Music Composed by William Ross

1. Ten Years Later (2:22)
2. Losing Streak (0:45)
3. Riding To The Ranch (0:54)
4. Meeting Bird (1:46)
5. A Must-See Horse (1:18)
6. The Breeders Cup (2:06)
7. Game Plan (0:53)

8. Bird Plays (1:03)
9. Borderland Derby (2:05)
10. Welcome To Roswell (0:53)
11. Training Bird (2:39)
12. Arrival At Churchill Downs (2:53)
13. Calvin's Luck (1:04)
14. Side Entrance (1:18)

15. The Night Before (1:24)
16. The Kentucky Derby (3:25)
17. Prelude To The Race (1:20)
18. The Race & Epilogue (9:00)
Running Time: 37:29

Digital Album (MP3)
Includes Cover Art
+ Digital Booklet
$9

Digital Album (HD)
Uncompressed, 44.1Khz, 16 bit
Includes Cover Art + Digital Booklet
$13

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  The impossibly true story of racehorse Mine That Bird’s stunning comeback win at the 2009 Kentucky Derby, as told in Jim Wilson’s film 50 to 1, was a lavish opportunity for a film composer. “It needed those emotional moments where your heart gets ripped out,” says composer William Ross. “You have to help these people sink to their depths of despair. This horse is failing miserably for the first half of the race, and then you go from that to the horse winning and the payoff and all those good feelings. Music is perfect for that.”
  Ross contrasts the snobbish refinery of the Derby elite with the humble, earthy roots of Mine That Bird’s cowboy owners. “I used guitars a lot,” says Ross, “and other ‘greasy’ sounds to reflect where the characters came from. It’s out in the desert in New Mexico, and these guys hang out in bars and hold the dirt in their hands. We wanted to bring out the disconnect between who they were with their cowboy lifestyle, and the people they ran into at the Kentucky Derby.”
  The score begins in New Mexico (“Ten Years Later”) with sunny acoustic guitar arpeggios rambling under a bluesy harmonica, situating us in the rugged world of Chip Woolley and Mark Allen. From the rock-infused electric guitar wailings in “Riding to the Ranch,” to the upbeat slide guitar and fiddle duet that accompanies “Meeting Bird” and the Americana do-si-do as “Bird Plays,” Ross follows the central characters with this down-home flavor all the way to the big race.

  For “The Breeder’s Cup” and “The Kentucky Derby,” Ross wrote rousing marches to underscore the tradition of the races with noble French horn melodies over a cantering string ostinato. The epic “Final Race & Epilogue” tells the film’s central drama through music, beginning with the nervous heartbeat of Mine That Bird’s ten-length disadvantage, through the explosive charge that blasted the horse past the pack and won him roses. Ross commemorates the event with a rousing brass and string fanfare that swells with the kind of pride and ecstasy found only in sports.
  Ross combined the orchestra, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, with a variety of folk instruments recorded in his Santa Monica studio: steel, nylon and electric guitars, mandolins, banjos, dulcimers, fiddle, and harmonica. It is a unique blend of Western-Americana and symphonic music that charts new territory for the composer, while still calling on his knack for the big emotional moments.
  “I think what I connected to was the heart it takes to stay with something like that, and to deal with the disappointment,” Ross says. “Because that’s what they had—one disappointment after another. And then to see whatever it was in that horse that allowed it to do what it did is, as far as I’m concerned, mind-boggling. It’s really one of the most amazing come-from-behind things I’ve ever seen.”

Tim Greiving

"The original soundtrack for '50 to 1' encompasses all that I had imagined; capturing the sparse but beautiful New Mexico landscapes and the thrill of the Kentucky Derby. The actual recordings are second to none, the sound is flawless. William Ross once again has proven to be among the finest composers alive.”

~ Jim Wilson

Music Composed by William Ross

Additional Music by
Jerome Leroy
Orchestra Conducted by
Ben Foster
Recorded at
Abbey Road Studios, London
Recording Engineer
Peter Cobbin
Abbey Road Recordist
John Barrett
Scoring Stage Assistant
Matt Jones
Score Reader
Andy Forsberg
Orchestra Contractor
Isobel Griffiths
Music Preparation (London)
Dave Hage (Dakota Music Services)
Music Preparation (LA)
Jonathan Ong
Alexandre Lessertisseur
Score Mixed at
Momentum RLP Studios, Santa Monica
Score Coordinator
Alex Kovacs
Music Supervisor
Maureen Crowe
Score Produced by
William Ross & Jerome Leroy
Mastered by
Patricia Sullivan, Bernie Grundman Mastering,
Hollywood
Album Art Direction by
Javier Burgos

“It's hard for me to think of a more dramatic "come-from-behind" story than the triumph of Mine That Bird at the 2009 Kentucky Derby. When I first read the script, I thought it was fiction! It wasn't until Jim showed me the actual footage of the race that I could believe the improbable, heroic, and heartfelt achievement of Mine That Bird. If it's true that we tend to root for the underdog, then the story of Mine That Bird is one for the ages.”

~ William Ross

“50 to 1” tells the story of a misfit group of New Mexico cowboys who find themselves on the journey of a lifetime when their crooked-footed racehorse qualifies for the Kentucky Derby. Based on the inspiring true story of Mine That Bird, the cowboys face a series of mishaps on their way to Churchill Downs, becoming the ultimate underdogs in a final showdown with the world’s racing elite.

Produced and directed by Jim Wilson (Academy Award winner for “Dances with Wolves”), the movie stars Skeet Ulrich, Christian Kane, William Devane, Todd Lowe and Madelyn Deutch alongside Mine That Bird jockey Calvin Borel. The film was co-written by Wilson and Faith Conroy.

“50 to 1” had its world premiere in Albuquerque on March 19, 2014 and went nationwide on March 21. The DVD and VOD release is scheduled for April 28th, 2015.

www.50to1themovie.com

www.williamrossmusic.com

William Ross is a prolific award-winning composer and arranger whose work has spanned feature films, the recording industry and television. He has composed music for such films as The Tale of Despereaux, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Touchback, Ladder 49, Tuck Everlasting, and My Dog Skip. He also adapted and conducted the score to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

His work in television includes the scores to Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Away & Back, One Christmas Eve and In My Dreams, Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias, the critically acclaimed mini series Me and My Shadows, Life With Judy Garland, as well as the Emmy-winning music for the Tiny Toon Adventures’ episode “Fields of Honey.”

Mr. Ross has arranged music for a remarkable list of artists including Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble, Idina Menzel, Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, Kenny G., Sting, Seal, Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, David Foster, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston, to mention just a few. The records on which he has worked have sold over 250 million copies combined in the United States.

He has served as Music Director and Conductor for many artists and occasions, including Barbra Streisand’s historic 2006, 2007 and 2012 concert tours, and the 79th Academy Awards ceremony in 2007, for which he received his second Emmy Award. He reprised this role three times, for the 83rd, 85th, and 86th Academy Awards.

His arrangements have been featured in many films and include such hits as Andrea Bocelli’s “God Bless Us Everyone” from Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Celine Dion’s Grammy-winning “My Heart Will Go On,” from the motion picture Titanic; “Believe,” sung by Josh Groban in the film The Polar Express; “The Prayer” with Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion from Quest for Camelot, for which he received a Grammy nomination; and the Academy Award Nominated song “Run To You” sung by Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard.

Arrangements by Mr. Ross have been a part of the opening ceremonies of several Super Bowls along with the opening and/or closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Calgary (1988), Atlanta (1996), Salt Lake City (2002), Torino (2006), Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014). He was awarded an Emmy Award in 2009 for Outstanding Original Music for his work on the song “Hugh Jackman Opening Number,” featured during the 81st Academy Awards ceremony.

Mr. Ross is the recipient of four Emmy Awards, two BMI Film Music Awards and was nominated for an Annie Award and two Grammy Awards.

Acknowledgments

William Ross would like to thank Jim Wilson, Faith Conroy, Maureen Crowe, Maria Machado, the Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency, Ben Foster, Peter Cobbin, Colette Barber, the staff at Abbey Road Studios, Isobel Griffiths and her team, Kevin Leighton, Matt Ward, and Alex Kovacs.