Batch 'O Goldsmith

The late maestro Goldsmith left an impressive body of work, that's still popular to exploit. We here at Music-Snob, are no exception. Here we present a variety of his scores from the early 60's to the 80's.



LILIES OF THE FIELD is one of Goldsmith's early features. The very simple folkish string/harmonica combinations is a style he used in music for some TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, and he would go back to this sound for scores such as THE FLIM-FLAM MAN, THE HOMECOMING (THE WALTONS pilot), and others. The vocalist is Jester Hairston, who was a supporting actor in the sitcom AMEN in the 80's, and who can be seen as one of the older people near the end of BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. What may not be widely known is that Mr. Hairston also worked for composer Dimitri Tiomkin as a vocal arranger.



ISLANDS IN THE STREAM is an adaptation of an unfinished Ernest Hemingway story, and another collaboration with director Franklin Schaffner. The film is not widely known, but Goldsmith has remarked that it is one of his favorite scores. This is a re-recording done for Intrada Records in the 80's.



MacARTHUR is a bio-pic of another WWII general - unlike the earlier PATTON, it hasn't become a classic, but the music, also by Goldsmith, is worthy of note.



LINK was a suspense/black-comedy about primal natures and killer apes - a difficult combination to pull off successfully. That the movie premiered to audience indifference is more indicative of the subject matter rather than the actual quality of the film. Goldsmith's score treads that line a bit more adroitly than the visuals.





LIONHEART is a little known and seen picture set during The Children's Crusade and it was Goldsmith's last major collaboration with Franklin Schaffner. On LP, the score took up two releases, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 - there was a cd reissue that combined both, but it dropped a couple of tracks due to space limitations. If you haven't heard it, this is comparable to his score for LEGEND - but with a more Medieval sound.