Mort Garson
Encyclopedia
Mort Garson who was born in Saint John, New Brunswick
, Canada
, was an electronic music
ian best known for his albums that predominantly feature Moog synthesizer
s.
. He could carry out any or all of the musical chores on any given session: composer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, and even pianist if that was required. He conducted the "Love Strings" on Liberty Records
, arranged for the Lettermen
on Capitol Records
, provided background to Laurence Harvey reading poetry on Atlantic Records
, accompanied Doris Day on Columbia and experimented with the Moog synthesizer
on A&M Records
, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. With lyricist Bob Hilliard
, he wrote one of the great lounge
hits of the 1960s, "Our Day Will Come
", a hit for Ruby & The Romantics
and more recently covered by K. D. Lang and Take 6
for the soundtrack of the movie Shag.
albums (Sentimental Journey and Songs for Latin Lovers), Mel Tormé
's Right Now! album of contemporary covers like "Secret Agent Man," Glenn Yarborough's highly successful cover of Rod McKuen
songs, The Lonely Things, and Glen Campbell
's even more successful "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." He also appears to have been a favorite of producers when the job involved soft pop vocal groups and string ensembles, since his handiwork appears on albums and singles by the Lettermen
, the Sandpipers, the Sugar Shoppe, the Hollyridge Strings, the Sunset Strings, and the Love Strings.
Highly prized albums among collectors and exotica
fans are Garson's electronic albums from the mid to late 1960s. The Zodiac : Cosmic Sounds
- Celestial Counterpoint with Words and Music, a suite of Garson originals released on Elektra Records
includes tracks for each of the 12 signs of the zodiac
, and features Paul Beaver
on a variety of electronic instruments with voice-overs by Cyrus Faryar
. Zodiac was the first album recorded on the West Coast to make use of Robert Moog
's new Moog synthesizer
. Another moog album, Electronic Hair Pieces, covered songs from the hippie
-influenced musical, Hair
. The mod album cover art for Electronic Hair Pieces featured a model with a wired-up skull; liner notes were provided by Tom Smothers
of the Smothers Brothers
. Another album, The Wozard of Iz
, a psychedelic
satire based on The Wizard of Oz
featured Bernie Krause providing a rich array of environmental sound effects and Suzy Jane Hokum voicing Dorothy. (The widely repeated claim 'Suzy Jane Hokum' is a pseudonym for Nancy Sinatra is untrue.)
With the success of the original Zodiac LP, Garson went on to compose and arrange a 12 album series of zodiac
albums for A&M Records
, one album for each sign. Like Zodiac, each album contained original tunes with heavy use of electronics. In 1974, Mort Garson composed the electronic music score for the 18th Annual Grammy Award winning Best Children's Recording of The Little Prince
narrated by Richard Burton. Plantasia, which was released in 1976, was an album of Moog compositions to be played for growing plants. Garson also released a record of music-and-moans to capitalize on the best-seller at the time, The Sensuous Woman
by "Z". He wrote an electronic Black Mass
album under the pseudonym Lucifer
that again featured the Moog. Garson followed Black Mass
with an album titled Ataraxia designed to accompany meditations to the mantra of the listener's choice.
who is credited with composing the well-known National Geographic orchestral theme that first appeared in on the magazine's TV specials in 1966.
Garson was very closely associated with Heatter-Quigley Productions
, creating the theme songs and music cues for the following TV game shows:
The music for the first five featured Garson playing synthesizers, but the Battlestars package used more conventional marching band
orchestration.
.
's 1996 song "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt," from the album Endtroducing.....
.
The song "Exchange" was covered by Massive Attack
on their 1998 album Mezzanine
.
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, was an electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
ian best known for his albums that predominantly feature Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
s.
Early life
Mort Garson studied music at Juilliard and worked as a pianist and arranger before getting pulled into the Army near the end of World War TwoWorld 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...
. He could carry out any or all of the musical chores on any given session: composer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, and even pianist if that was required. He conducted the "Love Strings" on Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
, arranged for the Lettermen
The Lettermen
The Lettermen are an American male pop music vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959...
on Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, provided background to Laurence Harvey reading poetry on Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, accompanied Doris Day on Columbia and experimented with the Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
on A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. With lyricist Bob Hilliard
Bob Hilliard
Bob Hilliard was an American lyricist. He wrote the words for the songs; "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", "Any Day Now", "Dear Hearts and Gentle People", "Our Day Will Come", "My Little Corner of the World", and "Seven Little Girls ".-Career:Born in New York City, New York, and after...
, he wrote one of the great lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
hits of the 1960s, "Our Day Will Come
Our Day Will Come
"Our Day Will Come" is a popular song composed by Bob Hilliard and Mort Garson which was a #1 hit in 1963 for Ruby & The Romantics.-Ruby & the Romantics:...
", a hit for Ruby & The Romantics
Ruby & the Romantics
Ruby & the Romantics was an American R&B group in the 1960s. They had several pop and R&B hit records, but are sometimes considered as a one-hit wonder for topping the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1963 with their first recording, "Our Day Will Come", written by Mort Garson and Bob Hilliard...
and more recently covered by K. D. Lang and Take 6
Take 6
Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two...
for the soundtrack of the movie Shag.
Early career
Garson spent the mid-1960s on a rapid succession of accompaniment jobs: two Doris DayDoris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
albums (Sentimental Journey and Songs for Latin Lovers), Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
's Right Now! album of contemporary covers like "Secret Agent Man," Glenn Yarborough's highly successful cover of Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen is an American poet, songwriter, composer, and singer. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range of recordings, which included popular music, spoken word poetry, film soundtracks, and classical music...
songs, The Lonely Things, and Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
's even more successful "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." He also appears to have been a favorite of producers when the job involved soft pop vocal groups and string ensembles, since his handiwork appears on albums and singles by the Lettermen
The Lettermen
The Lettermen are an American male pop music vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959...
, the Sandpipers, the Sugar Shoppe, the Hollyridge Strings, the Sunset Strings, and the Love Strings.
Highly prized albums among collectors and exotica
Exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
fans are Garson's electronic albums from the mid to late 1960s. The Zodiac : Cosmic Sounds
The Zodiac : Cosmic Sounds
The Zodiac : Cosmic Sounds was a collaborative concept album on the theme of the signs of the Zodiac...
- Celestial Counterpoint with Words and Music, a suite of Garson originals released on Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
includes tracks for each of the 12 signs of the zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
, and features Paul Beaver
Paul Beaver
Paul Beaver was a jazz musician and a pioneer in popular electronic music, using the Moog synthesizer.Beaver was the electronic half of a 1965 experimental free-form album for Dunhill Records with studio drummer Hal Blaine called "Psychedelic Percussion"...
on a variety of electronic instruments with voice-overs by Cyrus Faryar
Cyrus Faryar
Cyrus Faryar is an American folk musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was active in musical, theatrical, and performance events in high school. After graduating from high school and attending college, he became involved in the entertainment industry, opening the first coffee house in...
. Zodiac was the first album recorded on the West Coast to make use of Robert Moog
Robert Moog
Robert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:...
's new Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
. Another moog album, Electronic Hair Pieces, covered songs from the hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
-influenced musical, Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
. The mod album cover art for Electronic Hair Pieces featured a model with a wired-up skull; liner notes were provided by Tom Smothers
Tom Smothers
Tom Smothers is an American comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy team The Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.-Early life:...
of the Smothers Brothers
Smothers Brothers
The Smothers Brothers are Thomas and Richard , American singers, musicians, comedians and folk heroes. The brothers' trademark act was performing folk songs , which usually led to arguments between the siblings...
. Another album, The Wozard of Iz
The Wozard of Iz
The Wozard of Iz is an electronic album written by Jacques Wilson with music composed and performed by Mort Garson. It parodies the movie The Wizard of Oz , setting the characters in a stereotypical 1960s hippie mindset. Throughout the story, the main character, Dorothy, seeks out "where it's at"...
, a psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
satire based on The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
featured Bernie Krause providing a rich array of environmental sound effects and Suzy Jane Hokum voicing Dorothy. (The widely repeated claim 'Suzy Jane Hokum' is a pseudonym for Nancy Sinatra is untrue.)
With the success of the original Zodiac LP, Garson went on to compose and arrange a 12 album series of zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
albums for A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, one album for each sign. Like Zodiac, each album contained original tunes with heavy use of electronics. In 1974, Mort Garson composed the electronic music score for the 18th Annual Grammy Award winning Best Children's Recording of The Little Prince
The Little Prince
The Little Prince , first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ....
narrated by Richard Burton. Plantasia, which was released in 1976, was an album of Moog compositions to be played for growing plants. Garson also released a record of music-and-moans to capitalize on the best-seller at the time, The Sensuous Woman
The Sensuous Woman
The Sensuous Woman is a book by Joan Garrity. Published first during 1969 with the pseudonym "J", it is a detailed instruction manual concerning sexuality for women....
by "Z". He wrote an electronic Black Mass
Black Mass
A Black Mass is a ceremony supposedly celebrated during the Witches' Sabbath, which was a sacrilegious parody of the Catholic Mass. Its main objective was the profanation of the host, although there is no agreement among authors on how hosts were obtained or profaned; the most common idea is that...
album under the pseudonym Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
that again featured the Moog. Garson followed Black Mass
Black Mass
A Black Mass is a ceremony supposedly celebrated during the Witches' Sabbath, which was a sacrilegious parody of the Catholic Mass. Its main objective was the profanation of the host, although there is no agreement among authors on how hosts were obtained or profaned; the most common idea is that...
with an album titled Ataraxia designed to accompany meditations to the mantra of the listener's choice.
Film composer
Garson also worked in television and film, scoring a wide variety of music for many different movies and TV shows, from Beware! The Blob! to Kentucky Fried Movie to National Geographic specials, although it is Elmer BernsteinElmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
who is credited with composing the well-known National Geographic orchestral theme that first appeared in on the magazine's TV specials in 1966.
Garson was very closely associated with Heatter-Quigley Productions
Heatter-Quigley Productions
Heatter-Quigley Productions was an American television production company that was launched in 1960 by two former television writers, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley....
, creating the theme songs and music cues for the following TV game shows:
- "Amateur's Guide to LoveAmateur's Guide to LoveThe Amateur's Guide to Love was an American television game show, created by Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley, that ran on CBS from March 27 to June 23, 1972...
" - "GambitGambit (game show)Gambit is a television game show, created by Wayne Cruseturner and produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions, that originally ran on CBS from September 4, 1972 to December 10, 1976. A slightly retooled version, Las Vegas Gambit, aired on NBC from October 27, 1980 to November 27, 1981, originating...
" - "RunaroundRunaround (game show)Runaround was a children's television game show produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions. The program was hosted by Paul Winchell, airing Saturday mornings on NBC from September 9, 1972 to September 1, 1973...
" - "Baffle"
- "The Magnificent Marble MachineThe Magnificent Marble MachineThe Magnificent Marble Machine is an American television game show hosted by Art James and based on pinball. The show ran on NBC from July 7, 1975 to March 12, 1976, but was interrupted for two weeks in January due to scheduling changes on the network and aired repeats from March 15 to June 11...
" - "BattlestarsBattlestars (game show)Battlestars is an American game show that aired for two separate runs on NBC during the early 1980s. The show's first run aired from October 26, 1981 to April 23, 1982...
"
The music for the first five featured Garson playing synthesizers, but the Battlestars package used more conventional marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
orchestration.
Musical Theatre composer
Garson composed the score for the West End musical Marilyn!, which opened at the Adelphi theatre on 17 March 1983. Jaques Wilson wrote the lyrics for the show which starred Stephanie Lawrence as Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
.
Cultural references
A sample from Garson's "Planetary Motivations (Cancer)" was incorporated into DJ ShadowDJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis better known as DJ Shadow is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter. He is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed...
's 1996 song "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt," from the album Endtroducing.....
Endtroducing.....
Endtroducing..... is the debut studio album by American hip hop artist DJ Shadow. It was released on November 19, 1996 by Mo' Wax Records. The album was conceived as an effort by Shadow to make an album completely based around sampling...
.
The song "Exchange" was covered by Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
on their 1998 album Mezzanine
Mezzanine (album)
Mezzanine is the third studio album by English trip hop group Massive Attack, released on 20 April 1998. It was produced by Neil Davidge along with the group. The album was released on Virgin Records....
.
Discography
- Undecided Man (with Paul Revere & The RaidersPaul Revere & the RaidersPaul Revere & the Raiders is an American rock band that saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s with hits such as "Kicks" , "Hungry" , "Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be?" and the 1971 No...
from The Spirit of '67, arranged and conducted orchestra) (CBS, 1966) - Hollyridge Strings - The Beatles Songbook Vol.4 (Capitol RecordsCapitol RecordsCapitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, 1967) co-arranger/conductor (with Perry Botkin, Jr.Perry Botkin, Jr.Perry Botkin, Jr. is an American composer, producer, arranger, and musician. He had a successful career in music for over forty years. As an arranger, he worked with Bobby Darin, Harry Nilsson, The Lettermen, Ed Ames, and Harpers Bizarre, among others...
) - The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds (Elektra RecordsElektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
, 1967) - Symphony For Soul - Total Eclipse (Liberty Records LP-9353 1967)
- Sea Drift (with Dusk 'Til Dawn Orchestra) (Elektra, 1967)
- Hollyridge Strings - The Beatles Songbook Vol.5 (The Hollyridge Strings play Magical Mystery Tour) (Capitol RecordsCapitol RecordsCapitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, 1968) arranger/conductor - The Wozard of Iz: An Electronic Odyssey (Elektra, 1968)
- Electronic Hair Pieces (A&M RecordsA&M RecordsA&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, 1969) - Signs of the Zodiac (12 LP) (A&M Records, 1969) U.S. #147
- Black Mass Lucifer (1971)
- The Little Prince: Narrated by Richard Burton (1974)
- Ataraxia: The Unexplained (Electronic Musical Impressions of the Occult) (RCA RecordsRCA RecordsRCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, 1975) - Plantasia (1976)
- Julie Knows -- Sung by Randy Sparks, Columbia 4-43138. Garson credited with arrangement and conducting.