Centennial Tribute
"MOON RIVER"
Memories of Henry Mancini,
1924-1994
I am pleased to offer this centennial tribute to a film composer and songwriter I've admired since I first heard his wonderful music in my youth.
The Early Years
He was given the name Enrico Nicola Mancini at birth on April 16, 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio. Even though born there, he considered his hometown to be West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania where he grew up. There he was first flutist in the All-State High School Band and also played for the local Sons of Italy band. After his service during World War II, he got a job as arranger for the Tex Beneke led Glenn Miller band in the late 1940s.
In the early 1950s, he worked on the music staff at Universal-International, composing score cues (along with Herman Stein, Irving Gertz and others) for such '50s sci-fi fan favorites as CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE.
Mancini received his first Oscar nomination for adapting the score for THE GLENN MILLER STORY in 1954.
Then of course there was the historic jazz score he composed for the popular TV cop series, PETER GUNN, which was the first Grammy Award winner for Best Album of the Year in 1959. If I may add a personal note here --
that was the very first LP album I bought back many decades ago and I still have it in my library and still enjoy listening to it.
My favorite track on the album is "Dreamsville," played by pianist Johnny T. Williams (shown in the picture). Ever heard of him? He happens to be the same world-famous film composer, John T. Williams, who was the pianist on the PETER GUNN album in 1958. I played that track on a birthday tribute to John Williams on WGBH radio in Boston in 1983. Then I sent him a tape of that birthday tribute. Much later, he wrote to thank me for that tribute. I also played "Dreamsville" from PETER GUNN on a tribute to Henry Mancini on WBET radio (see AMRC CD below).
I selected the remastered CD of Mancini's PETER GUNN as Editor's Choice, Best of the Month, July 1999. I still think it's one of the best TV soundtracks and remains a great listen anytime.
One of his biggest early hits was the theme for the television series, MR. LUCKY, which received several Grammy Awards in 1960 and the LP album was a best seller too. Years later, some of that was arranged in a suite by Mancini and it was on a great sounding Surround Sound CD.
I believe he was "lucky," because he came along at just the right time in the music world. And his listeners were "lucky" too since they have some of the most enjoyable film music of that era offered up by a master musician and composer.
After that milestone jazz score, Henry Mancini went on to score a series of popular films directed by Blake Edwards that established Mancini as one the best film composers of the 1960s. Certainly he was the most popular film composer of that decade. He would continue to compose memorable scores, winning 4 Oscars for his work in 1961 (BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S score and "Moon River" song), 1962 ("The Days of Wine and Roses" song), and 1982 (VICTOR/VICTORIA score).
Mancini's unforgettable themes and songs are now part of the musical fabric of many people's lives.
Just think about these TV and film themes: PETER GUNN, MR. LUCKY, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, THE PINK PANTHER. And that's only within the space of five years!
Film Song Classic and His First Oscar For Best Song:
Here is what Henry Mancini wrote in his autobiography,
Did They Mention the Music? (1989) about probably his most beloved song:
That song was one of the toughest I have ever had to write. It took me a month to think it through. What kind of melody was required? Should it be a jazz-flavored ballad? Would it be the blues? One night at home, I was relaxing after dinner...I played the first three notes of a tune. It sounded attractive. I built the melody in a range of an octave and one. It was simple and completely diatonic in the key of C, you can play entirely on the white keys...There have been more than a thousand recordings of "Moon River." Of all of them -- and I am not overlooking the recordings by many of my singer friends -- Audrey's performance was the definitive version...One of my biggest goofs was having a chorus, not Audrey, sing that song in the album version of the score. (p, 99-101)
I was very touched by Audrey Hepburn's lovely letter -- included on the back of the original 1961 soundtrack of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S. In her letter to Henry Mancini, she nicely summarizes what good film music should achieve:
A movie without music is a little bit like an aeroplane without fuel. However beautifully the job is done, we are still on the ground and in a world of reality. Your music has lifted us all up and sent us soaring. Everything we cannot say with words or show with action you expressed for us. You have done this with so much imagination, fun and beauty. You are the hippest of cats - and most sensitive of composers. Thank you, dear Hank.
Lots of love, Audrey
Some of his best known movie music
had lyrics by the great Johnny Mercer, including these two Oscar-winning songs:
"Moon River" from BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961)
(#4 on The Top 100 Movie Songs from American Film Institute)
"Days Of Wine And Roses" from film of same title (1962)
(#39 on The Top 100 Movie Songs from American Film Institute)
Also these two lovely Oscar-nominated songs by the same songwriting duo:
"Charade" title song from film of same title (1963)
"Whistling Away the Dark" from
DARLING LILI (1970)
Mancini's Favorite Song:
To help celebrate what would have been his 80th birthday in 2004, the United States Postal Service issued a 37 cent First Class stamp in tribute to Henry Mancini. A copy of that attractive stamp is included on the ULTIMATE MANCINI CD cover.
The US stamp campaign was led by Mancini's widow, Ginny Mancini, a former singer with Mel Torme and the Mel-Tones in the 1940s. She was kind to autograph and send me a special commemortive copy of that stamp:
When asked to name his favorite song, Henry Mancini said it was"Two For The Road," with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. All of these wonderful songs are included on an excellent tribute CD (shown above), featuring his talented daughter Monica Mancini, singing her dad's favorite song. It's a very poignant performance of that great song.
Here are the lyrics:
If you're feeling fancy free,
Come wander through the world with me,
And any place we chance to be,
Will be a rendezvous.
Two For The Road,
We'll travel through the years,
Collecting precious memories,
Selecting souvenirs
And living life the way we please.
In the summertime the sun will shine,
In winter we'll drink summer wine,
And any day that you are mine,
Will be a lovely day.
As long as love still wears a smile,
I know that we'll be Two For The Road,
And that's a long long while.
On April 13, 2004, a special Henry Mancini Tribute was given at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Among the performers were: Michael Feinstein, James and Jeanne Galway, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder and Take 6, and Monica Mancini. The Alumni Orchestra of the Henry Mancini Institute was under the direction of Patrick Williams. What a great way to pay tribute to this wonderful film composer!
In his memory, I selected him for a Sammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
Henry Mancini was my first film music hero back in those days of smooth and seductive TV and movie music. I was pleased to get this autographed picture of the smiling music master:
Just listen to the marvelous opening of "Moon River" in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANTY's when the harmonica first plays that gorgeous theme and you'll hear what goose-bump music sounds like.
Henry Mancini was the coolest of composers and mightiest of melody makers.
Long may his memorable music live on!
Roger Hall
Editor, Film Music Review,
April 2024
Mancini Speaks
A special CD has been prepared that includes a special radio tribute from 1989 with some of Mancini's music from television and movies, plus a Public Radio program from 1991 with Henry Mancini answering questions from callers.
Order your copy of this CD:
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To order this CD (AMRC 0020) click on the "Add to Cart" below and you will receive
with Free Shipping (USA orders only).
For those people ordering from this CD from outside of the USA just click the Quantity button
TWO TIMES after clicking "Add to Cart."
If you want to read a wonderfully honest autobiography, get your copy of
Did They Mention the Music?
by Henry Mancini with Gene Lees
It was first published in hardcover in 1989 and went out-of-print. It has been reprinted in paperback by Cooper Square Press in 2002. As Gene Lees wrote in his postscript about Henry Mancini:
"The world is a better place because he lived in it,
but a smaller place because he left it."
This autobiography is a must read for Mancini fans.
"Moon River" Remembered
Also recommended is another memoir by the singer most identified with the Oscar-winning song,
"It was sheer chance -- and my great good luck -- that I was asked to sing one of the most beautiful songs I'd ever heard, 'Moon River' by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer. Henry said, 'Andy, this would be a great song for you.' I've never released it as a single, but it has become my signature tune, the song with which I'm always identified." -- Andy Williams
Moon River and Me
Mancini On Disc
Of the many Mancini CDs available, here are a few worth considering:
Henry Mancini - Greatest Hits
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (soundtrack album)
Music from PETER GUNN
(Re-mastered from the Original, with Bonus Tracks)
THE PINK PANTHER
(Re-mastered from the Original, with Bonus Tracks)
Do you have a favorite Mancini song or score?
Send in your memory
to this email -- click here
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