Product Description

A biography of one of the most respected musical arrangers in the history of American popular music. Nelson Riddle will forever be linked with the music and recordings of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, Judy Garland and others. He was also active in writing the scores for many television shows and feature films such as "Route 66", "The Untouchables", "Paint Your Wagon" and "The Great Gatsby", for which he won an Academy Award. The volume is based on more than 200 personal interviews with Riddle's closest friends, family and colleagues. The author explores Riddle's inspirations, his work and his creative genius. He also discusses how he revived his own career after the abrupt change in popular music during the 1970s and the story of his association with Linda Ronstadt which resulted in three gold and platinum albums, sales of over six million records, and one of his three Grammy awards.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112947 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

A great delve into the life of a great artist!
If you are a fan of classic music performed by classic vocalists like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, you will love this book that examines and delves into the life of the great Nelson Riddle. Often refered to as a musical genius by many of his counterparts this book is a long overdue look at his life. May I suggest that this book is enjoyed best with a nice glass of wine and Ella Fitzgeralds Gershwin songbook is the ideal listening material (which was arranged and conducted by Nelson), a perfecct match!!

Riddle solved !
Apart from being a fascinating biography , this book also demonstrates just why so many composers of film music were nothing short of geniuses. Riddle's music,like that of his fellow composers,had to transcend many bounderies. His arrangements had to suit the style of both song and singer ,whilst his film composition not only had to suit the mood of the film but also had to stand up as compositions in their own right. A perfect example was his score for the John Wayne film "El Dorado"..........even if you have never seen the film you can listen to and enjoy the score on its own. Henry Mancini had this gift with his jazz-tinged scores (e.g."Hatari") and so did the clasically influenced Dimitri Tiomkin (e.g."The Alamo".) Riddle's story is a fascinating insight not only into his own life , but those of the greats with whom he worked. When you have read it you will not be able to resist buying the CDs.