ASSAULT ON A QUEEN - Original Soundtrack by Duke Ellington

Dragon’s Domain Records presents the world premiere soundtrack release for ASSAULT ON A QUEEN, featuring music composed by the legendary Duke Ellington for the 1966 adventure/thriller directed by Jack Donohue, written by Jack Finney (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS), starring the great Frank Sinatra, Vina Lisi, Anthony Franciosa, Richard Conte, Alf Kjellin and Errol John.

ASSAULT ON A QUEEN was based on an unlikely story. Treasure hunters discover a sunken German U-Boat, repair it and then use it to rob the Queen Mary in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The story was based on a six-part series written by Jack Finney and original serialized in the Saturday Evening Post. Veteran producer Ray Stark bought the rights to the novel in 1960 but shelved it because he didn’t think an audience would buy into the premise. A year later, after a Portuguese cruiser liner was hijacked by terrorists, interest was renewed in the novel.  Producer William Goetz at Seven Arts Productions took the project to Paramount Pictures, who agreed to distribute the film. Goetz hired Rod Serling (THE TWILIGHT ZONE) to adapt the novel. Goetz was an old friend of Frank Sinatra’s and was able to convince the Chairman to star in and co-produce the film under Sinatra Enterprises, his own production company. Sinatra was at the height of his popularity in the mid 1960s and his involvement with the project immediately raised interest in ASSAULT ON A QUEEN.

Dragon’s Domain Records is excited to bring the premier release of ASSAULT ON A QUEEN to compact disc, featuring exclusive liner notes written by author Jon Burlingame. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland. This premier release of the music from ASSAULT ON A QUEEN satisfies a long-missing entry in Duke Ellington’s discography.

Note: The ASSAULT ON A QUEEN score masters sadly are lost to the ages. This release was rescued from the film's monaural music stem. Fluctuating volume levels have been smoothed out, but some hiss is audible, as are occasional low-level sound effects and dialogue bleed from the film's audio masters. All of these have been minimized, with light stereo ambiance added to improve listenability.

1. Prelude (2:12)
2. Mama Bahama (1:05)
3. She Walks Well (3:36)
4. Blessings on the Night
(“Blessings on Thee, Old Landlord”) (0:34)
5. “Can He Swim?”/The First Dive (3:25)
6. Rosa’s Theme (4:32)
7. The First Dive (Raising The Sub) (8:04)
8. Skeleton Crew (1:33)
9. Blessings Intro (2:02)
10. “Drink Up, Lincoln” (1:43)
11. Mama Bahama Islander (1:13)
12. Blessings on the Night (The Kiss) (2:41)
13. “Hatch Secured” (1:04)
14. The First Dive (Fifteen Degrees) (2:42)
15. The First Dive (The Tanker) (1:08)
16. “Gentlemen, the Queen” /
Explosive Situation (1:35)
17. The Big Heist (10:14)
18. Finale and She Walks Well (2:39)
19. Bonus Track: The Big Heist
(Album version) (5:49)
Total Time: 57:27
Music published by Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP)