 |
|
| Goldsmith |
|
|
The Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute: (Compilation) Once
the most valuable album in the history of soundtracks, the
Jerry
Goldsmith SPFM Tribute CD holds a distinct place in the genre. While its
value has diminished since its peak in the mid-1990's, it still represents
the hysteria associated with extreme fandom and has demanded the kinds of
prices to prove it. In March of 1993, the Society for the Preservation of
Film Music gave copies of this compilation to attendees at its annual
tribute dinner. The album, honoring Jerry Goldsmith for his career
achievements, was originally reported to have been limited to 500 copies in
quantity. Those original 500 pressings were type-numbered, although
unnumbered copies beyond the first 500 were available for a donation price
to Society members after the dinner. Almost immediately, the
Jerry
Goldsmith SPFM Tribute became one of the first ever albums to ever be
bootlegged in the soundtrack genre, with tricky fakes beginning to circulate
around the secondary collector's market. While original copies of the real
album fetched many hundreds of dollars, the bootleg pressings also commanded
impressive prices. For those curious about the differences between the
products, there is a distinct way of knowing whether the album you hold is
genuine. First, a genuine
Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute CD will
include a small, rectangular white sticker over the hidden Fox logo in the
upper-right corner of the back insert. Whether you got one of the original
500 copies or one of the few that were sold following the festivities will
be determined by the existence of a number on that sticker. Secondly, the
genuine article will have a round, goldish/silverish foil sticker in the
upper right of the front cover. Since the album was mastered and assembled
by Intrada Records' Douglass Fake, a small number of the unnumbered
originals were made available to non-Society members (Intrada regular
buyers) in the days that followed the tribute dinner. The mastering of the
album, on that topic, is strong, although still somewhat muted compared to
the digital remastering technologies of a decade later. For serious
collectors, a transaction of the genuine album was only to be considered
complete if a copy of the dinner program book also accompanied the sale. A
dozen years later, however, the situation with the
Jerry Goldsmith SPFM
Tribute CD has completely changed.
The most notable aspect of the album that has diminished
since 2000 has been its value. The only reason for this devaluation has been
the subsequent release of three of the four scores represented on the album.
Each suite of four to seven tracks contained anywhere between 16 and 22
minutes of material from each entry, and with far more complete album
releases of
The Flim-Flam Man and
Take a Hard Ride by Film
Score Monthly and
Magic by Varèse Sarabande, the album is far
less appealing than it had once been. The only remaining unreleased score as
of 2005 is
Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, and this score has been
bootlegged with additional material on the secondary market. Thus, as the
market has matured, the
Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute CD is an honored
relic of a time past. As for the music, the two main attractions of the
album back in 1993 were
Take a Hard Ride and
Baby: Secret of the
Lost Legend. The first was a 1975 Western that features one of
Goldsmith's more lyrical themes and a creative use of percussion; it was
remastered with great result by FSM. On the other hand, 1984's
Baby:
Secret of the Lost Legend was part of Goldsmith's venture into the same
fantasy animal genre that would produce
Legend with many similar
characteristics two years later. By far the most orchestrally robust and
bombastic score of the four on this CD,
Baby: Secret of the Lost
Legend features a very simplistic octave-loyal theme that repeats often
(usually demanding a significant performance from trombones and tuba) and
builds into a relentless progression of action throughout its four tracks
here. Percussive rhythms are outstanding in "Rampage" and "The Rescue," both
exhibiting Goldsmith's harsher action tones with great vigor. Electronics
retain many characteristics from
Under Fire. Both
The Flim-Flam
Man (1967) and
Magic (1978) utilize a harmonica, but in very
different ways. The former retains an uncomplicated heart similar to that of
A Patch of Blue while
Magic skirts the horror genre with its
slightly deranged major and minor key love theme. Overall, the individual
treatment of the subsequently released scores reveals better sound quality
and presentation than what exists on this
Jerry Goldsmith SPFM
Tribute CD. While
Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend has always been
the most interesting score of the four, its sole possession of the title of
"unreleased" even today may not merit the kinds of residual prices that the
compilation could demand from Goldsmith completists. It's another one of
those formerly valuable albums that you remember fondly, for it had it's day
in the sun, but nobody in their right mind should pay significantly for it
today.
*****
| Bias Check: | For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.22 (in 111 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.36
(in 120,040 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes detailed liner notes by Douglass Fake about each of the four scores. The album was digitally mastered at Intrada Records.
