Thanks a lot! Very nice article. They also link to this great little interview with Goldsmith that (at least) I hadn’t seen before: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02jn92b
His remarks about how the music just “lives” when he writes it and the emotional enhancement that a score should contribute to the film are great. It seems that in today’s film scoring this approach has almost disappeared. Often the music doesn’t seem to have any emotional relevance at all and simply replicates what’s on screen. Anyway, thanks again for posting the article :-)
Do the liner notes tell who the performer and arranger are for the two solo piano pieces?
Goldsmith actually had four pianists on Chinatown: Artie Kane, Ralph Grierson, Pearl Kaufman, and Lincoln Mayonaga but the liner notes don't identify which played what. If I'm willing to guess though I'd say Grierson was the pianist on the two standards tracks due to his expertise with the works of Joplin and Gershwin.
Is this still available for purchase anywhere? Intrada's site constantly lists it as "temporarily sold out" and I'm not sure if they ever intend to restock it.
Is this still available for purchase anywhere? Intrada's site constantly lists it as "temporarily sold out" and I'm not sure if they ever intend to restock it.
Is this still available for purchase anywhere? Intrada's site constantly lists it as "temporarily sold out" and I'm not sure if they ever intend to restock it.
I picked up the expanded version a few years back. I never liked the source music on the album. I have nothing against source music in principle, but in this case, I feel that it detracts from the experience rather than enhancing it.
I ended up taking the cues that did not make it to the album - five short cues, IIRC - and I combined them to create two longer tracks. I dropped these into the sequence, and I really love the album that I ended up producing.
I assure you my viewpoint is genuine, subjective (obviously), and not in any way intended to provoke--offensive is never given, only taken.
Having stated that, being an individual true to one's self is a most noble undertaking.
Don't get me wrong, I was certainly not attacking you or implying insincerity on your part. I find it refreshing to read intelligent deviations from conventional opinion, even when I don't agree with them.
Maybe this deserves a separate thread, but I’ll put it here. I hope it hasn’t been noted here before this post.
New book: THE BIG GOODBYE: CHINATOWN AND THE LAST YEARS OF HOLLYWOOD. By Sam Wasson
My local paper reviewed it today. Here are some quotations from this new book.
“With great style and lyricism, Sam Wasson’s nonfiction account of the making of the neo-noir classic “Chinatown” focuses on four of Tinsel-town’s denizens on the cusp of realizing their California dream when the Manson family unleashed its nightmare.”
“It’s impossible not to fall for this love letter to a love letter that pastes together the often sticky collage of how talent plus perseverance can equal a classic film”
“The four main antagonists are vividly portrayed: Evan, the schmoozer with taste; Towne the down-trodden writer; Nicolson the charmer leading a charmed life; and Polanski the auteur…. By comparison, short shrift is given to Faye Dunaway, brilliant as the femme fatale but high maintenance behind the cameras. “
“…Phillip Lambro, fired after preview audiences rejected his avant-garde score, leading to period-appropriate music from cinema stalwart Jerry Goldsmith.”
Maybe this deserves a separate thread, but I’ll put it here. I hope it hasn’t been noted here before this post.
New book: THE BIG GOODBYE: CHINATOWN AND THE LAST YEARS OF HOLLYWOOD. By Sam Wasson
“…Phillip Lambro, fired after preview audiences rejected his avant-garde score, leading to period-appropriate music from cinema stalwart Jerry Goldsmith.”
Luckily for us, Our Man Neil aka That Neil Guy has already started a thread on it.:
