Sidney Feller (December 24, 1916 – February 16, 2006) was an American conductor and arranger, best known for his work with

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

. He worked with Charles on hundreds of songs including ''

Georgia on My Mind "Georgia on My Mind" is a 1930 song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell and first recorded that same year by Hoagy Carmichael. However, the song has been most often associated with soul singer Ray Charles, who was a native of the U ...

'' and worked as Charles' conductor while on tour. Ray Charles once said of him "if they call me a genius, then Sid Feller is Einstein." 39.ece

Early career

Feller learned how to play the trumpet while a member of the

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and also played the piano. He started playing as a member of local bands around New York City in the late 1930s and his career as an arranger started around that time. Feller worked with

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in 1940 before joining the US Army as a musician. After the war, he worked with Teagarden again before joining Carmen Cavallaro's band in 1949. He joined Capitol Records where he worked as a conductor and arranger. During this period, he worked on records by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee,

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons, 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career. AllMusic has described Monro as "one of the m ...

, Mel Tormé,

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, Nancy Wilson and

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

. Feller joined a new record label,

ABC-Paramount ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

, in 1955, where he worked with

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and

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. He also recorded three albums of his own: ''Music for Expectant Mothers'', ''Music to Break a Lease By'' and ''More Music to Break a Lease By''.

Work with Ray Charles

Feller met Ray Charles when Charles left Atlantic Records for ABC-Paramount. Their first album together was ''

The Genius Hits the Road ''The Genius Hits the Road'' is a 1960 album by Ray Charles. The concept album focuses on songs written about various parts of the United States. It peaked at number nine on the pop album charts and produced a US #1 single, "Georgia on My Mind". ...

'' featuring "

". He also played a significant role in developing '' Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music''. Charles recalled: 'Sid researched the hell out of it and came up with 250 tunes. I picked the ones I liked, and of the ones I picked, they were all new to me except " Bye Bye, Love".

Amongst the songs they recorded was "

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" which would become Charles' biggest hit. Ironically, Feller was skeptical about the market for a pop singer covering country songs. Feller worked with Charles for 30 years, both on record and on tour as a conductor.

Subsequent career

In 1965, Feller moved his wife and 4 children to California where he worked as a freelancer. He was conductor/arranger on Doris Day's '' The Love Album'', recorded in 1967. He worked as the musical arranger for ''

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'' in the early 1970s and on specials for John Denver, Andy Williams,

and

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amongst others. He also produced Broadway soundtrack albums. He finally retired after a heart attack in the late 1990s and moved to Ohio to be near one of his daughters. Feller died in 2006. He was survived by his wife Gert; his daughters Lois, Debbie, and Jane; and son Bill.

References

''San Jose Mercury News'', "Sidney Feller, produced and arranged Ray Charles hits, dies at 89"
* Allmusic.com Sid Feller article {{DEFAULTSORT:Feller, Sid 1916 births 2006 deaths American record producers American music arrangers Orchestra leaders ABC Records artists 20th-century American musicians