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Jerry Goldsmith Biography


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Oh yah, count me in.

For many, many years Williams was the *only* film composer that I ever thought about. Then Elfman, Goldenthal, Bernstein, the Newman's, Poledouris, Horner...... started creeping into my collection. It wasn't until around '99 when "Poltergeist" was issued on cd for the first time, that I began a liking to his music. After that, he quickly stepped up in ranks to be just as good (if not better in parts) than Williams. Over the past 7 years, I have amassed more original cd's for Jerry, than I have for Williams (and I have all of them except for the latest FSM releases), and sometimes he is just more "fulfilling" to listen to.

Call me crazy!

But I will be buying this book. No doubt.

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Oh I'll be getting this book. It is all the better since it written by his daughter. A fitting tribute to the great maestro. Carrie Goldsmith writes wonderfully.

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Neat! So it really is coming along.

Marian - who only read the prelude and will save the rest for the actual book.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with this quirk. I read a few lines here and there and greatly enjoyed it.

Buying this book was already a given; now that I have read some excerpts, I am even eagerer than ever!

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Dad paused and grinned caustically:  “Maybe I should have done the John Williams thing and stuck to changing my name from ‘Jerry’ to ‘Jerrald.’  He changed his name from ‘Johnny’ to ‘John’.”

:P

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I read the first chapter at Joel Goldsmith's site and I will warn those who worship Williams to my eyes there does indeed appear to be some jealously towards Williams. He had some unkind words for Williams in chapter one.

Still this book should really be entertaining and pull no punches. Goldsmith speaks his mind and has some interesting stories to tell.

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Actually that wasn't the one I was referring to. ;)

There were some other comments that struck me as odd.

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Hey, the book's written by Jerry Goldsmith's daughter. Didn't John Williams once work for Goldsmith - only to later become more famous, celebrated and higher paid... Maybe she's a little bitter...?

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Correct again. And I'm going to get this book; I'm a great fan of Jerry Goldsmith - he will be very much missed.

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He already is. And since most of the content seems to be from interviews Carrie Goldsmith did with her father, I would expect that most of what it says is Goldsmith's view, like it or not.

Marian - who will not stop being a Jerry Goldsmith fan in case he made harsh comments about Williams.

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Same here Marian.

And I just want to say it's my own opinion. I read the first chapter and that's how it came across to me.

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I don't need my second favorite composer to lavish praise on my favorite composer. I know how great each is, just an honest opinion will do. Which I know you'll always get out of Jerry. ;)

John- looking forward to reading this

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Considering Jerry reveals he worries he is a fraud, I don't think it's bad that he says Williams is a snob. Who knows what he means, as he gives no example except that he used to try to be like Previn.

A good read. Can't wait to get the whole thing. I'm betting he'll praise Williams in another chapter. But this book is about Jerry, and it is great to hear from him.

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Even if the various fanboards get into rage about the fact that Goldsmith obviously would not knit wreaths of roses for Williams or Horner, it's great to have such a insight into the composer's mind not hindered by the usual ties and no-go's.

Funny enough, i found his back-stabbing at Williams as mascot on parade a bit odd. As soon as Goldsmith got the chance to go public, he embraced the Pops concept dearly, dumbing down a lot of his music and refused to play anything more taxing than the theme from 'Rudy' (Planet of the Apes excepted), so he clearly never tried to challenge the concept of the Pops.

It's a nice read anyhow, since Mrs. Goldsmith obviously isn't concerned with idol building...

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It was refreshing to read that excerpt from Jerry's daughter and I too will be getting it once it is released. All we need now is to get that Toto-pop-brat-son of Johnny's to do his biography.

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It was refreshing to read that excerpt from Jerry's daughter and I too will be getting it once it is released.  All we need now is to get that Toto-pop-brat-son of Johnny's to do his biography.
¨

Joseph Williams could also tell us about his Red Shoes Diaries scoring assignements and other smutty projects he has done in these past decades. :)

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  • 2 months later...

“Copyists, by the way, are very good musicians,” Dad said. “It seems like a dull, boring job, and it is, but they’re all excellent musicians, especially today—even more so. Nobody writes music anymore; they just hum it. Copyists are doing more than they ever have. Some idiot plays a synthesizer, then records it, and then the copyist has to write it down, notate it, and eventually has to get in playable form so the musicians can play it. That’s what copyists have to do today.”

Loving it already!

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From High School Bully to Fat Boy, it seems Williams versatility as a human being knows no bounds.

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so there’s slamming the lid of the piano down

LOL

This is why I love the man.

FAT BOOY! :cry:

Man the world really lost one of its most unique composers...both in personality, and in his writing.

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  • 2 months later...
    “But I disagree with John’s assessment that Jerry is Alex’s disciple,” Anna said, shaking her head.  “Alex respected Jerry as an equal.  He admired Jerry because he had no inhibitions; he let it all hang out—just like himself, but not John.  Alex thought John was very talented too, but on a different level.  John is more of the intellect.”

Anna laughed; “You know, John really is the intellectual composer.  When I was at Tanglewood, John premiered a cello concerto he had composed. Samantha Williams and I sat with Steven Spielberg, and after the concert, Steven turned to me all serious like and said, ‘I always thought your husband was the composer of tension, and I think that John is finally getting it.’”

           Anna laughed again, “Can you imagine?  But John—I love him; I trust John Williams. I can go to him for anything; he and Samantha have always been there for me…but John…he is so smooth, almost patronizingly so.  With Jerry, I know exactly where I’m at.”

Well, I still don't get why Anna North finds it so funny, and what she exactly means with all that.

I didn't know Alex North and John Williams were such close friends. Always good to know :)

scissorhands, big fan of Alex North (who is a very intellectual composer, by the way)

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I'm not sure if I'll get this. I did not like the way his daughter writting, but worst, all the resentment one feel on his words troubles me.

I always find sad that one cannot come to terms with teh way his life went. I mean, you may feel that life wasn't fair to you, and I can understand that, but he still had a great carreer.

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Miguel,

I have always found Jerry to seemingly be a bit jealous of JW's career. But on the other hand speaking with other composers who were under his wing, they say he was a wonderful and caring person. Maybe he was bi-polar.

Perhaps he had an inferiority complex to Williams, or to movies with sucessful scores written by those who were far less talented them him. Afterall he only had a handful of truly HUGE films. Nonetheless, he was so talented. Its a shame he is dead. Its also a shame anyone else ever scored a star trek movie in his stead.

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