I well remember watching the 1986 film Down and Out in Beverly Hills on HBO when I was about 14. Starring Nick Nolte, Richard Dreyfuss, and Bette Midler, and featuring a very memorable cameo by Little Richard, Down and Out in Beverly Hills was very entertaining for me. So fifteen years ago, when I found the soundtrack for the movie in a bargain bin at my favorite music store, I snatched it up quickly. Priced at $3.98, the soundtrack was practically a steal, and it remains one of the first CDs in my collection. However, knowing what's on this CD, I'm not surprised to find that I'm the first person to review the original soundtrack for Down and Out in Beverly Hills on Epinions.com.

The first thing to know about this soundtrack is that it consists of eleven tracks, six of which are instrumentals by none other than Andy Summers, former guitarist for the great 1980s rock band, The Police. The remaining five tracks are songs you may or may not recognize, depending on your musical tastes. Little Richard contributes two songs and David Lee Roth and Randy Newman each contribute a song. The remaining track is performed by The Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitar. The soundtrack for Down and Out in Beverly Hills runs for just over 30 minutes. Liner notes for the CD are pretty much non-existent, consisting of just a track listing. It looks to me like MCA records released this CD as an afterthought, strictly for music nerds. They obviously didn't put much money into the production or promotion of this disc.

In any case, the eleven tracks on the original soundtrack for Down and Out in Beverly Hills are as follows...

1. Great Gosh A'Mighty! (It's A Matter Of Time)- Performed by Little Richard, this song is a lot of fun to listen to, especially in the morning. I remember the scene from the movie when this song was played. Little Richard was playing his piano at a party held by Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler's characters and the whole crowd basically went berserk. Little Richard throws in a bunch of his trademark "wooo's", coupled with his high energy rock n' roll piano, this song is great for exercise or dancing. I definitely count this very 80s song as one of my favorites on this CD.

2. California Girls- This is David Lee Roth's well-known cover of The Beach Boys' classic song, "California Girls". I think I got pretty sick of this song and its accompanying video back in the 80s, but it's kind of fun to listen to it again in 2006. David Lee Roth sings this song in the same key the Beach Boys did, but throws in his smart-alecky reading and a few "I dig them girls!" on the chorus. I would have liked to have heard David Lee Roth do something different with this song to make it more his, but what can I expect from a guy like David Lee Roth?

3. El Tecaliteco- This is a fun, festive sounding Mexican song performed by The Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitar. I had never heard this song before I became acquainted with the movie and soundtrack for Down and Out in Beverly Hills. I like this track fine, but I didn't buy the CD for it.

4. I Love L.A.- I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Randy Newman came out with this musical ode to the City of Angels before this soundtrack came out. I seem to remember hearing it used to promote the ABC network back in the 80s. This song starts off sounding kind of lounge lizardy, with a cheesy jazz sound. But then Randy Newman cranks up the juice, singing affectionately about Los Angeles and incorporating the memorable chant on the chorus "We love it!" Randy Newman has an instantly recognizable voice. I never liked him for his singing talent, but I recognize his abilities to write a witty, catchy song, and that's what he's done with "I Love L.A.".

5. Tutti Frutti- Little Richard is back with his classic hit, "Tutti Frutti". This song is memorable for me because I used it to do a jump rope routine for a final exam in my stage voice class in college. I picked it mostly because it's upbeat and fun and runs for about two and a half minutes, which was just the right amount of time for my disastrous routine. On this disc, it doesn't sound like anyone bothered to use a remastered version of this song. It sounds like it came right off an old record.

6. Down and Out in Beverly Hills Theme- This instrumental track marks the beginning of Andy Summers' contribution to this disc. If you've ever seen the movie, you'll instantly recognize this jazz inspired piece, which sounds kind of poignant, mysterious, and hopeless, yet surprisingly romantic and jaunty in some spots. This piece, with its prominent sax solo, reminds me an awful lot of Sting's first solo album The Dream of The Blue Turtles. Because of the scanty liner notes, I don't know this for sure, but I'd swear the sax player on this piece is Branford Marsalis. If it's not him, it sure sounds like him.

7. Search for Kerouac- This is a slower, more rhythmic guitar and synthesizer version of the "Down and Out in Beverly Hills Theme". The guitar playing on this track is a whole lot like Andy Summers' playing style with The Police. It continues with the hopeless, sad, mysterious theme.

8. Nouvelle Cuisine- I'm not that wild about this piece, which is very complex and rhythmic. It has a heavy percussive sound, blended with Summers on guitar and someone playing a very 80s sounding synthesizer. I appreciate the fact that this is a complex composition, but it just sounds a bit dated to me. Luckily, it only runs for a minute and a half.

9. Wave Hands Like Clouds- This track sounds very exotic and dreamy. It's very short, running at just over a minute. It sounds like Andy Summers and his group just played with the instruments until they came up with something that sounded cool.

10. The Mission Blues- This is an interesting track that immediately sounds like the blues, with some guy wailing a bit in the background. I'm guessing its Andy Summers playing guitar and doing a pretty mean job of sounding like a real bluesman.

11. Jerry's Suicide Attempt- It's fitting that this is the last track on this CD. It continues with the same melody as the "Down and Out in Beverly Hills Theme". This track just sounds more languid and sad than the other incarnations. While this soundtrack basically includes three versions of the same piece, it seems to me that Andy Summers really captured the perfect musical mood for Nick Nolte's character Jerry Baskin, the mysterious but strangely alluring filthy bum who infiltrated the filthy rich home of Richard Dreyfuss's very neurotic character.

The one track this soundtrack is missing is The Talking Heads' song "Once In A Lifetime", which appears at the very beginning of the movie. I happen to love that song, so it was pretty disappointing to me that it wasn't included here. I think it definitely would have made this soundtrack more worthy of my hard earned dollars, especially since it barely has 30 minutes of material on it. Still, I also happen to like Andy Summers' work on this soundtrack.

Despite the fact that I happen to like this CD, I don't think it will appeal to most people. It's very short and three of the eleven tracks are pretty much the same thing done in different ways. The songs at the beginning of the CD are fun to listen to, but I don't think they're worth more than a few bucks, especially since most of them can be found elsewhere. I wouldn't pay more than $5 for this CD. What's more, there are no interesting liner notes, trivia, lyrics, or other bells and whistles to make this disc more fun to own. All you get is the CD, which probably won't be enough for those who aren't fans of Andy Summers. On the other hand, if you like Andy Summers, you might want to look for this disc. Good luck finding it, since it appears to be out of print. I did see that some folks were trying to sell their used copies on Amazon.

So, although I like the original soundtrack for Down and Out in Beverly Hills, I'm not going to recommend it for the general population. I will, however, wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone who happens to love Andy Summers and doesn't mind repetitive musical themes making up the bulk of their purchase.

Recommended: No

Great Music to Play While: Waking up