Geoff Love (musician)

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Geoff Love , actually Geoffrey Love [ 'dʒef (rɪ)' lʌv ] (born September 4, 1917 in Todmorden , West Yorkshire , † July 8, 1991 in London ) was a British bandleader , composer , arranger and trombonist . He published records mostly as Geoff Love & His Orchestra , many also as Manuel and the Music of the Mountains . Under this pseudonym he had a British number three single hit in 1976 with his arrangement of the theme from the second movement of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez under the title Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez . Love is one of the best known and most successful British representatives of easy listening . In the course of his career he received one platinum , 15 gold and 13 silver records as well as a special award for 2.5 million records sold.

Musical career

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Big War Movie Themes
  UK 11 08/07/1971 (20 weeks)
Big Western Movie Themes
  UK 38 08/21/1971 (3 weeks)
Big Love Movie Themes
  UK 28 10/30/1971 (5 weeks)

Rise to number one hit arranger

Geoff Love had violin lessons as a child , but soon switched to the trombone, which he played at local dances. With Jan Ralfini's band he went to London in 1936, where he learned from trombonists like George Chisholm and Ellis Jackson . In 1937 he appeared on the radio for the first time, on Radio Normandy. During World War II he served in the King's Rifle Corps ; after basic training, he helped rebuild the regimental orchestra. After the war he played as a session musician in a BBC orchestra and for film music, before joining Harry Gold's Dixieland band Pieces of Eight , in which Norrie Paramor played the piano. He also contributed the vocals to the recording of Blue Ribbon Gal . Until 1949 he was a member of the band; then he worked from 1950 to 1955 as a house composer at the Kassner music publisher . Although he still played sessions, his work as an arranger was now more in demand than his trombone.

For the television show On the Town he formed his own orchestra in 1955, with which he worked for radio and television. However, he also composed and arranged for other bands - including the Cliff Adams Singers . He became the house arranger for various record labels : from Philips to Polydor and PolyGram he finally came to EMI . Love arranged recordings for the successful British artists of the time such as Alma Cogan , Frankie Vaughan and Anne Shelton . As arranger and conductor, he was not insignificantly involved in Laurie London's number one hit He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands . Love and his orchestra also made recordings with Shirley Bassey , Randy Crawford , Marlene Dietrich , Gracie Fields , Connie Francis , Judy Garland , Mel Tormé and many other artists.

Career outside the recording studio

Geoff Love did not become known through his work in the recording studio. It wasn't until he appeared on television shows and series that the British public noticed the orchestra leader. He conducted his orchestra in the show of the pianist Russ Conway and to the performances of the comedian and singer Max Bygraves . He also appeared on Bygraves' show as a cue and punch line. After his great success, in 1981 he co-founded the Young Person's Concert Foundation , a foundation that aims to bring orchestral music to young people and for which he himself gave concerts with a student orchestra at schools in Great Britain.

Success with easy listening recordings

Under his own name, Love released a cover version of Pérez Prado's hit Patricia in 1958 . He has since worked with Norman Newell , who, according to Love, “hears what Ms. Smith would hear in Wigan.” One of the songs Newell Love suggested was Mikis Theodorakis ' subject in the film Honeymoon . As The Honeymoon Song , released under his alter ego Manuel and the Music of the Mountains , it became Love's first hit in 1959. The following year the orchestra performed another Greek song, Never on Sunday by Manos Hadjidakis from the film Sonntags… nie! , in the top 40 . After these successes, the identity of Manuel with Geoff Love could no longer be kept secret, as actually intended. In 1966 it was again a movie theme -  Maurice Jarres Somewhere My Love (actually Lara's Theme , German also "Schiwago Melodie") from Doctor Schiwago  - that brought Manuel alias Geoff Love another hit. Among Love's compositions is the theme song for the British television series Sagittarius This House , which aired from 1971 to 1976.

In 1971 a long-playing record as Manuel & the Music of the Mountains ( This Is Manuel , a compilation of his greatest hits) and three LPs under Geoff Love's real name reached the British album charts. On these three albums he had reinterpreted other well-known themes: melodies from war , western and love films . Also in 1971 he recorded the LP Carnival , with which he celebrated his greatest chart success five years later. In addition to his hit The Honeymoon Song, standards such as La mer , Guantanamera , The White Rose of Athens and Zambezi were found on it . After being re-released, it rose to number three on the British album charts in 1976, which it held for two weeks. This success coincided with the success of the single Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez (Theme from 2nd Movement), which was released from the album .

Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez entered the top 50 in January 1976 and climbed into the top ten over the next two weeks. In chart week that ended on February 21, 1976, the single even seemed to be a number one hit for a short time. Johnnie Walker , disc jockey at the BBC, announced the new weekly charts at noon on February 17, 1976 on BBC Radio 1 with Love's title at number one. But the top placement was a computer error, as those responsible at the British Market Research Bureau announced three hours later. Instead, the Four Seasons had climbed to the top with December '63 (Oh What a Night) ; Manuel and the Music of the Mountains were downgraded to fourth. Although the single was able to climb one place in the following week, with third place it had reached its highest chart position.

Over the decades, Love continued to use different names for his publications. In addition to Geoff Love & His Orchestra and Manuel and His Music of the Mountains , there were records by Geoff Love, His Orchestra and Singers , Geoff Love Music , Geoff Love's Rhythm and Geoff Love's Big Disco Sound . In the 1970s he founded Billy's Banjo Band (later renamed Geoff Love's Banjo Band ). In Germany, albums by Geoff Love and his orchestra were released; The album “The Most Beautiful Melodies from Television and Film” includes several pieces by Geoff Love and his large film orchestra . Together with Mrs Mills , whose albums he produced on the Music for Pleasure label , he recorded an LP with duets under the title Glad with Love in 1975 .

reception

The Dictionary of National Biography calls Love a "blatant populist who enjoyed creating melodic and undisputed arrangements of pieces of music that sold".

Film composer François Evans states that Love's music had a great influence on his own work. In particular , he mentions the disco- influenced arrangements on the two long-playing records Star Wars and Other Space Themes and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Other Disco Galactic Themes from 1978 as an example of how Love “was a talented arranger who knew how to respect a piece of music and how to make it shine ”.

Love himself saw his work pragmatically:

“I don't play for musicians or listeners to jazz music; I play for the average consumer. "

- Geoff Love

Private

Geoffrey Love was born in 1917 in Todmorden, England. His father was the African American Thomas Edward Love, called "Kidd", who was successful as a dancer and guitarist; his English mother Frances Helen Love, nee Maycock, was an actress and singer with a traveling theater . The family toured the UK with the theater. When "Kidd" Love died, Geoffrey Love was just six years old; with his mother and sister he then lived with their grandmother in Todmorden. He gave up his work in a motor vehicle workshop at the age of 17 to turn music into a profession. In 1942 he married his wife Joy, who was considered to be the organizer of his professional life. With her he had two sons; the older, Adrian Love , became a well-known radio presenter. The successful bandleader is described as "friendly, generous and witty" and as "popular with colleagues", whereby he always "meticulously paid attention to discipline, professionalism and punctuality".

Geoff Love's original albums as "Manuel and the Music of the Mountains"

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Music of the Mountains
  UK 17th 09/10/1960 (1 week)
This is Manuel
  UK 18th 08/07/1971 (19 weeks)
Carnival
  UK 3 
silver
silver
January 31, 1976 (18 weeks)
Singles
The honeymoon song
  UK 22nd 08/28/1959 (9 weeks)
Never on Sunday
  UK 29 10/13/1960 (10 weeks)
Somewhere My Love
  UK 42 10/13/1966 (2 weeks)
Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez (Theme from 2nd Movement)
  UK 3 
silver
silver
January 31, 1976 (10 weeks)
  • The Music of the Mountains (1960)
  • Mountain Carnival (1961)
  • Ecstasy (1963)
  • Mountain Fiesta (1964)
  • Exotica (1965)
  • Blue Waters (1966)
  • Sunrise, Sunset (1967)
  • Beyond the Mountains (1967)
  • Mirage (1968)
  • Magic Fountains (1968)
  • Reflections (1969)
  • Manuel and the Music of the Masters (1969)
  • Manuel and the Music of the Movies (1970)
  • Cascade (1971)
  • Carnival (1971)
  • Manuel Meets Pepe Jaramillo (1971)
  • Mardi Gras (1972)
  • The Sun, the Sea and the Sky (1972)
  • Horizons (1973)
  • Shangri-La (1973)
  • More Manuel (1973, UK:silversilver)
  • Y Viva España (1974)
  • El Bimbo (1975)
  • Masquerade (1976)
  • The Very Best Of Manuel (1976, UK:silversilver)
  • Mountain Fire (1977)
  • The Music of Manuel (1978)
  • The Magic of Manuel (1978)
  • Super Natural (1979)
  • Viva Manuel (1979)
  • Fiesta (1980)
  • Fantasy (1981)

Web links

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  1. a b c d e Val Wilmer: Love, Geoffrey [Geoff] (1917-1991) . In: Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press; op.cit. on The Powell and Pressburger Site , viewed March 16, 2011
  2. a b c d e Geoff Love Manuel and the Music of the Mountains Manuel and His Music of the Mountains in the British charts
  3. Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music , 1995, op.cit. Geoff Love & His Orchestra at Waves of Champagne, spotted on March 17th, 2011
  4. ^ LP Carnival at discogs.com
  5. Tim Rice / Jo Rice / Paul Gambaccini / Mike Read: The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits , Enfield 1982, ISBN 0-85112-250-7 , p. 174
  6. Cover of "Die Filmhits von Ennio Morricone" ( Memento of November 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) at Lounge Legends , viewed on March 17, 2011
  7. LP “The Most Beautiful Melodies from TV and Film” at discogs.com
  8. LP Glad with Love at discogs.com
  9. Influences ( Memento of the original dated December 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , from the website of the film composer François Evans, accessed March 16, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lampmusic.co.uk
  10. Music Sales Awards: UK