George Greeley

George Greeley (born Georgio Guariglia; July 23, 1917 – May 26, 2007) was an Italian-American pianist, conductor, composer, arranger, recording artist and record producer who is known for his extensive work across the spectrum of the entertainment industry. Starting as an arranger and pianist with several notable big bands in the 1940s, he segued into the Hollywood radio scene, working on several nationally broadcast variety programs. After conducting an Army Air Force Band during World War II, he was hired by Columbia Pictures as a staff pianist and orchestrator. He worked as pianist on several hundred motion pictures, worked with many famous composers orchestrating their soundtrack compositions, and created original compositions of his own in several dozen movies. It was Greeley's hands that performed the piano parts that Tyrone Power mimed in "The Eddy Duchin Story." Concurrent with his work at Columbia Pictures, George Greeley also worked at Capitol Records as music director, pianist, and conductor for many artists such as Gordon MacRae, Jane Powell, Jo Stafford, Frankie Laine, and Doris Day. He was hired in the late 1950s by the newly established Warner Brothers Records. George Greeley arranged, orchestrated and performed as primary artist for a series of hit recordings entitled "Popular Piano Concertos." As music tastes changed in the late 1960s, Greeley had already moved into television, composing themes and music for popular TV series like "My Favorite Martian," "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," "Nanny and the Professor," and "Small Wonder." He performed as featured piano soloist and as guest conductor in concert appearances around the world. He died from emphysema at age 89 in Los Angeles, California.
Early life and education.
Greeley was born Georgio Guariglia in Westerly, Rhode Island on 23 July 1917, soon after his family emigrated from Italy. Most of the family's members were musically gifted and could play many instruments. His father, James, had three music schools and a traveling orchestra. Georgio was taught to read music at an early age and was playing piano and mandolin when he was five. He often played four-handed piano pieces with his father, and they gave father-son recitals. He studied music at Columbia University, where he met and formed a long-time friendship with composer/arranger/bandleader Paul Weston, with whom Greeley worked in later years at Capitol Records and Columbia Records. Greeley won a scholarship to the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied piano and composition, graduating in 1939. He also studied music at the University of Southern California, and studied composition privately with Ernst Toch.
Early career with the big bands.
George Greeley entered the music business after meeting Sy Oliver, Duke Ellington's arranger. Oliver taught him the art of arranging for big bands, and Greeley began his career arranging music for several popular figures such as Tommy Dorsey, Glen Gray, Abe Lyman, Leo Reisman, and Kay Kyser. He joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra as pianist on the same day that Frank Sinatra became the band's new vocalist in January 1940. After about a year with Dorsey, Greeley defected to Abe Lyman because "the money was better, and Abe had me writing three arrangements a week. I'd studied composition and orchestration at Juilliard, and wanted to practice what I'd learned." Greeley then spent time during World War II conducting a U.S. Air Force band at the Santa Ana, California Army Air Base. He also became involved in the Hollywood radio scene, working as arranger on several nationally broadcast variety programs.
Work at Columbia Pictures.
A virtuoso trumpet player that Greeley had met in the Air Corps (Mannie Klein) helped arrange an audition with Columbia Pictures..(successful), and Greeley went to work there as staff pianist and orchestrator. As orchestrator, Greeley would fill out the sketches supplied by composers that included Max Steiner, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Leonard Bernstein, and Dimitri Tiomkin. As pianist, he performed on about two hundred motion pictures, including "Picnic" and "The Eddy Duchin Story." He also worked as a composer. IMDb lists some twenty movies between 1949 and 1960 for which George Greeley is credited as composer of original music, including the 1957 film "Hellcats of the Navy" starring Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis, "Good Day For a Hanging," and "The Guns of Fort Petticoat," starring Audie Murphy. Several films of which Greeley was especially proud included working as pianist on the Leonard Bernstein score for the 1954 drama "On the Waterfront"; and coaching Tyrone Power for "The Eddy Duchin Story." In addition to performing the soundtrack songs when Eddy Duchin played (uncredited), it was Greeley's hands that performed the piano parts which Power mimed during filming.
Recording artist and conductor.
Concurrent with his work at Columbia Pictures, Greeley worked for Capitol Records, where he was a music director, arranger, and conductor for various artists including Gordon MacRae, Dean Martin, Ella Logan, Tony Martin, Jane Powell, Jane Froman, and Keely Smith. At the behest of his friend Paul Weston, Greeley also played piano (and harpsichord) on recording sessions for acts including Frankie Laine, Jo Stafford, Hoagy Carmichael, Sarah Vaughan, Eartha Kitt, and Doris Day. Many of those recordings have been now re-mastered and re-issued as CDs.
George Greeley was among the earliest artists signed to the Warner Bros. Records label when it was founded in the late 1950s, and he was instrumental in providing that company with the same elegant instrumental pop sounds that Billy Vaughn brought to Dot Records and Percy Faith brought to Columbia Records. As a recording artist for Warner Bros. Records, Greeley produced and performed as pianist (and occasionally as conductor) on fourteen popular albums between 1957 and 1967. His first album, "The World's Greatest Popular Piano Concertos" became Warner Bros. biggest hit to date, and Greeley's subsequent recordings were also hits for the label. Regarding the use of the phrase "Piano Concertos," Greeley stated that he hated the term, but Jim Conkling, the boss of the new Warner Bros. Records felt that the term sounded classy. The musicians performing with Greeley were an all-star collection of free lancers billed for publicity's sake as the "Warner Bros. Orchestra." Greeley said "because I was playing piano, I called some of my friends to come and conduct." Those friends included Felix Slatkin, Harry Bluestone, Ray Heindorf, and Ted Dale. Greeley's 1961 album for Warner Bros. Records, "The Best of the Popular Piano Concertos," peaked at number 29 on the "Billboard" 200. On loan to Dot Records, he also ghost-conducted albums by Billy Vaughn and Lawrence Welk. Greeley's stint at Warner Brothers ended as times and popular tastes changed. He was let go by Mike Maitland who had succeeded Jim Conklin as label president. Ironically he was personally signed to the Reprise label by his old friend and bandmate, Frank Sinatra. Even more ironic, Sinatra sold the label to Warner Bros., and Greeley was trimmed once more. Never on the street, Greeley had already begun working in television and more success were to come...in television and concerts across the country.
Television work.
Moving into television (between the 1960s and 1985), he composed the theme and background music for several popular TV series including "My Favorite Martian" starring Ray Walston and Bill Bixby, "My Living Doll" starring Robert Cummings and Julie Newmar, "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," "Nanny and the Professor," and "Small Wonder" (1985).
Greeley's theme for "My Favorite Martian" (1963–66) is notable as one of the first uses of an electronic instrument in a television theme and prominently features an electro-theremin, played by Paul Tanner, co-creator of the instrument, who was at the time the lead trombonist for the ABC Orchestra. The electro-theremin was also regularly used as a sound effect when Walston's character Uncle Martin raised his antennae or used his powers of levitation.
Concert appearances.
In addition to his film and TV work, Greeley performed as a piano soloist and guest conductor in Montreal, Korea, and Rio de Janeiro. In 1957 he did an extensive concert tour of South America, and conducted the Argentine Symphony in Buenos Aires. Greeley participated in six television variety shows when touring in Australia. In the States, among his televised concert appearances, Greeley was guest pianist on Chicago's WGN-TV series titled "Great Music From Chicago." In 1962 Greeley appeared as piano soloist with Robert Trendler conducting a program of American music. Then, appearing on the same series as piano soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1964, he performed Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance," Ferde Grofe's "On the Trail" from his "Grand Canyon Suite", and other works. In 1975 Greeley performed as guest pianist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, playing George Gershwin's "Concerto in F" under Arthur Fiedler's baton. George Greeley also performed as guest pianist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. At the time of Greeley's death, Jon Burlingame. who was a USC professor teaching a class on the history of film scoring, stated that Greeley was an "extraordinary pianist."
Personal life.
Details about Greeley's first marriage are unknown. His marriage to Jan Clayton (1966–68) ended in divorce. Greeley died from emphysema at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in Los Angeles on 26 May 2007, aged 89. He was survived by his sister, Louise Wheeler, a brother Herbert, his two sons, Anthony and Edward; and by his long-time companion, actress Teri York.
Discography.
Capitol Records recordings LP and EP box sets.
In the 1950s it was common practice for some Capitol recordings to be published in both the LP format (10" and 12") and in the EP Box-set format (FBF). Some LPs were also still being issued on 78 RPM discs (e.g. "With a Song in My Heart"). During the 1950s, many recordings listed as "soundtracks" were actually studio recordings, as the film music was not yet released separately from the film. Many of these recordings have been remastered and reissued as CDs. EPs are shown separately when not a box set.
A few Columbia Records recordings are listed here because ownership and labels changed for some artists in the late 1950s, and because Greeley worked for Columbia Pictures.
Capitol 7" singles and EP
Warner Brothers recordings, LP.
W = Mononaural, WS = Stereo. Uncommon practice at the time, one of Conklin's contributions as president of the new label was to make all albums available in stereo. Greeley's albums were mostly recorded at Thorne Nogar's studio on Sycamore Street in Hollywood. Warner Bros. Records chief engineer was Lowell Frank, and Alvino Rey, Producer, supervised from the control booth. Most of these albums were arranged and orchestrated by George Greeley. Conductor credits were not always available on the album covers.
Warner Bros. Records, 7" singles and EP
Various labels recordings LP and CD.
Singles
Filmography.
Feature and television films.
As stated above, George Greeley started as a pianist with the Columbia Pictures music department. Most individual musicians were not credited. He then became engaged as composer of stock music and title music, usually under the principal conductor. He also wrote original themes and film scores for several films, in addition to his television series compositions. This list is derived from the IMDb website.
Television series.
Between 1950 and 1985, George Greeley was principal composer of the original scores and themes for approximately one hundred ninety-five television series episodes. (see IMDb.com for full episode list).