Gordon Hill Jenkins (12 May 1910 – 1 May 1984) was an American arranger who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In Music, an arrangement refers either to a rewriting of a piece of existing Music with additional new material or to a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch such The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Jenkins worked with the Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, among other singers. The Andrews Sisters were a Close harmony singing group consisting of sisters LaVerne Sophie Andrews ( Contralto; July 6, 1911 &ndash May Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12 1915 &ndash May 14 1998 was an American singer and actor Louis Armstrong (August 4 1901 &ndash July 6 1971 nicknamed Satchmo or Sachimo and Pops, was an American Jazz Trumpeter Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10 1922 – June 22 1969 was an American actress and singer Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17 1919 &ndash February 15 1965 known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25 1917 &ndash June 15 1996 also known as " Lady Ella " and the "First Lady of Song" is considered one of the most influential [1]
Contents |
Life
Jenkins was born in Webster Groves, Missouri. Webster Groves is a city in St Louis County, Missouri, United States. He started his career doing arrangements for a St Louis radio station. He was then hired by Isham Jones, the director of a dance band known for its ensemble playing, and this gave Jenkins the opportunity to develop his skills in melodic scoring. Isham Jones ( 31 January, 1894 &ndash 19 October, 1956) was a United States bandleader violinist bassist and Songwriter He also conducted The Show Is On on Broadway. Broadway theater, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located
After the Jones band broke up in 1936, Jenkins worked as a freelance arranger and songwriter, contributing to sessions by Isham Jones, Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Andre Kostelanetz, Lennie Hayton, and others. Paul Whiteman ( March 28, 1890 &ndash December 29, 1967) was an American orchestral André Kostelanetz (Russian Андрей Костеланец December 22, 1901, St Leonard George (Lennie Hayton ( 13 February 1908 &ndash 24 April 1971) was a Jewish American composer conductor and arranger In 1938, Jenkins moved to Hollywood and worked for Paramount Pictures and NBC, and then became Dick Haymes' arranger for four years. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and Distribution company, based in Hollywood California. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Dick Haymes ( September 13, 1918 &ndash March 28, 1980) was an Actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of In 1944, Jenkins had a hit song with "San Fernando Valley".
In 1945, Jenkins joined Decca Records. Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. In 1947, he had his first million-seller with "Maybe You'll Be There" featuring vocalist Charles LaVere and in 1949 had a huge hit with Victor Young's film theme "My Foolish Heart", which was also a success for Billy Eckstine. " Maybe You'll Be There " is a popular Song composed by Rube Bloom, with lyrics written by Sammy Gallop. Not to be confused with the actor Victor Sen Yung who was sometimes billed as Victor Young Victor Young ( August 8, 1900 - Billy Eckstine ( 8 July, 1914 &ndash 8 March, 1993) born William Clarence Eckstein in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh At the same time, he regularly arranged for and conducted the orchestra for various Decca artists, including Dick Haymes ("Little White Lies", 1947), Ella Fitzgerald ("Happy Talk", 1949, "Black Coffee", 1949, "Baby", 1954), Patty Andrews of the Andrews Sisters ("I Can Dream, Can't I", 1949) and Louis Armstrong ("Blueberry Hill", 1949 and "When It's Sleepy Time Down South", 1951). This article refers to the song For the British movie magazine see Little White Lies (magazine. Happy talk, also called banter, is the additional and often meaningless Commentary interspersed into News programs by News anchors and others "Black Coffee" is a popular Song. The music was written by Sonny Burke, the lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The Andrews Sisters were a Close harmony singing group consisting of sisters LaVerne Sophie Andrews ( Contralto; July 6, 1911 &ndash May " I Can Dream Can't I? " is a popular Song written by Sammy Fain and the lyrics by Irving Kahal.
The liner notes to Verve Records' 2001 reissue of one of Jenkins' albums with Armstrong, Satchmo In Style, quote Decca's onetime A & R Director, Milt Gabler, saying that Jenkins "stood up on his little podium so that all the performers could see him conduct. Verve Records is an American Jazz Record label now owned by the Universal Music Group. Milton Gabler ( May 20, 1911 - July 20, 2001) was an American Record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording But before he gave a downbeat, Gordon made a speech about how much he loved Louis and how this was the greatest moment in his life. And then he cried. "
During this time, Jenkins also began recording and performing under his own name. One of his enduring works while at Decca was a pair of Broadway-style musical vignettes, "Manhattan Tower" and "California" which saw release several times (78s, 45s, and LP) in the '40s and '50s. The two were paired on a very early Decca LP in 1949), and Jenkins was given the Key to New York City by its mayor when Jenkins's orchestra performed the 16-minute suite on the Ed Sullivan show in the early '50s. Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan ( September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American Entertainment Writer In 1956, he expanded "Manhattan Tower" to almost three times its length, released it (this time on Capitol Records), and performed it on an hour-long television show. Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as (Both versions of "Manhattan Tower" are currently available on CD. ) Another of his long play album productions, "Seven Dreams" included a sequence which was the source for Johnny Cash's immensely popular recording, "Folsom Prison Blues". Johnny Cash (born J R Cash; February 26 1932 - September 12 2003 was a Grammy Award -winning American country Singer-songwriter. " Folsom Prison Blues " is an American Country music song written by Johnny Cash in the early 1950s and originally recorded with his trio in 1955
He headlined New York's Capitol Theater between 1949 and 1951 and the Paramount Theater in 1952. He appeared in Las Vegas in 1953 and many times thereafter. Las Vegas ( Spanish: "The Meadows" is the most populous City in the state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally He worked for NBC as a TV producer from 1955 to 1957, and performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 1964. The Hollywood Bowl is a famous modern Amphitheatre in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles California, USA, that is used primarily for music Performances By 1949, Jenkins was musical director at Decca, and he signed -- despite resistance from Decca's management -- the Weavers, a Greenwich Village folk ensemble that included Pete Seeger among its members. The Weavers were an influential American Folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. Greenwich Village (ˌgrɛnɪtʃ ˈvɪlɪdʒ often simply called the Village, is a largely residential area on the west side of downtown (southern Manhattan Peter "Pete" Seeger (born May 3 1919 is an American folk singer political Activist, and a key figure in the mid-20th century American The combination of the Weavers' folk music with Jenkins' orchestral arrangements became immensely popular, to the surprise of everyone involved. Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous Their most notable collaboration was a version of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" (1950) backed by Jenkins' adaptation of the Israeli folk song, "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena". Huddie William Ledbetter, (January 1888 – December 6 1949 was an American folk and Blues Musician, notable for his clear and forceful singing " Goodnight Irene " or " Irene Goodnight," is a 20th century American folk standard. " Tzena Tzena Tzena " is a Song, originally written in Hebrew by Issachar Miron ( né Stefan Michrovsky a Polish emigrant Other notable songs they recorded together are "The Roving Kind", "On Top of Old Smokey" (1951), and "Wimoweh" (1952). " The Lion Sleeps Tonight " began as a 1939 African Popular music hit " Mbube " that in modified versions also became a hit in the
Jenkins later moved to Capitol Records where he worked with Frank Sinatra, notably on the albums Where Are You? (1957) and No One Cares (1959), and Nat King Cole, with whom he had his greatest successes; Jenkins was responsible for the lush arrangements on the 1957 album Love Is The Thing (Capitol's first stereo release, which included "When I Fall in Love", one of Cole's best-known recordings), as well as the albums The Very Thought of You (1958) and Where Did Everyone Go? (1963). Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12 1915 &ndash May 14 1998 was an American singer and actor Where Are You? is an 1957 (see 1957 in music) album by Frank Sinatra. No One Cares is a 1959 album by American Singer Frank Sinatra. " When I Fall in Love " is a popular song written by Victor Young (music and Edward Heyman (lyrics "The Very Thought of You" is a Pop standard published in 1934, with music and lyrics by Ray Noble. Jenkins also wrote the music and lyrics for Judy Garland's 1959 album The Letter which also featured vocalist Charles LaVere, and conducted several of Garland's London concerts in the early 1960s.
Whilst most of Jenkins' arrangements at Capitol were in his distinctive string-laden style, he continued to demonstrate more versatility when required, particularly on albums such as A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra (1957), which opens with a swinging version of Jingle Bells, and Nat King Cole's album of spirituals, Every Time I Feel The Spirit (1958), which includes several tracks with a pronounced 
beat that might almost be described as rock. A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra is a Christmas album by American singer Frank Sinatra, originally released by Capitol Records "Jingle Bells", also known as "One Horse Open Sleigh", is one of the best known and commonly sung secular Christmas songs in the world Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums.
However, as rock and roll gained ascendency in the 1960s, Jenkins' lush string arrangements fell out of favour and he worked only sporadically, though Sinatra, who had left Capitol to start his own label, Reprise Records, continued to call upon the arranger's services at various intervals over the next two decades, on albums such as All Alone (1962), the critically-acclaimed September of My Years (1965), for which Jenkins won a Grammy, Sinatra's 1973 comeback album, Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back and She Shot Me Down (1981) - regarded by many Sinatraphiles as the singer's last great work. Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Reprise Records is an American Record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra, which is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated September of My Years is an album by Frank Sinatra, released in 1965 that is often considered one of his best The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back is a 1973 album by the American singer Frank Sinatra. She Shot Me Down is a 1981 (see 1981 in music) Album by Frank Sinatra. Jenkins also worked with Harry Nilsson on A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973), a collection of pre-rock and roll standards. Harry Edward Nilsson III ( June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994) was an American Songwriter, singer Pianist, and The Nilsson sessions, with Jenkins conducting, were recorded on video and later broadcast as a television special by the BBC.
Although best known as an arranger, Jenkins also wrote well-known several songs including "P. S. I Love You", "Goodbye" (Benny Goodman's sign-off tune), "Blue Prelude", "This Is All I Ask", "When a Woman Loves a Man" and "Future", composed music for Sinatra's 1979 concept album Trilogy. In Popular music, a concept album is an Album which is "unified by a theme which can be instrumental compositional narrative or lyrical"
Death
Jenkins died in Malibu, California in 1984 at age 73 of Lou Gehrig's disease. Malibu is an incorporated city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. The motor neurone diseases (or motor neuron diseases) (MND are a group of progressive neurological disorders that destroy Motor neurones the cells that control voluntary
In November of 2005, Gordon's son Bruce (a sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle) published a biography titled "Goodbye". The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H A biography (from the Greek words bíos (βίος meaning "life" and gráphein (γράφειν meaning "to write" is an account Other living relatives include nieces Phoebe Barnum and Leslie Mason.
References
External links
- Discography (at VH1)
- Profile
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic