Continuing the Goldsmith Collection Expansion Chronicles with another set of odds and ends.

First up: Inchon, thanks to Intrada’s release last year. Honestly, I was expecting the sound to be a lot worse. Is it spectacular? Heck no, especially when you compare it to the vibrant recording The Challenge (another East/West musical fusion) had in the same release year. But the quality of the composition is still strong, with all those snarling horns and military marches proving engaging throughout, especially with the almost soaring orchestral flourishes in the final track. The love theme is pleasant even if it isn’t top-shelf Goldsmith, and one wishes the film had provided more opportunities to use it (the album suite of this being sequenced in the middle of the Disc 2 program is arguably a reason to prefer it to the complete program on Disc 3). And the percussion armada is striking.

It’s no Patton or The Sand Pebbles. But it compares favorably to In Harm’s Way, and given how sensational the tracks included on Tadlow’s Blue Max recording sound one has to wonder if a fully re-recorded version would impress more.

****

Next: Looney Tunes: Back in Action, thanks to the Deluxe release earlier this year. Yes, that’s right, I’d never heard this one, owing mainly to the short original album and me assuming “well, they’ll get around to expanding that soon enough, right?”

As someone who appreciates Goldsmith’s goofy side (‘Gremlins Credits’ from The New Batch may be my most-played track from the composer over the last few years), I found this to be a joy. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of his other classic parodies, but it’s still wildly creative and much more thematic than any score for a film like this has a right to be. ‘The Bad Guys / Hit Me / Car Trouble / Flying High’ is some of the most addictive music Jerry wrote late in his career and triggers nostalgia for the great Western themes he wrote in the 60s and 70s.

While it’s great to have nearly everything released, the “by committee” feel, including rearranged Stalling tracks and Stalling-like compositions by Cameron Patrick as well as classical music arranged by Mark McKenzie, does amplify the sense of musical schizophrenia. The climactic Debney material fits well enough with the rest of the music and even quotes some of Goldsmith’s themes (and his earlier Psycho-adjacent track is funny), but the sound overall is more akin to Debney’s other action/comedy stuff. But then perhaps expecting coherence in a score where the protagonist is Daffy Duck is to miss the point entirely.

****

Next: Studs Lonigan, thanks to someone getting me the 2002 Varèse album as a Christmas gift.

And, wow, what a total surprise this one, perhaps the best film score I’ve discovered on this Goldsmith journey, turned out to be. A main theme straight out of the “harmonica concerto” playbook Goldsmith used on The Twilight Zone, but one that’s also incredibly malleable (and would inform many of his Americana scores to come). A few rambling sequences (including the impressive ‘A Game of Pool’), some tortured moments, and a few woodwind statements all suggest a healthy influence of Alex North mannerisms. Plus, you get John Williams on piano!

****

Next: Stagecoach and The Loner, thanks to La-La Land miraculously finding some extra copies in their warehouse earlier this year. I already had the LP recording of the former put out by Intrada.

Stagecoach finds Goldsmith using an intimate ensemble to channel his playful Americana voice into a short, largely monothematic score, a template that Wild Rovers would follow to rowdier heights. If you like Goldsmith’s softer side then this will be a nice, low-key pastoral 20+ minutes. But it could also put some listeners to sleep, and I can’t help wondering what might’ve been if Goldsmith had been allowed to score the action sequences. The film recording pretty much covers the same ground as the LP recording, so if you already have the Intrada album this album is probably a “for completists only” purchase, unless you’re really into source music bonus tracks or Wayne Newton in which case it would obviously be a must-buy!

Even with television budgetary constraints likely precluding any strings for The Loner, Goldsmith gets a lot out of his small forces. The off-kilter rhythms, guitar interludes, funky bass, and lively brass statements make the more active moments clear cousins of Rio Conchos and 100 Rifles. Also, whip cracks! The 20 minutes on this album don’t provide anything we haven’t heard before (there are also similarities to his spy/cop music of the era), but it’s still a lot of playful fun to hear Goldsmith’s Western material in more embryonic form.

*** for both, with The Loner slightly preferred.

Next: Amazing Stories, thanks to Intrada including all 3 volumes as part of its Kickstarter prizes for funding the new Dial M for Murder recording. Goldsmith scored the Dante-directed Season 1 episode ‘Boo!’.

The tone, especially the use of shimmering electronics, is quite similar to the prior year’s Explorers and Legend, though the episode’s main theme somewhat suggests the next year’s Innerspace romance. Some occasional demented strings recall Gremlins, while a brief moment of tribal drumming foreshadows The ‘Burbs. There’s nothing new here (if I were in a worse mood, I might’ve called it “insubstantial fluff” or “spare parts”), but Goldsmith’s writing in this vein still has a certain unique charm.

Goldsmith episode rating ***. It was tempting to write a perspective on all the music akin to my prior write-ups for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Twilight Zone, but that would take too much time, plus Goldsmith’s contributions to Amazing Stories are proportionally smaller than his contributions to those 1960s shows.

Prior entries
- Volume 1: The Don is Dead
- Volume 2: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. series
- Volume 3: Hawkins on Murder / Winter Kill / Babe
- Volume 4: The Twilight Zone series
- Volume 5: Islands in the Stream film recording and The Last Castle expanded
- Volume 6: The Detective / Von Ryan’s Express, The Challenge, and Total Recall 30th Anniversary

So much good stuff has come out and I've been slacking on picking it up, mostly because of finances needed elsewhere at the moment. But a few of these I really want to add to my collection. I've been holding off on "Loony Tunes" for years, exactly because of the reasons you gave. And "Studs Lonnigan" sounds like such a treat. I really enjoyed the Goldsmith Odyssey Episode where they covered that in depth. Really made me wish I could find a copy for a reasonable price.

In any case, thanks so much for posting these, even if they make me wish I had some more lose cash to throw around to pick up all these Goldsmith titles.

> Continuing the Goldsmith Collection Expansion Chronicles with another set
> of odds and ends.

> First up: Inchon, thanks to Intrada’s release last year. Honestly,
> I was expecting the sound to be a lot worse. Is it spectacular? Heck no,
> especially when you compare it to the vibrant recording The
> Challenge (another East/West musical fusion) had in the same release
> year. But the quality of the composition is still strong, with all those
> snarling horns and military marches proving engaging throughout,
> especially with the almost soaring orchestral flourishes in the final
> track. The love theme is pleasant even if it isn’t top-shelf Goldsmith,
> and one wishes the film had provided more opportunities to use it (the
> album suite of this being sequenced in the middle of the Disc 2 program is
> arguably a reason to prefer it to the complete program on Disc 3). And the
> percussion armada is striking.

> It’s no Patton or The Sand Pebbles. But it compares
> favorably to In Harm’s Way, and given how sensational the tracks
> included on Tadlow’s Blue Max recording sound one has to wonder if
> a fully re-recorded version would impress more.

> ****

> Next: Looney Tunes: Back in Action, thanks to the Deluxe release
> earlier this year. Yes, that’s right, I’d never heard this one, owing
> mainly to the short original album and me assuming “well, they’ll get
> around to expanding that soon enough, right?”

> As someone who appreciates Goldsmith’s goofy side (‘Gremlins Credits’ from
> The New Batch may be my most-played track from the composer over
> the last few years), I found this to be a joy. It doesn’t quite reach the
> heights of his other classic parodies, but it’s still wildly creative and
> much more thematic than any score for a film like this has a right to be.
> ‘The Bad Guys / Hit Me / Car Trouble / Flying High’ is some of the most
> addictive music Jerry wrote late in his career and triggers nostalgia for
> the great Western themes he wrote in the 60s and 70s.

> While it’s great to have nearly everything released, the “by committee”
> feel, including rearranged Stalling tracks and Stalling-like compositions
> by Cameron Patrick as well as classical music arranged by Mark McKenzie,
> does amplify the sense of musical schizophrenia. The climactic Debney
> material fits well enough with the rest of the music and even quotes some
> of Goldsmith’s themes (and his earlier Psycho-adjacent track is funny),
> but the sound overall is more akin to Debney’s other action/comedy stuff.
> But then perhaps expecting coherence in a score where the protagonist is
> Daffy Duck is to miss the point entirely.

> ****

> Next: Studs Lonigan, thanks to someone getting me the 2002 Varèse
> album as a Christmas gift.

> And, wow, what a total surprise this one, perhaps the best film score I’ve
> discovered on this Goldsmith journey, turned out to be. A main theme
> straight out of the “harmonica concerto” playbook Goldsmith used on The
> Twilight Zone, but one that’s also incredibly malleable (and would
> inform many of his Americana scores to come). A few rambling sequences
> (including the impressive ‘A Game of Pool’), some tortured moments, and a
> few woodwind statements all suggest a healthy influence of Alex North
> mannerisms. Plus, you get John Williams on piano!

> ****

> Next: Stagecoach and The Loner, thanks to La-La Land
> miraculously finding some extra copies in their warehouse earlier this
> year. I already had the LP recording of the former put out by Intrada.

> Stagecoach finds Goldsmith using an intimate ensemble to channel
> his playful Americana voice into a short, largely monothematic score, a
> template that Wild Rovers would follow to rowdier heights. If you
> like Goldsmith’s softer side then this will be a nice, low-key pastoral
> 20+ minutes. But it could also put some listeners to sleep, and I can’t
> help wondering what might’ve been if Goldsmith had been allowed to score
> the action sequences. The film recording pretty much covers the same
> ground as the LP recording, so if you already have the Intrada album this
> album is probably a “for completists only” purchase, unless you’re really
> into source music bonus tracks or Wayne Newton in which case it would
> obviously be a must-buy!

> Even with television budgetary constraints likely precluding any strings
> for The Loner, Goldsmith gets a lot out of his small forces. The
> off-kilter rhythms, guitar interludes, funky bass, and lively brass
> statements make the more active moments clear cousins of Rio
> Conchos and 100 Rifles. Also, whip cracks! The 20 minutes on
> this album don’t provide anything we haven’t heard before (there are also
> similarities to his spy/cop music of the era), but it’s still a lot of
> playful fun to hear Goldsmith’s Western material in more embryonic form.

> *** for both, with The Loner slightly preferred.

> Next: Amazing Stories, thanks to Intrada including all 3 volumes as
> part of its Kickstarter prizes for funding the new Dial M for
> Murder recording. Goldsmith scored the Dante-directed Season 1 episode
> ‘Boo!’.

> The tone, especially the use of shimmering electronics, is quite similar
> to the prior year’s Explorers and Legend, though the
> episode’s main theme somewhat suggests the next year’s Innerspace
> romance. Some occasional demented strings recall Gremlins, while a
> brief moment of tribal drumming foreshadows The ‘Burbs. There’s
> nothing new here (if I were in a worse mood, I might’ve called it
> “insubstantial fluff” or “spare parts”), but Goldsmith’s writing in this
> vein still has a certain unique charm.

> Goldsmith episode rating ***. It was tempting to write a
> perspective on all the music akin to my prior write-ups for The Man
> from U.N.C.L.E. and The Twilight Zone, but that would take too
> much time, plus Goldsmith’s contributions to Amazing Stories are
> proportionally smaller than his contributions to those 1960s shows.

> Prior entries
> - Volume 1: The Don is Dead
> - Volume 2: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. series
> - Volume 3: Hawkins on Murder / Winter Kill / Babe
> - Volume 4: The Twilight Zone series
> - Volume 5: Islands in the Stream film recording and The Last
> Castle expanded
> - Volume 6: The Detective / Von Ryan’s Express, The
> Challenge, and Total Recall 30th Anniversary

Excellent write up bud! A couple here as well that I haven't heard.