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When are these scheduled to be cancelled? Karol

This was a blast to write the liner notes for! I've long maintained that JPIII is in the very top tier of "Williams sequel scores not written by Williams." It balances the Williams-derived material with original material and Davis's sensibilities just brilliantly, and it's just ripping good music all around -- including one of my favorite action cues ("Billy Oblivion") of the early aughts. I also appreciated the opportunity to interview Davis, who had some wonderful stories and insights to share.

Regarding the health situation, here's Jennifer on the red carpet, saying he's doing great and will "be back on the road very soon". Take it for what it's worth: By the way, I think Spielberg has had a few pre-premiere drinks. He looks tipsy!

I heard they have already been secretly shot.

Honestly a very nice and well-rounded doc. I feel like there are two movies in here intertwined that could be called "A Portrait of John Williams" and "A Tribute to John Williams." The latter is the most predictable stuff cause it's what we all do in here anyway, buncha guys talking about how great he is. But the former is magical throughout, seeing him out golfing, in the car on the way to Hollywood Bowl and backstage, that stuff was great. Talking about his scores, the CE3K clip is one for the ages. I think we're gonna see that passed around for years. I've heard him go into that theory before but this was the most beautifully expressed version. All of the little bits of him playing his music on piano...playing Fabelmans which he wrote for the Spielbergs while in voiceover talking about his own parents. One of his most recent pieces while talking about the earliest part of his life. Come onnnnn, so good. There was a brief pause in that section where it cut back to watch him quietly playing and it was so simple and casual and sweet, got a little chest pang there. One of my favorite things was the emphasis on Tanglewood, I knew it'd at least get a passing mention but I felt like the doc really presented it well and it came across why he finds it so special and integral. I also felt like they really did give a nice overview of his earlier life and career, and the fact that they even pointed out Black Sunday as part of his great 1977 year when they could have just ignored it. I think it covered as many dimensions of JW as it could in 100 minutes and honestly didn't feel like they overdid it on the greatest hits. I enjoyed that the "But they're all dead" anecdote included a big round of applause from the Q&A audience lmao. We need an extended cut that splices in random crowds of hooligans going wild. I'd really have loved a movie that was pretty much entirely Williams at the piano playing samples of his scores and talking about each of them, but I felt like this doc had a good taste of that and overall a decent approach by Bouzereau. I also caught up with the Jim Henson doc today and I felt like this was extra satisfying in comparison because the man is alive and able to tell his own story. That's what I appreciated most. Ultimately I think there is a 7/10 ceiling on this kind of thing as a piece of filmmaking but as a Williams fan, it's a great thing to have. There's something about it being a little soft that kinda just reflects his character, anyway. I loved the warm-hearted tone of it above all. The only real criticism I have is that it's too short, of course. You would just need a doc series to do it all justice. And yeah, it's distracting how much Chris Martin is featured in this!

We have a brand new Williams-Spielberg anecdote: SS: Yoda's Theme is a sweet surprise. JW: Is anybody gonna get it? SS: About 200 million people.

I made these covers last year if anyone wants something closer to the original key art. I've updated them to include the director credit but I've left off the Williams credit for consistency's sake (and it's only there for legalistic reasons... none of the World scores had it).

That was such a lovely, sweet film. I absolutely loved it. Like many others, I was very curious to see some of the other ideas of the 5 note CEOTTK "hello" motif so played through a few of them before getting bored with the idea. In short, they chose wisely. untitled.mp3

I am delighted to report that the documentary is in the Top 10 list of programs being streamed on Disney Plus!

Yes, alternate takes and all. Maybe around 3 or 4 hours of music was recorded but much of it was just alternate takes. Like playing the love theme as written then playing it again but without the cued instruments then playing it again with maybe the piano sitting out type of thing. What ended up in the movie might be part of each so you have 3 different recorded cues, were two others rejected or were none rejected because they were all edited together? That's actually very common in film scores especially on huge budget films. Pirates 3 was being made at the same time and competing with musicians but similarly went through rounds and rounds of rescore and re-records. Stuff like that that I wasn't involved in as I only worked on the music and some spotting meetings. One other thing worth mentioning, sometimes (often) the filmmakers don't know what they want and ask two or more composers to score the same scene in different ways and then decide which they'll use. That happened too. So one shouldn't interpret that as the composer missed the mark because they might not have known of the other direction. It just gives filmmakers options, and they are still making the film so might like options especially on the big or important scenes. It is good for the composer to not be too married or have too much ownership of their work for film because they might find out during the premiere that half their biggest cue was dropped and replaced by something from someone else and they weren't aware of it.

I worked on that film with Young. Yes he wrote the whole score except the inserts that used Danny's music from Spidey 2. For example, the main title theme, Chris wrote his music then the music stopped for 18 bars (or whatever it was for the insert) that were just inserts of Danny's theme. We had access to all of Danny's material and could just insert but like any composer hired to score a film, you would want to do that as little as possible so you can produce your vision of the material. That happened wherever Danny's theme came in straight as written from prior films. Then got behind due to reshoots and revisions/reedits and there are loads of alternate cues. Eventually it got bad enough that he needed extra help though he had written material for scenes. There was a few times that his cue was rejected, and the alternates were used just like what happened in Spidey 2. This is for many reasons, there were tons of producers involved and each had opinions and contradicted each other and this applied to the film and score. Some preferred Young's cue, some preferred Debney's or whoever, etc. Some lamented wishing Elfman was the composer instead.

I don't think Elfman has any control - he doesn't own the material. We know that because we could use it without his input or involvement. It was Raimi who wanted the original material used and Chris said the themes needed to be flushed out further but preferred creating new themes than existing ideas that weren't full themes. There was a CD master made but my recollection is Sony determined not to make a soundtrack because the landscape was shifting and some other big budget film flopped (I just can't remember what it was...were all the Pirates movies huge successes?) so Sony felt that and a shift away from soundtracks to download was happening AND the film wasn't well received by fans. So the production company shelved the soundtrack back then. Chris was very excited to release the album and I remember seeing it as a single CD around 65 minutes in duration, but it was only the master that was submitted and the release squashed. They just didn't feel it was going to be sufficiently profitable at that time.

If you could use an AI prompt to comb through all orchestral music, it would probably serve up dozens of pieces that resemble the 'Jaws' theme. But only Williams knows which, if any, actually "sparked" the idea in a conscious way. He wanted a theme which would convey the sense of a menacing, driving, unstoppable force coming for you... With that intention in mind, his "simple" solution seems almost inevitable. I liked what @Jeshopk had to say about it (in a discussion of the possible influences for 'Jaws' from many years ago): The JAWS ostinato and orchestration is so simple that anyone could come up with it. The genius of it is not in its construction, but in its variations, permutations, secondary motifs and its function in the drama of the film. If there were a piece containing the 2 notes as well as the rising tuba call, then that might be an inspiration. If it contained the ostinato, the tuba call and the violin melody, I would say the case would get even stronger. You can look back and find similarities for anything, but that does not mean it is the inspiration. You have to have a complex set of similarities in order for it to even be considered as an inspiration. Even then, the composer's verbal indication of an inspiration is the only 100% proof of a derived inspiration. This being said, we can usually assume when something is inspired, given that the set of similarities between works is complex enough to warrant it. I believe that by lowering your threshold, or "smell test" to merely ostinato and instrumentation, you discount the creative process as a factor. He added in a follow-up post: A composer like Williams would certainly understand that using an interval ostinato in low instruments is not an act of invention, but an act of utilization of the language of music which was developed before film music came along.

A playlist inspired by the segment where John Williams begins to talk about his childhood.

Williams's PR team released a statement regarding Errip Errense. "Regarding Mr. Errense's worries concerning what 'legendary' means in relation to John Williams, Mr. Williams stated that the comment did not bother him. However, he was surprised that Mr. Errense did not know what the word meant, given that his own wife referred to Mr. Williams as legendary just last night."

Apparently it's Bouzereau's phone

This documentary is reminding me how classic and yet fresh Rey's Theme is. It's incredible that he wrote another one of his best themes, so memorable and instantly fitting for its character so late in his career.

I was so bombarded by nostalgia by watching this documentary that I still need some time to digest everything. What can say for now is that I feel so proud to be a John Williams fan for all these years, and this documentary reminded me of how important his music was (and still is!) for me. Thank you, Maestro!

Mike Matessino has been nominated for a GRAMMY Award in the category Best Historical Album for his work on the Super Deluxe Edition of The Sound Of Music. https://naras.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/67thAwards_PressList_11072024 Congratulations, Mike!!

Is your entire life dedicated to hating on McCreary? At this point it must be ragebait.

Why wasn't Michael Giacchino in this?

A banquet will be held in his honor, including Nova Scotia smoked salmon, caribou meat pies, poutine, and Nanaimo bars. Please RSVP by November 15th.

Edith Bowman interviewed Bouzereau about the documentary for her Soundtracking podcast: https://audioboom.com/posts/8601213-laurent-bouzereau-on-his-documentary-the-music-of-john-williams

Yes, terrible news to wake up this morning, although 91 is good innings! I considered Jones one of the three remaining film music titans of his generation, alongside Williams and Schifrin (I know there are other composers around of the same age, but not on that level). Schifrin has looked poorly for years, Williams is currently struggling with health issues of his own, so I thought Jones would outlive them both. He looked sprightly the last time I saw him, which was when he handed Morricone the award for THE HATEFUL EIGHT. But when you're in your 90s, anything can happen. I've heard of Jones since I was a kid in the 80s, really, first as the mysterious "behind the scenes man" on Michael Jackson albums and "We Are the World". Then I discovered THE COLOR PURPLE. Then, as a young man, THE PAWNBROKER, and subsequently the other moody, jazzy, bluesy scores he did at the time, like IN COLD BLOOD and IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. And of course the "Soul Bossa Nova" used so famously in AUSTIN POWERS. So it's been a gradual discovery over the years. He was really a living institution in himself, much like Williams. I'll find some time to play my Jones albums in honour of the man.

SPIDER-MAN 2 – 20th ANNIVERSARY MOTION PICTURE SCORE: EXPANDED & REMASTERED LIMITED EDITION (3-CD SET) LLLCD 1658 Music by Danny Elfman Limited Edition of 3000 Units RETAIL PRICE: $39.98 STARTS SHIPPING NOV 12 Order yours NOW at www.lalalandrecords.com La-La Land Records, Columbia Pictures and Sony Music proudly celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the classic 2004 motion picture SPIDER-MAN 2 with a remastered and expanded 3-CD deluxe presentation of renowned composer Danny Elfman’s (BATMAN, DARKMAN, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, SPIDER-MAN) original score. This revered follow-up to 2002’s top box office hit reunited stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst with director Sam Raimi and would ultimately be praised by many as one of the great comic-book films of all time - and it would further expand and evolve the strikingly creative collaboration between director Raimi and composer Elfman. Building on his notable work for the first film, Elfman’s SPIDER-MAN 2 score slings and swings even higher and farther. Big, bold, thematic – this is blockbuster superhero music at its most dynamic. Full of action, courage and danger, yet remarkably emotional and focused on character, heart and romance, the composer’s work is a revelation within this long overdue, deluxe presentation which finally unleashes the score in all its brilliance, remastered and greatly expanded with a treasure trove of previously unreleased material! DISC 1 features the original 2004 score-only soundtrack assembly plus two bonus tracks, while DISCS 2 and 3 showcase the expanded film Score Presentation along with Additional Music and Additional Score Cues. Produced by Neil S. Bulk and Dan Goldwasser, and mastered by Doug Schwartz from studio vault elements, this special release is limited to 3000 units and features a 32-Page booklet with exclusive in-depth liner notes by writer Jeff Bond and heroic art direction by Dan Goldwasser. TRACK LISTING: DISC 1 ORIGINAL SCORE ALBUM 1. Spider-Man 2 Main Title 3:21 2. MJ's New Life / Spidus Interruptus 2:32 3. Doc Ock Is Born 2:23 4. Angry Arms / Rebuilding 2:51 5. A Phone Call / The Wrong Kiss / Peter's Birthday 2:07 6. The Bank / Saving May 4:27 7. The Mugging / Peter's Turmoil 3:22 8. Doc Ock's Machine 1:42 9. He's Back! 1:50 10. Train / Appreciation 6:16 11. Aunt May Packs 2:51 12. Armageddon / A Really Big Web! 6:28 13. The Goblin Returns 1:37 14. At Long Last, Love 2:56 TOTAL ORIGINAL SCORE ALBUM TIME 44:45 BONUS TRACKS 15. Spidey Suite (ALBUM VERSION) 4:00 16. Doc Ock Suite (ALBUM VERSION) 3:53 TOTAL BONUS TIME 7:53 DISC TIME 52:44 DISC 2 SCORE PRESENTATION 1. Spider-Man 2 Main Title 3:26 2. Pizza Man 1:39 3. Book Troubles 0:34 4. Riding To May's / Peter's Birthday 0:57 5. Harry Remembers / Responsible One 1:21 6. Backyard Revisited 2:01 7. Apartment Transition 0:30 8. Theatre Montage 2:01 9. Cops And Robbers 1:25 10. MJ's New Life / Spidus Interruptus (FILM VERSION) 2:08 11. Draggin' / A Phone Call 1:19 12. The Reveal 1:16 13. Blue Light 1:05 14. Fusion 1:47 15. Mayhem / Aftermath 1:26 16. Doc Ock Is Born (FILM VERSION) 2:49 17. Angry Arms 2:20 18. The Bank / Saving May (FILM VERSION) 5:17 19. Spider Fall / Rebuilding 2:30 20. Uncle Ben 2:17 21. Happy Montage 1:55 22. Peter Appeals To MJ / Newspaper 1:30 23. A Mugging / Spider-Gone 1:39 24. Doc Ock's Machine 1:44 25. Rooftop Rendezvous 1:24 26. The Fire 2:35 27. Peter's Turmoil 1:46 28. Aunt May Packs 2:56 29. Not Back Yet 1:09 30. The Wrong Kiss / Almost A Kiss 2:20 31. A Hostage 1:58 32. He's Back! (FILM VERSION) 2:01 33. Train / Appreciation (EXTENDED VERSION) 6:30 DISC TIME 68:30 DISC 3 SCORE PRESENTATION CONTINUED 1. Out For The Count 2:06 2. The Trouble With Harry 0:17 3. On The Case 2:34 4. Armageddon / A Really Big Web! (FILM VERSION) 7:59 5. The Goblin Returns (FILM VERSION) 2:38 6. At Long Last, Love 2:56 SCORE PRESENTATION CONT. TIME 18:36 TOTAL SCORE TIME 1:27:08 ADDITIONAL MUSIC 7. Harry Remembers (ALTERNATE 1) 0:47 8. Harry Remembers (ALTERNATE 2) 0:38 9. MJ's New Life / Spidus Interruptus (WITH ALTERNATE SECTION) 2:07 10. A Phone Call (ALTERNATE) 0:54 11. The Reveal (ALTERNATE) 1:16 12. Doc Ock's Machine (ALTERNATE MIX) 1:44 13. Peter's Turmoil (ALTERNATE) 2:01 14. He's Back! (ALTERNATE ENDING) 1:59 15. The Trouble With Harry (ALTERNATE) 0:18 16. Armageddon (ALTERNATE) 5:39 17. The Goblin Returns (ALTERNATE MIX) 2:37 18. Bridal Chorus* 2:11 19. At Long Last, Love (ALTERNATE ENDING) 2:55 TOTAL ADDITIONAL MUSIC TIME 25:30 ADDITIONAL SCORE CUES 20. Special Delivery** 0:53 21. Open Heart** 1:03 22. The Demonstration, Part I † 1:23 23. The Demonstration, Part II † 1:07 24. The Demonstration, Part III † 2:36 25. Cake Girl** 1:25 26. Runaway Train, Part I † 2:30 27. Runaway Train, Part II † 2:11 TOTAL ADDITIONAL SCORE CUES TIME 13:20 DISC TIME 57:41 TOTAL COLLECTION TIME 2:58:55 * Composed by Richard Wagner ** Composed by John Debney † Composed by Christopher Young and Danny Elfman https://lalalandrecords.com/spider-man-2-20th-anniversary-motion-picture-score-expanded-and-remastered-limited-edition-3-cd-set/

I liked the lack of hyping this time. We get very wishful when we're just given info on # discs and price points. Also shipping before December is extremely welcome

For me it’s all about the releases. Give me cool new film score releases any time of the year. I’ve got a lot of other annoying shit to worry about on Thanksgiving anyway.

The original Godfather II LP had rather bad artwork. Who is that? Michael? Why is he standing like that? Is that in the film? It doesn't look like him or anyone in the film.

And a small detail I noticed on his phone: he has the LLL version of E.T., which surely demonstrates how big a fan he is.

And I'm pretty sure all three of these approvals happened *before* the "health concern".

Williams always seems very aware that the camera is on. This was the closest I think I've ever seen where it feels like he's talking to me. His actual joy here is amazing. I thought this was very good. Possibly great. Since my JW autograph is on a Stockbridge Country Club score card, the golf scenes were especially delightful. "It's a mean game." So true.

The CE3K musing is also now my all-time great example why this man should have been interviewed at a piano at all times. Obviously impractical but there's really not enough footage of him stationed behind the keys demonstrating how he thinks about this stuff. He's clearly having more fun and it's so much clearer than when he's just trying to describe why a 7th chord in third inversion sounds more sinister for bad guys or referencing "thump thumps" or whatever. It's also why it's so hard to talk about music on here without just embedding YouTube videos.

They used SpaceCamp it’s a 10/10

Old age sucks. However, we have literally volumes and volumes of music from him to listen to. He has given his all, and we are all grateful. I think the piano concerto will be the career apex--as I am sure it will be in his less accessible concert mode, it will not be appreciated as such by mass audiences. But, his instrument of choice, his timeframe, his vast composing experience in one final massive work-it is a storybook ending. But, yes, like everyone else, I hope he lives and writes for years to come.

I just interpret it as an appreciation of the musicians who make his music become alive. The joy of hearing one's music played by actual, skilled, musicians. As opposed to Zimmer's samples...

He's truly a modest man. Of course he's well aware of his talents, but something in him bugs him in one way or another. There was a wondeful quote in an interview that he gave to the Financial Times in 2012 where he says: To me, he always sounded genuine in this kind of remarks. It's always risky to do layman's psychology, but it's probably something that goes way back to his childhood. In the documentary he seems to allude that his father was very serious and demanding about music practice, etc., so perhaps something stems from there.

I find it comforting that a man of his age has zero interest in watching such things outside of it being a work commitment.

I always thought the rumour going around that Elfman torpedoed Spider-Man 3 getting a soundtrack release was absurd, and for that very reason that he didn't own the material. Honestly, Sony going 'welp, soundtrack CDs just don't make us money' sounds about right.

To be honest, for me, the speculation stuff is fun for about 5 minutes but it always gets out of control and into the magical thinking realm and takes up too much bandwidth (I know you can ignore it, but then there's the risk of missing something interesting in amongst the "this will definitely be a 200 CD boxed set of every time JW coughed while conducting the prequel scores" predictions). I'd much rather have a surprise in my inbox about 3 scores I'm thrilled to get in expanded form covering a couple of different eras and some very fine, and diverse composers. Sorry (not sorry) if that makes me boring, but frankly seeing this email pop up while walking along the mean streets of Guernsey on my way home was a lovely treat.

It's like that opening blast to Star Wars.

Does Kong '05 have Kong blow-drying his woman's hair after giving her a bath in a tropical waterfall? No? WINNER: 1976.

I like the movie but Venom never should've been apart of it, and Raimi didn't want him in it because he said he didn't understand the character, or something to that effect.

Raimi nailed the crucial character scenes in S3 but the script was a mess (a properly scripted SM-3 should’ve been a succinct 2 hour film). The producers and Sony should’ve let him make the film his way, a la Christopher Nolan. And I’ve met Sam, he’s one of the nicest and most personable guys to talk to. They should’ve let the man alone after how wildly successful & acclaimed SM-2 was.

Weren't his Air Force days scored with the March?

I'm sorry guys. What happened is serious. the second one anyway that stemmed from the first. He's the only living idol I have left, you think I don't want him to recover and live till 345? I truly hope he does (recover). I've seen him in London and I've seen him here in LA more times than I can count. I would love to still see him conduct. Just remember, injuries that we sustain when we are younger are different to the same ones we sustain when we are older, let alone in one's 90s. What kept him and any other person his age going is the body's ability to walk and do things and his brain to be stimulated by writing and playing. When all of that goes out of the window the body starts collapsing and other things happen. I truly hope what I heard from the inside sources is wrong, but do you guys think that having the premiere of "Music by John Williams" be in our hometown of LA and the fact that Williams could not simply come and sit in the audience but instead it was his daughter Jenny there... Do we not think that as telling at all? Bear in mind, this came second hand to me, so I cannot 100% guarantee what happened but one of the people in the chain was Jenny Williams..... But also, that does not mean he will not recover, right? So I'm hoping for the best but getting ready for the worst. UPDATE: OK, I made a call. I know some of you will think I am making this up but trust me, ask any longtime member including Ricard, I am not. So I called my friend and he didn't have any new info but then he said let me make a call. He just called me back, he IS doing better.

This'll probably be the last time we can do this