Free Republic

Multi award-winning film composer John Williams has created a stunning legacy that has changed the way soundtracks are thought of. We trace his genius.The term “genius” is far too often, bandied about – alongside its catchall companion, “icon.” But in the case of John Williams both words apply, while barely doing justice to the magnitude of his talent. John Williams isn’t just a soundtrack composer, he is the undisputed master of the film score. He is also a creator of contemporary classical music with a post-romantic style, and a grand conductor, pianist, and jazz buff who used to play...

If you’ve ever wondered what connects Frank Zappa to Frank Sinatra, Burt Bacharach to The Beach Boys, the answer is Carol Kaye. The session legend tells the story behind her career and legendary bass recordingsIf plucking a ripe plum from a tree had a sound, it would resemble Carol Kaye’s signature tone – a tone that made her a ‘first-call’ bassist in the highly competitive studio session world. It wasn’t just that, though. Kaye is arguably the first bassist to exploit the instrument in a truly melodic fashion, a nod perhaps to her early days as a jazz guitar prodigy....

It's the adventure that made the James Bond series about the music as well as the movie. If there's any doubt of the impact the sound of "Goldfinger" had, and still has, consider that the 1964 classic ranks eighth on Turner Classic Movies' recently issued list of 15 Most Influential Film Soundtracks -- behind "Psycho" and "A Hard Day's Night" but ahead of "The Graduate" and "Saturday Night Fever."

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