John Scott Trotter

John Scott Trotter (also: Uncle John ; born June 14, 1908 (1900), Charlotte , North Carolina ; † October 29, 1975, Los Angeles , California ) was an American arranger, composer and orchestra conductor.

Trotter was best known for his John Scott Trotter Orchestra , with whom he appeared on recordings and on the radio between 1937 and 1954, accompanying Bing Crosby , and for his work with Vince Guaraldi on the Peanuts cartoons.

Life

youth

Trotter was born on June 14, 1908 in Charlotte , North Carolina to John Scott Trotter, Sr. (June 26, 1881– August 8, 1949) and Lelia Trotter (née Bias) (May 10, 1885– July 7, 1965) born.

Trotter received his school education in Charlotte, where he also learned to play the piano under Ida Moore Alexander . In 1925 Trotter went to the University of North Carolina . There he began his career as a professional musician in the college band of Hal Kemp . Kemp had already come to the university in 1922 and graduated in 1926, while Trotter left the university shortly before the end of his freshman year to work in Kemp's band as a pianist and arranger. He stayed until 1936.

Career

After leaving Kemp's band, Trotter worked in Hollywood , where he put together the orchestrations for Columbia Pictures , including the film Pennies from Heaven , where he first worked with Bing Crosby. That was the beginning of a 17-year collaboration with Crosby, although Trotter and Crosby had met earlier in 1929 in New York City at the Manger Hotel when Crosby was working with Paul Whitemans Orchestra.

Trotter recalled the background to his involvement with Pennies from Heaven in an interview with Canadian presenter Gord Atkinson . He was Johnny Burke was asked if he wanted to take over the orchestrations for the film. It was one of the first independent film productions. Crosby was under contract with Paramount at the time, but Pennies from Heaven was filmed at Columbia Studios and no one was hired for the music. Trotter replied to Burke that he hadn't come to work and that seemed to be the end of the matter. A week later, Burke asked, "Would you help Arthur Johnston with the piano pieces?" After much persuasion, Trotter agreed to help Johnston with the piano pieces and developed a love for the task. He composed Pennies from Heaven , So Do I and One, Two, Button Your Shoe , and Skeleton in the Closet . Only then did he decide to take over the orchestrations, as the offer still existed. Trotter remembered that the day Pennies from Heaven was recorded, the cameras were on in front of the orchestra; it was not recorded beforehand, as would be the case today. Trotter had thought Crosby was a master of dubbing, but that wasn't the case either. After finishing Pennies from Heaven , Trotter went back east.

In July 1937, Trotter replaced Jimmy Dorsey as musical director for Crosby's radio program Kraft Music Hall at NBC . In the same year Trotter began arranging and conducting songs for Crosby's recordings with Decca Records . Their first recording was It's the Natural Thing to Do . The song reached second place in the charts and together they had numerous hits in the following years. Trotter remained Crosby's musical director until 1954.

The engagement with Kraft Music Hall came when Larry Crosby , Bing's brother and public relations director Trotter sent a telegram asking if he could be in Hollywood on June 28, 1937 to join the orchestra for Kraft Music Hall on June 8 , 1937 . July to direct. Although Trotter had already rehearsed and conducted performances, he hadn't had his own orchestra until then. He performed for the first time in Kraft Music Hall with Bing Crosby under his own name 'John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra'. Kraft Music Hall aired fifty weeks a year, and Trotter conducted 140 episodes each Thursday with no exception; with that he set a kind of record.

Bing Crosby spoke very amicably about Trotter in his autobiography Call Me Lucky (1953) and particularly praised Trotter's impressive self-control.

Trotter then went to television. He was musical director for The George Gobel Show from 1954 to 1960 and was musical director on several of Crosby's television specials and on his sitcom The Bing Crosby Show from 1964 to 1965 on ABC . He later conducted the music for the Charlie Brown cartoon specials. In 1970 Trotter was nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy for his musical work for the film A Boy Named Charlie Brown .

death

Trotter died on 29 October 1975 at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles , California to cancer . He was buried in the Sharon Memorial Park in Charlotte. Trotter left a sister, Margaret Kinghorn , and two brothers, William and Robert Trotter .

legacy

Carroll Carroll , the chief writer of Kraft Music Hall , recalled Trotter's bulky demeanor and appetite:

“Trotter, a monolith of man, rode the wave of pop and 'long hair' music, as it was then called, like a colossus, and occasionally flew from Hollywood to New Orleans for the weekend (something that wasn't in the thirties often done) just to satisfy his gourmet cravings with a decent platter of Rockefeller oysters. During the war, when economics teacher MFK Fisher was on the show to bring in her wartime savings cookbook, How to Cook a Wolf, she told Bing that her book explained how to use leftovers. The hearty-fed Trotter went to the microphone and, in his most polite and gentle North Carolina slang, asked, 'Pardon me, ma'am, but what are left overs? "

Trotter was criticized along with Jack Kapp for changing Crosby's style to mainstream away from his jazz roots. The fact is, however, that Crosby himself chose the songs that he performed on his radio broadcasts and that he also gave final approval for every recording he made. Crosby could have worked with any arranger, but he preferred Trotter for 17 years. Crosby once said of Trotter:

“I'm not musical enough to really describe what he was in musical language. I just know that it was very good and it had a wonderful taste. "

Individual evidence

1. ^ John Scott Trotter in the Internet Movie Database (0873691).
2. ^ VIAF, LCCN.
3. ↑ John Scott Trotter . www.rusc.com. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
4. ^ Speaking of radio interview with John Scott Trotter . www.speakingofradio.com. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
5. ↑ Find a Grave (7,835,292).
6. ^ ^{A b c} Trotter, John Scott 14 June 1908-29 Oct. 1975 . ncpedia.org. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
7. ↑ ^{a b c} John Scott Trotter . Steven Lewis. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
8. ↑ Would you help Arthur Johnston with the piano parts?
9. ↑ BING magazine . Retrieved September 12, 2015.
10. ^ Joel Whitburn: Pop Memories 1890-1954 . Record Research Inc, Wisconsin, USA 1986, ISBN 0-89820-083-0 , pp. 106-112.
11. ↑ BING magazine . Retrieved September 12, 2015.
12. ^ Bing Crosby: Call Me Lucky . Simon and Schuster, Inc, New York 1953, pp. 262-263.
13. ↑ Gratinated oysters in Creole cuisine
14. ↑ Trotter, a monolith of a man, stood astride pop and 'long hair' music, as it was then called, like a colossus, and occasionally flew from Hollywood to New Orleans for the weekend (something not done often in the thirties) just to cater to his gourmet tastes with a decent plate of oysters Rockefeller. During the war, when home economist MFK Fisher was a guest on the show to plug her wartime conservation cookbook, How to Cook a Wolf, she told Bing that her book explained how to use leftovers. The heartily-fed Trotter stepped to the mike and, in his most polite and gentle North Carolina drawl, asked, 'Pardon me, ma'am, but what are left-overs? Ted Sennett: The Old Time Radio Book . Pyramid Books, January 1, 1976, ISBN 978-0-515-04067-8 , p. 70.
15. ↑ I'm not musically educated enough to really describe what he was in music terms. I just knew he was very good and he had marvelous taste.

Web links

• John Scott Trotter in the Internet Movie Database (0873691)
• Find a Grave (7835292)