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Jerrold Immel has worked on some of the msot famous TV series to ever air in the '70's and '80's, including: "Knots Landing", "Dallas", "Gunsmoke", and the low-key cult series "Guns of Paradise". And, in case you didn't know, provided the popular theme to "Knots Landing".
For those unfamiliar with who you are, can you give us some background? I'm a composer of film scores and themes, primarily TV in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's (1971 through 1997). Do you play any instruments yourself (also ever played any on your scores)? I never performed on any scores. In the 1950's and 1960's I played bassoon and contra-bassoon at UCLA. Played sax, (primarily alto), clarinet and flute with Los Angeles area big bands and jazz groups. What made you decide to get into scoring to film and television? In November 1962, I was hired as an assistant music librarian at Four Star Television, a thriving independent TV production company. One year later I became a music librarian/copyist for CBS Television. During the next ten years, I worked in both the Film and Record Industries as a copyist and arranger. Composing opportunities at CBS (individual cues) began in 1971. IMDB.com lists your first score as being for a 1974 film called "The House on Skull Mountain"; is this correct? "The House on Skull Mountain" was my first Theatrical Feature Film (not made for TV release). What was the first TV series you recall working on and how did that come about? "Gunsmoke" and "Hawaii 5-0" in 1971. My relationship with CBS and the CBS Music Department gave me the opportunities. My first full TV score was a "Gunsmoke" episode entitled "Sarah" (EDITOR'S NOTE: click link to watch full episode online, legally [possibly only viewable to U.S. residents]), in September, 1972. I composed 22 minutes of original music for the episode. Some of the most famous names in TV scoring were among the credits on a popular TV series called "Police Woman"; with five episodes done yourself, how did you get onboard? Mort Stevens (CBS Music Director at the time) did the pilots and themes for both "Hawaii 5/0" and "Police Woman" and recommended me to the Columbia Pictures Television Music Department and producers of the "Police Woman" series. My success with "Police Woman" also led to episodes of "Police Story" and "Matt Helm" and eventually several mini-series for Columbia Studios. From then to "Dallas", how do you feel scoring changed, epsecially style wise? My style was always a musical response to what I experienced in reading scripts and seeing early cuts of film. I had a wide music background, (Jazz, Pop Music, Classical Music, lots of Film Music), that provided my compositional palette. I tried to shape each score to what the film suggested to me rather than applying a set style. What did evolve was my facility with composition and orchestration. How did you get involved with the long-running, popular series "Dallas"? At the time I didn't know I was being considered. What I learned later was that the night prior to the Lorimar meeting to discuss composers for the "Dallas" Pilot/Mini-Series, David Jacobs, the writer and creator of "Dallas", had seen a MOW entitled "Nowhere to Run". "Nowhere to Run", starring David Jannsen had a complicated plot dealing with high stakes gambling, an airline hijacking and secretive dealings, both personal and in business. David Jacobs (who had not met me at the time) loved the score I had done for the film and went into the meeting convinced that I should be the composer for "Dallas". Leonard Katzman, who produced "Dallas" and was a producer on the "Gunsmoke" series in 1972 (my first season) also vouched for me. "Dallas" came at the tail end of a TV scoring era where shows frequently had funky themes; what made you use the funky backbeats with the traditional sounding theme over it? "Dallas" was conceived as a unification of the rural vastness of Texas ("Giant") and the urban drive and energy of the Ewing family. Thus, the western elements combined originally with "Disco", the pop music of the late 1970's. Was there ever any preassure to arrange the theme into a more regular orchestral way, once shows like "Dynasty" and "Falcon Crest" is themes started reigning in a new TV show theme era? No. "Dallas" was the original of the Prime Time Soaps (discounting "Peyton Place") of that era. The number one TV series in the world in 1980 and no one had any thought of making changes. In later seasons I did modify the Disco beat to make it more "contemporary dance". Your theme has become one of the quintesential pieces of music from any TV series theme; how do you feel being rememberd all these years later for that work, and do you still get comments from fans on it? It remains the signature piece of music to my career. Many, many people of a certain age remember the Friday nights on CBS and the theme that called them to watch the show. An interview with you for The Film Music Society has you stating you were fired three times from "Dallas". Could you talk a little about that, and how you managed to get re-hired the two times? In hindsight it seemed that there was an executive producer who disliked certain instruments I chose to feature in certain episodes. I promised not to use the instruments in future scores. How did you manage to score the "Dallas" reunion movies after being fired three times? I assume the people came to their senses. The producer who had taken exception to my orchestrational choices was not involved in "Dallas" movies and to my knowledge no other composer was considered. Once again you found yourself working on another long-running and popular TV series, "Knots Landing", scoring the pilot and going (as far as I can tell) to season 10. How did you come to be involved with the series? "Knots Landing" was written and produced by David Jacobs. David Jacobs and I had formed a great working relationship in the year following the "Dallas" pilot and mini-series. "Knots Landing" was the third collaboration in a working relationship that lasted until my retirement in 1997. You co-scored some episodes with Craig Huxley. How did you two meet, and what was the process like? I originally knew Craig Huxley in the 1970's as a fine keyboard session performer and someone who was a pioneer in synthesizers and sampling instruments (Synclavier). I worked with him extensively on the feature film "Megaforce" in 1982 blending Synclavier with traditional scoring. When "Knots Landing" producers, in the late 1980's, wanted to reshape the series using electronic music to make the show edgier and more contemporary I formed a partnership with Craig and we scored several episodes per season using the Synclavier. I continued to record the "Knots Landing" theme each season, using an orchestra and featuring an alto sax, to the end of the series (1993?). When "Knots Landing" had a reunion 4 hour mini-series, I recorded the title theme using an orchestra with alto sax. The entire underscore was then done on Synclavier. A good, super long-running series you worked on was "Gunsmoke", being one of the composers to score the most episodes, clocking in at 27. How did you get invovled with the show? As the supervising copyist/music librarian for CBS from about 1967 I was involved with every recording done at CBS. One of "Gunsmoke"'s top composers, John Parker, along with screenwriter, Jim Byrnes, recommended me to Executive Producer, John Mantley. Some demos were provided and I was hired in September of 1972 to do the episode entitled "Sarah". I personally enjoyed your work for the series, especially a good score the episode "Matt Dillion Must Die!". I'm sure you were aware that by the time you joined the series, the scoring had a certain way about it. Did you try to stay in that general bound or did you approach the scoring anyway you saw fit? And can you recall your work for that episode? The underscoring style for "Gunsmoke" had been evolving for several seasons before 1972. Mort Stevens and John Parker had taken a more melodic approach. I chose to base my episodes on one or two original melodies, developing them over the 18 minute average scores. Action and tension cues usually had different and shorter motifs. I always tried to treat an episodic score as a complete musical form structured to integrate with the form of the episode. I don't specifically remember "Matt Dillon Must Die" and I no longer have reference copies at hand to refer to. As far as I can tell, "Dallas" turned out to be the last TV series you worked on (1991 being the final year you scored in). Is this accurate, and why did you not go on to work on other series? "Knots Landing" ran for two seasons after "Dallas" and I didn't do the final season. New producers wanted a change. There were several series that came and went between 1978 "Dallas" and 1993 last "Knots Landing". In 1993 I did half a season of "Walker, Texas Ranger" including a new theme as produced by Leonard Katzman. I left when Katzman did. In June of 1991, I had left Los Angeles and had to commute (an 8 hour drive) to continue working. For most of my career I declined to compose episodes of series where I hadn't written the main title theme. Have you ever had any scores (for either television or film) which were rejected, or replaced a score by another composer? Never a note for the first five years. Eventually some cues replaced but never had a score replaced. What have been your favorite projects you have worked on? Lots of them. "The Sacketts", a four hour hour mini-series (1976); the two and-a-half hour pilot for the series "How the West Was Won" entitled "The Macahans" (1976); the theatrical motion picture "Silence of the North"(1981); the 1986 four hour mini-series "Dallas; The Early Years" to list a few. Is there anything you have scored which you wish was on CD? Yes, many, including the ones above and "Megaforce" (1982), "Death Hunt" (1981), "Power" a four hour mini-series (1980) referencing Jimmy Hoffa's life, and "Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story" (1980) a four hour mini-series based on the book "The Rock and Clarence Carnes" which portrays two of the most notorious attempts to escape Alcatraz. IMDB shows your last score to be for the Dallas "War of the Ewings" TV movie; is this accurate? I believe it is. It's listed as 1998, but I remember doing it in 1997 (possibly shown in 1998). How do you feel about today's scoring? I'm generally favorably impressed. Film is different now. Film scores have to address different challenges and concerns. I watch very little TV, but find the film scores satisfactory. Do you have any favorite scores by other composers? Many. All my favorites are from my own generation and earlier. Who are you favorite composers? Again , from my own era; John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and Dave Grusin (not many scores, but really good). From an earlier era; Max Steiner, Alfred Newman, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and others from both eras to numerous to list. A sampling of my favorite non-film composers would include; Aaron Copeland, Igor Stravinsky, Beethoven, Mozart, etc., etc., etc. FilmMusicSociety.org lists that for people who have a membership, soon music by yourself from "Dallas" and "Knots Landing" will be available; is this true, and are there any plans to issue scores like that on regularly available CDs? I'm aware of an interest to do so, and the recordings exist to make it possible. I have no knowledge of a timetable and probably won't know much in advance of a release. A cheesy '74 movie called "The House on Skull Mountain" is among your credits; checking it out I noted where even for that era where composers were giving regular old horror scores, you approached it with wild percussion lines and a sort of Lalo Schifrin jazzy way; what made you decide to forego the typical scoring approach for a horror film like this and do it as you did? "The House on Skull Mountain" was written and directed by Ron Honthaner, an associate producer on "Gunsmoke". It was produced to be released as a theatrical feature on a very, very, limited budget. I wanted to score it as a union project and use as many top recording musicians as possible, so I had to restrict myself to a very small orchestra and a minimum of sessions (I believe we recorded about 70 minutes of music in one double session of six hours). I put together an orchestra consisting of 2 flutes/Piccolos, 3 bassoons, 2 Keyboards (including Clare Fischer and his Yamaha YC30 organ, an early analog synthesizer), and 3 percussion players. During my CBS years, I had worked a number of times with Lalo Schifrin and was very impressed with his ability to come up with unusual orchestras and find unique ways to score films. (Good observation, Justin). The result was much appreciated by Ron Honthaner and the other producers and actors. I don't believe anyone involved with the project received more than a minimum wage. "The House on Skull Mountain" still shows up on TV, generally around Halloween, each year. The TV series "Dallas" is being re-made for TV. Have you been asked to come in for the new theme? Would you come in (if not asked yet), and if asked, would you do any score(s) for the new series? I haven't been asked, don't expect to be asked and would decline if asked. I'd be very pleased if the original theme was used. Have you retired fully from composing? Yes!!! Absolutely and completely. Can you tell us about any upcoming projects (scoring or otherwise) you have coming up and/or are working on now? No, music is purely a hobby to me now. I have many interests to pursue in my retirement years. And finally, if there is anything at all you'd like to say, please feel free to do so. In an interview, many years ago, Dorothy Parker was asked if she enjoyed writing. Her reply; "I enjoy having written". Her quote works for me. Having said that, I remain interested in my own history and the history of my era and am always available for further discussion. Thank you for the interview. You're very welcome. I appreciate the interest and the opportunity. Published: December 19, 2009 |