynsey de Paul. Gheorghe Zamfir Gheorghe Zamfir (born April 6, 1941) is a Romanian pan flute musician. Zamfir is known for playing an expanded version of the traditional Romanian-style pan flute (nai) of 20 pipes to 22, 25, 28 and 30 pipes to increase its range, and obtaining as many as eight overtones (additionally to the fundamental tone) from each pipe by changing the embouchure. He is known as “The Master of the Pan Flute“. Zamfir came to the public eye when he was “discovered“ by Swiss ethnomusicologist Marcel Cellier who extensively researched Romanian folk music in the 1960s. Brought for the first time with his pan flute to western European countries in 1972 by the composer Vladimir Cosma as soloist in Cosma’s original music for the movie Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire and made a big success, since then, he has been used as soloist in movie soundtracks by composers Francis Lai, Ennio Morricone and many others. One of his most notable contributions was to the soundtrack for the classic Australian film Picnic at Hanging Rock. His first appearance in 1972 as soloist interpreter in a movie soundtrack was in Vladimir Cosma’s “Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire“ with a very famous and successful melody known all over the world. His music has also been heard on the soundtracks of many Hollywood movies. He was asked by Ennio Morricone to perform the pieces “Childhood Memories“ and “Cockeye’s Song“ for the soundtrack of Sergio Leone’s 1984 gangster film Once Upon A Time In America. His music is heard throughout the 1984 film The Karate Kid, and his piece “The Lonely Shepherd“, recorded with the James Last Orchestra, is featured in Quentin Tarantino’s film Kill Bill Vol. 1.