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 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 6:58 PM   
 By:   BornOfAJackal   (Member)

O.K., the thread subject was just a lure to get one of you 60's TV scoring cognoscenti to answer this for me: Which composer wrote the delightful trumpet capriccio for the episode that had the Lord Admiral Gilligan fantasy sequence?

My intention is to badger Mike Gerhard and Matt Verboys until they unearth these tapes and release them. Just kidding! But I'd dearly love to see it become a reality.

Anyone who knows anything secret about the scoring of this show...please post!

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 7:26 PM   
 By:   Jameson281   (Member)

If I recall correctly from earlier threads on this topic, tapes exist as part of some collection or other.

One problem with a CD release would be that so many of the cues for the show are so short; many are for scene transitions or comic tags. Would a CD of 50 or so cues all running under a minute be a satisfying listening experience?

Can't help with the composer question, alas. I once came across all the GILLIGAN cue sheets years ago, but I had to send them over to Turner Entertainment.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 7:28 PM   
 By:   Broughtfan   (Member)

O.K., the thread subject was just a lure to get one of you 60's TV scoring cognoscenti to answer this for me: Which composer wrote the delightful trumpet capriccio for the episode that had the Lord Admiral Gilligan fantasy sequence?

My intention is to badger Mike Gerhard and Matt Verboys until they unearth these tapes and release them. Just kidding! But I'd dearly love to see it become a reality.

Anyone who knows anything secret about the scoring of this show...please post!


Don Ray (also known as Don B. Ray) composed (sans credit) the "Haydn-like" "Lord Admiral Gilligan Theme" for the early 1967 GI (third season) episode "Court Martial." The trumpet player was Maurice "Maury" Harris, who normally played third trumpet for CBS-produced sessions of the time. Back to Don, he also composed the jaunty 5/8 theme for the "Lord Beasley" character (episode title "Man with A Net") and the sultry "Ginger" theme (the Glenn Miller-inspired clarinet tune), the latter for "The Producer" (episode starring Phil Silvers as Hollywood producer Harold Hecuba), Ray dividing the music chores of the episode with Mort Stevens (who did all of the "Hamlet" bits).

 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 7:35 PM   
 By:   BornOfAJackal   (Member)

Thanks Broughtfan! You've put a name to a composer whose identity I'd wanted to know most of my life!

Alright now, which of you LA sonic archeologists is going to find these hidden treasures? You know who you are.

 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 7:42 PM   
 By:   That Neil Guy   (Member)

I'd buy it. Just sayin.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 8:41 PM   
 By:   Broughtfan   (Member)

I think this is a doable undertaking, provided the rights could be obtained.

Note: first season shows were heavily tracked with both Williams' "Travels" pilot or tracks from the CBS Library (incl. music by Richard Shores, Fred Steiner, Jerry Goldsmith and others, much of it recorded overseas). Also, there is good evidence to support that John Williams composed little or no music for the actual "Gilligan" series as there were a few unused cues recorded for the pilot that were nevertheless segmented and heavily tracked into first season shows (add to this he was under contract to Revue through Spring 1965). Additionally, latter season partial scores usually carry the credit Music Supervision, Morton Stevens, these (for the most part) recorded on day-long recording sessions of other CBS series (cues recorded for sometimes as many as four or five different series). Orchestrations/arrangements made by listed composers.

To get you going (Kritzerland, LaLa Land, Intrada):

Pilot: Gilligan's Travels (John Williams) Only episode to utilize Sherwood Schwartz' calypso opening. *
Recorded 20th. Century Fox, January 1964.

* - arranged by JW, recorded after the underscore session.

All scores (for actual series) recorded CBS Studio Center, except "President Gilligan," recorded at Samuel Goldwyn Studios and "The Little Dictator," recorded at Desilu-Gower "F" ("Star Trek" recording stage)

Season 1 (C complete/near complete score, P, partial score)

Theme, "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island" - Schwartz/Wyle, arranged by Ernest Hughes, conducted by Herschel Burke Gilbert (early September 1964)

Gerald Fried

So Sorry, My Island Now (C, Fried's first score for the series)
Gilligan Meets Jungle Boy (C)
X Marks The Spot (P)
How To Be A Hero (C?)
Music Hath Charms (castaway "orchestra" music)
Diamonds Are An Apes Best Friend (P, based on Williams' "Travels" melody)

Morton Stevens

Goodbye Old Paint (P), composed shortly after Stevens became CBS (West Coast) Director of Music Operations

Lyn Murray

President Gilligan (C)

Frank Comstock (partials and most of the "theme play-ons" and act-out stingers heard in the first half of the season).

Good Night, Sweet Skipper (JW "Gilligan theme" arrangement in "wasp sequence" by Don Ray)
Two On A Raft (both P, also tracked w/ JW pilot cues).

Season 2

Main/end title theme arranged by Ian Freebairn-Smith (who was also one of the four male vocalists), conducted by Mort Stevens 8/13/1965. Version unchanged for season 3.

G. Fried

Gilligan's Mother In Law (C)
The Little Dictator (C)
Beauty Is As Beauty Does (mostly beauty pageant music arr. by Fried and Stevens, but underscore is specific to episode, C).
Nyet, Nyet - Not Yet (Russian cosmonauts on island, C)
Castaways Pictures Presents, Quick Before It Sinks (recorded same session, P)
The Sweepstakes (C)
Agonized Labor (C)
Mine Hero (P, Gilligan tows mine out to sea)

Fried also arranged most of the episode closes based on Williams' pilot "end music" heard in both seasons two and three as these were usually composed for specific episodes then tracked throughout the season. Don Ray composed some of the most effective episode opens, usually based on Williams' pilot "end music."

Don Ray (mostly partials, none credited)

The Chain of Command
Gilligan's Living Doll (robot episode)
"V" is for Vitamins
The Friendly Physician (mad scientist Boris Balinkoff whisks castaways away to his island)
Forward March (playful gorilla tune, a.k.a. "Feed The Kitty" lion theme).

Season 3

G. Fried (almost all complete, except *)

Voodoo (witch doctor episode, Gilligan in cave cue tracked into "Take A Dare" as theme for George Barkley).
Pass The Vegetables Please (radioactive seeds)
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow (Gilligan goes gray, then bald)
Gilligan VS Gilligan (Gilligan meets "himself")
Up At Bat (vampire bat episode)
Where There's A Will (Mr. Howell in the jungle)
Gilligan Goes Gung-Ho * (teaser cue before main title, recorded with a Ray/Stevens-composed "It's About Time" score).
Ring Around Gilligan (Dr. Balinkoff returns to island with plan to rob Fort Knox) longest original score for series, 14 min of music.

Don Ray (remarkably, not credited)

Man With A Net (Lord Beasley, nearly complete)
Topsy-Turvy (Gilligan sees double, quadruple, upside-down, etc., largely scored by Ray).
The Producer and Gilligan The Goddess (w/ Mort Stevens, who is credited as composer of the former). Opening cue tracked from previously recorded Fried score.
The Invasion ("0014" dream sequence)
Lovey's Secret Admirer (Cinderella sequence)
Court Martial (parts of Lord Admiral Gilligan dream sequence)
The Kidnapper (partial)
Gilligan Goes Gung-Ho (contains the French horn/accordion tune used in "Court Martial" and "Splashdown")
The Hunter (most of the music for episode)

Not known

Flying theme used in The Pigeon and It's A Bird, It's A Plane (probably Don Ray, may have been recorded as a single cue on a Wild Wild West or Gunsmoke session).

This is what I recall off the top of my head. Will include more as I remember it.

 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 9:37 PM   
 By:   BornOfAJackal   (Member)

Okay, Broughtfan, how's this for a plan? We recruit Dr. Boris Balinkoff to put one of his mind control rings on Lukas Kendall or Mike Matessino and simply INSTRUCT them to find whatever session tapes can be found.

Then, we slip another mind control ring onto Neil Bulk and Precision Audiosonics' John Davis and psycho-electronically guide them into perfectly editing and transferring the tapes to digital.

For the piece-de-resistance, we fly Dr. Balinkoff to Melbourne, Australia, where he puts a ring onto Chris Malone's finger. Subsequently, the good doctor will do listening tests in the aftermath of Mr. Malone's meticulous restoration of the digital files.

Only question is: Which record label honchos get a mind control ring?

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 9:38 PM   
 By:   Broughtfan   (Member)

Most of this stuff is in UCLA Special Collections (at least true of the scores). Actually, there are a number of GI tapes there as well. What's interesting is that Fried mostly recorded his complete scores for the series two at a time. For instance, Up At Bat and Gilligan VS Gilligan, were recorded on a "double session" on the same day (July 1966) as were the scores for Ring Around Gilligan (Fried) and Man With A Net (Don Ray) (in early September 1966).

 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 9:41 PM   
 By:   BornOfAJackal   (Member)

Most of this stuff is in UCLA Special Collections (at least true of the scores).

Excelsior!

 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 9:45 PM   
 By:   Jeff Bond   (Member)

I believe you'd also need a mind control ring for the Sherwood Schwartz estate.

 
 Posted:   Mar 28, 2013 - 10:28 PM   
 By:   BornOfAJackal   (Member)

I believe you'd also need a mind control ring for the Sherwood Schwartz estate.

I believe Dr. Balinkoff keeps an ample supply for mass mind control operations. Almost as effective as cable/satellite TV "news" operations.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 29, 2013 - 6:51 AM   
 By:   Broughtfan   (Member)

I'm very glad I was able to list the many memorable (and all uncredited) contributions composer Don B. Ray made to the series ("Hawaii-Five 0" was his first screen credit though he had been at CBS almost ten years prior). Just hope he got the royalties (which, after the series went into syndication, would have been substantial).

 
 Posted:   Mar 29, 2013 - 7:06 AM   
 By:   Scott McOldsmith   (Member)

Are the musician's royalties like the actors' payments? If so, nobody got much, as payments would have stopped after the first few reruns.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 29, 2013 - 7:18 AM   
 By:   Broughtfan   (Member)

Are the musician's royalties like the actors' payments? If so, nobody got much, as payments would have stopped after the first few reruns.

No, composer royalties continue as long as films, TV episodes, songs are broadcast. It wasn't until the shows went into syndication that the composers reaped the financial windfall. So Don's, Mort's and Dick Shores' estates are continuing to take in the "5-0 dollars." * Paul McCartney's great-great-great grandchildren should be pretty okay, too.

* - depending on understanding each composer had with studio/production company (sometimes the producer, the person providing the "big break," would receive the payments).

 
 Posted:   Mar 29, 2013 - 7:36 AM   
 By:   Scott McOldsmith   (Member)

Wow, good for them, I had no idea the composers got such a better deal than the actors.

Thanks.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 29, 2013 - 8:12 AM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

Here's my earlier thread on score and show:

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=58620&forumID=1&archive=0

Broughtfan is the go-to guy for this stuff, but I'm fairly certain that Williams composed MORE than just the unused pilot. There are several themes credited to him throughout the season that are NOT simply tracked from the pilot. They could be unused music from the unused pilot(!), but I think it's more likely new music. For example a cue when Gilligan is fishing (can't remember the episode). This seems so timed to the visuals that it must be new music.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 29, 2013 - 8:19 AM   
 By:   Broughtfan   (Member)

Here's my earlier thread on score and show:

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=58620&forumID=1&archive=0

Broughtfan is the go-to guy for this stuff, but I'm fairly certain that Williams composed MORE than just the unused pilot. There are several themes credited to him throughout the season that are NOT simply tracked from the pilot. They could be unused music from the unused pilot(!), but I think it's more likely new music. For example a cue when Gilligan is fishing (can't remember the episode). This seems so timed to the visuals that it must be new music.


Doubtful (I've looked at all of the scores). All of Williams music for Gilligan is tracked from the pilot. As I stated before Williams was under contract to Revue (Universal) through the end of GI's first season (so he couldn't sign a contract to work on a CBS production). He could do the pilot because it was a one-off.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 29, 2013 - 8:38 AM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

I understand. However, then there must be at least 20-30 minutes worth of unused music in the pilot that is being tracked throughout the season. I just remember it as being quite a lot of new stuff in the Williams-credited episodes. Either that or the cues in question were composed by someone else -- uncredited -- since the episode as a whole only credited Williams.

But you're more into this than I am, so you're more likely to have the overview.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 29, 2013 - 8:53 AM   
 By:   Broughtfan   (Member)

I understand. However, then there must be at least 20-30 minutes worth of unused music in the pilot that is being tracked throughout the season. I just remember it as being quite a lot of new stuff in the Williams-credited episodes. Either that or the cues in question were composed by someone else -- uncredited -- since the episode as a whole only credited Williams.

But you're more into this than I am, so you're more likely to have the overview.


According to my research, the "new stuff" was in fact, old stuff, culled from the CBS Library. Do you recall the episode where Gilligan dreams he's a sheriff in the Old West? That was largely taken from a "Gunsmoke" episode Fred Steiner did in the early 1960's (which Fred was surprised by when "Gilligan" showed up on his ASCAP statements!) Williams is credited because his was the only music composed specifically for the production (in this instance, the tracked pilot). Also, the orchestra manager's reports from that season usually indicated an orchestration listing for any composer contributing partial scores...and Williams is not listed on a single one (other than the pilot, where he's listed as both leader and orchestrator).

Had I not been able to read music (and thus not able to hear stuff by looking at it) I would have never "solved the mystery." But I would see themes written and recorded (but not used) for the pilot and have my "a-ha" moments (as to their future employment).

The biggest surprise was seeing the dozens of pages of cues written by Don Ray, including some of my favorite "GI" themes such as the 'robot, walk' theme (very clever pizz strings, xylo and temple blocks idea), the hunter music and all of the Boris Balinkoff stuff (first episode only), including the "sea swept castle on the cliff motif."

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 29, 2013 - 9:56 AM   
 By:   jonnyquest   (Member)

I understand. However, then there must be at least 20-30 minutes worth of unused music in the pilot that is being tracked throughout the season. I just remember it as being quite a lot of new stuff in the Williams-credited episodes. Either that or the cues in question were composed by someone else -- uncredited -- since the episode as a whole only credited Williams.

But you're more into this than I am, so you're more likely to have the overview.


According to my research..."


Broughtfan, can't tell you how much I'm enjoying the new light you're shedding on all of this. Thank you for sharing!

 
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