Retro Redux: The Music Of Peter Gunn - Beyond Mancini

In the late 1950's, a ground-breaking TV show caught my attention because of the very feature that made it revolutionary. It was just a private-eye show, but instead of using canned music for background it made the music part of the show, and even more unique, that music was jazz. This confluence of things occurred at a time in my life when I was first beginning to appreciate that form of music, so I was an instant fan.

Peter Gunn made its debut in 1958 and was an early creation of Blake Edwards, who is probably better remembered now as a film director and producer — and as the husband of Julie Andrews. He designed the show around a detective who was suave and smooth in the Cary Grant mold, and hired Craig Stevens (who actually sort of looked like Grant) to star as the handsome hero.

The well-dressed gumshoe dropped in regularly at a jazz club called Mother's, where his girlfriend (played by Lola Albright) was the singer fronting a small jazz group, and it was a natural setting for the music that permeated the show. The distinctive theme song is still probably the best known piece from the show but there was lots of original music flowing through almost every scene, and it all bore the signature of composer Henry Mancini.

Mancini's brand of jazz might have seemed a little tame to those who compared it to harder-edged stuff, but it was always musically outstanding, and he ended up with several best-selling albums based on the show. But although Mancini was a gifted composer who had a prodigious career, there was another musician involved with the show and its music, and he's been a little less visible. And he's someone who - in the eyes of some, at least - has more of a jazz pedigree than Mancini.

Article Author: Big Geez

Big Geez is a retiree who takes time off from trimming his ear hair to write about music -- sometimes doing conventional reviews, but often just sharing his opinions about how something resonates with his memories and those of his generation. …

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