Hal Mooney
Encyclopedia
Hal Mooney was an American composer
and arranger
, born Harold Mooney (under which name he was occasionally credited professionally) on 4 February 1911, in Brooklyn
, New York
. He died on 23 March 1995, in Los Angeles, California
.
. He attended Brooklyn
and St. John's
Law School
s. After studying music
under New York University
professor
Orville Mayhood and then under the influential Joseph Schillinger
, he was invited to join the arrangers' roster for the popular Hal Kemp
Orchestra, alongside John Scott Trotter (who was about to leave the band) and Lou Busch
.
Mooney then moved to the Jimmy Dorsey
Orchestra, but World War II
was breaking out and soon he was called up by the United States Army
.
, Frank Sinatra
, Judy Garland
, Peggy Lee
, Kay Starr
, and Billy Eckstine
.
Director at Mercury Records
, where he would remain until the late 1960s. There, he provided arrangements for another raft of top singers, including Sarah Vaughan
, Dinah Washington
, Helen Merrill
, Ernestine Anderson
and, on Mercury's parent label, Philips Records
, Nina Simone
.
Mooney was described as a "nuts and bolts arranger" by fellow chart writer Billy May
. It was meant as a compliment, and Mooney's versatility can be characterised by some of the more notable arrangements he wrote at the Mercury stable.
For Vaughan, he provided lush, string settings (along with more brassy, upbeat numbers) on albums such as Great Songs From Hit Shows (1956) and Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin
(1957). Though those arrangements grated with some jazz purists, their dramatic qualities inspired the acclaimed singer to some of her finest work, for example Hit Shows "It Never Entered My Mind
" http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/product.aspx?ob=disc&src=art&pid=10070 and the Gershwin album's Isn't It a Pity?
. Apart from such highbrow projects, Mooney also arranged some of Vaughan's forays into R&B-inspired 50s pop, for example the Clyde Otis
-penned "Sweet Affection" (1957).
Mooney's numerous arrangements for Dinah Washington
, meanwhile, ranged from straight big band
swing, through Latin mambo to rhythm and blues
, but the seven albums on which he worked with Simone, between 1964 and 1967, display the greatest versatility. Though they contain the occasional string-backed track not unlike Mooney's classic work with Vaughan, they took him a world away from it at other times. For example, Simone's final Philips album, High Priestess of Soul
(1967), is a diverse combination of pop, jazz and gospel. Mooney's two best-known arrangements for Simone, "I Put A Spell On You
" and "Feelin' Good", might be quite different in some ways to his earlier work with Vaughan, but the same sense of drama is evident.
In his A&R
capacity, Mooney helped to woo Xavier Cugat
to Mercury, and he also produced several albums, including Dizzy Gillespie
's Jambo Caribe (1964) and Vaughan's penultimate work for Mercury It's a Man's World (1967), for which Mooney also arranged some of the songs.
with West Coast jazz
, and the earlier Musical Horoscope, for which Mooney composed a different tune for each of the signs of the zodiac.
Having joined ASCAP in 1936, Mooney's compositions included Rigamarole, Hodge-Podge, Jumpin' Jiminy, Sing, It's Good For Ya, and Goin' to Town.
, where he became musical director on many of the most popular TV shows of the 1970s, including Columbo, Marcus Welby, M.D.
, Ellery Queen
, The Six Million Dollar Man
, The Bionic Woman
, Kolchak: The Night Stalker
and The Rockford Files
, as well as the television movie
which launched Steven Spielberg
's career, Duel (1971).
, The Storyteller
. This stalwart of Hollywood died in the apt location of Studio City, Los Angeles, California
on 23 March 1995, aged 84. He was cremated. His ashes were given to his family.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, born Harold Mooney (under which name he was occasionally credited professionally) on 4 February 1911, in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He died on 23 March 1995, in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Early life and career
As a young man, Mooney was a professional pianistPianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. He attended Brooklyn
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School is a law school located in Brooklyn Heights, in Downtown Brooklyn, New York.-History:Founded in 1901 by William Payson Richardson and Norman P. Heffley, Brooklyn Law School was the first law school on Long Island. Using space provided by Heffley’s business school, the law...
and St. John's
St. John's University School of Law
St. John's University School of Law is a Roman Catholic law school in Queens, New York City, affiliated with St. John's University. The School of Law was founded in 1925, and confers Juris Doctor degrees and degrees for Master of Laws in Bankruptcy and Master of Laws in U.S. Studies. Over 13,000 St...
Law School
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
s. After studying music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
under New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
Orville Mayhood and then under the influential Joseph Schillinger
Joseph Schillinger
Joseph Schillinger was a composer, music theorist, and composition teacher. He was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine and died in New York City.-Life and career:...
, he was invited to join the arrangers' roster for the popular Hal Kemp
Hal Kemp
James Harold "Hal" Kemp was a jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. He was born in Marion, Alabama and died in Madera, California following an auto accident...
Orchestra, alongside John Scott Trotter (who was about to leave the band) and Lou Busch
Lou Busch
Louis Ferdinand Busch was a music producer, musician and songwriter who was best known for performing as a pianist under the nickname Joe "Fingers" Carr.-Biography:...
.
Mooney then moved to the Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
Orchestra, but World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was breaking out and soon he was called up by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
.
Hollywood
On his return from the war, Mooney became a freelance arranger in Hollywood and started to make a name for himself, providing charts for top vocalists such as Bing CrosbyBing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
, and Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
.
The Mercury Years
In 1956, Mooney finally swapped freelancing for an exclusive contract, becoming in-house arranger and A&RA&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
Director at Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, where he would remain until the late 1960s. There, he provided arrangements for another raft of top singers, including Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
, Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
, Helen Merrill
Helen Merrill
Helen Merrill is an internationally known jazz vocalist.Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades and she is popular with fans of jazz in Japan and Italy as well as in her native United States...
, Ernestine Anderson
Ernestine Anderson
Ernestine Anderson is an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than five decades, she has recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She has sung at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Monterey Jazz Festival , as well as at jazz festivals all...
and, on Mercury's parent label, Philips Records
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
, Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
.
Mooney was described as a "nuts and bolts arranger" by fellow chart writer Billy May
Billy May
William E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among...
. It was meant as a compliment, and Mooney's versatility can be characterised by some of the more notable arrangements he wrote at the Mercury stable.
For Vaughan, he provided lush, string settings (along with more brassy, upbeat numbers) on albums such as Great Songs From Hit Shows (1956) and Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin
Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin
Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin is a 1958 studio album by Sarah Vaughan, of the music of George Gershwin.-Track listing:# "Isn't It a Pity?" – 3:53# "Of Thee I Sing" – 3:10...
(1957). Though those arrangements grated with some jazz purists, their dramatic qualities inspired the acclaimed singer to some of her finest work, for example Hit Shows "It Never Entered My Mind
It Never Entered My Mind
"It Never Entered My Mind" is a show tune from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Higher and Higher , where it was introduced by Shirley Ross.-Notable recordings:...
" http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/product.aspx?ob=disc&src=art&pid=10070 and the Gershwin album's Isn't It a Pity?
Isn't It a Pity?
"Isn't It a Pity?" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, written for the 1933 musical Pardon My English. It was introduced by George Givot and Josephine Huston.-Notable recordings:...
. Apart from such highbrow projects, Mooney also arranged some of Vaughan's forays into R&B-inspired 50s pop, for example the Clyde Otis
Clyde Otis
Clyde Otis, born in Prentiss, Mississippi, , was an American songwriter and producer best known for his collaboration with singer Brook Benton, and for being one of the first African American A&R executive for a major label.According to the music licensing organization Broadcast Music Inc., Otis is...
-penned "Sweet Affection" (1957).
Mooney's numerous arrangements for Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
, meanwhile, ranged from straight big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
swing, through Latin mambo to rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, but the seven albums on which he worked with Simone, between 1964 and 1967, display the greatest versatility. Though they contain the occasional string-backed track not unlike Mooney's classic work with Vaughan, they took him a world away from it at other times. For example, Simone's final Philips album, High Priestess of Soul
High Priestess Of Soul
High Priestess of Soul is a studio album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . The songs are accompanied by a large band directed by Hal Mooney. The album contains popular songs and Church-African-Folk-related songs...
(1967), is a diverse combination of pop, jazz and gospel. Mooney's two best-known arrangements for Simone, "I Put A Spell On You
I Put a Spell on You
"I Put a Spell on You" is a 1956 song written by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, whose recording was selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was also ranked #320 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.Although Hawkins'...
" and "Feelin' Good", might be quite different in some ways to his earlier work with Vaughan, but the same sense of drama is evident.
In his A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
capacity, Mooney helped to woo Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat was a Spanish-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman...
to Mercury, and he also produced several albums, including Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
's Jambo Caribe (1964) and Vaughan's penultimate work for Mercury It's a Man's World (1967), for which Mooney also arranged some of the songs.
As composer and recording artist
Mooney recorded numerous orchestral albums in his own name, such as "Ballet With A Beat" (1961), which fused famous ballet melodies like Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Sabre DanceSabre Dance
"The Sabre Dance" is a movement in the final act of the ballet Gayane , written by Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian's and completed in 1942. It evokes a whirling war dance in an Armenian dance, where the dancers display their skill with sabres. Its middle section incorporates an Armenian folk...
with West Coast jazz
West coast jazz
West Coast jazz refers to various styles of jazz music that developed around Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950s. West Coast jazz is often seen as a sub-genre of cool jazz, which featured a less frenetic, calmer style than bebop or hard bop. The music tended to be more heavily arranged,...
, and the earlier Musical Horoscope, for which Mooney composed a different tune for each of the signs of the zodiac.
Having joined ASCAP in 1936, Mooney's compositions included Rigamarole, Hodge-Podge, Jumpin' Jiminy, Sing, It's Good For Ya, and Goin' to Town.
The Universal Years
Philips decided to phase out the Mercury label in the late 1960s and so Mooney moved on to Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, where he became musical director on many of the most popular TV shows of the 1970s, including Columbo, Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...
, Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen is both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee , to write, edit, and anthologize detective fiction.The fictional Ellery Queen created by...
, The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
, The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman is an American television series starring Lindsay Wagner that aired for three seasons between 1976 and 1978 as a spin off from The Six Million Dollar Man. Wagner stars as tennis pro Jaime Sommers who is nearly killed in a skydiving accident. Sommers' life is saved by Oscar Goldman ...
, Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. It featured a fictional Chicago newspaper reporter — Carl Kolchak, played by Darren McGavin — who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly ones law...
and The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
, as well as the television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
which launched Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's career, Duel (1971).
Later life
Hal Mooney retired after composing the musical score to the 1977 television movieTelevision movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
, The Storyteller
The Storyteller
The StoryTeller is a live-action/puppet television series. It was an American/British co-production which originally aired in 1988 and was created and produced by Jim Henson....
. This stalwart of Hollywood died in the apt location of Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
on 23 March 1995, aged 84. He was cremated. His ashes were given to his family.