113 episodes
The Goldsmith Odyssey Yavar, David, and Clark
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- TV & Film
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4.9 • 64 Ratings
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A chronological journey through the filmography of composer Jerry Goldsmith.
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Episode 41 - Storm - CBS Radio Workshop (1956)
Take shelter! Mariah is here! (No, not that one.) Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark dig into the CBS Radio Workshop episode "Storm," a meteorologically-themed docudrama featuring striking narration from William Conrad and a tense, turbulent score from Jerry Goldsmith. You'll hear discussion of the unique nature of this experimental radio series, the effectiveness of Goldsmith's decision to use music to create a dividing line between the narration and the scripted drama, the striking use of a harmonica to represent the storm, the minimal use of recurring themes, and more! While you're waiting for the skies to clear, join us in the storm cellar for an exploration of this little-known musical gem. Enjoy!
CBS Radio Workshop - Storm Track List!
Please send your correspondence to mail@goldsmithodyssey.com. -
Bonus Soundtrack Spotlight - The War of the Worlds (1953) / When Worlds Collide (1951)
We know what you're thinking: why is The Goldsmith Odyssey covering Leith Stevens? Well, for one thing, War of the Worlds (1953) is a personal favorite film and score of Odyssey co-host and editor W. David Lichty. For another, it's a good excuse to spend time with friends of the show Chris Malone (who co-produced the new expanded album for La-La Land) and John Takis (who wrote the liner notes), both of whom once again have marvelous musical insights to offer. And for more reasons, just listen to the show itself, in which you'll hear discussion of where this score sits within Stevens' body of work, the surprising ways in which the score functions dramatically, the crucial improvements this album makes to the previous release, the qualities of the companion score When Worlds Collide, the wildly different versions of this classic story that have been offered over the years, and much more! Don't worry, we aren't planning to start wandering off-mission on a regular basis, but this new release was too exciting a conversation topic to pass up. Despite the relative absence of our pal Jerry, we hope you'll enjoy this affectionate celebration of an underappreciated composer's most significant work.
Here! A The War of the Worlds Bonus Soundtrack Spotlight track list!
Please send your correspondence to mail@goldsmithodyssey.com. -
Odyssey Soundtrack Spotlight - City Hall (1996)
Better late than never, we offer a detailed Soundtrack Spotlight on Varese Sarabande's definitive presentation of Jerry Goldsmith’s memorably noir-tinged score for Harold Becker's City Hall! First, your humble hosts David and Clark are joined by liner notes writer Tim Greiving for a discussion of the film's modest virtues, the score's central ideas, the real-life experiences that informed the film's screenplay, the musical influence of Leonard Bernstein's On the Waterfront, and other topics. Afterwards, David and Clark explore the significant and subtle differences between the various film versions, album versions, and alternates this thorough score presentation has to offer. We hope you'll join us for a stroll down the corridors of power(ful film music)!
Here is your de-confusing City Hall Soundtrack Spotlight Track List!
Please send your correspondence to mail@goldsmithodyssey.com. -
Production Report - The Last Dance (2023 Leigh Phillips Recording)
The latest Jerry Goldsmith at The General Electric Theater volume is now available, and we're thrilled to give you all the details in this Production Report with our friend, conductor/reconstructionist/renaissance man Leigh Phillips. The fifth entry in his ongoing series of re-recordings is "The Last Dance," a sensitive and emotionally complex score for an episode of television that remains lost for the time being. In addition to offering a detailed breakdown of the assorted challenges posed throughout the recording session, Leigh talks to your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark about how the success of the earlier Kickstarter campaigns led to this "bonus" recording, inviting a wider audience to view the recording sessions, the most effective approach to leading an orchestra, his ambitious plan to re-record Goldsmith's Lionheart, and much more. Give it a listen, and then click over to Leigh's website to secure your copy of the score (featuring liner notes by Yavar). Enjoy!
Edited by Wes Deckers.
Please send your correspondence to mail@goldsmithodyssey.com. -
Odyssey Interviews - Joe Sikoryak
Back in October of 2021, your humble hosts Yavar and David had a conversation with esteemed art designer Joe Sikoryak about his work for Film Score Monthly, Intrada, Percepto, and La-La Land Records. Over the course of that chat, Joe offered comments on falling in love with film music as a child, shopping at Intrada Records during the physical shop's early days, and getting a job from Lukas Kendall to redesign and help give Film Score Monthly a more professional magazine look. He mused on the evolving style of soundtrack album design, the challenging economics of releasing soundtrack albums, the Jerry Goldsmith music he enjoys most, and why (as a huge fan of both Goldsmith and Star Trek) he initially struggled to fully connect with the music for Star Trek: The Motion Picture! That discussion is bookended by a more recent chat, in which Joe offers an update on a graphic novel he’s been working on, talks about his participation in both The Jerry Goldsmith Companion and Jerry Goldsmith at The General Electric Theater Kickstarter projects, and offers a great many further insights. Joe has contributed a great deal to the world of soundtrack albums and has a lot of thoughtful commentary to offer, so this is a 2-in-1 conversation you'll want to make time for. It's the interview equivalent of dry-aged brisket placed within a freshly-baked bun, and our hope is that it's comparably enjoyable!
Edited by Wes Deckers.
Please send your correspondence to mail@goldsmithodyssey.com.
https://www.joesikoryak.com
https://birdcage-bottom-books.myshopify.com/products/when-we-were-trekkies-bundle-issues-1-7 -
Odyssey Interviews - Jonathan Frakes
Given that all members of the Odyssey team are also lifelong Star Trek enthusiasts, we were particularly thrilled and honored to welcome actor/director Jonathan Frakes to the program. Your humble hosts Yavar, David, and Clark, along with Film Score Monthly founder Lukas Kendall, chat with Jonathan about his experiences working with Jerry on Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection, the complex nature of Goldsmith’s relationship with the Trek franchise, the collaborative qualities that distinguished Jerry from other film composers, the warmly-received third season of Star Trek: Picard, and much more! It's a warm, lively chat filled with fond memories and memorable music. If you've got 50 minutes to spare, make this show your Number One priority!
Note: This interview was conducted on July 12th, 2023, just prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Track List - Odyssey Interviews - Jonathan Frakes
Special thanks to friend of the show Stéphane Coëdel for his lovely work on this episode's cover image.
Please send your correspondence to mail@goldsmithodyssey.com.
Customer Reviews
Highest quality podcast
I usually don’t respond to nagging (just ask my wife!), but after listening to yet another GREAT episode your repeated appeals (pleas?) for reviews have finally gotten to me!
My own odyssey through Jerry Goldsmith’s music began well after this podcast was established, so I have the pleasure of a backlog of episodes to catch up on. Thank you for taking this Odyssey so seriously but not too seriously. In other words, I appreciate that you’re able to be so thorough and informative but also able to laugh at yourselves and with each other. I’ve found your coverage of Goldsmith’s television work especially interesting because I’m so unfamiliar with it. Thank you for introducing me to so much “new” Goldsmith and allowing us to accompany you on this Odyssey. Please know how much I appreciate all the time and effort you put into this project.
But just don’t tell my wife that nagging worked this one time! :-)
An fascinating and thorough deep dive into one of Cinema’s most amazing composers.
Having loved and listened to film music my entire life, I thought I knew Jerry’s music inside and out but I can’t impress uppon anyone wanted to know more about Jerry Goldsmith to listen to this Podcast series. I have learned so much more not only about Jerry, but have discovered so much music and the stories behind it that I now love. Also the in-depth analysis of technique and what goes on behind the scenes in creating and restoring film music is an astounding deep dive of information. This isn’t just discussion of musical opinions, but a forensic study of music as it relates to its process, story telling, as well as the technical aspects of its creation. Also a great study in the preservation of music and how the industry has changed throughout the years and how Jerry changed with it. I highly remcomend The Goldsmith Odyssey.
Long-Overdue Recognition for the Master of Film Music
(I don't really use Apple Podcasts/iTunes, so I always forget that rating and reviewing is a thing here, so I'm a little late, but better late than never!) I have had a general awareness of this show since it started up, and did initially listen to the earliest episodes as they were coming out, but ultimately because of some real life craziness I lost touch for a couple years. Finally came back around to it during the pandemic, and have been a frequent listener especially during the last year or two. Jerry Goldsmith is my number one favorite composer -- like, some people say that, but then they say the same thing about other composers... but not in my case; Jerry is on a top-tier all by himself, unrivaled, for me. He is THE reason why I became a soundtrack lover. He is THE reason I began making up original melodies in my head as a kid when I would play outside. He is THE reason why I became a composer. And I've always felt like he doesn't quite get the recognition that he deserves. People in my circles would perk up at the mention of "John Williams" or "Hans Zimmer," but when I would say the name "Jerry Goldsmith" I would almost always get confused reactions, like they didn't know who I was talking about. I'm not kidding, there have been times where I thought I (and my sister, who is likewise a huge fan of Jerry's, and she was my gateway into his music) was one of the only people who truly loved his music, let alone knew his name. Thankfully in time, as the Internet progressed, I realized that absolutely was NOT the case, and that there was a rather large fan community across the globe.
It is just an amazing thing to find a community that you share a common love with. And the Internet, for all it's horrific faults, played a tremendous part in me finding such a community of Jerry Goldsmith fans. So I was just absolutely overjoyed to see this podcast start up (despite my falling away from it for a few years), and I honestly believe it has been HUGELY instrumental in the sort of increased love and discussion of Jerry and his music we've been seeing that has ultimately led to the production of deep-dive and celebratory videos and books (like Jeff Bond's upcoming set), not to mention a steady flow of Jerry's music being restored, remastered, and re-released, along with sheet music publications, plus Leigh Phillips' re-recordings of long lost scores.
I know there have been a LOT of factors behind all of this, but I don't for one minute downplay The Goldsmith Odyssey as one of those contributing factors, and a major one at that. I have thoroughly enjoyed their chronological score-by-score reviews, and especially their Interviews, which I'm not kidding when I say I re-listen to all the interviews A LOT; hearing a lot of these real life stories just really brings me closer to the *actual living man* that was Jerry Goldsmith, making him so much more to me than just the "sounds" that he wrote. So I cannot overstate or underline enough how highly I value the work that these gentlemen are doing to both preserve and "evangelize" (if I may use that word) Jerry Goldsmith for and to future generations. May there be many more years to come!
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