Hugo Winterhalter

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Hugo Winterhalter (born August 15, 1909 in Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania , † September 17, 1973 in Greenwich , Connecticut ) was an American musician , band leader , arranger and record producer .

biography

From student to music director

Winterhalter studied violin and woodwind at the New England Conservatory . After completing his studies, he initially taught at his training facility, but decided in the mid-1930s to become a professional musician. In the second half of the 1940s he played and arranged for various swing bands, including Tommy Dorsey , Count Basie and Claude Thornhill . At this time he also made arrangements for songs by Dinah Shore and Billy Eckstine . 1948/49 he was musical director (musical director, music director) at MGM Records , 1949/50 at Columbia (his successor there was Percy Faith ).

Success at RCA

From 1950 to 1963 he held the same position at RCA Victor . He was the most important arranger at the RCA record label , where he was responsible for the sound of hits by various artists such as Perry Como , Eddie Fisher and The Ames Brothers . From 1949 Hugo Winterhalter and his orchestra released records under their own name (Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra). He combined the influence of big bands with his love for light classical music ; the result was lounge or easy listening music. One of his most famous recordings from the early 1950s is a swinging version of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with Byron Janis on piano.

Hits as a producer and band leader

In the 1950s he was in the US a number of hits (Blue Tango, Vanessa, The Little Shoemaker, Song of the Barefoot Contessa). As a producer, he reached in 1953 with Eddie Fisher Outside of Heaven and I'm Walking Behind You twice the number-one position in the British charts, and with 'm Walking Behind You I and Oh, My Papa (Oh, my dad) that the US hit parade. In the USA he also brought the Ames Brothers to number one as a producer in 1954 with The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane .

In 1956 he was even entered on the list of number one performers in Great Britain - if only as the accompanying orchestra of singer Kay Starr on her hit Rock and Roll Waltz. The song was also a number one in the US. Also in 1956, Winterhalter's Canadian Sunset (with its composer Eddie Heywood on the piano) became a million seller and number two hit in the USA . In Germany, this was Winterhalter's only chart success, the title reaching number 17 in 1956.

Among his successful long-playing records was the series Hugo Winterhalter Goes…, in which he interpreted music from a certain culture ( Latin America , Hawaii , Gypsy and similar) in his own way on an LP .

The last few years

In 1963 he switched to Kapp Records . In the same year he wrote the theme song for the film King of Hawaii (original title: Diamond Head ). He worked on Broadway and television in the second half of the 1960s before retiring into private life and dying in 1973.

Hugo Winterhalter was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to American music history .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ehnert, Günter (Ed.): Hit balance sheet. German chart singles 1956–1980 . Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, p. 220
personal data
SURNAME Winterhalter, Hugo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician, band leader, arranger and record producer
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania, USA
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 1973
Place of death Greenwich , Connecticut, USA