Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to the soundtrack to A Child is Waiting, the film by John Cassavetes starring Judy Garland, with a beautiful and sensitive score by one of the great film music composers, one Ernest Gold. He’s not ever been in people’s top ten lists, even though he wrote the score from one of the most popular comedies ever made, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, as well as one of the most famous movie themes in history, Exodus. How many film composers have a Billboard Hot 100 record reach number two, which was what happened with instrumental version of the theme, as was the case with the Ferrante and Teicher version of the Exodus theme. He wrote a bunch of scores for Stanley Kramer movies, ones he produced only and ones he produced and directed, including On the Beach, Inherit the Wind, Mad World, the currently playing A Child is Waiting, Pressure Point (issued on Kritzerland), Judgment at Nuremberg, Ship of Fools, and The Secret of Santa Vittoria. He was also a talented classical composer and although few know it, he wrote the music for a Broadway musical, I’m Solomon, starring Dick Shawn and Karen Morrow. He was married to singer Marni Nixon. I met him when we recorded his string quartet, and he was a lovely man and so grateful that we were going to immortalize the quartet. For me, he was one of the greats who, despite winning an Oscar for Exodus, he’s rarely mentioned with the greats, even though, in my opinion, he was right up there with them. In addition to Pressure Point, we also released his wonderful score to Sam Peckinpah’s Cross of Iron. I could listen to his soundtrack music every day. Otherwise, yesterday was the usual assortment of things going on. I didn’t get that much sleep maybe five hours. Once up, I answered e-mails, and then followed a book auction – while there were several nice things in the auction, there was nothing spectacular and condition-wise none of it was worth owning, at least not for me, even if I’d wanted something. No book’s starting bid was under $100, which I found ludicrous. Several books went without bids because they weren’t worth the opening bid, but there were some truly stupid people bidding way too much for books in mediocre condition, which I found very odd. Anyway, I always find these things fascinating. I’d pre-ordered food from Crustacean – their amazing garlic noodles and an appetizer thing of four crab dumplings – the noodles were great, as always, and the dumplings, which I’d never had, were out of this world. Servings were on the small side, so I knew I’d need something later in the evening.
Most of the day was spent recording all four songs over again. I got usable takes on all four, but I’m still going to try and get good piano tracks and then put my vocal over those, by playing them back on the big boy computer whilst recording the vocal against them on the iPhone. We shall see. I did doze off for a bit and I watched some irritating YouTube videos, and then later I had some clam chowder and a tiny Caesar salad, both excellent. And here we are.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll try recording piano tracks again, I’ll do some writing, and then I may or may not go out for dinner. Then at some point, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow and Sunday will be more of the same, and then next week will be very busy.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, record piano tracks, write, have a meal, either here or out, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player or music library and you DVD/Blu and Ray/streaming player? I’ll start – music player, various Ernest Gold. Streaming, something called AfrAId. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, always happy to trumpet the music of Ernest Gold – you know, the importance of being Ernest (Gold).