Fifty years ago, the summer blockbuster was born, thanks to Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. The film became the year’s top-grossing box-office hit and went on to receive four Oscar nominations, including best picture. (Though Spielberg was not nominated for best director. The young prodigy was just 28 when the film was released. The voters probably thought he had time on his side – and they were right.)
The film made stars of its key cast members, Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw. The film also made a star of its composer, John Williams. The score brought Williams his first Grammy, Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards and his second Oscar.
The music also scored big on the Billboard charts. Known for its instantly recognizable two-note “Main Title (Theme From Jaws),” Williams’ score was first heard by audiences when the Universal Pictures film opened in theaters on June 20, 1975. The soundtrack was initially released on vinyl in 1975, followed by CD on April 21, 1992.
To mark the 50th anniversary, on June 20, UMe released a limited-edition “Blood in the Water” splatter vinyl of Jaws (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). This edition features a light-blue translucent color with a red splatter.
UMe will also release the “Shark-Infested” Water-Filled vinyl of the soundtrack on Oct. 20. This limited-edition run has real water sealed and pressed between two translucent vinyl discs, as well as new stereo mixes approved by Williams. This limited-edition release is specifically numbered with only 1975 copies to memorialize the film’s original release year.
Here are four ways the music from Jaws scored big.
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The soundtrack album and the title theme both climbed high on key Billboard charts.
The soundtrack album reached No. 30 on the Billboard 200. On the year-end chart recaps for 1975, it was No. 4 on a combined list of top soundtracks and original cast albums for the year, behind the film adaptation of The Who’s rock opera Tommy; Funny Lady, the sequel to Barbra Streisand’s debut film Funny Girl; and the original cast recording from the Broadway hit, The Wiz.
“Main Title (Theme From Jaws) reached No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was one of 11 instrumentals (some of which had vocal coloring) to make the top 40 on the Hot 100 that year, along with Silver Convention’s “Fly, Robin, Fly,” Average White Band’s “Pick Up The Pieces,” Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony’s “The Hustle,” B.T. Express’ “Express,” Mike Post’s “The Rockford Files,” Tony Camillo’s Bazuka’s “Dynomite – Part I,” The Ritchie Family’s “Brazil,” Billy Preston’s “Struttin’,” The Love Unlimited Orchestra’s “Satin Soul” and Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn.”
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In 1976, the score brought Williams his first Grammy, Golden Globe & BAFTA Awards.
He won the Grammy in the category of best original score written for a motion picture or a television special. It was the first of his 26 Grammy wins.
He won the Globe – his first of four – for best original score – motion picture.
He won the BAFTA Award in an unusual joint entry with his score for The Towering Inferno. It was his first of seven wins at that show.
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The score brought Williams his second Oscar; his first for an original score.
Williams had previously won an Oscar in 1972 for adapting the score to the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof, but this was his first for best original score. In accepting the award, he said, “Thank you. Dick Zanuck and David Brown, thank you both for giving me the opportunity to work with an extraordinary man, Steven Spielberg. The great Universal orchestra and my friend Herb Spencer, thank you. And all of the members of this Academy for giving me this honor, I’m a grateful man. Thank you very much.”
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The score ranked No. 6 on AFI’s 2005 list of greatest film scores & gave Williams a singular distinction.
The score ranked No. 6 on the AFI’s 2005 list of the 25 greatest film scores of all time. Williams’ score to Star Wars was No. 1, which made him the only composer with two scores in the top 10.
The other scores in the top 10, and their composers, were: No. 2, Gone With the Wind (Max Steiner); No. 3, Lawrence of Arabia (Maurice Jarre); No. 4, Psycho (Bernard Hermann); No. 5, The Godfather (Nino Rota); No. 7, Laura (David Raksin); No. 8, The Magnificent Seven (Elmer Bernstein); No. 9, Chinatown, Jerry Goldsmith; No. 10, High Noon (Dimitri Tiomkin).
