George Paxton (March 24, 1914 – April 19, 1989) was an American big band leader, saxophonist, arranger, and publisher during the 1930s and 1940s. He was president of

Coed Records George Paxton and Marvin Cane formed Coed Records, Inc. in New York City in 1958, and had offices at 1619 Broadway in the Brill Building. George Paxton produced many of the songs on this label, most of which were of the East Coast Doo-wop group ...

and a producer for the label.

Early career

He was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, and grew up in

Kearny, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

at a young age and was influenced by the music of Isham Jones, later attending the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

. In 1933, while still in high school, Paxton formed a six-man band with schoolmates

Tony Mottola Anthony C. Mottola (April 18, 1918 – August 9, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist who released dozens of solo albums. Mottola was born in Kearny, New Jersey, Kearny, New Jersey and died in Denville, New Jersey, Denville. Career Like ...

and

Herbie Haymer Herbert Haymer (July 24, 1915 – April 11, 1949) was an American jazz reedist, known primarily as a saxophonist in big bands. Life and career Haymer was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on July 24, 1915. He played alto saxophone from age 15 a ...

. The three later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where Paxton was hired to write arrangements for band leader and Meadowbrook Inn owner Frank Dailey. In the late 1930s, Paxton got a job with George Hall's Orchestra as an arranger and tenor sax player. Paxton was able to convince Hall to hire his high school friend and skilled guitar player

for the group. In Hall's group, Paxton got to work with other talented young musicians like

Johnny Guarnieri John Albert Guarnieri (March 23, 1917 – January 7, 1985) was an American jazz and stride pianist, born in New York City. Career Guarnieri joined the George Hall orchestra in 1937. He is possibly best known for his big band stints with Be ...

on piano and Nick Fatool on drums. At this time, Paxton was also writing arrangements for Dolly Dawn and Her Dawn Patrol. In the early 1940s, Paxton arranged music for

Bunny Berigan Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the ...

Bea Wain Beatrice Ruth Wain (April 30, 1917 – August 19, 2017) was an American Big Band-era singer and radio personality born in the Bronx, New York City. She had several hits with Larry Clinton and His Orchestra, including "My Reverie", "Deep Purple" ...

Charlie Spivak Charlie Spivak (February 17, 1907 – March 1, 1982) was an American trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his big band in the 1940s. Early life The details of Spivak's birth are unclear. Some sources place it in Ukraine in 1907, and that h ...

(along with

Sonny Burke Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke (March 22, 1914 – May 31, 1980) was an American musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader and producer. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University, where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke ...

and Nelson Riddle),

Ina Ray Hutton Ina Ray Hutton (born Odessa Cowan; March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984) was an American singer, bandleader, and the elder sister of June Hutton. She led one of the first all-female big bands. Biography A native of Chicago, Hutton began da ...

Vaughn Monroe Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter, big band leader, actor, and businessman, who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for rec ...

, and

Sammy Kaye Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...

George Paxton and His Orchestra

After years of playing, arranging, and directing different groups around

, Paxton formed his own orchestra in 1944. The group became popular in New York City, and a ten-week engagement at the

Roseland Ballroom The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theater district, on West 52nd Street in Manhattan. The venue, according to its website, accommodat ...

turned into a one year run. Some of these performances were broadcast live on the radio, which helped gain the band some popularity. George Paxton and His Orchestra toured the East Coast of the United States and gained some acclaim by 1945. Vocalists included Alan Dale, Liza Morrow, Dick Merrick, and Gene Williams. Standout musicians were trumpeter Guy Key (sometimes "Kee") and saxophonist

Boomie Richman Abraham Samuel Richman (April 2, 1921 – March 22, 2016), better known as Boomie Richman, was an American jazz tenor saxophone player who played with Tommy Dorsey. He also played clarinet, bass clarinet, piccolo, and flute. Richman was born in ...

(sometimes "Richmond"), as well as Andrew Ackers (piano), Romeo Penque (sax), Max Herman (trumpet), Vern Whitney (trombone), Doc Goldberg (bass), Nick Fatool (drums), and others. The orchestra's primary label was Majestic, however their songs were also released on the Guild, Hit, and

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

labels. Some of Paxton's compositions and arrangements include: "Paxonia", "All of Me", "Streamliner", "This Can't Be Love", "I'm Coming Virginia", "Jug Night", and "I'm Gonna See My Baby", among others.

George Paxton, Inc.

In 1949, Paxton was offered the job directing the house orchestra at The Capitol Theater in

. While there, he started a

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

company; George Paxton, Inc. One of his first publications was "

There's No Tomorrow "There's No Tomorrow", written by Al Hoffman, Leo Corday and Leon Carr, is one of two popular songs based on the Italian song, "O Sole Mio" (music by Eduardo di Capua). (The other was " It's Now or Never", popularized by Elvis Presley.) The ...

", which became a big hit for Tony Martin.

Coed Records

George Paxton and Marvin Cane formed Coed Records, Inc. in New York City in 1958, and had offices at 1619 Broadway in the

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...

. Paxton produced many of the songs on this label, most of which were of the East Coast Doo-wop group style, and some of these became hit songs of the day. Between 1958 and 1965, Coed's biggest acts included

the Crests The Crests were an American doo-wop group, formed by bass vocalist J.T. Carter in the mid 1950s. The group had several Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s on Coed Records. Their most popular song, " 16 Candles", rose to #2 on the ' ...

, the Rivieras,

the Duprees The Duprees are an American musical group of doo-wop style who had a series of top-ten singles in the early 1960s. Their highest-charting single, " You Belong to Me" reached No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1962. In 1970, they recorded as ...

, the Harptones, and Adam Wade, among others. Paxton's big-band background came in particularly handy with

, who combined group vocals with deliberately nostalgic swing orchestra backing on hits like " You Belong to Me" and "

Why Don't You Believe Me "Why Don't You Believe Me?" is a popular song written by Lew Douglas, King Laney, and Roy Rodde and published in 1952. A recording by Joni James ( MGM Records catalog number 11333) reached No. 1 on the '' Billboard'' charts for four weeks in ...

." allmusic ((( The Best of Coed Records > Overview )))/ref> Other highlights include

' "

Sixteen Candles ''Sixteen Candles'' is a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut, it was the first in a string of films Hughes ...

" and three songs from the group's so-called "angel series," "The Angels Listened In," "Pretty Little Angel," and "Trouble in Paradise". In April 2010, the Coed Records catalogue was acquired by Los Angeles-based rights-management firm Beach Road Music, LLC.Baptista, Todd (March 2011). “Lost and Found”, '' Goldmine'', Volume 37, Issue 797, p. 97 As a credited songwriter for Coed Records, Paxton used the pseudonym "George Eddy" on songs including " The Writing on the Wall", a 1961 hit for Adam Wade which he co-wrote with

Sandy Baron Sandy Baron (born Sanford Irving Beresofsky; May 5, 1936 – January 21, 2001) was an American actor and comedian who performed on stage, in films, and on television. Early life Sanford Beresofsky was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in th ...

and

Mark Barkan Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

. Songs written by Mark Barkan, ''MusicVf.com''
Retrieved 12 May 2020

Death

According to a ''

Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

'' news wire dated April 22, 1989, George Paxton died on April 19, 1989, "the victim of an apparent suicide".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paxton, George 1914 births 1989 suicides 1989 deaths American jazz bandleaders American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American music arrangers Record producers from Florida Big band bandleaders Jazz arrangers Juilliard School alumni Musicians from New Jersey People from Kearny, New Jersey Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida Swing arrangers Swing bandleaders Swing composers Swing saxophonists 20th-century jazz composers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American composers Majestic Records artists 20th-century American male musicians