Amazing! Peter is generously helping with a mega-Elmer Bernstein concert we are putting together and this interview gives great insights into their relationship. Nice touch adding Jerry's TCM MAGNIFICENT SEVEN comment at the end.
Glad you enjoyed it Henry -- I was hoping you would chime in about this interview based on our shared Bernstein love. I've very much missed you in this thread! (Have you just not had a lot of time to keep up with listening?)
And Graham, with this interview I was so hoping to introduce a lot of Goldsmith fans to some of the wonderful music by *both* Bernsteins, so you have no idea how happy it makes me that you too loved "Goodbye Loveless". Peter seemed genuinely surprised ("Really?") at my singling that cue out for praise! I'll have to tell him that it's not just me. I haven't seen Wild Wild West in almost two decades (so I was a young teen at the time), and I had no idea that Peter had written 30% of the score before this interview, since he only has two cues on the short half hour Varese album. I now really hope Varese considers doing a Deluxe Edition of this score some day (though I want a complete Rough Riders from Intrada even more, I must say).
None of the original recording has ever been released. I had no idea it even existed until Peter confirmed it in the interview. We used the live performance, which is thankfully still on YouTube for everyone to enjoy!
I still feel so lucky to have been there in person...
Yavar, in my review above, I posted the following.
Glad you played A River Runs Through It. I loved that theme when I heard it from the USC concert. That really is my last HOLY grail. Other rejected scores by Elmer have been released. I wish there was some way to get A River Runs Through It released. I’d like to hear Casey’s Shadow too. Who can we petition or write to begging for such releases?
Do you have any ideas how we can get these rejected scores or if they will ever be released?
Hey Joan! I was actually taking longer to write a reply to you, since you took the time to write such detailed feedback.
Yavar, you did a good job in this interview. Peter didn’t seem to remember a lot of things that you asked, which over time is normal, and you chimed right in with the next question. Nice job on smooth transitions when things could have been awkward.
Thanks so much; I'm impressed you picked up on that. In editing this time we did leave in a few more questions that didn't "go anywhere" than we usually do, but I didn't want people to think that I hadn't asked many of these obvious essential questions. We tried to find a middle ground and Jens did a great job of moving things along when they needed to.
I certainly enjoyed listening to Elmer and Peter’s music, and I learned a lot. I had no idea that Peter had worked so much with his dad and had composed a lot of music in scores like Wild Wild West. Nor did I know he’d orchestrated a lot of Elmer’s scores.
The degree of his orchestration work with Elmer was surprising to me too (I discovered a lot when I researched Peter's credits on IMDb, but then speaking with Peter it became evident that there was more than IMDb had noted). I was much more aware of Emilie's later involvement, in that area. Some things are fairly obvious on the albums themselves (Peter is outright *credited with two cues on the Wild Wild West score album), while sometimes it's very unclear who did what (Quartet's otherwise-wonderful Canadian Bacon album).
Sounds like it was more of a collaborative effort from both on Rough Riders. I thought Peter composed it all except the G theme.
I think you may be mixing this up in your memory with Wild Wild West, where Peter surprisingly turned out to have written almost a third of the score! In the interview Peter makes it clear that Elmer "composed one cue and half of a theme" on Rough Riders, which is actually less than I had previously thought (but now, re-listening to the G Troop theme, I think I can kinda tell where it switches over from Elmer to Peter with a bridge section). I wish I knew which cue in the score was 100% Elmer, but it sounds like most of even the G Troop cues were Peter using the theme his dad had sketched out ("Thanks Dad!")
I love that score. I hear a lot of Elmer’s western influences in Peter’s compositions in that score. I was sure that after that score, Peter would become a leading Hollywood composer. I think more producers should have hired him after that score. Yes, he is busy now conducting, but I feel Peter should have been assigned more major movies.
I completely agree with all of this and I love the score too. I absolutely think it should have led to more high profile assignments for Peter. I can hear some influence from his father but I think he also shows off his own voice in this excellent score, which is perhaps even more apparent if you listen to the whole thing which shows even more variety (less than half was released on the Intrada album, and it's also out of order).
Glad you played A River Runs Through It. I loved that theme when I heard it from the USC concert. That really is my last HOLY grail. Other rejected scores by Elmer have been released. I wish there was some way to get A River Runs Through It released. I’d like to hear Casey’s Shadow too. Who can we petition or write to begging for such releases?
I can't think of anything to do besides making posts (and maybe even starting new threads) on the boards asking for them from the usual suspects including Jose at Quartet, MV at LLL, and Roger and Doug at Intrada...if you ever talk to any of them or communicate via email, that might help too. Of course if there are rights issues at play none of this might make a difference but it doesn't hurt to try! Roger's been trying to do The Magnificent Mr. Blunden since at least 2013, and now six years later we see it's coming out from Intrada (maybe there's hope someday for Slipstream or Horner's Volunteers too, since he's been similarly trying on those for years): http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5839
I remember seeing Jerry Goldsmith on TCM, and he was introducing The Magnificent Seven. He called it the greatest western score.
I know; for Elmer's birthday or something recently I remembered about that and had Clark tweet out the interview bit from our Goldsmith Odyssey account (he handles 99% of our Twitter presence). And if you listen through Peter's final rock song at the end of the interview you'll see we included that bit with Jerry from said interview as well!
Thanks for doing this interview.
Thanks as always for listening, being so supportive, and writing such detailed feedback when you can. I look forward to every new post of yours (same goes for others who take the time to give feedback) in this thread so please keep them up!
Yavar, congratulations for yet another stunning interview !! What I like is that you always approach your guest prepared. I mean that your work is professional because you prepare yourself with information and not just make some random chat. If I may, I think it would be thrilling if you manage to interview Goldsmith's widow, Carol. Surely there's no other person on this planet who could say so many interesting things about Jerry.
Thanks batman&robin! I do the best job I can when I can fit it in...it may be a few months before another Interviews episode as we want to get back to the main show, too. But I've already got a half dozen or so in the planning stages, including one that I think will be a complete surprise to everyone. I haven't been able to get in touch with Carol yet, though I've spoken with several people who are acquainted with her.
Good job, Yavar! All of your podcast interviews are impressively detailed and really pull some good memories & stories out of the subjects.
Thanks Glenn! I try.
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I realized that I also forgot to reply to feedback folks left earlier about the Brian Tyler interview, so I'll do that now too (sorry, I just got back from a two week vacation to England when I was much less active online)...
This was pure joy to listen to. Tyler's love for Jerry and film music is obvious and genuine.
Thanks Graham -- I felt the same way! Brian had such fun energy and his love of Jerry is pure. (Hearing him rhapsodize about the Voyager and First Contact themes should disabuse anyone of the notion that he's not a "true" Goldsmith fan; he *really* is.)
Great interview! Brian Tyler is a real nice guy, having met and talked with him at several functions around town here. When the new version of THE MUMMY was released, he did a Q&A at Creature Features in Burbank and it was really enlightening on his process, especially how he rewrote multiple cues over a weekend to incorporate a new theme for the movie.
Interesting, Tom (and thanks)! Yeah, he seems like an insanely hard worker (some might say workaholic), much as Jerry was.
I have to say how much I've been enjoying the podcast. I've been listening to the episodes on my phone at work. Since I work in a warehouse packing boxes, listening to the podcast makes the day fly by (and I feel like I'm learning a lot). Keep up the great work!
Thanks Lattanzi. I don't remember seeing you post on the board before, so I really appreciate you de-lurking to chime in here! How far are you through listening on our little project? Do keep me updated on your progress and share any thoughts you feel inclined to, even on older episodes.
Wow Yavar, that was really kind of you to give me such detailed feedback. I did just go into the Elmer Bernstein Official Website and there was a way to make contact through e mail. So, I asked the website if it was possible to get a release in the future of A River Runs Through It. I'll try other sources also that you mentioned. Thanks again.
Wow Yavar, that was really kind of you to give me such detailed feedback. I did just go into the Elmer Bernstein Official Website and there was a way to make contact through e mail. So, I asked the website if it was possible to get a release in the future of A River Runs Through It. I'll try other sources also that you mentioned. Thanks again.
Oh it certainly doesn't hurt to get them onboard, I'm sure! And fingers crossed for Casey's Shadow too, even though I haven't heard a note of that one. It's Elmer; how could it be bad? (BTW guys, there were better cues we could have included from Leonard Part 6 than the silly main title which isn't really that representative of the score. But the other score highlights -- including a great action cue -- all had too much speaking or sound effects over them...)
Glad you enjoyed it Henry -- I was hoping you would chime in about this interview based on our shared Bernstein love. I've very much missed you in this thread! (Have you just not had a lot of time to keep up with listening?)
Yavar
Indeed the Elmer Bernstein concert and other projects have taken up much of my time (plus too much time with the negativity on FSM, Facebook, etc. can be detrimental to your health). But anytime I have a break I catch up on your excellent thread that is a shining example what the FSM board can be. Which is in-depth history of a major composer covering every nook and cranny of a life that was for sure an odyssey!
Indeed the Elmer Bernstein concert and other projects have taken up much of my time (plus too much time with the negativity on FSM, Facebook, etc. can be detrimental to your health).
I totally understand, there. I let myself get pulled into it too often. Of course, anyone who wants to not miss an episode doesn't have to just watch this thread; it's easy enough to subscribe to a podcast using Apple Podcasts or some other provider (you probably already know that, I'm just letting folks know they should subscribe!)
But anytime I have a break I catch up on your excellent thread that is a shining example what the FSM board can be. Which is in-depth history of a major composer covering every nook and cranny of a life that was for sure an odyssey!
Some of it we may be able to view in person some day at the UCLA archives or the like (I've found some stuff in their system I can't find elsewhere), but can't get a copy in order to share the music with listeners.
But we are doing our best and (Jens is) sparing no expense, to get every rare thing we can to share with you all and bring all we can find of Jerry's music out into the light.
Thanks Lattanzi. I don't remember seeing you post on the board before, so I really appreciate you de-lurking to chime in here! How far are you through listening on our little project? Do keep me updated on your progress and share any thoughts you feel inclined to, even on older episodes.
Thanks for responding Yavar. I'm somewhat new on the forum, though I have indeed lurked in the past few years. I just finished catching up on all the episodes today as a matter of fact! It's been making me want to go through my Jerry CDs and my appreciation has been enhanced quite a bit. Now I really want to hunt down a copy of that Studds Lonigan release! Hearing an in depth discussion about scores like that, even the really short stuff for TV is making me listen to his music differently, more closely. Can't wait to hear you discuss The Satan Bug and the Flint scores. I'm definitely taking copious mental notes for my own podcast I'm planning, on another great film composer.
The long wait is finally over, so get ready for more of the same!
Hey now; all of Jerry's Gunsmoke scores are actually quite different from each other (none moreso perhaps than these particular two...)
I'm super excited for folks to hear this conversation!
I meant it in the sense of "Get ready for more of the same reliably high-quality content that you are used to from your favorite podcast, The Goldsmith Odyssey."
I just didn't want it to have the connotation of "same old, same old" -- there is some fresh and wonderful music here ready for discovery, and in rare music-only form despite being commercially unreleased, thanks to generous collector Ron Burbella here on this very board:
This was a very long podcast, so it took several sittings to get through it all. (Kind of hoping that future ones will be shorter, but I suppose it depends upon the show or movie and how much music is composed.)
I like in Love Thy Neighbor how a theme was fleshed out by Yavar. I didn’t hear one at first, but various examples did reflect a theme. Also, I like how some of the cues seem to foreshadow later scores like Alien and Patton. The TV show itself sounded pretty tragic.
Old Faces had a nice positive opening and then shorter cues. I particularly like the various uses of the banjo.
I like that the three narrators brought in other Goldsmith pieces as well as other composers’ cues for comparison or illustration.
As always, all three narrators were very insightful into Goldsmith’s music and how the cues fit the context of the two westerns.
I've very much missed you in this thread! (Have you just not had a lot of time to keep up with listening?)
