Buy it... if you seek a superior presentation of the parody Western The Flim-Flam Man in the brilliance of its original stereo mix (an absolute necessity for the character of its style).

Avoid it... if Jerry Goldsmith's smaller-scale and unique Americana style, especially concerning delicate themes for harmonica and woodwind, doesn't sustain your interest.

Goldsmith

The Flim-Flam Man/A Girl Named Sooner: (Jerry Goldsmith) Often lost among composer Jerry Goldsmith's grand, large-scale scores of the Silver Age were his variety of comedies, parody westerns, and smaller character drama scores like A Patch of Blue that rarely receive due attention in the era after the composer's death. Working tirelessly to bring these more obscure Goldsmith scores from the 60's and 70's to soundtrack album collectors has been Lukas Kendall's Film Score Monthly label, and at the time of the release of The Flim-Flam Man and A Girl Named Sooner, the label was steaming through many of the titles the composer's fans were most requesting. Both scores on this particular album feature a genuine Americana spirit unique to Goldsmith's career. As mentioned in the product's fine notation, Goldsmith had an Americana feel not inspired by the style of Aaron Copland or Elmer Bernstein, conjuring themes and rhythms that defined Goldsmith's own style of home grown American spirit. It wasn't uncommon for Goldsmith to use the harmonica during these years to promote that sound, and both these scores owe much of their own identities to that instrument. Irvin Kerschner's The Flim-Flam Man was a happy-go-lucky 1967 comedy about con artists at the top of their game, with a script that showed the development of an apprentice by the master. By the end of the film, after being chased by dumb police and bilking money from unsuspecting fools in business, the younger con artist proves his loyalty to the older one by sacrificing his freedom for George C. Scott (in the role of the master). The second film was a strict character drama made for television in 1975 and followed the relationship between a couple who adopts a young wild girl and deals with effects of her presence and absence. The first score obviously conveys volumes of Goldsmith's more wild and parody spirit while the second score is much more restrained, but both are saturated with the essence of Goldsmith's sound of Americana. Most of the people interested in this release will be attracted to The Flim-Flam Man and its undeniably funny character sound, though there is much merit to be heard in the more tender sounds of A Girl Named Sooner.

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One of the reasons why The Flim-Flam Man is the highlight of the album is because of its superior stereo mix. The content of the music itself has the rhythmic bounce of Take a Hard Ride, the harmonica movements of Magic, and the romantic interludes for woodwinds that would later define A Girl Named Sooner. The instrumentation of The Flim-Flam Man is its greatest asset, with the strings joined by oboe, French horn, and the eclectic collection of supporting 'personality' instruments: harmonica, banjo, piano, guitars, accordion, marimba, and wood percussion (among others). Contributing to the unique sound of The Flim-Flam Man is the fact that Goldsmith recorded the piano rhythms separately and then sped them up to give them a tack piano sound that is infectiously rambunctious in the comedy cues from "No Rest for the Wicked" to "The Getaway." The cue "Stolen Property" is especially addictive in its upbeat mock-Western rhythms, and the score's separate tape recordings are masterfully reassembled for this presentation, allowing a vibrant stereo mix that is quite splashy for a recording of that age. A smaller portion of the score had only been available on the Society for Preservation of Film Music's limited tribute CD to Goldsmith in 1993, and those excerpts did not contain some of the more difficult-to-edit assembling of chase cues. The late dramatic turns of the score produce a good transition to A Girl Named Sooner, which is considered a superior score by some because of its straight forward and more genuine dramatic approach. Led by Goldsmith's typically pretty harmonica, flute, and string lines, the later score is perhaps the easier listening experience on album. Its mono sound is free of hiss but quite shrill in parts, a result of the original recording quality that the label decided not to alter. Some listeners will find the more dull sound of the latter score to be difficult to appreciate after the masterful job that Intrada Record's Douglass Fake did with the assembling of the various elements for The Flim-Flam Man. This album was notable for its all-star cast of producers, and the results are very strong; fans of Goldsmith would be treated to similar results for Goldsmith's Take a Hard Ride in a subsequent FSM release, further reducing the value of the SPFM Tribute album.   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

The Flim-Flam Man: ****
A Girl Named Sooner: ***
Album: ****

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For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.26 (in 113 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.32 (in 133,462 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.