Crime and Spy Jazz on Screen, 1950-1970: A History and Discography

323 Pages·2020·15.579 MB·English

by  Derrick Bang

Crime and Spy Jazz
on Screen, 1950–1970
Also by Derrick Bang
Crime and Spy Jazz on Screen Since 1971:
A History and Discography (McFarland, 2020)
Vince Guaraldi at the Piano (McFarland, 2012)
Crime and Spy Jazz
on Screen, 1950–1970
A History and Discography
Derrick Bang
Foreword by Cheryl Pawelski
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Names: Bang, Derrick, 1955– author.
Title: Crime and spy jazz on screen, 1950–1970 : a history and discography / Derrick Bang.
Description: Jefferson : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
♾
Identifiers: LCCN 2020011238 | ISBN 9781476667478 (paperback : acid free paper)
ISBN 9781476639888 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Motion picture music—History and criticism. | Jazz in motion
pictures. | Jazz—History and criticism. | Crime films—History and criticism. | Spy
films—History and criticism. | Television music—History and criticism.
Classification: LCC ML2075 .B289 2020 | DDC 781.5/42—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020011238
British Library cataloguing data are available
ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-6747-8
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-3988-8
© 2020 Derrick Bang. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Front cover images © 2020 Shutterstock
Printed in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Foreword by Cheryl Pawelski 1
Introduction 5
Prologue: The Naked Truth 11
1. Audition: 1947–1956 15
2. Dreamsville: 1957–1958 32
3. Blue Satin: 1959 54
4. Breezy Capers: 1960 72
5. Contract with Depravity: 1961 88
6. Jamaica Jazz: 1962 101
7. Champagne and Quail: 1963 113
8. Meet Mr. Solo: 1964 129
9. Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: 1965 144
10. Mission Blues: 1966 167
11. Home, James, Don’t Spare the Horses: 1967 200
12. Shifting Gears: 1968 226
13. This Never Happened to the Other Fella: 1969 248
14. Soul Flower: 1970 257
Appendix A: Instrument Abbreviations 265
Appendix B: Discography 266
Chapter Notes 291
Bibliography 299
Index 301
v

Acknowledgments
When it comes to writing a book—any kind of book—the wisdom of Buzzy Linhart
and Mark “Moogy” Klingman’s 1973 hit song definitely resonates: You’ve got to have friends.
On top of which, one never knows the true depth of such kindness, until just such a
friend graciously exerts an undisclosed amount of time and effort, while chasing down an
obscure something-or-other. Such treasure hunts obviously are a lot easier in our modern
era, but some things still elude digital search techniques. Actually, quite a few things … at
least, quite a few of the things I was looking for, while gathering the raw materials and data
that ultimately led to the completion of this two-volume project.
Not that it began that way. When I initially pitched an analysis of film/TV crime and
action jazz to my obligingly intrigued editor, the resulting contract was for a single book of
somewhere in the neighborhood of 125,000 words; I naïvely assumed said page count would
be sufficient. That was four years ago, during which time I considered a combined total
of roughly 1,000 movies and television shows, ultimately discussing approximately 550 in
brief or at considerable length. The result landed just shy of 600,000 words. Okay, fine; first
drafts are overwritten. After some necessary pruning—and then additional judicious tight-
ening—I wound up with 250,000 words. Trimming further would have cut into the “good
stuff”; the text would have been compromised beyond repair, destroying the manuscript’s
design as a truly definitive study of this jazz subgenre.
The first note of thanks therefore goes to my editor, David Alff, and all others involved
at McFarland, who agreed that the best solution was not to hack ’n’ slash the manuscript to
an all-but useless shadow of its former self, but to rewrite the contract for a two-volume set.
Bless you all; my wife and I will name our subsequent cats and dogs after each and every
one of you.
Moving on, many other people have been extraordinarily charitable with their time,
expertise and patience, for which I’m profoundly grateful.
I couldn’t have finished these books—heck, I couldn’t have started them—without the
research acumen of Scott McGuire, who constantly surprised me by ferreting out obscure
recordings and video items from the most arcane sources. If somebody held a contest for
sleuthing skills, I’ve no doubt he’d win.
Lee Riggs, of the University of California, Davis, Shields Library, also deserves an en-
thusiastic shout-out for research assistance, and for door-to-door book check-out service.
(Talk about getting spoiled!)
Daniel Urazandi, of Bizarro World—an impressively diverse pop-culture shop, and
our town of Davis’s sole remaining DVD rental outlet—chased down quite a few obscure
titles on my behalf. Much obliged.
A quick shout-out as well, to Thomas Film Classics (shop.thomasfilmclassics.com)
vii
viii Acknowledgments
and Robert’s Hard to Find Videos (robertsvideos.com), for their amazing libraries of ob-
scure films and television shows. Quite a few titles within these pages would have remained
no more than tantalizing (and undiscussed) possibilities, absent their extensive catalogs.
A sweeping bow, tip o’ the hat, and flourish of arms to Cheryl Pawelski, for her gener-
ous foreword. Long may Omnivore Recordings—her tiffany music label—reign.
Lukas Kendall, of Film Score Monthly, spent two decades wrestling with Hollywood
studios and major record labels, to bring soundtrack fans quality debuts and resurrections
of beloved film and TV scores. He generously granted permission for many of the album
covers that appear within these pages.
Roger Feigelson, of Intrada—a companion label similarly dedicated to the restoration
of such music—was equally kind to allow the use of their album covers.
I occasionally use the word indefatigable in the subsequent text, to describe the select
few composer/performers with the preternatural ability to produce stunning quantities
of quality music despite absurdly tight scheduling constraints. The same term applies to
journalist, author and lecturer Jon Burlingame, whom I’ve never met, but who absolutely
deserves his reputation as America’s leading writer on the subject of film and TV music.
He paved the way with wit, insight and thoughtful analysis—on top of which, he’s fun to
read—and his richly informative body of work is astonishing: commentary in all manner
of publications (notably Daily Variety and the Los Angeles Times); detailed articles for the
Film Music Society; lengthy oral history interviews on behalf of the Film Music Foun-
dation and the Television Academy Foundation; enlightening liner notes for soundtrack
reissues and debuts; and his three seminal books, Sound and Vision: 60 Years of Motion
Picture Soundtracks, TV’s Biggest Hits and The Music of James Bond. His oeuvre has been
exceptionally helpful, and I humbly aspire to trail at the distant edge of his enormous
shadow.
My deep gratitude to Lisa and Amy, of the Bernstein Family Trust, for allowing the
generous use of the portrait of Elmer Bernstein within these pages.
Needless to say, this book wouldn’t exist without the brilliant individuals who created
that which is described herein: the many scores of scorers (sorry, couldn’t resist) who wrote
and performed all of this great music. They’ve brought me such pleasure over the years,
and I couldn’t begin to cite them all … although a short list would include Elmer Bern-
stein, Henry Mancini, Edwin Astley, Quincy Jones, David Shire, John Barry, Earle Hagen
and Lalo Schifrin. And Kenyon Hopkins and Nelson Riddle. Oh, Laurie Johnson and Mort
Stevens. Jerry Goldsmith. Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. Did I mention Roy Budd? (Okay,
stop. You get the idea.)
Finally, a bottomless pit of gratitude to my Constant Companion, Gayna: for her
cheerful (well, mostly) willingness to proofread the gargantuan first draft, and—even more
so—for being such a good sport, while forced to listen to this stuff, over and over and over
again, during these past four years. Greater love hath no spouse, and—believe me—that is
not taken for granted. To borrow one of John Barry’s James Bond title songs—lyrics by Tim
Rice and Stephen Short—you’re my “All Time High.”
That said, this book and its companion volume, Crime and Spy Jazz on Screen Since
1971: A History and Discography, are dedicated to my father, whose great frustration—for
many years—was that his baby-boomer son displayed a typical 1960s teenager’s dismissive
disinterest in jazz … until a concentrated exposure to Mr. Barry’s early 007 scores, and
Vince Guaraldi’s anthems for Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang, and a rapidly expanding
diversity of jazz artists thereafter, put the kid on the proper path. (Dad was savvy enough
Acknowledgments ix
to avoid using the “J-word”—not wanting to sabotage the evolving dynamic—until it was
safe to do so.) He delighted in hearing the information and anecdotes that I dug up, as these
two books took shape; he was captivated by occasional snatches of chapters-in-progress.
My only regret, having now completed the journey, is that he didn’t live long enough to see
the results actually published. But I know—nonetheless—that he has been reading over my
shoulder the entire time.