Billy May was a self-taught musician and arranger. In 1938, he received his first big break arranging and playing trumpet; first, for the Charlie Barnet band, and in 1940, the band of Glenn Miller. Settling in Hollywood in 1943, his first of many big breaks in radio was playing in Ozzie Nelson's band for the Red Skelton Show. Shortly thereafter, May was asked by Nelson to be musical director to his new show, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet." He was also fortunate to play in the orchestra and write arrangements for John Scott Trotter on Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall. Billy May's earliest collaboration with Frank Sinatra produced Don't Fence Me In for broadcast on December 23, 1944. Capitol Records paired Billy May and Alan Livingston to initiate a series of children's recordings with arrangements and compositions such as Bozo the Clown and the exceedingly popular I Taut I Taw a Putty Tat. As a band leader and arranger, his signature included the prominent saxophone section glissando (sliding, or "slurping") effect, and highly imaginative arrangements. His last great project was the documentation on record of swing era music, commissioned by Time-Life, and completed in 1973. The discography covers Billy May as arranger and composer from 1944-1998, as sideman and arranger for others, his work on radio, television, movies, and international appearances, his road band, recordings, both domestic and foreign, and his transcriptions. Data is cross-indexed by song title and artist.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“This book proved to be an eye-opener....The book goes beyond just being a "look it up" reference as the compiler was in touch with Billy and there are many occassions where correspondence is cited. It makes for good, and often fun, reading. Billy May is much more amazing to me today than he was yesterday, and that is going some.”–IAJRC Journal
“This handsome hard-back book contains positive proof of why Billy May has become achnowledged as one of the most respected arrangers of all time....I am confident purchasers will be full satisfied, as there is enough information to occupy many happy hours tracing the career of popular music's most interesting character.”–Record, #11, June 1999
“I can only say what a wonderful treasure this book is.”–Journal of the International Sinatra Society
“This discography has long been needed. Jack Mirtle has done an outstanding job.”–Bill Peterson President American Federation of Musicians
“Splendid! This is an astounding example of excellent work, with an incredible amount of details on the recordings and also on the surrounding: people, studios, etc...A gold mine for the researcher.”–Michael Ruppli Series Editor of Greenwood Press Discographies
“This handsome hard-back book contains positive proof of why Billy May has become achnowledged as one of the most respected arrangers of all time....I am confident purchasers will be full satisfied, as there is enough information to occupy many happy hours tracing the career of popular music's most interesting character.”–
“I can only say what a wonderful treasure this book is.”–
“This discography has long been needed. Jack Mirtle has done an outstanding job.”–
“Splendid! This is an astounding example of excellent work, with an incredible amount of details on the recordings and also on the surrounding: people, studios, etc...A gold mine for the researcher.”–
About the Author
JACK MIRTLE is a musician and graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the University of Calgary, Alberta.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
definitive,
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This review is from: The Music of Billy May: A Discography (Discographies) (Hardcover)
While I have a moderate interest in Billy May's work, the real value of this book for me was the info about the sessions with other artists he was involved with. He arranged for The Four Freshmen, Bobby Darrin, NKC, Sinatra, Ella Mae and many more. Generally the discography information on many of these artists is hard to come by. This book solved many mysteries for me.
The book contained all the expected discography info plus the studio info (which many discographies leave out). There is also a short biography on Billy May at the front of the book. Also, it is well indexed. Great purchase for me.
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