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Magazine Articles and Book Reviews
Listings of magazines and book reviews dealing with film music.
2004
Tributes to Three Film Music Greats
In three separate issue of FILM SCORE MONTHLY, there were tributes to:
Jerry Goldsmith Tribute Issue - Volume 9, Number 7 (August 2004)
"Raksin Remembered" (Tribute to David Raksin) - Volume 9, Number 8 (September 2004)
Elmer Bernstein Tribute Issue - Volume 9, Number 9 (October 2004)
To order copies or for a sibscription, write to:
The Cue Sheet
Slowly this Journal of the Film Music Society is catching up to the present day.
To contact this organization about membership, write to:
Or by snail mail:
The Film Music Society, 15125 Ventura Blvd., Ste 201, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Membership includes a subscription to The Cue Sheet.
These are some of the past issues:
Volume 19, Number 3 (October 2004) - In Memoriam: Fred Karlin, Jerry Goldsmith, David Raksin, Elmer Bernstein (all the articles written by Jon Burlingame).
Volume 19, Number 2 (July 2004) - Special DA CAPO Issue: Introduction by Marilee Bradford, Film Music (Herbert Stothart), Some Experience in Film Music (Erich Wolfgang Korngold), Time Tells the Tale (Nathaniel Finston), Scissors Save the Score (Roy Webb), Igor Stravinsky on Film Music (Igor Stravinsky), Hollywood Strikes Back (David Raksin).
Volume 18, Nos. 3-4 (July -October 2002) - The Disney composers: "Disney Music During the Classic Era: An Overview" (by Ross Care), Frank Churchill (Linda Danly), Leigh Harline (Linda Danly), Paul J. Smith (Ross Care), Oliver Wallace (Ross Care), George Bruns (Ross Care), An Interview with Buddy Baker (Jon Burlingame).
Volume 17, No. 1 (January 2001) - tribute issue to Lalo Shifrin. Includes an appreciation by FMS Journal editor, Jon Burlingame, and Shifrin's career highlights and filmography . Also in this issue are: the Film Music Society Preservation Award to Stephen M. Fry, presented by Jeannie Pool; Book Reviews by Phil Grayson and Jon Burlingame; "Film Scores at U.S.C." by Rudy Behlmer and Ned Comstock; and "The Paul Sawtell Collection: An Inventory" by John R. Redford.
Volume 17, Nos 2-3 (April - July 2001) - tribute issue to Stanley Wilson (1917-1970). This issue is devoted to the beloved TV arranger, composer and conductor. It includes - "Stanley Wilson: A Biographical Sketch" by Jon Burlingame; "Memories of Stanley Wilson" by David Shire; "Eulogy for Stanley Wilson" by Lyn Murray; "Remembrances" by thirteen composers, including Elmer Bernstein, Billy Goldenberg, Jerry Goldsmith, Quincy Jones, Lalo Shifrin, and John Williams;"Television Music by Stanley Wilson" by Jon Burlingame; "A Stanley Wilson Filmograph" by Clifford McCarty; "A Selected, Annotated Discography" by Jon Burlingame; and a Bibliography. Very informative issue.
Volume 17, No. 4 (October 2001) - this issue includes a variety of articles: "William Walton Crowning Achievement For Film: The Music For Laurence Olivier's KING HENRY THE FIFTH" by N. William Snedden; "New Drama, New Music" [Alex North, Leonard Rosenman, David Raksin, George Duning, Kenyon Hopkins] by Casey Maddren; Book Reviews by Rudy Behlmer, Bruce Babcock, amd Jon Burlingame; and "About the Contributors."
2003
FILM COMMENT Plays the List Game
By Roger Hall
In the the November/December 2003 issue of FILM COMMENT is a lengthy article by John Caps titled: "Soundtracks 101- Essential Movie Music: A Listener's Guide." The article is well illustrated with many CD covers.
FILM COMMENT is to be commended for including such an extensive discussion of film soundtracks within its pages. The editor, Gavin Smith, asked for readers opinions, so here's mine...
First, this list-making game is a popular one these days and the 101 soundtracks will surely be discussed and debated by avid film music lovers. Naturally there are some missing landmark scores (like CITIZEN KANE), but also some questionable soundtracks which are listed as "essential."
Just to give a few examples from the 1960s -- I don't agree that TOM JONES (John Addison) and WAIT UNTIL DARK (Henry Mancini) belong on this essential 101 list. They are both fine scores but others are far more deserving. What about such milestone '60s scores like Henry Mancini's highly influential jazz-pop score for BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S? Or Alex North's superb epic score for SPARTACUS? Neither one is on this 101 list. Also Mr. Caps seems to have a bias towards David Shire--a good film composer--but 3 soundtracks on the list? That's as many as John Williams has on this list. Does Mr. Caps really believe that David Shire is that good? Certainly THE CONVERSATION is worth having on the list, but not the other two (RETURN TO OZ and BED AND BREAKFAST). The most choices are for Bernard Herrmann with 5 soundtracks. That's as it should be since Herrmann is generally agreed to be the supreme master of past film composers.
There are some obvious goofs in the listings of available soundtracks. For example, the Arista CD is listed for HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY and yet it should be listed as 20th Century Fox Records. It was only distributed by Arista. LAURA is unbelievably listed as "Not available" and on the same page there's an illustration of the 20th Century Fox CD! The same thing happens with Rozsa's MADAME BOVARY, listed as "Not available" and then showing the CD cover on the facing page. How did these mistakes slip by? A suggestion to the fact checkers at FILM COMMENT -- next time, take a look at a good film music sourcebook such as MusicHound Soundtracks for your information.
Third, there's the credit of GONE WITH THE WIND as an "Academy Award Winner." Sorry that's incorrect. Even with 11 total Oscars for the enormously popular film, Max Steiner was robbed of his gold statuette. Instead, the Oscar for Best Original Score of 1939 went to Herbert Stothart for THE WIZARD OF OZ, even though it's heavily based on the wonderful Arlen-Harburg songs.
Despite the editing goofs, I'd still highly recommend looking at this article for the incisive comments and good cross section of worthwhile soundtracks made by John Caps.
To order your copy of this FILM COMMENT issue, write to:
If you'd like to compare the Caps list with another list of Top 100 scores between 1933 and 1998, get your copy of this limited edition reference book:
A Guide to Film Music - Songs and Scores
SMITHSONIAN Polishes Glass
The November 2003 issue has an article titled, "Master Glass," by Harry Sumrall. This article about the music career of Philip Glass is mostly about his concert works. But there is some mention of his film scores as well, including one of his best ones for THE HOURS. The author of that book, Michael Cunningham, is quoted as saying: "The last 30 years have served to move Glass in from the margins, just as time moved Woolf from aberration to mainstay." That's probably true, but his film music still seems to divide listeners into the really like and really dislike camps.
The article is well illustrated and includes a few film score CD covers (such as KUNDUN) and a nice photo of Glass (sort of smiling) with his wife Holly at the Academy Awards ceremony.
Worth a read if you want to know more about the music of Glass.
2002
Luc Van de Ven, Editor and Publisher
Randall D. Larson, Senior Editor
Composer Articles by Roger Hall:
"Dimitri Tiomkin's Golden Decade" (Vol 21/No 84 - Winter 2002)
More information about Tiomkin is found in A Guide to Film Music
"Bernard Herrmann: The Early Years - An Appreciation" (Vol 21/No 81 - Spring 2002)
Read more information about Bernard Herrmann in: A Guide to Film Music
"The Magnificent One - 50 Years of Elmer Bernstein Film Scores" (Vol 20/No 78 - Summer 2001)
Read more information about Elmer Bernstein at: From the Editor
"Tip To Moviegoers: Take Off Those EarMuffs! Aaron Copland Talks About Film Music" (Vol 19/ No 75 - Fall 2000)
For more information about Aaron Copland, go to: AMERICAN COMPOSERS
Reviews in SOUNDTRACK Magazine by Roger Hall:
20th CENTURY FOX - MUSIC FROM THE GOLDEN AGE - Vol 17/ No. 67 - September 1998
THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (Rozsa) - Vol. 18/No. 69 - Spring 1999
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (Bernstein) - Vol. 18/ No. 69
STEPMOM (Williams) - Vol. 18/ No. 69
ANATOMY OF A MURDER (Ellington) - Vol.18/No. 70 (Summer 1999)
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR: The Music of Oceania (Muldowney) - Vol. 18/No. 70
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: The Essential John Williams Film Collection - Vol. 18/No. 71 (Fall 1999)
DURANGO (McKenzie) - Vol. 18/ No. 71
THE REEL LALO SCHIFRIN - Vol. 18/ No. 71
BERNARD HERRMANN AT FOX, Vol. 1 and 2 - Vol. 18/No. 72 (Winter 1999/2000)
HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (Davis) - Vol. 18/ No. 72
MANNIX (Schifrin) - Vol. 19/No. 73 - Spring 2000 (25th anniversary issue)
PLAYING BY HEART (Barry) - Vol. 19, No. 73
THE TWILIGHT ZONE (Herrmann)(2 CDs) - Vol. 19, No. 73
BERNARD HERRMANN AT FOX, Vol. 3: ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM - Vol. 19, No. 74 (Summer 2000)
MEGA MOVIES (Telarc Compilation) - Vol. 19, No. 74
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST (Patrick Doyle) - Vol. 19, No. 74
THE DIRTY DOZEN (Frank DeVol) & DIRTY DINGUS MAGEE (Jeff Alexander) - Vol. 19, No. 75 (Fall 2000)
PEYTON PLACE (Franz Waxman) - Vol. 19, No. 75
BOND BACK IN ACTION 2 - Vol. 19, No. 76 (Winter 2000)
THE YARDS (Howard Shore) - Vol. 19, No. 76
CHOCOLAT (Rachel Portman) - Vol. 20, No. 77 (Spring 2001)
THE LOST CHILD (Mark McKenzie) - Vol. 20, No. 77
THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE (Max Steiner) - Vol. 20, No. 77
ELMER BERNSTEIN BY ELMER BERNSTEIN - Vol. 20, No. 78 (Summer 2001)
THE CLASSIC FILM MUSIC OF GEORGES AURIC, Volume 4 - Vol. 20, No. 78
THE V.I.P.s (Miklos Rozsa) - Vol. 20, No. 78
DAVID COPPERFIELD/ THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN (Sir Malcolm Arnold) - Vol. 20, No. 78
FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN (Eliot Goldenthal) - Vol. 20, No. 79 (Fall 2001)
BIG JAKE (Elmer Bernstein) - Vol. 21, No. 81 (Spring 2002)
THE VIEW FROM POMPEY'S HEAD (E. Bernstein)/ BLUE DENIM (Bernard Herrmann) - Vol. 21, No. 81
CHARLOTTE GRAY (Stephen Warbeck) - Vol. 21, No. 81
BENJAMIN FRANKEL: Music for the Movies - Vol. 21, No. 82 (Summer 2002)
MICHEL LEGRAND BY MICHEL LEGRAND - Vol. 21, No. 82
NAQOYQATSI (Philip Glass) - Vol. 21, No. 83
Important Note: SOUNDTRACK Magazine is no longer being published as a quarterly print magazine..
For a list of articles of the last issue from Winter 2002, go to:
For now, the web site will remain open for news and reviews.
Prometheus Records also continues to issue soundtrack CDs.
The Hollywood Reporter
The magazine dated November 12-18, 2002 had their Film & TV Special Issue.
It included the following interesting, though brief, items:
"Soundtrack of Life" by Chuck Crisafulli - about composers of documentaries.
"One From The Heart" by Jeff Bond - worthwhile article about the making of FAR FROM HEAVEN with comments by the director, Todd Haynes, and the film's composer, Elmer Bernstein. This oustanding score has been named Best of the Month for November at Film Music Review. For a review, go to:
"Pushing The Envelope" Compiled by Polly Wilson - mostly just photos; subtitled: "movie music for the run-up to awards season."
"Music Libraries Redux" by Chuck Crisafulli - useful article about production film music libraries.
"'Dream' Factory" by Dylan Callaghan - article about Emmy-winning composer, Daniel Pelfrey, and his work on the NBC TV program, "American Dreams," which includes footage from the popular vintage TV show ,"American Bandstand," courtesy of executive producer, Dick Clark.
"Keeping the Score" - short interviews by Dylan Callaghan with John Williams (HARRY POTTER 2 and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN), James Newton Howard (TREASURE PLANET), George S. Clinton (THE SANTA CLAUSE 2), Drew Neumann (THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE), Stanley Clarke (THE TRANSPORTER), Philip Glass (THE HOURS), Conrad Pope (THE RISING PLACE), Christopher Lennertz (THE 4TH TERROR), John Powell (DRUMLINE). These interviews should be of interest to soundtrack collectors.
"Themes Like Old Times" by Ray Richmond - about the
lost art of TV series title songs.
The Cue Sheet
Slowly this Journal of the Film Music Society is catching up to the present day.
To contact this organization about membership, write to:
Or by snail mail:
The Film Music Society, 15125 Ventura Blvd., Ste 201, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Membership includes a subscription to The Cue Sheet.
These are a few of the past FMS issues:
Volume 17, No. 1 (January 2001) - tribute issue to Lalo Shifrin. Includes an appreciation by FMS Journal editor, Jon Burlingame, and Shifrin's career highlights and filmography . Also in this issue are: the Film Music Society Preservation Award to Stephen M. Fry, presented by Jeannie Pool; Book Reviews by Phil Grayson and Jon Burlingame; "Film Scores at U.S.C." by Rudy Behlmer and Ned Comstock; and "The Paul Sawtell Collection: An Inventory" by John R. Redford.
Volume 17, Nos 2-3 (April - July 2001) - tribute issue to Stanley Wilson (1917-1970). This issue is devoted to the beloved TV arranger, composer and conductor. It includes - "Stanley Wilson: A Biographical Sketch" by Jon Burlingame; "Memories of Stanley Wilson" by David Shire; "Eulogy for Stanley Wilson" by Lyn Murray; "Remembrances" by thirteen composers, including Elmer Bernstein, Billy Goldenberg, Jerry Goldsmith, Quincy Jones, Lalo Shifrin, and John Williams;"Television Music by Stanley Wilson" by Jon Burlingame; "A Stanley Wilson Filmograph" by Clifford McCarty; "A Selected, Annotated Discography" by Jon Burlingame; and a Bibliography. Very informative issue.
Volume 17, No. 4 (October 2001) - this issue includes a variety of articles: "William Walton Crowning Achievement For Film: The Music For Laurence Olivier's KING HENRY THE FIFTH" by N. William Snedden; "New Drama, New Music" [Alex North, Leonard Rosenman, David Raksin, George Duning, Kenyon Hopkins] by Casey Maddren; Book Reviews by Rudy Behlmer, Bruce Babcock, amd Jon Burlingame; and "About the Contributors."
FILM MUSIC - the first issue of the newly redesigned magazine (Vol. 4, No. 1, 2002) has these articles:
COLUMNS -
"Sound Off: Dominic Derasse on New York and Film Music"
"Spotlight On: Skywalker Sound - Michael Stern Visits the Scoring Stage"
"Creativity Corner: Get Creative - Get Motivated"
"Royalty Checks and Reality Checks"
"Working Musician: Guitarist Roundtable"
"Composer@ Work: John Massari on Composing for the DVD Market"
"Final Note: The Only Thing to Fear..."
DEPARTMENTS -
Note from the Publisher
Industry News
News Spotlight
On Location
CineRadio
Film Music Marketplace
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Book
Reviews
The Score - Interviews with Film Composer
By Michael Schelle
Silman-James Press, 1999. 430 pages.
For those who have wondered what film composers would say if asked about their scores, here's a new book that gives you the answers. The author, Michael Schelle, himself an accomplished composer, has been twice nominated for Pulitzer Prizes for his own compositions. He has assembled a very good cross-section of names.
In his book, Mr. Schelle has chosen fifteen film composers to interview:
John Barry, Elmer Bernstein, Terence Blanchard, Bruce Broughton, Paul Chihara, John Corigliano, James Newton Howard, Mark Isham, Daniel Licht, Joel McNeely, Thomas Newman, Marc Shaiman, Howard Shore, Shirley Walker, and Christopher Young.
While naturally there are those who many would like to hear from, especially Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams, the author had his reasons for the final list. As Mr. Schelle wrote me, he "had wanted Goldsmith (and Jarre) all along but problems kept arising and the interviews never materialized, to my disappointment." He went on to explain that "I felt unknowns like Licht etc. needed/deserved some exposure...I also wanted some jazz, electronics, concert, genre, etc." Then he admitted - "I could easily begin Vol. II tomorrow with fifteen more deserving composers and still not hit Horner or Williams."
Each of the interviews in the book follow the typical question and answer format. Amost all of the interviews take up at least twenty pages. The longest interviews are with John Barry, Bruce Broughton, and Howard Shore - each about forty pages. The shortest interviews include those with Terence Blanchard, John Corigliano, and Joel McNeely. It isn't so much the length of the interview that matters but the content of the discussion. And some of these composers have more to say than others.
I didn't find the Blanchard interview particularly interesting. He spends a lot of time talking about his work with Spike Lee - a director I don't much admire. And the Joel McNeely interview didn't seem to add up to much either. But the others were fascinating to read. Some of the talk gets a bit technical at times, such as mentioning to John Barry that his main title music for KING KONG goes from Bb to A in Bb minor. That type of tech talk doesn't occur very often and always has a purpose to it.
Mr. Schelle has really done his homework before interviewing each composer. He mentions a number of their scores and asks specific questions. When I asked him how he chose the film scores, he told me, "in most, I worked with films that used significant musical procedures, techniques, etc. Many off-beat films are rarely discussed anywhere - I didn't want to re-tread info that's available elsewhere (James Bond, etc.)." In fact, he does avoid asking John Barry much about his Bond scores, which may or may not be a good thing - depending on your viewpoint. I frankly would rather learn more about John Barry other scores and that's what we get in this book.
One drawback is the lack of any photos of the film composers. Also, there are no music examples or CD covers either. When I asked the author, he said "our original intention was to have candid fotos...but the decision was made by the publisher not to mix stock pr shots with my candid shots...score excerpts were often too costly and the imagination often works better in discussing particulars (musicians will get it - non-musicians would get it better in dialogue rather than notated excerpts)." I completely agree with that statement. Notated excerpts are often too short to illustrate anything significant. But photos of the each composer would have been preferred.
Michael Schelle is to be congratulated for writing such an informative, insightful book that for the first time gives us direct access to the film composers themslves through these extensive interviews.
This is a book I'd highly recommend to anyone interested in today's film composers. It deserves to be read and is a worthwhile investment for any film music lover.
--Roger Hall, 22 November 1999
MusicHound Soundtracks - The Essential Album Guide to Film, Television and Stage Music
Edited by Didier C. Deutsch. Forewords by Lukas Kendall and Julia Michels.
Visible Ink Press, 1999. 872 pages.
Here is a massive collection of CD reviews and lists that's even more impressive than last year's VideoHound soundtrack version, also edited by Didier Deutsch. That earlier edition had 2,000 reviews and included a CD of music from Hollywood Records, featuring mostly forgettable music. This new collection doesn't have a bonus CD, but it does have an additional 1,000 reviews plus it has been completely revised and organized in a better way for easier reference. The book is divided into these categories: A-Z guide to soundtracks; composers; compilation albums; books, magazines, and newsletters; web sites; record labels; five-bone album index; composer index; conductor index; lyricist index; series index. Also included in the beginning of the book are a list of sidebars, two forewords by Lukas Kendall and Julia Michels, an introduction by Didier Deutsch, a brief "owner's manual" describing how to use the guide, plus credits and acknowlegments. Quite an awesome amount of material!
The guide begins with a list of sidebars found throughout the book divided into two main categories: "10 Essential Scores" of 16 film composers; and comments from 23 composers under the heading: "They Know the Score." The words "essential scores" is risky since the implication is these are the best for each composer. According to whom? No criteria is given as to how the 10 scores were chosen for each composer. To take one example, I don't think that THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, and especially STAR WARS - THE PHANTOM MENACE belong on an essential list for John Williams. What about his JAWS score? Or how about his highly regarded score for STAR WARS - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK? Both of those scores also received the "nirvana" 5 bones rating. I'd disagree with other essential lists as well. GREMLINS is an essential Goldsmith score and not PATTON? As good a score as Herrmann's JANE EYRE is, I believe that THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR is a much better choice - and a favorite of Herrmann himself. So these so-called essential scores are open to debate. I think it would have been better to call them something else, like "contributor or editor recommendations."
The two forewords make for worthwhile reading. Lukas Kendall's somewhat cynical "The Purest Point of View," is a tough-love take on the soundtrack biz over the years. It's full of his usual honest, though scrappy, opinions. He is particularly critical of the today's songtracks. He even admits he may sound like he's "flying off the tracks." But his opinions are like fresh air instead of the hot air blown about by Hollywood bottom line record and film producers who seem only interested in big money projects. The other foreword in the book is by Julia Michels, the former Director of Soundtracks for Capitol Records. She provides a fascinating journey through the creative process in "The New Age of Soundtracks - Behind the Scenes." She divides her discussion into various headings, such as "Putting It Together," "Pre-Production and Mastering," and "Marketing and Promotion." She ends her discussion with the big question - "What Makes a Good Soundtrack?" Both of the forewords complement each other and are recommended reading.
The meat of this guide is naturally the 3,000 CD reviews. All of them are arranged in alphabetical A to Z order. That makes a lot of sense, rather than splitting them up into separate categories for films, television and stage music. The majority of the reviews were written by the editor, Didier C. Deutsch. While his enormous output is quite impressive, it would have been fairer to spead the reviews more evenly among the other contributors, or better yet, to have brought in more reviewers. The other contributors in this book are: Bob Belden, Jeff Bond, Andy Dursin, Gary Graff, Chuck Granata, David Hirsch, Lukas Kendall, Marc Kirkeby, Beth Krakower, Randall D. Larson, Paul Andrew MacLean, David Poole, Max O. Preeo, Andy Rosen, Daniel Schweiger, and Jerry Thomas. Fortunately each review has the contributor identified so you know what wrote it.
I have a few criticisms to make about the content of the book.
First, there seem to be too many high rated soundtracks - using the MusicHound trademark number of "bones" - from five down to woof! (which the guide classifies as "dog food"). Naturally the purpose of this guide is to highlight the best soundtracks, but why so many highly rated soundtracks? There are 360 soundtracks which have received the highest rating of 5 bones (listed separately on pages 753-56). That's more than 10% of the total. Not a clear majority but still quite high if they are supposed to reflect the very best soundtracks available. There are very few woof ratings given out - perhaps for fear of insulting the CD artists. PHAT BEACH and SLEEPWALKERS are two of them. The other ratings appear to be pretty evenly spread around.
Second, some of the reviews are quite short while others appear longer than necessary. The shorter reviews are often the lower rated soundtracks, as they should be. But nine paragraphs for two soundtracks (each rated with two bones) of HIGH SOCIETY? How come? Especially when less space is given to such Oscar winning soundtracks as MY FAIR LADY and WEST SIDE STORY - which each recived four or five bones. With a volume this large, naturally a few errors may be made. For example, the Oscar received for SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS was received by Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin for "Best Scoring of a Musical Picture," not Gene De Paul and Johnny Mercer, as Didier Deutsch writes in his review. Surprisingly, no mention is made that John (then "Johnny") Williams was the pianist on the soundtrack for Henry Mancini's Grammy-winning TV soundtrack of PETER GUNN. Williams plays superbly on this TV soundtrack, especially on the beautiful Mancini theme, "Dreamsville."
Third, the comments made by selected film composers under "They Know the Score" are mostly too general. Seldom are any specific scores mentioned. One example is John Williams talking about STAR WARS on pages 403 and 563. Why have two quotes about SW and nothing about any other Williams scores? The compoers with the most comments are Michael Kames and Hans Zimmer - with four quotes apiece. Why so many for them? There is nothing from Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner (like him or not, he is a major force in today's film world). Even with my reservations, I still think it's a good idea to have some comments by the composers themselves. I just wish they were a bit longer and more specific.
Didier Deutsch has done an admirable job as editor of this massive soundtrack guide. His background is quite extensive. He came to America from France in 1962 and first worked as a journalist writing about theatre, movies and music. In 1973, he became publicity director of the CTI jazz label and also worked for Tappan Zee, RCA, WEA International and Atlantic record labels. Then, in 1986, he became reissue producer for Legacy records where he produced many fine collections, including soundtracks and broadway cast albums originally recorded by Columbia. He was nominated for a Grammy in 1995 for his 12-CD set, "Frank Sinatra: the Columbia Years (1943-1952)." He has also produced box sets on Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, The Modern Jazz Quartet, and other artists.
My few criticisms aside, this is the most comprehensive soundtrack guide currently available and a very good value for the money. As the title suggests, this MusicHound guide is "essential" for every film music lover's library. An ideal reference book you'll probably look at often.
--Roger Hall, 22 November 1999
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