When you think of Henry Mancini, you inevitably think of either "Peter Gunn" or "Moon River." (Well, maybe "The Pink Panther"--but that became a cartoon show, so it doesn't count!) Breakfast at Tiffany's gave the world the latter tune, and that beautiful melody recurs throughout this soundtrack LP, which remained No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts for 12 weeks in 1961. (Music for Peter Gunn in 1959 was Mancini's only other No. 1 album.) The soundtrack doesn't include Andy Williams's hit single of "Moon River," but then neither did the film. It does, however, take you through the many moods of the film (and the exploits of Miss Holly Golightly), with an emphasis on Latin influences in the forms of "Latin Golightly" and "Moon River Cha Cha." Nevertheless, one common complaint has been that RCA could've remastered the music and added additional tracks to flesh out the CD. Maybe in the future... --Bill Holdship
