Tupper Saussy
Encyclopedia
Frederick Tupper Saussy III (July 3, 1936 – March 16, 2007) was an American
composer
, musician
, author
, and artist
. He was born in Statesboro, Georgia
; grew up in Tampa, Florida
; and graduated from the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1958. His jazz combo there put out a university-subsidized album, Jazz at Sewanee, which included several original compositions. Thereafter Saussy taught English at Montgomery Bell Academy
in Nashville, Tennessee
, co-founded an advertising agency, McDonald and Saussy, and kept his musical career alive with recording dates and club sessions. With the Nashville Symphony, he composed a work called The Beast with Five Heads (1965/66), based on "The Bremen Town Musicians", designed to replace Peter and the Wolf
as a work to teach schoolchildren about orchestration
, which continued to be used for the next fifteen years. For its 1968/69 season, the Nashville Symphony commissioned him to write a piano concerto
for Bill Pursell
; it was performed by the Symphony on January 14, 1969, with Thor Johnson
conducting.
and keyboardist
for the psychedelic
pop band The Neon Philharmonic
, whose vocalist was Don Gant
. The Neon Philharmonic
's single "Morning Girl" rose to Top Twenty status and was nominated for two Grammy awards
in 1969. Earlier in Saussy's career, Monument Records
had released several albums of his jazz
compositions: "Discover Tupper Saussy," "Said I to Shostakovitch," and The Swingers' Guide to Mary Poppins (this last featuring songs from the Disney
movie). In the 1960s and 1970s, he composed works for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra
and the Chattanooga Symphony. Saussy also composed two pop songs for The Wayward Bus, "The Prophet: Predictions by David Hoy" and "Love Hum". He also worked with Chet Atkins
and Ray Stevens
, and wrote arrangements for Mickey Newbury
's Harlequin Melodies
, as well as arrangements for Boudleaux Bryant, Bobby Bare
, and Roy Orbison
. The Neon Philharmonic
's two albums, The Moth Confesses
and The Neon Philharmonic
were released by Warner Brothers in 1969. The group disbanded in 1972, but producer David Kastle bought the name and used it on recordings until 1975, even recording one of Saussy's songs, "Making Out the Best I Can".
, Tennessee
and his works can be found in the permanent collection of the Tennessee State Museum.
, To Watch a Beautiful Sunrise, through Samuel French Inc.
, a comedy concerning a radical anarchist with the House of the Rising Sons who is assigned to kill his own stepfather. Saussy first acted by replacing an actor in a regional production of Cactus Flower at The Circle Theater in Nashville after the original actor got pneumonia. A friend was playing Stephanie and recommended him for the role.
, and in 1985 he was found guilty of willfully failing to file a tax return for the year 1977. For the years 1978 and 1979, the jury decided that his failure to file returns was not willful, and he was found innocent. For the single conviction, he was sentenced to serve one year in Atlanta Federal Prison Camp. Saussy remained free for 2 years while his conviction was appealed.
James Earl Ray
read of Saussy's defense in the Tennessee newspapers. Ray inquired by postcard if Saussy would be interested in helping Ray write and publish his autobiography. Thus began a collaboration that resulted in the publication, in 1987, of Tennessee Waltz: The Making of An American Political Prisoner.
Saussy's appeal was denied by the Supreme Court
. James Earl Ray's book appeared at about the time Saussy was to begin serving his sentence. Fearing possible retaliation for the revelations made in Tennessee Waltz, Saussy went into hiding for over ten years, not resurfacing until 1997, at which point he served a 14-month sentence at Taft Correctional Institute in Taft
, California
. Saussy was given the job of chapel music director and piano instructor to prisoners. Saussy was released from prison on May 12, 1999.
under the title Rulers of Evil: Useful Knowledge about Governing Bodies.
After many years of neglect, Saussy's Warner Brothers albums were reissued in 2004 under the Rhino Handmade label.
In April 2006, Tupper Saussy resumed his composer/pianist/performer persona with the Nashville debut of "The Chocolate Orchid Piano Bar," a cycle of new and vintage songs. His first new musical release in 37 years, the CD was recorded in Nashville and produced by Warren Pash. To date, it has not been released on CD, but is available for download on iTunes.
Saussy was first married to Lola Haun, a Nashville socialite, whom he met during his tenure as a teacher at Montgomery Bell Academy. The pair, who divorced in 1972, had a son, Caleb Powell Haun Saussy
, and a daughter, Melinda Cavanaugh Saussy. By his second wife, Frederique Louise Blanco, the musician had two more sons, Pierre Philippe Saussy and Laurent Amaury Saussy, and a stepdaughter, Alexia Camille Vallord.
Tupper Saussy died on March 16, 2007, at his home in Nashville
, Tennessee
of a heart attack, two days before the release of "The Chocolate Orchid Piano Bar" on CD. He was 70 years old. Saussy's death occurred one day after the 20th anniversary of Don Gant's death.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. He was born in Statesboro, Georgia
Statesboro, Georgia
Statesboro is a city in southeast Georgia, United States, and is the county seat and most populous city of Bulloch County. Statesboro has a population of 28,422 and the Statesboro, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 70,217...
; grew up in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
; and graduated from the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1958. His jazz combo there put out a university-subsidized album, Jazz at Sewanee, which included several original compositions. Thereafter Saussy taught English at Montgomery Bell Academy
Montgomery Bell Academy
Montgomery Bell Academy is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee.The school ideal is "Gentleman, Scholar, Athlete." Montgomery Bell Academy is noted for a large number of National Merit and other scholarship winners...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, co-founded an advertising agency, McDonald and Saussy, and kept his musical career alive with recording dates and club sessions. With the Nashville Symphony, he composed a work called The Beast with Five Heads (1965/66), based on "The Bremen Town Musicians", designed to replace Peter and the Wolf
Peter and the Wolf
Peter and the Wolf , Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story , spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra....
as a work to teach schoolchildren about orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
, which continued to be used for the next fifteen years. For its 1968/69 season, the Nashville Symphony commissioned him to write a piano concerto
Piano concerto
A piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
for Bill Pursell
Bill Pursell
Bill Pursell is an American composer and former session pianist. He had a brief but successful career as a pop musician before continuing on as a session player....
; it was performed by the Symphony on January 14, 1969, with Thor Johnson
Thor Johnson
Thor Martin Johnson was an American conductor. He was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. He studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was president of the Alpha Rho chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. He was the first recipient of the fraternity's national...
conducting.
Popular music
Tupper Saussy was perhaps best known as the songwriterSongwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
for the psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
pop band The Neon Philharmonic
The Neon Philharmonic
The Neon Philharmonic was an American psychedelic pop band led by songwriter and conductor Tupper Saussy and singer Don Gant. They released their only two albums in 1969, and they scored a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Morning Girl", when it hit the Top Forty in May of that...
, whose vocalist was Don Gant
Don Gant
Donald W. Gant was an American singer, songwriter and record producer.With Tupper Saussy, in the late 1960s he formed "The Neon Philharmonic." Singing vocals, with Saussy on the keyboards, they recorded five singles and two albums for Warner Bros. Records between 1969 and 1971...
. The Neon Philharmonic
The Neon Philharmonic
The Neon Philharmonic was an American psychedelic pop band led by songwriter and conductor Tupper Saussy and singer Don Gant. They released their only two albums in 1969, and they scored a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Morning Girl", when it hit the Top Forty in May of that...
's single "Morning Girl" rose to Top Twenty status and was nominated for two Grammy awards
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...
in 1969. Earlier in Saussy's career, Monument Records
Monument Records
Monument Records was an American record label, Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958, by Fred Foster and Buddy Deane . Buddy Deane soon left the company, and in the early 60's bought KOTN in Pine Bluff, Arkansas where he retired to until his death...
had released several albums of his 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...
compositions: "Discover Tupper Saussy," "Said I to Shostakovitch," and The Swingers' Guide to Mary Poppins (this last featuring songs from the Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
movie). In the 1960s and 1970s, he composed works for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra
Nashville Symphony Orchestra
The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The orchestra performs 140 concerts annually.-History:...
and the Chattanooga Symphony. Saussy also composed two pop songs for The Wayward Bus, "The Prophet: Predictions by David Hoy" and "Love Hum". He also worked with Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
and Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...
, and wrote arrangements for Mickey Newbury
Mickey Newbury
Mickey Newbury was an American songwriter, a critically acclaimed recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Biography:...
's Harlequin Melodies
Harlequin Melodies
Harlequin Melodies is the 1968 debut album by singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury. At the time, Newbury was a making an impact as an incredible and successful songwriter in Nashville, signed by Acuff-Rose Publishing, at one point he had four #1 hits on different charts for Eddy Arnold, Solomon Burke,...
, as well as arrangements for Boudleaux Bryant, Bobby Bare
Bobby Bare
Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...
, and Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
. The Neon Philharmonic
The Neon Philharmonic
The Neon Philharmonic was an American psychedelic pop band led by songwriter and conductor Tupper Saussy and singer Don Gant. They released their only two albums in 1969, and they scored a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Morning Girl", when it hit the Top Forty in May of that...
's two albums, The Moth Confesses
The Moth Confesses
The Moth Confesses is the 1969 debut album by The Neon Philharmonic. Described as "A Phonograph Opera," it was inspired, according to the liner notes, by a production of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, which Saussy attended after The New York Times claimed that it was a terrible opera, and...
and The Neon Philharmonic
The Neon Philharmonic (album)
The Neon Philharmonic, subtitled Dedicated to the Baroness d'A, is the eponymous second album by The Neon Philharmonic, again consisting of songs written by Tupper Saussy and sung by Don Gant...
were released by Warner Brothers in 1969. The group disbanded in 1972, but producer David Kastle bought the name and used it on recordings until 1975, even recording one of Saussy's songs, "Making Out the Best I Can".
Painting
Saussy was the great-nephew of the Savannah painter Hattie Saussy. His first exhibition of watercolors was given in 1972 at Cheekwood in NashvilleNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and his works can be found in the permanent collection of the Tennessee State Museum.
Theater
In 1972, he published the playPlay (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, To Watch a Beautiful Sunrise, through Samuel French Inc.
Samuel French Inc.
Samuel French, Inc. is an American company, founded by Samuel French and Thomas Hailes Lacy, who formed a partnership to combine their existing interests in London and New York...
, a comedy concerning a radical anarchist with the House of the Rising Sons who is assigned to kill his own stepfather. Saussy first acted by replacing an actor in a regional production of Cactus Flower at The Circle Theater in Nashville after the original actor got pneumonia. A friend was playing Stephanie and recommended him for the role.
Politics
Between 1980 and 1987, Saussy edited The Main Street Journal, advising and reporting on political action aimed at restoring the gold and silver monetary system established in the U.S. Constitution.Legal problems
His activism won him the notice of the Internal Revenue ServiceInternal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
, and in 1985 he was found guilty of willfully failing to file a tax return for the year 1977. For the years 1978 and 1979, the jury decided that his failure to file returns was not willful, and he was found innocent. For the single conviction, he was sentenced to serve one year in Atlanta Federal Prison Camp. Saussy remained free for 2 years while his conviction was appealed.
James Earl Ray
James Earl Ray
James Earl Ray was an American criminal convicted of the assassination of civil rights and anti-war activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr....
read of Saussy's defense in the Tennessee newspapers. Ray inquired by postcard if Saussy would be interested in helping Ray write and publish his autobiography. Thus began a collaboration that resulted in the publication, in 1987, of Tennessee Waltz: The Making of An American Political Prisoner.
Saussy's appeal was denied by the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. James Earl Ray's book appeared at about the time Saussy was to begin serving his sentence. Fearing possible retaliation for the revelations made in Tennessee Waltz, Saussy went into hiding for over ten years, not resurfacing until 1997, at which point he served a 14-month sentence at Taft Correctional Institute in Taft
Taft, California
Taft is a city in the foothills at the extreme southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California. Taft is located west-southwest of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 955 feet . The population was 9,327 at the 2010 census...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Saussy was given the job of chapel music director and piano instructor to prisoners. Saussy was released from prison on May 12, 1999.
Later years
During his fugitive years, Saussy patronized libraries from coast to coast, researching the religious element in the origins of American government. In prison, he collated his research and prepared a final manuscript. This work was published in 2001 by HarperCollinsHarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
under the title Rulers of Evil: Useful Knowledge about Governing Bodies.
After many years of neglect, Saussy's Warner Brothers albums were reissued in 2004 under the Rhino Handmade label.
In April 2006, Tupper Saussy resumed his composer/pianist/performer persona with the Nashville debut of "The Chocolate Orchid Piano Bar," a cycle of new and vintage songs. His first new musical release in 37 years, the CD was recorded in Nashville and produced by Warren Pash. To date, it has not been released on CD, but is available for download on iTunes.
Saussy was first married to Lola Haun, a Nashville socialite, whom he met during his tenure as a teacher at Montgomery Bell Academy. The pair, who divorced in 1972, had a son, Caleb Powell Haun Saussy
Haun Saussy
Caleb Powell Haun Saussy is the University Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago.- Research :Saussy's first book, The Problem of a Chinese Aesthetic , discussed the tradition of commentary that has grown up around the early Chinese poetry collection Shi jing...
, and a daughter, Melinda Cavanaugh Saussy. By his second wife, Frederique Louise Blanco, the musician had two more sons, Pierre Philippe Saussy and Laurent Amaury Saussy, and a stepdaughter, Alexia Camille Vallord.
Tupper Saussy died on March 16, 2007, at his home in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
of a heart attack, two days before the release of "The Chocolate Orchid Piano Bar" on CD. He was 70 years old. Saussy's death occurred one day after the 20th anniversary of Don Gant's death.
External links
- TupperSaussy.Com official
- Honest Things Blog
- http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070319/OBITS/703190336/1090/NEWS
- a Tupper Saussy Shrine photos & info about his Monument Lps
- Memphis Flyer 1998 article
- Brilliant Colors: Neon Philharmonic set on Rhino Handmade
- Profile of Saussy from NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
retrieved on April 1, 2007