Peter Gunn (The Original Sound Track Recording) Henry Mancini

• 1 Peter Gunn 02:07
• 2 A Quiet Happening 03:06
• 3 Dreamsville 03:47
• 4 Sky Watch 03:23
• 5 A Bluish Bag 02:53
• 6 Theme for Sam 03:10
• 7 The Monkey Farm 02:24
• 8 A Lovely Sound 03:33
• 9 I Like the Look 02:40
• 10 Silver Tears 03:07
• 11 Sweet! 03:10
• 12 Night Owl 03:48
• 13 Bye Bye 02:09
• 14 A Bluish Bag 03:31
• 15 Dreamsville 03:21
• Total Runtime 46:09

Info for Peter Gunn (The Original Sound Track Recording)

This is not only a great recording but a key piece of jazz and pop music history. Back in 1958, "Peter Gunn" was one of the unexpected hits of the new television season, capturing the imagination of millions of viewers by mixing private eye action with a jazz setting. Composer Henry Mancini was more than fluent in jazz, and his music nailed down the popularity of the series. With the main title theme, a driving, ominous, exciting piece of music to lead off the album, "The Music from Peter Gunn" became a huge hit, charting extraordinarily high for a television soundtrack and doing so well that RCA Victor came back the next year asking for a second helping ("More Music From Peter Gunn") from Mancini.

The music holds up: "Session At Pete’s Pad" is a superb workout for the trumpets of Pete Candoli, Uan Rasey, Conrad Gozzo, and Frank Beach, while Barney Kessel’s electric guitar gets the spotlight during "Dreamsville"; and "Sorta Blue" and "Fallout" are full-ensemble pieces that constitute quintessential 'cool' West Coast jazz of the period. In other words, it’s all virtuoso orchestral jazz, presented in its optimum form.

Ted Nash, alto saxophone Ronnie Lang, alto saxophone Dick Nash, trombone Milt Bernhart, trombone Pete Candoli, trumpet Johnny T. Williams, piano Larry Bunker, vibraphone Rolly Bundock, bass Jack Sperling, drums Henry Mancini, conductor

Recorded on August 26 and 31, and Sept 4 and 29 1958 in Hollywood, Los Angeles
Produced by Simon Rady

Digitally remastered

Henry Mancini (1924-1994)
(Enrico Nicola Mancini) was born on 16 April 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio, but he grew up in Pennsylvania. His father, an Italian immigrant, taught him to play the flute and piccolo. As a young boy, he played the flute in a youth band for several years. After graduating from high school he received musical training from Max Adkins, the musical director of the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, who encouraged Henry to pursue further musical studies. Mancini decided to attend the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh (now Carnegie Mellon University). Adkins introduced Henry to Benny Goodman, who encouraged Henry to move to New York. Mancini took Goodmans advice and left Philadelphia. Soon after his move to New York, he was accepted into the Julliard School of Music.

After only a year in New York, Mancini was drafted in into the Air Force in 1943 during WWII. After his service ended, he moved to Los Angeles with his new wife, Ginny OConnor and began working as a freelance musician. He received a wonderful opportunity in 1952 when he was hired for a temporary assignment at Universal studios, working on an Abbott and Costello film. His talent earned him a permanent position at Universal Studios where he remained for 6 years, building his reputation as a skilled film composer and arranger. One of his earlier projects, The Glenn Miller Story, earned him an Oscar in 1954 (Best Adaptation of a Score). Mancini went on to receive eighteen Academy Award nominations, winning two Oscars for Breakfast at Tiffanys, one for The Days of Wine and Roses, and one for Victor/Victoria. Mancini was also nominated for 72 Grammys. Among the twenty Grammys that he was awarded are five for Breakfast at Tiffanys and three for The Pink Panther. He also received two Emmy nominations and was given a Golden Globe Award for his work in Darling Lili in 1970 (Best Song).

In addition to his motion-picture work, Mancini did work for television films (including The Thorn Birds), wrote the themes of many popular television shows (including Newhart, Peter Gunn, and Remington Steele) and recorded more than ninety albums. Through the nineteen-eighties, Mancini continued his work on film scores, while also working as a conductor and performer.

After a long battle with Cancer, Henry Mancini passed away in Beverly Hills, CA on 14 June 1994.

This album contains no booklet.