Bob Dylan
Photo: Sony

Bob Dylan, the Police, Frank Sinatra and the Kinks are about to be made members of the family — the Soprano family, that is, as part of a soundtrack you won't soon fuhgeddabout.

The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs, slated for a May 8 release, collects two CDs worth of the music that plays such a crucial rule in the acclaimed mob series. A seamless (and otherwise unreleased) mix of the Police's "Every Breath You Take" with Henry Mancini's "Theme From Peter Gunn," for example, underlined the tension in the current season's premiere episode, in which authorities were trying to bug mob boss Tony Soprano's basement. A few weeks later, the Kinks' "Living on a Thin Line" — a relatively obscure '80s album cut — served as both the opening and closing music for an episode centering on volatile mobster Ralphie Cifaretto and his troubled stripper girlfriend.

The soundtrack, which follows up another "Sopranos" disc released in 1999, also features a previously unreleased Bob Dylan cover of Dean Martin's 1958 hit "Return to Me," according to a Columbia Records spokesperson. Actor Dominic Chianese, who plays Corrado "Uncle Junior" Soprano on the show, performs the classic Italian love song "Core 'Ngrato," which means ungrateful heart. A reprise of A3's "Woke Up This Morning," which serves as the series' opening theme, is also included.

Dylan, R.L. Burnside, Elvis Costello and Van Morrison return from the first "Sopranos" soundtrack, which featured tracks by Bruce Springsteen ("State Trooper"), Cream ("I Feel Free"), Wyclef Jean ("Blood Is Thicker Than Water") and Little Steven Van Zandt, who plays made man Silvio Dante on the show.

The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs track listing, according to the album's publicist: Disc 1:

• The Police/Henry Mancini - "Every Breath You Take/Theme From Peter Gunn (Mr. Ruggerio's Remix)"
• Pigeonhed - "Battle Flag"
• The Campbell Brothers with Katie Jackson - "I've Got A Feeling"
• Kasey Chambers - "The Captain"
• R.L. Burnside - "Shuck Dub"
• The Lost Boys - "Affection"
• Otis Redding - "My Lover's Prayer"
• Madreblu - "Certamente"
• Nils Lofgren - "Black Books"
• Cake - "Frank Sinatra"
• Frank Sinatra - "Baubles, Bangles and Beads"
• The Rolling Stones - "Thru and Thru"

• Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "High Fidelity"
• The Kinks - "Living on a Thin Line"
• Vue - "Girl"
• Cecilia Bartoli - Vivaldi's "Sposa son disprezzata"
• Ben E. King - "I (Who Have Nothing)"
• Bob Dylan - "Return to Me"
• Keith Richards - "Make No Mistake"
• Jovanotti - "Piove"
• The Pretenders - "Space Invader"
• Tindersticks - "Tiny Tears"
• Van Morrison - "Gloria"
• Dominic Chianese - "Core 'Ngrato"
• Dialogue From "The Sopranos"
• A3 - "Woke Up This Morning"

• Bob Dylan
• The Rolling Stones
• Frank Sinatra
• A3
• Elvis Costello

July 7 [14:00 EDT] -- There's an inordinate number of rock bio flicks in the works.

Dreamworks declined to comment specifically on the status of the much-discussed Phil Spector movie now that the movie's co-producers, Cameron Crowe and Tom Cruise, have aligned themselves with that company, but it's assumed the movie is still being developed.

Spector, the famed producer of the 'wall of sound' of the sixties, is a story and a half given his well-documented oddities -- like forcing people to listen to his records at gunpoint.

Meanwhile Cruise's Oscar-winning acting partner in "Jerry MacGuire," Cuba Gooding Jr., is in talks to star as soul legend Otis Redding in a bio pic.

Also on the schedule are two dueling Janis Joplin films. One picture is done with the permission of the family and will feature Joplin's actual tracks, while the other is unauthorized and is restricted in it's musical contribution but has the opportunity to tell the story sans the family's whitewash. Expect Melissa Etheridge to star in the latter.

And just announced is a documentary about the late great Frank Zappa to be done with the cooperation of his family. And with the family including Moon-Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva Zappa, it¹s a good bet the truth will be told in this one.

• Otis Redding
• Phil Spector
• Frank Zappa