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Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute
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Composed and Conducted by:
"Take a Hard Ride" Conducted by:
Lionel Newman
Produced by:
Douglass Fake
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LABEL & RELEASE DATE
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Society for the Preservation of Film Music
(March 5th, 1993)
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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Limited release of approximately 500 CDs, available
mainly to SPFM members after the 1993 annual tribute dinner for the
group. Original copies were once valued as the most expensive soundtrack
collectible in existence. Bootlegs of the album exist with the same
contents. More information about the history of this high collectible is
available in the main Filmtracks review.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... only for purely illogical, sentimental reasons in the
post-2000 market and for a fraction of the price it originally demanded
when it was considered one of the most collectible soundtrack CDs of all
time.
Avoid it... if you seek superior arrangements and sound quality for
any of the four scores represented on this album, for all of them have
received fuller treatment in the fifteen years following the hyped CD's
debut.
BUY IT
Filmtracks has no record of commercial ordering options for this title. However, you can search for this title at online soundtrack specialty outlets.
 | | 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's past.
While its value has greatly diminished since its peak in the mid-1990's,
it still represents the hysteria associated with extreme fandom and at
one time 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
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 albums to ever be bootlegged in the soundtrack
genre, with tricky fakes soon circulating around the secondary
collector's market. While original copies of the real album reliably
fetched many hundreds of dollars, the bootleg pressings also commanded
impressive prices. For those lingering aficionados 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, gold and silver-tinted foil sticker in the upper right of the
front cover. For serious collectors, a transaction of the original
pressing was only to be considered complete if a copy of the dinner
program booklet also accompanied the sale. 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,
essentially regular buyers at Intrada's store, in the days that followed
the tribute dinner. The mastering of the album was strong for its era,
though the soundscapes are still somewhat muted compared to the digital
remastering technologies of a decade later. Within fifteen years after
the CD debuted, its position as a top collectible had completely
vanished. By then, all four of the Goldsmith scores featured in its
compilation had been released in fuller presentations on their own
albums, leaving the original compilation and its bootlegs as only a
subject of nostalgia.
As for the contents of the "Jerry Goldsmith SPFM
Tribute" CD, each suite of four to seven tracks contains 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, Magic by Varèse Sarabande,
and Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend by Intrada (following an
extensive bootleg history of that score), the album's presentation is
far less relevant than it had once been. As for the quality of 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
represented 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 not long after. On the other hand, 1984's Baby: Secret
of the Lost Legend was part of Goldsmith's venture into the same
fantasy and 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, forceful 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. The composer's electronic techniques in this
score retain many characteristics from Under Fire. Both The
Flim-Flam Man (1967) and Magic (1978) are more intimate and
utilize a harmonica, but they do so in very different ways. The former
retains an uncomplicated heart similar to that of the acclaimed A
Patch of Blue, occasionally generating affable rhythmic passages of
slight comedy, while Magic skirts the horror genre with its
slightly deranged major and minor key-alternating love theme. The sour
tone of the latter makes it arguably the weakest portion of the
compilation. On the other hand, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend
was often considered the most interesting score of the four, in part due
its status as unreleased in fuller form long after the other three.
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. It's another one of those formerly
valuable albums that older collectors will remember fondly, for it had
its grand day in the sun, but nobody in their right mind should pay
significantly for it today. At best, it remains an honored relic of an
era past.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.24
(in 134 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.26
(in 154,283 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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stop, just stop Expand >>
george - August 17, 2005, at 5:51 p.m. |
3 comments (4686 views)
Newest: February 16, 2006, at 12:43 p.m. by
frakey |
Total Time: 71:10
The Flim-Flam Man (1967):
• 1. Main Title (1:42)
• 2. No Rest for the Wicked (3:48)
• 3. The Visitor (3:25)
• 4. The Homestead (2:30)
• 5. Curly's Plan (2:45)
• 6. On the Road Again (1:17)
Take a Hard Ride (1975):
• 7. Main Title (2:16)
• 8. Friendly Enemies (2:12)
• 9. A Sad Story (1:29)
• 10. On the Edge (0:45)
• 11. The Wagon (5:54)
• 12. Work Camp (2:16)
• 13. Take a Hard Ride (1:58)
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Magic (1978):
• 14. Main Title (2:04)
• 15. Corky's Retreat (3:21)
• 16. Memories (2:54)
• 17. Appassionata (2:07)
• 18. Fats Acts (2:47)
• 19. Us Was You (3:26)
Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1984):
• 20. The Family (4:01)
• 21. Idyl and Rampage (7:03)
• 22. The Rescue (3:34)
• 23. The Legend (7:26)
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The sparse insert includes detailed liner notes by Douglass Fake about
each of the four scores.
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