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New Podcast! The Baton: A John Williams Musical Journey


Trumpeteer

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On 10/31/2019 at 1:50 AM, Jurassic Shark said:

He's got so many followers now that he doesn't even bother to tell us.

Yes, I am gaining so many followers each week and it's amazing! But, really, I am so busy producing each episode that I sometimes forget to let the JWFan folks know about each new episode. A new one is released EVERY Wednesday!

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5 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

It's impressive that you manage to keep up such a tight schedule! How many weeks in advance do you start planning each episode?

The solo episodes have a quick turnaround and I try to have them completed at least two weeks before they go live. It takes a week to produce a show, starting with watching the film then doing research and creating the script. Recording and editing are usually done in one day. Shows with guest co-hosts take twice as long.

 

I try to stay at least two weeks ahead so I am not rushing to get each episode done. Sometimes I am working on two episodes in the same week, if I have the time to do so.

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@Trumpeteer - Just discovered your podcast after seing it mentioned at FSM Jaws 2 thread.

I'm enjoing it a lot and kind of going backwards starting with the more recent episodes.

Liked a lot the one on "The Fury", Williams really nailed the Hermann sound but it is still unmistakably a Williams' score. Just a small comment, at the end of the podcast you mention that the explosive finale "Gillian's Power" was not available at the LSO album recording. In fact it was (at the last minutes of the penultimate track "Death On The Carrousel"). For me it is the only fault of the LSO recording comparing with the film recording because it misses the theremin sound, but the track is there. 

It is interesting how Williams kind of reused the same coda in Jurassic Park.

 

[obs. for some reason I'm not being able to listen to Episode 41 - Jaws]

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On 11/14/2019 at 7:58 AM, danbeck said:

@Trumpeteer - Just discovered your podcast after seing it mentioned at FSM Jaws 2 thread.

I'm enjoing it a lot and kind of going backwards starting with the more recent episodes.

Liked a lot the one on "The Fury", Williams really nailed the Hermann sound but it is still unmistakably a Williams' score. Just a small comment, at the end of the podcast you mention that the explosive finale "Gillian's Power" was not available at the LSO album recording. In fact it was (at the last minutes of the penultimate track "Death On The Carrousel"). For me it is the only fault of the LSO recording comparing with the film recording because it misses the theremin sound, but the track is there. 

It is interesting how Williams kind of reused the same coda in Jurassic Park.

 

[obs. for some reason I'm not being able to listen to Episode 41 - Jaws]

Thanks for the insight on "The Fury." I should have gone in more detail about having "Gillian's Power" on the CD, but it really is nowhere near as good as the film version and the there in is part of the reason.

 

I played the "Jaws" episode on Podbean and it was fine. If you are playing it on another platform, let me know.

On 11/14/2019 at 8:30 AM, Jurassic Shark said:

He's got so many followers now that the server's probably overloaded.

That is my goal!!! But I don't think I am there ... yet.

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4 hours ago, danbeck said:

I tried to play the “Jaws” episode on Spotify.

Played fine for me on the Spotify app. Try other platforms (including YouTube) if you keep running into problems.

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On 11/17/2019 at 11:12 AM, Jurassic Shark said:

@Trumpeteer, here's an interesting thought: What about having Thor as a guest on your show?

I am open to anyone joining me as guest host … provided they have something interesting to contribute about a particular score and/or that time period in John Williams' life.

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I think the early period where I have the most to contribute has passed. Besides, I have my own series of JW podcasts planned, with a slightly different angle than yours, so I'll need to put my energy into that. But I wish you all the best, Trumpeteer!

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1 hour ago, Thor said:

I think the early period where I have the most to contribute has passed. Besides, I have my own series of JW podcasts planned, with a slightly different angle than yours, so I'll need to put my energy into that. But I wish you all the best, Trumpeteer!

 

Maybe after Trumpeteer finishes the feature films he'll double back around and cover whatever TV he can find. If he does I'm sure you'd be a great help! :)

 

Yavar

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9 hours ago, Thor said:

I think the early period where I have the most to contribute has passed. Besides, I have my own series of JW podcasts planned, with a slightly different angle than yours, so I'll need to put my energy into that. But I wish you all the best, Trumpeteer!

 

Interesting! Could you reveal more about it?

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1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Interesting! Could you reveal more about it?

 

Not yet. It would be a multiple-part series covering the various facets of his career. Hopefully something I start next year; been wanting to do it ever since Celluloid Tunes' beginning -- regardless if others have done it before; or will be doing it in the interim. I know I have material that few others have access to, so it would be a kind of exclusive.

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9 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Speaking of which @Yavar Moradi when are you finally gonna do Jerry's movies?


We’ve done four of them, all excellent works! ;)

 

http://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/656592-episode-1-black-patch-1957

 

http://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/665607-episode-2-city-of-fear-1959

 

http://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/673893-episode-3-face-of-a-fugitive-1959-toccata-1958

 

http://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/866001-episode-15-studs-lonigan-1960

 

Five of them if you count the Elvis movie Flaming Star (1960) for which Jerry composed the superb finale cue:

http://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/927433-episode-16-have-gun-will-travel-flaming-star-1960

 

And then there are the two feature length Playhouse 90s...they count as TV movies, in my book, and they’re very good!:

http://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/700742-episode-5-a-marriage-of-strangers-playhouse-90-1959

 

http://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/707767-episode-6-tomorrow-playhouse-90-1960

 

But now we come to the downside (or: choose to view it as an upside — the discovery of a lot of great overlooked Goldsmith) of our thorough and roughly chronological approach: in 1961 Jerry scored no films at all, instead having a truly epic TV year (Bear McCreary-like) before Alfred Newman heard one of his superb Thriller scores and recommended him for Lonely Are the Brave, my favorite Goldsmith movie score, in 1962. Do we skip all this great output, and lose that context for his later film work? Or do we cover it all as comprehensively as possible? Well, we opted for the latter...so we are in for 17 more podcasts on his TV work before we get to another feature film. :o Buckle up!

 

:)

 

Yavar

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In all seriousness, by current estimates we should be getting to Planet of the Apes in about four years (even with me continuing to insert special interview episodes into the schedule). :) We already have several potential special guests interested in joining us to discuss that important work! We are in this for the long haul, for sure...

 

Yavar

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5 hours ago, Thor said:

Great! You approach this project the same way I would do a Williams book, I think. An almost ADD-like adherence to covering everything.

 

Everything we can find and get our hands on (UCLA has some exclusive Goldsmith-scored things one can view in person, but sadly none of us currently lives in LA, and even if we did I don't think we'd have a way of copying it to cover on the podcast). And I think you meant "OCD" as opposed to "ADD". ;)

 

If I were writing a Goldsmith book, I would still write about stuff I just found documentation for, even if unable to actually view or listen to it myself.


Yavar

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Let's get back on topic … though there is a Jerry Goldsmith connection.

 

The 50th episode of "The Baton" is here! And the score discussed in this episode is a "super" one. I'm joined by co-host Doug Grieve as we discuss the music to "Superman." I'm sure everyone reading this knows that John Williams was not the original composer for "Superman," and we discuss that a bit while theorizing about the relationship between John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. But, this episode is really about analyzing this great score, from the record-setting opening titles to the wonderfully orchestrated theme for the villains. Enjoy!

 

"Superman" episode on "The Baton: A John Williams Musical Journey"

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34 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I'm reading this, and I didn't know.

I didn't know it either, until a year ago! I'm glad there is some new information in the episode for you!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

The first year of "The Baton" is coming to a close. I'm so grateful to everyone who has been a part of this fun and insightful journey since the beginning, and thankful to those who found the podcast later and became new fans. I am very excited to get Year Two started, but for now, please enjoy the final episode of the year, which focuses on the film "Heartbeeps" and its very fine score by John Williams. See you in 2020 for 56 more episodes!

 

 

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I've been making my way through this over the past weeks. It's a nice listen during my morning and evening commutes. Particularly the episodes concerning Williams's early work were insightful, as I'm rather unfamiliar with anything predating Jane Eyre.

 

I know it's far too late now, but I wish there was some attention to the commercial releases of each score as part of the podcast. It would be nice to know what was out there and which version to look for after hearing each score discussed. 

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Dear Jeff, absolutely loving these insightfull discussions on your podcast series. i will be writing to you seperately. outsanding job to you and your collaborators. 

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  • 1 month later...

After TOD, I really liked Last Crusade, Born on the Fourth of July and Home Alone (you did play a wrong note on the piano in Kevin’s theme), and I absolutely loved Presumed Innocent.

 

But I was disappointed by the Hook episode. I obviously realise you might have been pressed for time and/or influenced by the global drama, but I felt the episode was a bit too short, and what’s much more problematic, you refer to Tinker Bell’s theme as ‘a piano melody that doesn't really get any major development in the underscore' while it is used very often and clearly refers to her, and you also don’t mention the Belief theme that opens Exit Music. Especially Tink’s theme really needed mentioning.

 

Having said that, I still can’t wait for all your future episodes and it's fantastic that they're still coming regardless of the gloomy current events.

 

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6 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

After TOD, I really liked Last Crusade, Born on the Fourth of July and Home Alone (you did play a wrong note on the piano in Kevin’s theme), and I absolutely loved Presumed Innocent.

 

But I was disappointed by the Hook episode. I obviously realise you might have been pressed for time and/or influenced by the global drama, but I felt the episode was a bit too short, and what’s much more problematic, you refer to Tinker Bell’s theme as ‘a piano melody that doesn't really get any major development in the underscore' while it is used very often and clearly refers to her, and you also don’t mention the Belief theme that opens Exit Music. Especially Tink’s theme really needed mentioning.

 

Having said that, I still can’t wait for all your future episodes and it's fantastic that they're still coming regardless of the gloomy current events.

 

Thanks for the comments about all of the recent episodes. I have been told about the wrong note played on the piano for Kevin's theme, which comes from me getting incorrectly transposed sheet music. I have re-uploaded the episode with the piano performance removed.

 

As for Hook, we were not pressed for time. I try to keep co-hosted shows to an hour if possible. Many people write to me wishing we could spend two hours on their favorite score, but that is not the goal of the podcast. I'm not planning to play every minute of every score, but to just give a historical guide to the music. However, I was not aware that the piano melody that plays before "We Don't Wanna Grow Up" would turn into Tinkerbell's theme, so thanks for that observation.

 

My podcast episodes are not being affected by the worldwide pandemic, so you'll still get new ones every Wednesday! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been getting a lot of positive responses about Far and Away. So happy that people are enjoying it. Colin ranks as one of my favorite co-hosts so far. I had not seen the film until preparing for the episode and he really showed his enthusiasm for the score.

 

Home Alone 2 coming out tomorrow!

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When the helicopter arrived at the Costa Rican island in "Jurassic Park," the music that accompanied it opened my ears to the brilliance of film scoring ... and the genius of John Williams. The "Jurassic Park" episode of "The Baton" is here, and I am joined by co-host David Kay to discuss why this score made such an impact on me and many others.


https://www.podbean.com/ea/pb-7jzx9-d7e665

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In the Jurassic Park episode, David is recorded saying the exact same sentence twice. The first time from 37:33 to 37:50, and the second time immediately after that, from 37:51 to 38:06.

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On 5/26/2020 at 8:06 AM, Biodome said:

In the Jurassic Park episode, David is recorded saying the exact same sentence twice. The first time from 37:33 to 37:50, and the second time immediately after that, from 37:51 to 38:06.

I don't know how I missed that during editing. Thank you so much for catching that. I will fix it and re-upload the show today. 😞

 

I hope that didn't ruin the show for you.

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21 hours ago, Trumpeteer said:

I hope that didn't ruin the show for you.

 

Of course it didn't! That was one of my favourite episodes of the podcast. I am a fan of Jurassic Park myself, so your feelings for the score were totally relatable, and David's insightful analysis was very much appreciated, too.

 

Just mentioned the editing mistake for the benefit of future listeners, so they get a flawless episode :)

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