Jerry Goldsmith

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a listening party by my friend Cliff Eidelman. Cliff is a film composer who can write a score from his kitchen table. You know, 12 staves of music, all in his head. No piano. Piece of cake. Cliff is a character. He has taken 10 years to write songs about his family and things that matter. He recorded them at Capitol Records Studio C. That's where the party was. Capitol Records in Hollywood is where that small band, The Beatles, recorded. I can't find any pictures of the interior but the place is a museum to the Beatles. Pictures line the walls. Pictures of Sinatra, The Beatles, Louis Armstrong. It's a place everyone should be able to visit. Anyway, I'll get back to Cliff.

When I was a wee lad I got a job at Fox Studios. I was a gopher. I was given a tour by a senior gopher named Dave. Dave really knew his way around the lot. He so loved movies his only way in was the Fox back door. Dave started in the Fox commissary. He got his highly coveted senior gopher job because he made extra large sandwiches for everyone he thought might hire him the fuck out of the commissary. And it finally worked.

On my first day Dave showed me the old writer's building, the Aaron Spelling offices, the mail room and finally the scoring stage. That's where I first saw Jerry Goldsmith. Jerry passed away in 2004. He has 312 credits to his name. That's Three Hundred and Twelve!

I suppose my love of films began when I watched Goldsmith record the score to Alien. Jerry had a commanding voice, and a kind voice. Watching him conduct was like watching an architect construct something great like the Pyramids or Taj Mahal, only Jerry did it with music. You can see an interview of him with Robert Osborn, where Goldsmith discuses having been nominated 18 times for an Oscar

Goldsmith was unique. When you heard a score you could say, "Damn, that's Jerry". There was a signature that identified him. But he was unique in that every score was vastly different. I don't know that you could say that for many film composers. Listen to RUDY or HOOSIERS or ALIEN. Even the lower budget stinker films had great scores by Goldsmith.

I have a few favorites. I love the title sequence to Papillon. I love the score to Chinatown. But I also love Under Fire which featured Pat Metheny on guitar. Yet another favorite is Goldsmith's recording of a television main title called Room 222. Now before you click on this link, close your eyes. Or close them after you click. But please listen to this short, gorgeous piece without the visuals because I think they get in the way. Ready? Go!

I guess I've been thinking a lot about these Masters of the Film Universe lately. It a sure sign that I'm getting old. I know there is some new talent, but leave me alone while I cruise memory lane. (Old AND grumpy) I've had my eye on Jon Brion. He's a wonderful talent. I've written about James Gray. But we shall see if these guys weather the Hollywood storm. Because that's the real test. For now I hope you can look back with me for a minute and appreciate these old farts. But stay with me. I want to finish with a funny Goldsmith story.

At the listening party I ran into Mike Lang. He's one of the pianists who worked a lot with Goldsmith.


They were recording the score to The Russia House. It's a brilliant jazz oriented score. If you want you can read a lot about it here. But do that later. The point is that Jerry hired Branford Marsalis to play sax. As Mike tells it, before the recording Jerry asked Mike to his home studio to lay down some complicated keyboard tracks. Mike and Jerry had a great relationship. But here's something I didn't know about Jerry. He was a trickster.

They get to the scoring stage. They run down the title cue which features Marsalis. Jerry conducts the rehearsal which is recorded. He walks into the booth and listens. He calls Lang into the booth. The musicians, including Marsalis hang on the stage where they can't hear the dialogue.

Jerry says, "Damn, Marsalis is playing every note." Mike asks, "Well what's wrong with that?" Jerry tells Mike he wants Marsalis to improvise a little. Mike says "Tell him". Jerry says "I don't know him, you tell him!" For 30 seconds it turns into the who's on first routine. Jerry is afraid to tell Marsalis, a monster player, to improvise a little. Lang gets more and more uncomfortable. He's seen Goldsmith command every major player for at least 20 years. He was wondering what the hell was happening. This was not the pecking order or how things worked.

As Lang refuses to tell Marsalis to play differently Goldsmith walks Mike back out to the stage where the musicians are waiting. He has his arm around Lang. He gives Mike a sweet smile and yells out "Hey Branford, Mike has something to tell you."

Technorati Tags:
Jerry Goldsmith, Mike Lang, Cliff Eidelman, Capitol Records Studio C, The Beatles, Under Fire, Chinatown, Room 222, Branford Marsalis, Dave from the fox commissary