banthapoodoo

The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing and Not With My Wife You Don't! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XDR5QE/ref=pe_11480_14051660_emwa_email_img_1 http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Loved-Cat-Dancing/dp/B0029KDDIK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1262988117&sr=1-1

One point that I have to add... Given that inspiration is an important part of film scoring (both composers have said so), John has rarely had to score the kind of crappy action pictures that Jerry has been given. My point has been made in several previous posts - ie: "Superman: the Movie" vs. "Supergirl", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" vs. "King Solomon's Mines", "Star War" vs. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture, etc. Then there are gems like "The 13th Warrior", "Chain Reaction" and "Small Soldiers". Yet Goldsmith still managed to come up with some quality (and sometimes brilliant) action cues for each of these dogs. Not to say that John hasn't had a least one or two howlers in his career ("Heartbeeps" jumps to mind) and he managed a few good cues for that one. But, admit it, John has had it much easier with material.

If you want to get a look at her acting / musical abilities, I would suggest (in addition to "Carousel") checking out the 1965 television version of Rogers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella". She was the stepsister Esmerelda and was hysterical playing along side the great Pat Carroll (the voice of Ursela in "The Little Mermaid"). She was the stepsister who, if memory serves, couldn't stop batting her eyes. Williams won't even talk about her in interviews and refers to her only as "the mother of my children." Apparantly, he was really devastated by her untimely passing.

Miguel... Could he be referring to the Rita Dove conversation and Cynthia Hyman performance of the Dove poems that John set to music?

This thread got me to go back and listen to a number of rendtions. One that I forgot about (and I don't know how I could because it was so thrilling) was the very first take rendition which is a buried track on the RCA 09026-68746-2 release. It has that slight trill at the beginning which was later eliminated in favor of the strong abrupt beginning in the final film version. Even if you don't like the deleted beginning, it's still amazing to hear the very first time the orchestra ever struck up that wonderous theme that would become famous throughout the world!

If your allowing renditions by conductors other than Williams (and I assume you are as someone choose the Gerhardt version) I have always championed the Zubin Mehta / Los Angeles Philharmonic recording. The tempi are brisk and the sound quality is exceptional. Here are two CD's that have the theme: http://www.amazon.com/Holst-Planets-Gustav...7117&sr=8-7 http://www.amazon.com/Holst-Planets-Willia...7117&sr=8-6 Both are budget priced and the theme is coupled with Holst's "The Planets" which is also performed with great enthusiasm and skill.

I was really excited to see that the score for "Cinderella Liberty" will be isolated on the DVD release. The DVD arrives tomorrow (finially). I saw it on TV about 12 years ago...not a great film - a little melodramatic, but it was watchable. The score, of course, is another matter. It features great harmonica performances by Toots Theilmanns and one of John's best songs "Nice to be Around". Forgive me if this was mentioned in another thread. I went through the last couple of days and didn't see anything.

Here is a post on the FILTER MAGAZINE website refuting the JWFan posting about Patrick Doyle composing the music for "The Goblet of Fire" http://www.filter-mag.com/news/interior.1851.html Let's hope that this is WRONG.

On August 15th, 2002 I wrote: I wrote letters, I made phone calls and (although I'm sure I had absoultely nothing do do with it) now I couldn't be happier. What's even more astounding to me is this is going to happen with a Republican president in office!!! I never thought he'd have a chance with President Bush in there. A great day for the maestro, I'm sure!

The amazing fife melody dancing over the the main theme from "The Patriot". A great Williams moment.

Just noticed today that Amazon has "How to Steal a Million" for pre-order. The release date is December 7th. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...?v=glance&s=dvd A fun score by Mr. Williams!

Roald wrote: Roald - I don't know if you know this but Stephen Schwartz is a tremendously talented composer in his own right having written the broadway shows "Godspell", "Pippin", "Children of Eden", "The Baker's Wife" (my favorite), "The Magic Show" and, most recently, "Wicked" for which he received a Tony award nomination. He also wrote words and music for Disney's "Geppetto" starring Drew Carey. It always amused me that he would take a job writing lyrics for Menken when he is every bit as talented at writing melody than Menken is. I guess it did open new doors for him and he has been quoted as saying he did like writing with Alan. Anyways, just thought I would let you know in case you wanted to hear more of Schwartz's work.

This is indeed a third John Williams. John Williams is, unfortuantely, a common name and there was another jazz pianist that recorded prominately in the 50's with the same name. I suspect that because of this, our John usually went by John T. or Johnny Williams. Also, the picture looks nothing like him and by the time this disc was recorded I believe his hair was already thinning.

20. Always 19. Hook 18. 1941 17. Empire of the Sun 16. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 15. Amistad 14. Lost World: Jurassic Park, The 13. AI: Artificial Intelligence 12. Color Purple The 11. Catch Me If You Can 10. Sugarland Express, The 9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 8. Minority Report 7. Jurassic Park 6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 5. Raiders of the Lost Ark 4. Jaws 3. Saving Private Ryan 2. Schindler's List (Drumroll.......................................) 1. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

This Thursday (3/11), "Passion" composer John Debney will conduct the Biola University Chorale along with a musical ensemble and special guest vocalist Lisbeth Scott on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (airing 11:35pm PST/EST) The 30-voice choir with soloist Lisbeth Scott (who co-wrote the lyrics with John Debney) will perform a custom suite from "The Passion of The Christ" which will include: "Mary Goes To Jesus," "Raising The Cross" and "The Resurrection." Also accompanying the selection will be ancient instruments including Taiko drums, Tom Toms and World woodwinds as well as keyboards