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You all know of my obsession with the works of composer Jerry Goldsmith. Well now I'm channelling that into a new podcast with my fellow obsessives Jens Dietrich and Clark Provence (aka Douglas). We're going through Goldsmith's entire film output (and a good deal of his TV output) in chronological order...The Goldsmith Odyssey! We will be thoughtfully discussing both films and scores in detail, but not getting too technical in our discussion of either.
Our official Episode 1 will be on Black Patch, but we decided to give some context by first producing an Episode 0 discussing a selection of his work in live television and radio...and if you aren't familiar with any of it you *need* to give it a listen. The Highwayman in particular is amazing, 10/10 Goldsmith. Here's our official page:
http://www.goldsmithodyssey.com
We plan to add a new episode every two weeks. We're constantly refining, so please give us some constructive feedback after you listen, and if you're so inclined, rate us on iTunes (preferably positively; if you have a negative review it'd be great if you just wrote in this thread or emailed us):
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-goldsmith-odyssey/id1354724049?mt=2
If you have any feedback at all (including negative) please reply here or email us at mail@goldsmithodyssey.com.
Enjoy!
Yavar
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Make sure you share this over in The Cult of Jerry on FB.
(I am currently on FB sabbatical so apologies if you've already done so)
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YAYYYY!
You have a letter I think you'll like in your email, Yavar.
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Congrats and looking forward to checking out.
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Epic! Very ambitious. Good luck on this. I look forward to hearing it all
However the suggestion he was the only chameleon composer in the beginning stretches things a bit. There are a number of composers that I could come up with quite a lot of themes that would elicit "He wrote that?" And there are quite a lot of Goldsmith themes where anyone here would shoot back "That is Goldsmith!"
For one, Morricone comes to mind. I'd like to point out also that one of the things that makes both Morricone and Goldsmith so elite is not just the fact that they really COULD be chameleon-like in their output, but that they were highly experimental. Granted, JG mostly early on, but Morricone has a long history of breaking and making trends in film music. Some of us might not have liked some of the experiments, however they were obviously necessary to keep pushing the envelope of what film music was. I mean, there had to be all that 60s experimentation to differentiate themselves from gods like Herrmann, Steiner, and Alfred Newman, etc.
JG could alternately buck and create trends, quite an accomplishment for any composer imo.
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This put me RIGHT to sleep, though I should admit that I started it at 12 midnight. Your voices were all so soothing - even yours, Jens. I actually lost track of who was who at a certain point. In fact, it was during that period of vocal deduction that I stumbled instead upon several hours of slumber.
I noticed Erik "complaining" about the sound quality on FB, but listening without headphones and just through the phone speakers was better than I thought it would be. I will listen properly and detail all of my grievances in the next few days.
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Congratulations, Yavar, this should be fun! It's funny, though, I had briefly considered this same idea last year when I was starting to prep and record my podcast, but I wound up changing to a broader focus.
That is funny! I've actually had this idea percolating in my head for years now (at least as long as I've been doing my series of Advance Liner Notes/Complete Score Breakdowns of unreleased Goldsmith). I've had multiple people tell me I really need to do a film music podcast and The Goldsmith Odyssey was one of several I conceived. (Another I hope to do some day is Overlooked and Underrated, focusing on great obscure classical and film music that deserves more attention.)
But then my old friend Jens got in touch with me because he and Clark were working on something they were calling The Goldsmith Canon at the time and they needed a third member. It's more fun having a discussion with others, and their interest helped spur me on, so here we are! It's really great because we each contribute different elements to the final product.
Make sure you share this over in The Cult of Jerry on FB.
We'll make sure to do so; I am a member and thanks for the reminder!
This put me RIGHT to sleep, though I should admit that I started it at 12 midnight. Your voices were all so soothing - even yours, Jens. I actually lost track of who was who at a certain point. In fact, it was during that period of vocal deduction that I stumbled instead upon several hours of slumber.
I noticed Erik "complaining" about the sound quality on FB, but listening without headphones and just through the phone speakers was better than I thought it would be. I will listen properly and detail all of my grievances in the next few days.
Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad we helped you get to sleep last night, and going forward I'm guessing you're saying we should liven things up a bit, be a bit more fun? I think later on in the podcast (you didn't get that far I suspect), we get a little sillier while discussing The Frontier Gentleman, but this was our very first go and so we may have started out a little serious.
Epic! Very ambitious. Good luck on this. I look forward to hearing it all
However the suggestion he was the only chameleon composer in the beginning stretches things a bit. There are a number of composers that I could come up with quite a lot of themes that would elicit "He wrote that?" And there are quite a lot of Goldsmith themes where anyone here would shoot back "That is Goldsmith!"
I don't know about quite "anyone here" being able to do that, but I did say something along those lines in the podcast I think...what's so great about Goldsmith to me is that he's got such a strong and recognizable style while at the same time being (arguably) the most versatile and varied film composer of all time. The breadth of his style is very wide indeed. Yes, Morricone gives him a run for his money, I grant you.
I don't think we meant to suggest that Jerry was the *only* chameleon composer, but we were just trying to articulate what made his music so particularly special to us.
P.S. to WA -- I just started a new job and I'm just starting my lunch break, but I'll try to check my email soon, thanks!
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Oddly enough, I was just thinking the other night, while listening to several Goldsmith albums during my route, that it was time for someone to do a detailed career overview for him... then I see your announcement about your podcast!
Will listen during tonight's drive - looking forward to your upcoming programs.
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It was great feedback and we appreciate it, Erik! We were listening to it uncompressed originally and we want it to sound as good as possible for everyone else.
Yavar
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Posted: |
Mar 2, 2018 - 2:29 PM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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Epic! Very ambitious. Good luck on this. I look forward to hearing it all
However the suggestion he was the only chameleon composer in the beginning stretches things a bit. There are a number of composers that I could come up with quite a lot of themes that would elicit "He wrote that?" And there are quite a lot of Goldsmith themes where anyone here would shoot back "That is Goldsmith!"
I don't know about quite "anyone here" being able to do that, but I did say something along those lines in the podcast I think...what's so great about Goldsmith to me is that he's got such a strong and recognizable style while at the same time being (arguably) the most versatile and varied film composer of all time. The breadth of his style is very wide indeed. Yes, Morricone gives him a run for his money, I grant you.
I don't think we meant to suggest that Jerry was the *only* chameleon composer, but we were just trying to articulate what made his music so particularly special to us.
Sorry, I guess I believe it was an explanation of why Goldsmith hardly ever cracks a top 5 composer list, that Jerry was so chameleon-like he did not have a recognizable style people could latch unto, unlike John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Elmer Bernstein or Bernard Herrmann. My alternate theory has a lot to do with Jerry’s passing so many years ago. Living composers like Williams and Morricone have an advantage and younger ones like Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman more so, being closer to the current generation. Williams is primarily identifiable when he is in a heroic mode, Ennio mostly with the primo westerns. Jerry’s famous stuff, STAR TREK, FIRST BLOOD, PATTON, AIR FORCE ONE stayed in a forceful mode. Cliches abound when it comes to popularity.
Actually the one that got me bristling was Elmer, who I believe was one of the first true chameleons. Probably because of his blacklisting, he experimented a lot when he was forced briefly to contend with ultra-low budgets like in ROBOT MONSTER. Then his breakthrough came simultaneously with both a jazz style he seemed to have invented MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM and a Wagnerian style he said he abandoned after DeMille died THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Throughout his career he was constantly surprising me when he would take another turn in the road. Just when I thought I got his jazz style down he would throw a New Orleans/symphonic score at me - WALK ON THE WILD SIDE. When I thought I knew what to expect from those Coplandesque/John Wayne scores he would take a project that would buck that trend – DRANGO, HUD, THE SCALPHUNTERS, THE REWARD, FROM NOON TILL THREE. Even his war films were far from cookie cutter (MEN IN WAR, THE GREAT ESCAPE, BRIDGE AT REMAGEN). Eventually he wrote my favorite Gospel (GOD’S LITTLE ACRE), psychedelic ( I LOVE YOU ALICE B TOKLAS), Vegas-style (THE SILENCERS), Rock-a-billy (BABY THE RAIN MUST FALL) and, of course, Mayan (KINGS OF THE SUN) film scores. When in the early days we used to play “Who wrote that?” I could throw fellow collectors off with items like WHERE’S JACK, THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT, THE CARETAKERS, DOCTOR’S WIVES, RAMPAGE, GOLD and later THE GRIFTERS.
Boy, Do I go off on tangents. Long live Goldsmith!
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I had a super fun time listening, this stuff I LOVE! Should be one on Alfred, though.
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