Joe Harnell
Encyclopedia
Joe Harnell was an American easy listening
composer and arranger.
His father was a vaudeville
performer who also played in jazz
and klezmer
ensembles. Harnell began playing piano at age six and was performing in his father's ensembles by age 14. He attended the University of Miami
on a music scholarship in the early 1940s, and in 1943 joined the Air Force
, playing with Glenn Miller
's Air Force Band. He studied with Nadia Boulanger
when stationed in Paris
and then under William Walton
at Trinity College of Music
in London
. After his discharge in 1946, he studied at Tanglewood
under Aaron Copland
and Leonard Bernstein
.
Eschewing the art-music world, Harnell sought work in pop and jazz, working as a for-hire pianist after returning to New York City
in 1950. He played in Lester Lanin
's band at this time and found work as an accompanist for singers such as Judy Garland
, Maurice Chevalier
, and Marlene Dietrich
. From 1958 to 1961, he was Peggy Lee
's full-time accompanist and arranger for the albums Anything Goes:Cole Porter and Peggy Lee & the George Shearing Quartet. In 1962, he was hurt in a car crash, and while he recovered, Kapp Records
asked him to work on writing potential hits in the then-hot genre of bossa nova
. Harnell's biggest success was with his arrangement of Fly Me to the Moon
, which was a hit in the US in 1963 (#14 Pop
, #4 AC) and which won a Grammy Award
for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The song also peaked at #6 in Joe's hometown, on WMCA
in New York, on January 16, 1963. The album from which it was taken went to #3 on the Billboard 200
. Harnell would go on to release nearly 20 easy listening albums, on Kapp
, Columbia
, and Motown
among others.
Starting in 1964, Harnell worked with Gray Advertising as a jingle
writer, and from 1967 to 1973, he worked as musical director of The Mike Douglas Show
. In 1973, Harnell moved to Hollywood
and worked in film score
and television composition, composing for The Bionic Woman
, The Incredible Hulk, Alien Nation, and V, for which he was awarded an Emmy in 1986. Harnell also wrote the iconic signature tune introducing United Artists
movies in the 1980s. Following this he became a faculty member at USC
's Thornton School of Music
as an instructor in film score composition.
Harnell published an autobiography
entitled Counterpoint in 2000, co-authored with television producer/director Ira Skutch, and died of heart failure on July 14, 2005.
Joe Harnell's son, Jess Harnell
is a voice actor, and is best known for his work as the voice of Wakko Warner on the Steven Spielberg
-produced animated series Animaniacs
.
Joe's Grandson Jeremy, aka (JC HARNELL). Based in London, Jeremy, is an award-winning, ambient electronic-music composer and graphic designer. Winner of 2011 People's Choice Music Awards, presenter - Natalia Tena
from the Harry Potter
series.
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
composer and arranger.
His father was a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performer who also played in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
ensembles. Harnell began playing piano at age six and was performing in his father's ensembles by age 14. He attended the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
on a music scholarship in the early 1940s, and in 1943 joined the Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, playing with Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
's Air Force Band. He studied with Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
when stationed in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and then under William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
at Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. After his discharge in 1946, he studied at Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
under Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
and Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
.
Eschewing the art-music world, Harnell sought work in pop and jazz, working as a for-hire pianist after returning to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1950. He played in Lester Lanin
Lester Lanin
Lester Lanin was an American jazz and pop music bandleader....
's band at this time and found work as an accompanist for singers such as Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...
, and Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
. From 1958 to 1961, he was Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
's full-time accompanist and arranger for the albums Anything Goes:Cole Porter and Peggy Lee & the George Shearing Quartet. In 1962, he was hurt in a car crash, and while he recovered, Kapp Records
Kapp Records
Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp . David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca Records and RCA Victor Records. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK.In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc...
asked him to work on writing potential hits in the then-hot genre of bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
. Harnell's biggest success was with his arrangement of Fly Me to the Moon
Fly Me to the Moon
"Fly Me to the Moon" is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled "In Other Words", and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets...
, which was a hit in the US in 1963 (#14 Pop
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, #4 AC) and which won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The song also peaked at #6 in Joe's hometown, on WMCA
WMCA
WMCA, 570 AM, is a radio station in New York City, most known for its "Good Guys" Top 40 era in the 1960s. It is currently owned by Salem Communications and plays a Christian radio format...
in New York, on January 16, 1963. The album from which it was taken went to #3 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. Harnell would go on to release nearly 20 easy listening albums, on Kapp
Kapp Records
Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp . David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca Records and RCA Victor Records. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK.In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc...
, Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, and Motown
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
among others.
Starting in 1964, Harnell worked with Gray Advertising as a jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
writer, and from 1967 to 1973, he worked as musical director of The Mike Douglas Show
The Mike Douglas Show
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982, distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations.The program featured light banter with...
. In 1973, Harnell moved to Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
and worked in film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
and television composition, composing for The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman is an American television series starring Lindsay Wagner that aired for three seasons between 1976 and 1978 as a spin off from The Six Million Dollar Man. Wagner stars as tennis pro Jaime Sommers who is nearly killed in a skydiving accident. Sommers' life is saved by Oscar Goldman ...
, The Incredible Hulk, Alien Nation, and V, for which he was awarded an Emmy in 1986. Harnell also wrote the iconic signature tune introducing United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
movies in the 1980s. Following this he became a faculty member at USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
's Thornton School of Music
USC Thornton School of Music
The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, founded in 1884 and dedicated in 1999, is one of the premier music schools in the United States...
as an instructor in film score composition.
Harnell published an autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
entitled Counterpoint in 2000, co-authored with television producer/director Ira Skutch, and died of heart failure on July 14, 2005.
Joe Harnell's son, Jess Harnell
Jess Harnell
Jess Q. Harnell is an American voice actor and singer, best known for voicing Wakko Warner on Animaniacs. Harnell has been the announcer for America's Funniest Home Videos since 1998.-Life and acting career:...
is a voice actor, and is best known for his work as the voice of Wakko Warner on the Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
-produced animated series Animaniacs
Animaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...
.
Joe's Grandson Jeremy, aka (JC HARNELL). Based in London, Jeremy, is an award-winning, ambient electronic-music composer and graphic designer. Winner of 2011 People's Choice Music Awards, presenter - Natalia Tena
Natalia Tena
Natalia Gastiain Tena is a British actress and musician. She sings and plays the accordion in the band Molotov Jukebox. In her acting career, Tena is best known for playing Nymphadora Tonks in the Harry Potter film series, and Ellie in the movie About a Boy.-Life and career:Tena was born in...
from the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series.
External links
- http://www.joeharnell.com/home.html