Lakeshore Records will release the Stand Up Guys – Original Soundtrack on Tuesday, December 4, 2012. The soundtrack features two new original songs by Jon Bon Jovi ("Not Running Anymore" and "Old Habits Die Hard"), the first songs he has written and performed as a solo artist for a film since Young Guns II, which earned him the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and an Academy Award nomination and #1 single, with "Blaze of Glory," almost twenty-two years ago.
Also included on the soundtrack are classic and modern soul songs by Baby Huey, Gary Clark, Jr., Charles Bradley feat. Menahan Street Band, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Sam and Dave, and Muddy Waters. These tracks were hand selected, chosen because of their narrative relationship and the depth they add in understanding the motives and motivations of each character.
Stand Up Guys looks at the relationship between old friends, who just happen to be life-long criminals. "I was really just taken by the idea of the loyalty, the trust, the friendship, the brotherhood, of these two guys. These are underlying themes of a lot of my songs," said Jon Bon Jovi.
"The inspiration for writing the songs comes from the page," he continued. "I had to put myself into the characters' voice and utilize dialogue from the script to help tell these stories."
Val (Al Pacino) is released from prison after serving twenty-eight years for refusing to give up one of his close criminal associates. His best friend Doc (Christopher Walken) is there to pick him up, and the two soon re-team with another old pal, Hirsch (Alan Arkin). Their bond is as strong as ever, and the three reflect on freedom lost and gained, loyalties ebbed and flowed, and days of glory gone by. But one of the friends is keeping a dangerous secret—he's been put in an impossible quandary by a former mob boss, and his time to find an acceptable alternative is running out. As the sun rises on the guys' legendary reunion, their position becomes more and more desperate and they finally confront their past once and for all.
"Whenever you're writing a song like 'Not Running Anymore'," Jon Bon Jovi explained, "You have to identify and express the emotions the characters are experiencing." In this case Al Pacino's character, "Valentine has for twenty-eight years, not said a word. He is the quintessential stand up guy, didn't betray his friends. They went on and lived a life without him, but he was always not far away from their hearts. In turn, Chris Walken's character job is to end the life of his best friend and he too, has to come to terms with a lot of compromise and loss and Al goes into a confessional booth and he wants to be absolved of his sins or at least, he's seeking absolution."
"Having the opportunity to write for film again has been a great experience," Jon Bon Jovi added. "The minute I read the script I was excited to get started and it's been an honor to work with actors of this caliber."
A separate album of Lyle Workman's score for the film will also be released by Lakeshore Records on December 4 (see Stand Up Guys - Original Score for details).