The 1938 musical film "Cocoanut Grove" starred Fred MacMurray, Ben Blue and the always fabulous Eve Arden in a film that sported songs by Ralph Reed and Frederick Hollander. Riddle's arrangement is enchantingly airy and breathlessly sincere with an upwardly spiraling introduction before trumpets and saxes play the main melody supported by lower saxes. Tenor saxes and brass roll out phrases that...
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It's a little-known fact that on their first U.S. visit, in between their February appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles were supposed to play themselves in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show (also on CBS). Details were worked out, and a script was written, but at the last minute Brian Epstein decided to cancel the appearance.Recently, a draft of that script, called "Moptops In May...
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"Rain" was Rudy Vallee's claim to fame as it became the first song where he used his famous megaphone. That was in 1927 and the creator of this song is Eugene Ford. Nelson Riddle literally creates a light patter of rain in the opening bars of his arrangement with tremulous strings and bells which lead into Riddle's heart beat rhythm. Strings are the leading voice at the start with muted brass a...
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Nelson Riddle was one busy person in July 1957. He was the music director and arranger for Nat "King" Cole's ill fated NBC television show, receiving lots of air time for his own arrangements for orchestra thanks to Cole's selfless promotion of his great friend's work. Except for one telecast (where his spot was taken over by Gordon Jenkins), Riddle stayed with his friend Nat Cole until the bit...
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Master composer and lyricist Hoagy Carmichael wrote "I Get Along Without You Very Well" as a stand alone song in 1939, quickly establishing itself as one of the best remembered pop songs of its time. Bill Miller, Frank Sinatra's longtime pianist and music director, begins Riddle's chart with a perfectly poised piano performance which leads into a the statement of main melodic theme by flutes an...
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"Time Was" was one of the many Spanish songs imported to America during a strike by publishers against the radio networks in 1941. Although the strike was brief, it yielded a gold mine of Spanish language songs which became popular overnight. One of these songs was "Duerme" with lyrics by Gabriel Luna and music by Miguel Prado. With a set of English lyrics by Sidney Keith Russell, it became "Ti...
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The 1930 stage musical "Three's a Crowd" sported a marvelous score by lyricist Howard Dietz and composer Arthur Schwartz. The stars weren't too bad either with Fred MacMurray and comedian Fred Allen in the cast. One of the songs in the show was "Something to remember You By." Nelson Riddle writes a shuffling riff for trombones before Harry "Sweets" Edison plays along with guitarist Nick Bonney ...
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The stage musical "Blackbirds of 1928" sported an excellent score by lyricist Dorothy Fields and music by Jimmy McHugh, of which "Diga Diga Doo" took the country by storm. This is undoubtedly Nelson Riddle's greatest arrangement and spotlights flashes of Stravinsky within a lightning quick framework. Listen for solos by George Roberts on bass trombone, Harry "Sweets" Edison on muted trumpet, Ba...
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Another song by the great Richard Rodgers (music) and Lorenz Hart (words) is “Little Girl Blue” created in 1935 for their stage musical “Jumbo” which was later made into a movie in 1960 and starred Doris Day and Jimmy Durante. This time, Riddle opts for an impressionistic hued arrangement which has a stopped time feature played on reeds with masterful vibes solo (presumably by Emil Richard
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The classic team of lyricist Ted Koehler and composer Harold Arlen wrote "Get Happy" as part of their 1930 stage musical "Nine-Fifteen Avenue" starring Ruth Etting. Judy Garland virtually made this song her own over the years, becoming closely identified with the high spirits of the music and lyrics. Nelson Riddle writes a chart that begins with a tornado of bustling brass and swirling strings....
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And Eleanor Powell certainly was in this, her major break out film for MGM being "Broadway Melody of 1936." The lyrics were by MGM's head of their musical division Arthur Freed and his longtime collaborator Herb Nacio Brown handling the music. Riddle has written an arrangement that is fully nonchalant with that trademark heart beat rhythm that was so much of a part of his style. Harry "Sweets" ...
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Nelson Riddle (1921 - 1985) was one of the greatest arrangers in the history of American popular music. “This Can’t Be Love” was written by master tune smiths Richard Rodgers (music) and Lorenz Hart (words) for their 1938 stage musical “The Boys From Syracuse.” Riddle writes his arrangement with softly subtle sounds based on light washes of color on the piano and vibes along with a promi
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On Monday, I finished a poster for tonight's (Thursday) moe. show at The Fillmore... I did about a half dozen ideas and they went with this one... (They'll be handing these out at the door on your way out of the show... a great Fillmore tradition.)To be honest, I'd never heard moe. before... so I went to MOG to get a taste of their music (Thanks MOG!)... I'm still a rookie, so I won't pretend t...
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A fact that is overlooked even today is the back breaking work that went into producing records then and now. On a 1957 telecast of the Nat King Cole Show, Nat shows us how scores were readied for recording by people manning their pencils and copying from the arranger's scores. The soloists in Riddle's orchestra, as far as I can identify, are Conrad Gozzo (muted and open trumpet), "Babe" Russin...
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"I'll Get By" was written in 1928 by lyricist Roy Turk and composer Fred E. Ahlert. Less than 15 years later, it became one of the signature songs recorded by the great vocalist Dick Haymes. Frank Flynn delicately plays his vibes in the brief intro in this Nelson Riddle chart before the trombones swing gracefully through the main melodic line. Muted trumpets take over with fillers by Flynn. Sax...
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