Johnny Mandel - Being There (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2026)

Being There (1979) is a satirical comedy-drama directed by Hal Ashby, based on Jerzy Kosiński's novel, starring Peter Sellers as Chance the Gardener — a simple-minded, TV-reared man mistaken for a political visionary by Washington's elite. The film was inducted into the U.S. National Film Registry and holds a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The soundtrack is deliberately spare, functioning as a direct extension of Ashby's restrained artistic philosophy. The core score was composed by Johnny Mandel — one of Hollywood's most distinguished composers and arrangers, responsible for the M*A*S*H theme and "The Shadow of Your Smile" — who performed piano themes modeled on Erik Satie's Gnossiennes Nos. 4 and 5. Fragile, directionless, and hauntingly ambient, the music serves as a sonic mirror for the protagonist's inner blankness. Mandel was assisted in orchestration by his cousin, composer Miles Goodman.
Two licensed tracks complete the album. Eumir Deodato's jazz-funk reimagining of "Also Sprach Zarathustra," recorded in 1972 for CTI Records and a Top 2 Billboard hit, accompanies the opening credits in a moment of deliberate irony — a thunderous cosmic fanfare heralding absolute vacancy. Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" plays over Chance's arrival at the Biltmore Estate.
This 2026 NAPS release marks the first official soundtrack album for the film, which for decades circulated only as unlicensed recordings, making it a long-awaited document for admirers of classic American cinema.



Tracklist:
1-1 Eumir Deodato - Also Sprach Zarathustra (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [9:02]
1-2 Johnny Mandel;JOHNNY MANDEL - Gnossiennes No. 4 & No. 5" (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [3:37]
1-3 Johnny Mandel;JOHNNY MANDEL - Waltz No. 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [3:50]
1-4 Johnny Mandel;JOHNNY MANDEL - Bolero (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [14:49]
1-5 Johnny Mandel;JOHNNY MANDEL - Valse Sentimentale (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [4:45]