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Review of Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute (Compilation)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

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.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

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.  *****

TRACK LISTINGS:

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)

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)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The sparse insert includes detailed liner notes by Douglass Fake about each of the four scores.

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Jerry Goldsmith SPFM Tribute are Copyright © 1993, Society for the Preservation of Film Music and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 8/6/97 and last updated 11/4/11.