LaLa recently released all of the soundtracks used for the original "Lost In Space". They did a wonderful restoration job and were able to recompile tracks previously thought lost forever. Well and good. But old fans such as myself are sad that no one has ever interviewed John Williams about his work for Irwin Allen and how he came up with the wondrous themes for LIS (especially). As a little kid watching the episode "My Friend Mr. Nobody" I was moved to tears by the lovely score and just hearing the opening bars of the music in that episode can reduce me to tears 50 years later! I would give my arm and leg to hear the maestro discussing how he came up with those themes. Is there any chance that anyone in the industry can conduct an interview (perhaps for the Academy) and get it up on something like Youtube? I am scared that because he is getting on he will pass without really discussing any of this at all and that prospect saddens me immensely.
Your thoughts?
(P.S. I would have liked to have seen Stein and the other composers discussing their work for LIS as well but they seem to have all passed on now...sadly)
Is there someone here who works in the film music industry that can get this idea to Mr. Williams or at least interest one of the companies (LLL?) to conduct such an interview? I feel sure that John being the lovely gentleman that he is he would be happy to discuss this time in his working life.
I know JW has talked about LIS on video at one time or another. One thing I definitely remember is, he referred to "The Landing" (from "Island in the Sky") as "the rolling danger theme." I thought that was neat, to hear his own working name for a cue.
And I'm never shy about saying his four LIS scores are brilliant, immortal works.
I wonder what audio source was used. The easiest thing would be to take it from the box set CDs. It would be a major project to go back and create an analog-to-analog sound for vinyl purists.
I don't play LPs anymore, but I do kind of lust for the packaging. They clearly knew the packaging would be a major part of the experience when they created this album.
Oh, I agree, Stroppy! I would have loved to hear Williams talk in-depth about his work on LIS or the Irwin Allen collaborations.
But LOST IN SPACE is actually the one TV series of his that has been very well covered. What I would love even more is to hear him talk about his TV work in general, and especially series such as ALCOA PREMIERE THEATRE, KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATRE, CHECKMATE, WAGON TRAIN and so on. I wonder if Jon Burlingame ever made any attempt to interview him on this part of his career, like he did with Goldsmith and others.
There's at least of Wide Country (one of the Revue series he he provided the theme music for) on YouTube. Unfortunately for this thread the episode wasn't scored by him, and it doesn't have the complete end titles...
but here's the opening theme and closing music from the series.
There's at least of Wide Country (one of the Revue series he he provided the theme music for) on YouTube. Unfortunately for this thread the episode wasn't scored by him, and it doesn't have the complete end titles...
Oh, there is a LOT of Williams' TV stuff on Youtube. But there is -- to my knowledge -- no video interview of him talking in-depth about this part of his career. No written interviews either (beyond some general remarks about it being a 'training ground' and so on). Believe me, I've looked!
As for WIDE COUNTRY, Williams wrote no music for this show. The pilot was the episode "Second Chance" from ALCOA PREMIERE THEATRE, and so his music obviously appears there. The theme Williams wrote for this ALCOA episode became the theme for this shortlived series.
Thank you to all those who replied. There's been a suggestion that his work for LIS has been well covered but if that is the case I've yet to discover where such coverage is. I still think the whole gamut of his work for tv merits a complete and lengthy interview. For me personally I really would love to know how he came up with the themes for LIS and especially the "My Friend Mr. Nobody" episode. I saw this episode as a little kid when it first aired. At the time my life was worth precisely nothing and I was not having the best time of things but this music (and the show) sustained me...carried me until things improved and I was out of harm's way. I suppose I owe a great deal to John Williams and I will carry his music in my heart until the day I die.
Thank you to all those who replied. There's been a suggestion that his work for LIS has been well covered but if that is the case I've yet to discover where such coverage is.
I was talking about the relative exposure of his TV work. LOST IN SPACE is by far the best represented on disc, it's usually the one reference people make when they talk about JW's TV career and it's still his best known TV work (I don't count GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, because his involvement on the unaired pilot is marginalized information).
But yes -- like you, I'd love to learn more about his involvement, whether from himself or from those in the know (beyond what we can read in liner notes etc.).
For me personally I really would love to know how he came up with the themes for LIS and especially the "My Friend Mr. Nobody" episode. I saw this episode as a little kid when it first aired. At the time my life was worth precisely nothing and I was not having the best time of things but this music (and the show) sustained me...carried me until things improved and I was out of harm's way. I suppose I owe a great deal to John Williams and I will carry his music in my heart until the day I die.
I feel the same way. "Mr. Nobody" will always be with us.
For me personally I really would love to know how he came up with the themes for LIS and especially the "My Friend Mr. Nobody" episode. I saw this episode as a little kid when it first aired. At the time my life was worth precisely nothing and I was not having the best time of things but this music (and the show) sustained me...carried me until things improved and I was out of harm's way. I suppose I owe a great deal to John Williams and I will carry his music in my heart until the day I die.
I feel the same way. "Mr. Nobody" will always be with us. Thanks Zap.
Does anyone know if the scores exist? I would love to hear contemporary stereo recordings of this music. Has JW ever conducted any of this stuff in recent decades?
Does anyone know if the scores exist? I would love to hear contemporary stereo recordings of this music. Has JW ever conducted any of this stuff in recent decades?
All these scores were recorded at Fox under Lionel Newman's supervision and, as such, they would have been printed and published as a matter of course. I would think that if one applied to Fox then you could buy a facsimile copy of any of the scores. As to the maestro conducting any of these pieces at the studio...no, he didn't. That was all done by Lionel. I don't believe Williams has ever re-recorded any of his LIS tracks.
I know that people from LALA read submissions to this forum and I wish, with all my heart, that someone there would take the initiative and interview the maestro about his tv work before he leaves this mortal coil.
