soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
to the TV series ''
Peter Gunn
''Peter Gunn'' is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The seri ...
'', composed and conducted by
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
. The album was followed by ''More Music from Peter Gunn'', also released on RCA Victor in 1959.
The opening theme music is notable for its combination of
jazz orchestra
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
tion with a straightforward rock 'n roll beat. In his autobiography ''Did They Mention the Music?'' Mancini stated:
The ''Peter Gunn'' title theme actually derives more from rock and roll than from jazz. I used guitar and piano in
unison
In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm.
Definition
Unison or per ...
, playing what is known in music as an ostinato, which means obstinate. It was sustained throughout the piece, giving it a sinister effect, with some frightened saxophone sounds and some shouting brass. The piece has one chord throughout and a super-simple top line.
''The Music from Peter Gunn'' was selected by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
as a 2010 addition to the
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...
, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Track listings
''The Music from Peter Gunn'' (1959) (RCA Victor LPM/LSP-1956)
# "
Peter Gunn
''Peter Gunn'' is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The seri ...
" – 2:06
# "Sorta Blue" – 2:57
# "The Brothers Go to Mother's" – 2:56
# "Dreamsville" – 3:51
# "Session at Pete's Pad" – 3:57
# "Soft Sounds" – 3:35
# "Fallout!" – 3:13
# "The Floater" – 3:15
# "Slow and Easy" – 3:04
# "A Profound Gass" – 3:18
# "Brief and Breezy" – 3:31
# "Not from Dixie" – 4:09
''More Music from Peter Gunn'' (1959)
# "Walkin' Bass" – 4:20
# "Timothy" – 2:35
# "Joanna" – 2:39
# "My Manne Shelly" – 2:35
# "Goofin' At The Coffee House" – 4:09
# "Odd Ball" – 3:22
# "Blue Steel" – 3:39
# "The Little Man Theme" – 3:12
# "Spook!" – 2:55
# "A Quiet Gass" – 3:01
# "Lightly" – 3:21
# "Blues For Mother's" – 3:16
Personnel
Musicians vary from song to song, but include:Adapted from booklet for 1999 Buddha Records CD reissue
*
Pete Candoli
Pete Candoli (born Walter Joseph Candoli; June 28, 1923 – January 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton and worked in the studios of the recording and television industries.
Ca ...
Conrad Gozzo
Conrad Joseph Gozzo (February 6, 1922October 8, 1964) was an American trumpet player. He was a member of the NBC Hollywood staff orchestra at the time of his death.
Early life
Gozzo was born in New Britain, Connecticut on February 6, 1922, ...
- trumpet
*
Dick Nash
Richard Taylor Nash (born January 26, 1928) is an American jazz trombonist most associated with the swing and big band genres.
He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and began playing brass instruments at ten. He became more interested in this a ...
, Jimmy Priddy,
Milt Bernhart
Milt Bernhart (May 25, 1926 – January 22, 2004) was a West Coast jazz trombonist who worked with Stan Kenton, Frank Sinatra, and others. He supplied the solo in the middle of Sinatra's 1956 recording of '' I've Got You Under My Skin'' conducted ...
, Karl DeKarske - trombone
*
John Graas
John Graas (March 14, 1917 – April 13, 1962) was an American jazz French horn player, composer, and arranger from the 1940s through 1962. He had a short but busy career on the West Coast, and became known as a pioneer of the French horn in jazz ...
,
Vincent DeRosa
Vincent Ned DeRosa (October 5, 1920 – July 18, 2022) was an American hornist who served as a studio musician for Hollywood soundtracks and other recordings from 1935 until his retirement in 2008. Because his career spanned over 70 years, duri ...
, Richard Perissi, John Cave - French horn
* Ted Nash,
Plas Johnson
Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sa ...
,
Ronny Lang
Ronnie Lang (sometimes spelled Ronny; born July 24, 1929) is an American jazz alto saxophonist. His professional début was with Hoagy Carmichael's Teenagers. He also played with Earle Spencer (1946), Ike Carpenter, and Skinnay Ennis (1947). Lan ...
Gene Cipriano
Gene Fred Cipriano (July 6, 1928 – November 12, 2022), known familiarly as "Cip", was an American woodwindist and session musician, playing clarinet, oboe, flute and saxophone among other instruments. He played on hundreds of recording sessions ...
Al Hendrickson
Alton Reynolds Hendrickson (May 10, 1920 – July 19, 2007) was an American jazz guitarist and occasional vocalist.
Biography
When he was five years old, Hendrickson's family moved to California, where he grew up. He played early in his career w ...
- guitar
*
Victor Feldman
Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...
,
Larry Bunker
Lawrence Benjamin Bunker (November 4, 1928 – March 8, 2005) was an American jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and percussionist. A member of the Bill Evans Trio in the mid-1960s, he also played timpani with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.
...
- vibraphone
*Rolly Bundock - bass
*
Shelly Manne
Sheldon "Shelly" Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984) was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, sw ...
,
Alvin Stoller
Alvin Stoller (October 7, 1925 – October 19, 1992) was an American jazz drummer. Though he seems to have been largely forgotten, he was held in high regard in the 1940s and 1950s. He was best known for playing drums on both Mitch Miller's ...