The Goldsmith Odyssey

Pop quiz, hotshot: What's the connection between Jerry Goldsmith's scores for InnerSpace, Rent-a-Cop, Leviathan, Rambo III, and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier? If you said "a rich and innovative blend of orchestra and electronics," you'd be correct... but they're also scores that benefit from the work of Nancy Beach, who worked as an orchestrator for Goldsmith during the latter half of the 1980s. In this Odyssey Interview, your humble hosts Jens, David, Yavar, and Clark chat with Nancy about her specific contributions to these scores, memories of her interactions with Jerry, her close working relationship with Arthur Morton...

If your hands had the power to heal the sick, would that be a blessing or a curse? That's the question posed by "Jacob's Hands," a CBS Radio Workshop drama co-written by literary titans Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood (and narrated by the latter). Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark dig into this tale, exploring the unusual history of this script, Jerry Goldsmith's sensitive score, the episode's hit-and-miss handling of its supernaturally-tinged scenario, and much more! Plus, Clark offers a brief book report detailing the differences between this half-hour radio play and the more substantive published screenplay. So...

As we near the last few days of his latest Kickstarter campaign, our friend Leigh Phillips joins us to talk about his plans for Thriller Volume 3. Your humble hosts Yavar, David, and Clark chat with Leigh about the virtues of Goldsmith’s scores for “The Cheaters” and “Guillotine,” the decision to record complete scores rather than suites for this volume, the possibility of including Morton Stevens’s “Pigeons from Hell” if a stretch goal is met, future recording plans, and more! It’s a fun and informative chat, loaded with good music, so give it a listen.

To contribute to L...

Our recent Soundtrack Spotlight on Explorers was full of lively, engaging conversation, a substantial portion of which was about topics other than Explorers. As such, we’ve assembled this music-rich Gold Shaving for your listening pleasure. Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark are joined by special guests Roger Feigelson, Jeff Johnson, Stéphane Coëdel, and Marshall Harvey for a relaxed chat about favorite Goldsmith scores, under-appreciated albums from the Intrada library, scores we'd love to see released or re-released in the future, and other topics. Throughout, you'll be treated to a generous sampling of musical excerpts that illu...

The last time Intrada released Jerry Goldsmith's Explorers on CD, 3000 copies sold out in a matter of hours. At long last, that enchanting score is back in print, and you'll hear all about it in this very special Soundtrack Spotlight. Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark are joined by a marvelous panel: director Joe Dante, editor Marshall Harvey (who didn't work on Explorers, but counts himself as an admirer of the film and score), album cover artist Stéphane Coëdel, and Intrada Co-CEOs Roger Feigelson and Jeff Johnson. You'll hear about Dante's complex relationship with the film, hi...

Intrada's new re-recording of Jerry Goldsmith's The Chairman is now being shipped to Kickstarter supporters, and our new Production Report offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this remarkable album. Your humble hosts Yavar, David, and Clark are joined by a large cast of key contributors: conductor William Stromberg and his wife Anna (both of whom worked on preparing the score for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra), producer Leigh Phillips, and Jeff Johnson and Roger Feigelson of Intrada Records. Over the course of this revealing conversation, the group talks about the The Chairman's unique instrumentation, the benefits of...

The good folks at La-La Land Records have unveiled this year's Black Friday releases, and we're pleased to bring you a Soundtrack Spotlight on their latest Goldsmith offering. J. Lee Thompson's 1985 film King Solomon's Mines takes much inspiration from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Goldsmith follows suit with an old-fashioned, fully orchestral adventure score. Your humble host Jens is joined by album producer Neil S. Bulk and liner notes writer Jeff Bond for a conversation on correcting the pitch and tempo of the music, how much of a debt the music owes to John Williams, the sonic adjustments...

If your musical tastes are anything like ours, odds are you've been spinning the wonderful new recordings of Jerry Goldsmith's music for the TV movies Pursuit, Crawlspace, and The People Next Door quite frequently over the past few months. Now, we invite you to join us for a look at the creation of this terrific album. Before the main event gets underway, our show begins with a tribute to composer, orchestrator, and reconstructionist John Morgan, who passed away only the day before we recorded this program this past January. Following this, your humble...

With the aid of their magic amulet, the good folks at Intrada Records have finally located the missing pieces of Jerry Goldsmith’s score for the 1982 animated film The Secret of NIMH. In this new Soundtrack Spotlight, mastering engineer Chris Malone, liner notes writer Jeff Bond, and Intrada's own Roger Feigelson join your humble hosts Jens, Yavar, David, and Clark for an examination of the definitive new presentation of this extraordinary work. You'll hear conversation about why this score sounds richer than ever, what the handful of new cues add to the listening experience, this score's significance within Goldsmith's la...

It's a long road 
when you're fixing First Blood 
And it hurts when 
you have to double dip 

But this new release 
Corrects some notable flaws 
In some crucial ways 
It really rights the ship 

It's a Spotlight 
Your hosts David and Jens, they'll tell ya 
They're here to inform ya 
And they brought some friends 

Roger Feigelson 
And Neil S. Bulk 
Serve as our special guests 
Explain why this new release is the best, 
For you and meeeee 

Cause restora...

It's another Soundtrack Spotlight! This time, your humble hosts Yavar and David are joined by liner notes writer Tim Greiving and mastering engineer Chris Malone for an examination of Jerry Goldsmith's alternately lyrical and chilling score for Robert Mulligan's 1972 horror film The Other. Previously only available on CD as a 22-minute suite, the complete score has been beautifully restored and reveals itself as a yet another remarkable Goldsmith work. In this show, you'll hear discussion of the film's troubled production history and mixed critical reception, the advances in audio restoration tools since the release of the...

With only three days left to pledge your support for a New Recording of Jerry Goldsmith's score to The Chairman on Kickstarter, Jens makes an impassioned plea to all of you to help make it happen.

Click here for the Kickstarter page

Please send your correspondence to [email protected].

Intrada's new release of Jerry Goldsmith’s original film tracks for Islands in the Stream gave us the opportunity to not only talk about a score the composer regarded as a personal favorite, but also to share memories of Intrada’s beloved founder, Douglass Fake. On this very special Soundtrack Spotlight, the complete Odyssey team — Jens, Yavar, David, and Clark — is joined by Intrada producer Roger Feigelson, shipping manager Jeff Johnson, media consultant Joe Sikoryak, liner notes writer Frank DeWald, and mastering engineer Chris Malone. First you’ll hear a discussion of the new album, including details on the sound impr...

Say, what's that great big thing, amidst this collection of freshly-lopped heads? Sacre bleu! I's a new regular episode! Longtime friend of the show (and Certified Thriller Expert) Leigh Phillips joins David, Yavar, and Clark to discuss Jerry Goldsmith's music for the Thriller installment "Guillotine," a score that is by turns ominous, slyly beautiful, and darkly playful. The guys examine the score's echoes of other Goldsmith works (particularly Basic Instinct), debate the degree to which the episode is intended as dark comedy, consider the possibility of this score being re-recorded for a potential third volume of Leigh's Thriller series...

In June of 2024, The Austin Symphony offered an evening of live Jerry Goldsmith music containing selections from Gremlins, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Total Recall, and other beloved scores. A few months later, Yavar and Clark — who were in attendance at the concert, along with Goldsmith Odyssey co-founder Jens — spoke to conductor Peter Bay and principal librarian Ali Verderber about the performance. You'll hear about Peter's long-time passion for Goldsmith's music, Ali's efforts to secure the rights to certain pieces, the difficulty of staging a Goldsmith concert vs. a John Williams program, the pieces that proved most challenging in rehe...

It's always a treat to hear from filmmakers who got to work directly with Jerry, and we're thrilled that director Jonathan Kaplan took the time to share his memories with us. In this wide-ranging Odyssey Interview, Jonathan tells David and Yavar about his father Sol Kaplan's career as a film composer, the thrill of watching Isaac Hayes perform the Truck Turner score, collaborating with Goldsmith on Love Field and Bad Girls, helping James Horner craft the main theme for Unlawful Entry, the budget limitations that led to Brad Fiedel creating a solo electronic score for The Accused, and so...

Our intermittent exploration of Jerry Goldsmith's early radio work continues with a 2-for-1 special: an episode of CBS Radio Workshop that offers brief dramatizations of the Ray Bradbury short stories "Season of Disbelief" and "Hail and Farewell" (both of which are introduced by Bradbury himself). Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark explore the rich, sensitive small-scale scores Goldsmith created for these stories, both of which contain memorable themes and compelling musical ideas. While all three members of the team regard "Hail and Farewell" rather warmly, "Season of Disbelief" prompts some strikingly different interpretations and spirited conversation. We've included...

Jerry Goldsmith's music has been present in multiple Hollywood blockbusters this year, and his musical voice is particularly prominent in John Paesano's score for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. In this Odyssey Interview, Yavar and Goldsmith biographer Jeff Bond talk with Paesano about the challenges of finding a middle ground between Goldsmith's iconic original score and the more recent sound Michael Giacchino has established for the series, director Wes Ball's passion for film music, Paesano's slow and steady path to finding success as a film composer, assisting Goldsmith on some of the legendary composer's later film scores...

Returning guest Carlos Rafael Rivera joins us for our longest episode to date!

In the opening portion of the show, Carlos takes us on an in-depth guided tour of the history of Spanish classical guitar music, providing a brilliant framework through which to view the music we'll be covering.

After that, Carlos joins your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark for an exploration of three guitar-based Goldsmith radio scores: the Hallmark Hall of Fame installment "Simón Bolívar," plus the CBS Romance episodes "Córdoba" and "The Guitar." Additionally, we return to Goldsmith's early Toc...

Are you now, or have you ever been, a Jerry Goldsmith fan? If so, you won't want to miss our third and final production report on Leigh Phillips' marvelous Jerry Goldsmith at The General Electric Theater series. Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark chat with Leigh about the three latest additions: the stark and grim "My Dark Days," the cheerfully Italian-flavored "The Committeeman," and the gorgeous library music collection "Autumn Love." In addition to exploring the various challenges of bringing these scores to the finish line, Leigh reflects on the success of the GE Theater project as a...

We know what you’re thinking: "Wait… didn't you guys already do an Inchon Soundtrack Spotlight?" Indeed we did, back in 2020, when Intrada rereleased Jerry Goldsmith's memorable score for the otherwise largely forgotten 1981 Korean War drama. Now, Intrada has released the score yet again, with improved audio and a small handful of new extras. In this follow-up Spotlight, your humble hosts David and Clark chat with Intrada's Douglass Fake and audio engineer Chris Malone about the surprising discovery that led to this new release, the ways in which this score improves on the audio quality offered by previous releases, the...

Jerry Goldsmith's musical legacy lives on in the new animated series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, featuring a wonderful score by composer Sherri Chung. In this Odyssey Interview, your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark chat with Sherri about the score's large collection of memorable thematic ideas, the joy of being given the opportunity take a traditionally orchestral musical approach, the wide array of distinctive ethnic instruments employed throughout, the importance of nodding to Goldsmith's iconic themes, the challenges of navigating the modern TV music landscape, what we might be able to expect musically from the second season of...

Attention! Our final Soundtrack Spotlight of the year is here! 2023 hasn’t exactly been jam-packed with new Goldsmith releases, but it’s closing with a pretty special one: Intrada’s new 2-CD presentation of MacArthur, which offers both a restoration of the original LP re-recording and the premiere of the original film tracks. Your humble hosts Yavar and David are joined by Intrada’s Douglass Fake, liner notes writer Jeff Bond, and restoration specialist Chris Malone to discuss this thrilling new release. They discuss the surprising thematic depth and variety the full version of the score has to offer, the asso...

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...

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 s...

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 of...

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...

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 J...

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 fi...

In this episode, we turn our attention to one of America's most memorable, witty, and insightful figures: Andy, co-host of the excellent film music podcast Settling the Score. He joins your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark to examine the Playhouse 90 installment "The Shape of the River," which details the tragedy-filled later years of writer Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain), and offers a Goldsmith score that alternates between bustling Americana and plaintive melancholy. We take a look at why this teleplay struggles to succeed despite being written by Oscar-winner Horton Foote, try to pin down Goldsmith's unusually loose and...

The whole band is back together for a very special kinda-sorta anniversary show! Your humble hosts David, Yavar, Clark, and Jens dig into Goldsmith’s memorable radio score for the 1956 CBS Suspense episode "The Security Agent," a political thriller about two friends attempting to flee Communist Poland. You'll hear discussion of the surprising musical origins of Goldsmith's main theme, the composer's early instincts for knowing when to hold back, the surprisingly nuanced characterizations this tale has to offer, and much more! Afterwards, stick around for a bonus trip down memory lane, as we look back on some of our fa...

After decades of writing about Jerry Goldsmith, author and film music historian Jeff Bond is preparing to deliver his definitive work on the subject: The Jerry Goldsmith Companion, a massive, two-volume set offering a thorough examination of the legendary composer's full career. In this Production Report, your humble hosts Yavar and David chat with Jeff about the process of creating the book, the degree to which the Goldsmith-themed liner notes he's written over the years informed the project, surprising discoveries made throughout the process, the different eras and defining traits of Goldsmith's career, and much more! It's a lively...

Another pair of Jerry Goldsmith re-recordings are right around the corner, and we're pleased to offer all of the exciting details in our latest Production Report. This time, Leigh Phillips is presenting two strikingly different Goldsmith scores written for The General Electric Theatre: the bright, chipper “The Legend That Walks Like a Man” (previously covered by The Goldsmith Odyssey back in Episode 25) and the grim, militaristic "Hitler's Secret." Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark talk with Leigh about how those scores were chosen, the work that was involved in preparing them for recording, which passages in "The Legend That...

In the summer of 2022, your humble hosts David and Yavar had a conversation with Mike Matessino about his work on the Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (both the original DVD presentation and the dazzling new 4K restoration). While some of the revelations Mike offered prevented us from releasing this show until now, we are pleased to finally share this extraordinary interview. Over the course of this bountiful conversation, Mike talks about the years he spent working alongside director Robert Wise, the circumstances that led to the creation of the Director’s Edition, the challenging aspects of t...

A lot of unusual noises have been heard in Jerry Goldsmith’s score for The ‘Burbs, so we gathered all of the neighbors together to discuss them. In this very special Soundtrack Spotlight, your humble hosts Yavar, David, Jens, and Clark are pleased to welcome director Joe Dante, editor Marshall Harvey, recording engineer Bruce Botnick, album co-producer Neil S. Bulk, and album art designer Dan Goldwasser. You’ll hear stories about the creation of the film, discussion of the wide array of colorful elements in Goldsmith’s witty score, insights on the creation of the Morricone-heavy temp track, details on the i...

One fateful evening, your humble hosts Yavar, David, and Clark gathered together to record a new installment of The Goldsmith Odyssey, focusing on the Playhouse 90 drama “Project Immortality”. The episode is a character-driven story with just a splash of sci-fi intrigue, starring Lee J. Cobb as a dying scientist who has agreed to let a team of researchers attempt to reproduce his brain using an advanced computer program. The accompanying Jerry Goldsmith score is frequently somber and sensitive, though it also contains some dazzling bursts of energy and color. If we're permitted to say so, it's a good conversation abou...

What's that mysterious sound coming from the room upstairs? Could it be the ghost of a murdered composer, playing a distinctly Goldsmithian melody on the piano? Mercifully, no. Upon closer inspection, it was just an audio clip featured in the latest installment of The Goldsmith Odyssey, which focuses on the Ida Lupino-directed Thriller episode "What Beckoning Ghost?" Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark are joined by two special guests: director Amin Maltaqa and composer Panu Aaltio, both of whom have a wide variety of insights to offer on Goldsmith's playfully mysterious score. Also, if you want to get...

While we've been honored to have both composers and directors appear on The Goldsmith Odyssey, it was a particular treat to welcome our first director-composer team to the program: filmmaker Amin Maltaqa and composer Panu Aaltio, whose new film 5000 Blankets is playing in theaters December 12 & 13 (and will be streamable in the months ahead). In this Odyssey Interview, Amin and Panu tell your humble hosts Yavar, David, and Clark about their deep and abiding film music fandom, their love of Jerry Goldsmith, their collaborative process, and much more! Naturally you'll hear plenty of excerpts from Panu's new score: a melodic...

On the record, off the QT, and not even remotely hush hush: it's a new Soundtrack Spotlight! Yavar is joined by liner notes writer and film music journalist Tim Greiving for a conversation about Varese Sarabande's new Deluxe Edition of Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-nominated score for L.A. Confidential. You'll hear about how this score represents the culmination of Goldsmith's noir-themed work, why Tim didn't connect with the film, Tim's approach to the liner notes, the balance between source music and score in the film, Goldsmith's conservative approach to spotting, and more! Along the way, you'll hear plenty of excerpts...

Want to hear some great Jerry Goldsmith stories? You could pay a major corporation to remember them for you wholesale... or you could listen to one of Jerry's most important collaborators remember them for free. In this Odyssey Interview, your humble hosts David, Jens, Yavar, and Clark are joined by a very special guest: legendary filmmaker Paul Verhoeven. Over the course of this conversation, you'll hear Paul talk about the pleasure of hearing Jerry's memorable music for Total Recall, the challenging (and ultimately rewarding) process of finding the right sound for Basic Instinct, why he was moved to tears...