JERRY GOLDSMITH VINYL TREASURES

I still remember the first time i saw the cover of the Japanese edition of the soundtrack to THE SAND PEBBLES. The impression was striking. Perhaps there are many of you soundtrack collectors and film music fans who are more fond of the American release album cover, but my aesthetics' bells ring ferociously when i see those amazing photo-collage Japanese soundtrack covers. This reason alone, was enough for me to try to find the Japanese edition of Jerry Goldsmith's score realizing almost instantly, that the price to obtain my object of desire was very very high. My financials did not allow for such purchases during that years of soundtrack discoveries and pre-internet pure film music enthusiasm. This was my first encounter with hardcore obsession in soundtrack collecting...Jerry Goldsmith's Japanese soundtrack vinyls.

Thirty years passed since those magnificent discoveries of my youth, and during those years my passion for Jerry Goldsmith's music was the trigger to obtain not only the Japanese masterpieces, but also all the great vinyl treasures of this unparalleled master. Promo releases, hard to find 45 rpm single and extended play releases, obscure unique cover releases from various countries, a vast catalogue of Jerry Goldsmith's brilliance in various presentations. This is a tribute to those vinyl treasures, a journey that still continues, thanks to the latest releases of the vinyl resurrection era.

A PATCH OF BLUE (Mainstream YS625MS - Japan - 1966)

The first release of a long play soundtrack album with Jerry Goldsmith’s music occurred almost three years after his first widely acknowledged score (for John Huston’s FREUD). It was his short but very beautiful and haunting score for the movie A PATCH OF BLUE, a sleeper hit that made a huge sensation gaining Oscar attention and becoming one of the top commercial hits of 1965. The heartwarming story of the friendship between a black man and a white blind girl provided a unique opportunity for the young Jerry Goldsmith, who was building his career while colossal changes were happening in the Hollywood establishment. Director Guy Green needed around 25 minutes of score for his movie, and Goldsmith created some of his most haunting and inspired music, utilizing the harmonica as his main instrument. His music highlighted the emotions and the hidden pathos of the two main characters of the film, especially the innocence and pureness of the main female character, the blind Selina.

The soundtrack album was released by “Mainstream”, a label that specialized in soundtrack and jazz releases. Simultaneously with the American release of the album, a Japanese release was licensed including the same musical content, but a completely different album cover. This release is the oldest top collectible gem of Jerry Goldsmith's vinyl discography. The unique cover, the fact that its existence was confirmed decades after the release and the scarcity of the record are the factors accountable for its big value. A copy with its obi fetches prices of more than 200$, but we must consider the fact that this record is incredibly hard to find. There is also a Japanese 45 rpm single with a very beautiful photo cover, released also under a Mainstream label license that contains the main theme and “Grandmom’s music box” cue that also is a top collectible, mostly due to the fact that original soundtrack recordings that were released in a 45 rpm format in Japan during the 60s and 70s were not very common. They usually contained cover versions of themes or songs from the movie.

THE SAND PEBBLES (20th Century Fox SJET-7916 - Japan - 1966)

After the success of A PATCH OF BLUE, Jerry Goldsmith’s career was boosted, giving him the opportunity to work in bigger Hollywood productions. 20^th Century Fox’s blockbuster THE SAND PEBBLES, directed by Robert Wise who was ultra hot after the triumph of THE SOUND OF MUSIC a year earlier, needed a big score for a large orchestra, and the composer was all in for this task. The movie was epic in tone, superbly photographed by Robert McDonald, with Steve McQueen in one of the top performances of his career as a sailor in a patrol battleship in China during the turbulent years of the mid 1920s. Goldsmith’s score was a highlight in the film, superbly used by the director, with its suspenseful and action sequences, the lush romantic theme and the oriental orchestration that set the location and the historical time frame of the movie ideally.

The production company 20^th Century Fox, released the soundtrack album on a long play record in a gatefold deluxe presentation. The label licensed the soundtrack for a release in Japan with an alternate cover and this edition became a top collectible among soundtrack collectors. The striking photo in the Japanese album – that honestly had little to do with the movie’s main concept – is the main attraction for collectors, and the value of the record is very high. Of course Howard Terpning’s stunning painting in the American release cover deserves our admiration and awe, however the Japanese photo cover has a different charm.  Although very difficult to find a copy in mint or near mint condition with its obi, it is more than certain that a three digit number will leave the pocket of anyone interested in obtaining it.

A very interesting edition of the soundtrack was released in France in an extended play record with four selections from the film, including the overture and “And we were lovers” theme. Once a top collectible now has diminished in value.

RIO CONCHOS (20th Century Fox BLY 730 001 - France - 1964)

Perhaps the first soundtrack release of Jerry Goldsmith’s discography, this obscure French extended play had never a confirmed release date. Possibly issued in 1964, the year Gordon Douglas’ western came out, it seems that it was licensed by 20^th Century Fox, as the record label indicates. This edition was, for decades, the only source for Jerry Goldsmith’s score for the not very successful, but really entertaining movie. During his first career steps – he was not yet an established name in Hollywood – Jerry Goldsmith was not reluctant at all to reveal his modernistic compositional ideas whenever he had the opportunity. For RIO CONCHOS, the composer avoided writing exciting and heroic motives, bringing forth instead a slow folk ballad with harmonica and various strange percussions and sound devices (like the sound of the whip!).

The French EP contained three score tracks plus the song “Rio Conchos” performed by Johnny Desmond, that was never heard in the movie. The song was probably commissioned by the production company for the promotion of the film, since it was released on a 45 rpm single together with Desmond’s performance to another theme Jerry Goldsmith composed in 1964 for the movie FATE IS THE HUNTER. This particular single edition was also released with a very attractive cover in Japan. However, the French EP was notoriously sought after and still retains a high value in the secondary market since it still remains the only vinyl edition containing Jerry Goldsmith’s score. 

The even more peculiar thing with this French release is that it is not the only French soundtrack release on extended play existing with Jerry Goldsmith’s music. There are also EPs with score tracks from THE PRIZE (1963 – MGM), THE SAND PEBBLES (1966 – 20^th Century Fox), OUR MAN FLINT and IN LIKE FLINT (1966 and 1967 – 20^th Century Fox) and HOUR OF THE GUN (1967 – United Artists). All these EPs present music formerly included in long play soundtrack albums, and this is the reason we choose the EP of RIO CONCHOS as the unique jewel among them. These releases were very sought after and still are collectibles of significant value for specific collectors who appreciate their unique retro beauty.

STAGECOACH (Mainstream YS624MS - Japan - 1966) 

  

This is one of the most underappreciated Jerry Goldsmith scores. His music for Gordon Douglas’ remake of John Ford’s 1939 western classic is homage to the great American frontier music of the era, an uplifting symphonic score with banjo and harmonica solos in the orchestration.

Unfortunately, the original soundtrack recording didn’t reveal the authentic value of the score. Jerry Goldsmith did not conduct this first soundtrack recording, leaving the task to Alexander Courage who decreased the tempo in a different approach comparing to the movie score.

Jerry Goldsmith’s score was vibrant and energetic, with multiple colors in its focus to depict the multiple characters of the movie.

The soundtrack album was released by “Mainstream” label and, as with the soundtrack from the A PATCH OF BLUE, there was a license for a Japanese soundtrack release by Nippon Columbia which had a different more attractive cover than the American one. The release is very hard to find and personally I have never seen a copy with obi strip being sold during the 30 years I am watching the soundtrack market. There is also a Japanese 45 rpm single released by Capitol in 1966, that contains the two main songs from the movie, not composed by Jerry Goldsmith, that also fetches high prices and is very hard to find. 

However the most peculiar and hard to find release of the soundtrack was the Argentinian one, which was identical to the American one except for the title that was written in Spanish. This record is incredibly rare and i've only seen it being sold only once during all those years.

IN LIKE FLINT (20th Century Fox 4193 - USA - 1967)

OUR MAN FLINT (20th Century Fox TFM 3179 - USA - 1966)

It may seem a bit odd for us who love the music of Jerry Goldsmith, but the great composer became immensely popular not through the symphonic masterpieces of the first years of his career, but through his pop/jazz/lounge score for the one of the highest grossing movies of 1965, OUR MAN FLINT and its inevitable sequel of 1967, IN LIKE FLINT. The movie duo that made James Coburn a super star, has gained cult status almost 60 years after their release, mostly for the exaggerating depiction of the spy mania James Bond had created during the 60s. The super spy Derek Flint saved the world from mad scientists and evil villains, but his universe was multiple times more extravagant than that of James Bond, to the point of self-parody. Even Jerry Goldsmith’s music had little seriousness and focus on the action man Flint, rather than to the crazy, psychedelic environment that surrounded him. The films had completely different scores thematically. OUR MAN FLINT had a rhythmic ballad as a main theme, that was transforming throughout the movie into many variations, from shake to bossa and even a tarantella and IN LIKE FLINT had a lounge bossa as its main thematic idea.

The huge potential and commercial expectations for the two movies, led the studio (20^th Century Fox) to promote it through various marketing ways, one of them being a promotional soundtrack album that would be offered as a gift in special events. Both films had their soundtrack album offered as promo with the same contents as the commercial releases (which by the way had superb cover artworks drawn by the great Bob Peak) but completely different cover artworks. OUR MAN FLINT was scheduled to be offered during the 20^th Century Fox Sales convention and had a cover full of black and white photos from the film, while IN LIKE FLINT was specially designed in order to be offered during the film’s special premiere at Puerto Rico!

Those two releases are extremely hard to find and even if the content of the albums is identical with the commercial ones, the different covers and the scarcity make these two editions highly sought after by collectors, with prices that exceed the 100$ depending in the condition. 

HOUR OF THE GUN (United Artists YS963UA - Japan - 1967) (United Artists UAS 9019 - Italy - 1966)

With HOUR OF THE GUN, Jerry Goldsmith collaborated for the second time with John Sturges the director of the – already classic -  THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. Sturges was a director who put music on a very high level taking into consideration the films he made during his career and the composers he worked with. Elmer Bernstein, his most usual choice for a composer, was not available, and Jerry Goldsmith came to the picture to provide his robust, dynamic virtuosity. Even though Sturges had remade the story of the Earp brothers and The Cowboys vendetta with GUNFIGHT AT O.K. CORRAL in 1958, this time things were different in his mind and wanted something completely new. Everyone remembers the song Dimitri Tiomkin composed for the first movie, a romantic ballad, beautiful but a bit outdated 10 years after. This time the film needed a powerful and at times even ominous score and Jerry Goldsmith had the skills and knowledge to deliver, writing a superb main theme that was easy to be remembered, but orchestrating the rest of the score – and variations of his beautiful theme – focusing on violence and vengeance.

United Artists released the soundtrack album of the excellent score and of course licensed a Japanese release that didn’t have the stunning artwork of the original movie poster – as the American album – but instead a photo still depicting James Garner and Jason Robarts full of confidence and machismo, threatening the viewers with their pistols. To be honest, I couldn’t imagine a more appropriate photo cover for the soundtrack album of HOUR OF THE GUN. This ultra rare album in the rare chance that is found with its obi has a very high value. There is also an Italian edition of the soundtrack released by United Artists that is perhaps even scarcer than the Japanese one. Everything is identical with the American release except for the Italian market title of the movie, VENDETTA ALL’OK CORRAL.

RANSOM (Dart ARTS 65376 - England - 1975) (Columbia 2C 06696525 - France - 1975)

Jerry Goldsmith’s work for RANSOM (aka THE TERRORISTS) marked one of the most unusual and strange collaborations of his career. The movie was a British production, shot in Norway with a large part of the cast being Norwegian actors, having Sean Connery starring in the role of a Norwegian detective (I admit that he seems to try hard with his accent) trying to stop a British terrorist group from causing mayhem. The director was also a Norwegian, Casper Wrede, a theatre director without a significant career in the cinema – let alone in the action movie genre. Last but not least, we should mention that the movie’s cinematographer was the notorious Sven Nykvist, the regular collaborator of Ingmar Bergman, who a few months earlier got the Oscar for his work in CRIES AND WHISPERS!

Into this most unusual working environment, Jerry Goldsmith delivered an amazing score, one of his less heralded but still a gem. His score highlighted discretely the attempt of International police forces – led by Connery - to stop a group of terrorists from a dual attack in order to get a large ransom payment. Discrete, in terms of its usage into the film, but actually dynamic, powerful and impressive, the score literally stole the show whenever heard in the movie. From the rhythmic percussions and aggressive strings of the opening title theme, to the ominous introduction melody and the overwhelming music for the sky chase sequence (an almost 6 minute suspense scene that honestly wouldn’t stand without the score), Jerry Goldsmith’s music was one of the few elements that really worked in RANSOM.

The score was released only in Europe, specifically in Britain and France. Oddly, the company responsible for the soundtrack’s release in Britain was the fairly unknown DART, while in France Columbia was responsible. The albums had completely different artwork but the content was identical. For many years the two albums’ scarcity increased and especially during the 90s the price was between 75$ and 100$. It is easier to locate one of these beautiful soundtrack albums nowadays but a mint copy of each, still retains a three digit amount value.

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (La-la Land LLLLP 2003 - USA - 2017)

I don’t intend to write about why Jerry Goldsmith’s score for STAR TREK: TMP is such a glorious and magnificent score. There are so many thing that have been said by the composer himself and the various people that worked for the movie that I will find myself repeating things that have already been told. I bet you know what I mean…about the double love story, the innovative sounds, the brand new main theme, the STAR WARS intrigue.

Moreover, forty plus years after the movie’s release, and after tens of soundtrack releases of the score both on vinyl and compact disc, there are little things that may flabbergast the demanding film music aficionado regarding STAR TREK: TMP musical universe. Speaking for myself I have various releases of the score in my collection, but there is one in particular that has stolen my heart, and I consider it as one of the most beautiful and noteworthy soundtrack releases of all time. I bow in awe in front of La-la Land label’s vinyl edition that was released in 2017. A genuine labor of love, this masterpiece of a release offered two blue colored records in black and white marbling, including 83 minutes of music (the most complete vinyl edition of the score up to date), superb restoration by Mike Matessino, unique cover art by Daren R. Dochterman in a gatefold jacket and finally a twelve page booklet full of color photos and information.

The double LP set was offered at 35$ when it first came out, but its 1500 copies sold out within less than a couple of years. Nowadays a copy changes hands at a price of much more than 100$, and I suppose that a factory sealed or mint copy will surely fetch a price of more than 200$.

ALIEN (Mondo MOND-0127D - USA - 2017)

Two masterpieces in the same year. How possible is it and how frequently happens two movie scores composed by the same composer the same year to acquire such a legendary status as to be considered among the best of all time?

In 1979, Jerry Goldsmith worked for STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE and ALIEN and delivered a separate and very important chapter in the history of film music. Although his collaboration with Robert Wise in STAR TREK was ideal, the teaming with with Ridley Scott for the ALIEN score was a very unpleasant experience for the composer. The story is more or less known to the majority of film music fans, but what is important at the end is the outcome, which is one of the most brilliant scores of all time.

Various editions were released in vinyl through the years, since the score was very popular and in demand, but the most important one for two specific reasons is the one Mondo Records released in a glorious box set in 2017. First of all, the edition includes every note composed by Jerry Goldsmith for the score, including outtakes and alternate versions. The total duration of the music presented is 126 minutes and Mondo decided to release four colored LPs housed in a superbly designed box. Secondly, the artwork is amazing, depicting a superb red and black illustration of the xenomorph designed by the regular Mondo artist Tyler Stout.

There is some controversy surrounding this release mainly regarding the sonic quality of the LPs and the fact that such a superbly designed edition should include some kind of publication or booklet to accompany the music as an additional tribute to the film and the score, but unfortunately nothing was included by Mondo on this regard.

In any case, the box set was a very limited edition that sold out very quickly and – as per Mondo Records disclaimer – will never be re-pressed again. Subsequently the price of the set escalated after it sold out, reaching the 200$ barrier, and even more for a factory sealed or mint condition copy. 

GREMLINS (Mondo MOND-083 - USA - 2016)

The enormous success Joe Dante’s movie had all around the world in 1985 was not enough for the people responsible to release an album dedicated to Jerry Goldsmith’s music. The company that took over the project to release the music was Geffen Records, which at that time belonged to Warner Music. The reason behind the decision to release only a little more than 16 minutes of Jerry Goldsmith’s score is unknown, a decision that resulted to the release of a – so called –“mini album” that included three pop songs on side one and Goldsmith’s music on side two. My guess is that the brains behind the album’s release probably considered the score unattractive and commercially risky. The composer had already begun working with synthesizers at that time, and his music for GREMLINS was mostly electronic. Director Joe Dante had the idea to temp-track the movie with parts of Bernard Herrmann's score for Alfred Hitchcock's THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, a decision that strangely inspired Goldsmith to conceive the hilarious "Gremlins Rag" that was the score's main thematic idea and actually boosted the score's success.

It took 25 years and the dedicated labor of love of Lukas Kendal and his collaborators so as Jerry Goldsmith’s music to find a proper representation through a limited edition cd released by the label of Film Score Monthly magazine (web site at that time).

However, this score deserved a proper vinyl edition, worthy of the movie’s 80s aura and legacy, and of course the proper format for Jerry Goldsmith’s unforgettable synthesizer-heavy score. Mondo records released a 2LP set housed in a gatefold jacket which when exposed to daylight revealed additional artwork! Also the sleeves of the album were water sensitive and when exposed to a damp cloth, also revealed additional artwork! A truly wonderful and unique presentation for this premiere release of the score. Mondo records pressed two versions of vinyl for this release, the one in colored vinyl and the other in regular black vinyl. Both releases sold out quickly and currently not only are hard to find but also the prices are easily reaching the 150 USD barrier.

BASIC INSTINCT (Varese Sarabande VG 50589 - Greece - 1992)

Jerry Goldsmith’s sensational score for this movie was only issued on vinyl in…Greece! This is probably a rough way to begin writing about the album of one of the best scores ever composed for a movie, but this hard to believe piece of information is really worth looking into. Above all we should mention the music of course. Jerry Goldsmith composed a superb score for this neo noir full of sex, violence and characters in deep trouble. The music is all over the place in the film and sets the mood, actually working as an aesthetic balance. It reveals the sinister deceptiveness – as Mr. Daniel Schweiger aptly writes in his liner notes in Quartet Records’ latest reissue of the score – and the dark romance that lurks under the relationship of the main protagonists’ couple. The movie rose great controversy at the time, due to its portrayal of an heterosexual woman as a ruthless killer, but this fuss didn’t seem to affect the movie’s fate in the box office, which was triumphant. Jerry Goldsmith’s music was the recipient of some of the most positive reactions relating to the movie’s aesthetics and ultimately received an Academy award nomination, the one and only of the movie. The beginning of the 90s was the turning point regarding the vinyl’s fate as a music format. Vinyl releases were becoming very rare since the last years of the 80s, and during the first two years of the 90s the compact disc had been established as the dominating format in the music market. There were only a handful of countries all around the world that vinyl releases hadn’t disappeared at all. The Greek division of Virgin Records at that time, had one of the most respectful and accomplished music personalities of the last decades as its head, who gave his approval for the release in vinyl of specific albums. As an avid vinyl collector himself, he knew the format still had supporters in Greece. Eventually, he got the license from Varese Sarabande for a vinyl LP release of Jerry Goldsmith’s score for BASIC INSTINCT, one of his favorite soundtracks of the year as he revealed. The album was a limited edition and released only for the Greek market in 1992. It became a top collectible very quickly, even if soundtrack collectors showed very little interest in vinyl releases during that time. The LP’s price is dependent on the condition and it's actually not very easy to locate a near mint copy. When released the LP was not sealed in a protective wrap and the jacket quality was not premium. When a top copy reaches the secondary market the price reaches well over 100 USD.