Intrada Soundtrack Forum

I suppose this is probably a question for Doug or Roger to answer: I know The Waltons used to be a very popular show in the U.S., but why was there never any soundtrack released ?

Are the masters lost, or are there any legal problems complicating matters?

I've never seen the show (I may be wrong, but it was never broadcast on French television), but didn't Jerry Goldsmith (and Arthur Morton) write a lot of music for it? The gentle main theme featured in his TV medley has always ranked among my favorites. I really have a soft spot for Goldsmith's americana flavored scores. So I guess The Waltons would fit that description.

FSM gave us four wonderful The Man From U.N.C.L.E. anthologies, so maybe there's hope for The Waltons to get such loving treatment someday.

And don't even get me started on Thriller !



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Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Goldsmith wrote the score for the pilot about about 6 episodes. For me, watching re-runs of the Waltons was a seminal part of my childhood and the theme and other music is a massive part of that. It's certainly one of my holy-grails whether in mono or stereo.

Although Goldsmith's WALTONS scores are superb, I think the episode scores by Alexander Courage and Arthur Morton are often overlooked - and yet their scores are the musical backbone of this series.

Arthur and Sandy's work on THE WALTONS is always a delight - heartfelt, intelligent, subtle, sometimes delicate, always melodic. It's that last ingredient that is quite remarkable. We seem to live in an age where rhythm dominates TV scoring, and it's such a joy to hear scores like THE WALTONS where melody was unashamedly in the forefront. Many of the cues, in fact, are constructed like fully developed stand-alone pieces, and not just atmospheric underscore.

A CD release of THE WALTONS would put a well deserved spotlight on Morton and Courage's compositional work, and would be a terrifically enjoyable listening experience - as well as a huge wallow in nostalgia for many of us.

I remember this show; I used to watch it now and then as a kid. I loved and could hum the warm nostalgic theme long before I knew who Jerry Goldsmith was. Years later, I caught a re-run of an episode and by then it wasn't a suprise anymore when I read "Theme by Jerry Goldsmith"; it was the voice of the composer who had composed Stagecoach, The Flim Flam Man, The Ballad Of Cable Hogue or A Patch Of Blue; The Waltons is along those lines. I don't remember too much episode music these days, but the title theme sure is lovely, and the underscore was pretty much in that mode.

I've heard Goldsmith's score for the Waltons tv movie... really lovely stuff, warm, gentle Americana writing. I'd love to hear more of his work for the series, plus the Courage and Morton stuff.

Back at ya later