Birth name Robert Vernor Hammack Role Musical Artist Instruments piano Died March 1990 | Years active 1945–1990 Associated acts Walt Disney Name Bobby Hammack | |
Born 22 January 1922
Brookston, Texas ( 1922-01-22 ) Occupation(s) Pianist, Bandleader, Arranger, Composer, Studio musician, Music executive, Freelance musician Genres Swing music, Popular music, Big band, Film score Record labels Capitol Records, Rhino Entertainment, Liberty Records, Light Records, Coral Records, Audiophile Records Similar People Rhino Entertainment, Red Nichols, Ralph Carmichael, Johnny Mercer | ||
Bobby Hammack Quartet Foggy Mist
Bobby Hammack (né Robert Vernor Hammack, Jr.; 22 January 1922 Brookston, Texas – 28 March 1990 Riverside, California) was an American musician, originally from Texas, whose principal instrument was jazz piano. He led a prolific career in Los Angeles as a pianist, organist, conductor, arranger, and composer in (i) live venues, (ii) broadcast studios for radio and television, and (iii) recording studios for records, radio, television, and film. Hammack flourished in a wide spectrum of genres that included dixieland, Blues, swing, sweet dance music (e.g., Lawrence Welk), easy listening, gospel, liturgical jazz, musical theatre, Tin Pan Alley, classical, and film score.
Contents
- Bobby Hammack Quartet Foggy Mist
- Career
- Formal education
- Selected discography
- Selected filmography
- Selected musical dramas
- Selected radio shows
- Family
- References
Career
In 1949, Hammack began appearing KLAC-TV as studio band pianist and, in 1950, guest host — Don Otis Show — and eventually host — Bobby Hammack and Joy Lane. Hammack was the West Coast musical director of the ABC-TV and radio networks between 1958 and 1963, during which he conducted his own orchestra and scored music for several TV shows, including Ed Sullivan, Glen Campbell, Red Skelton, and Johnny Mann's Stand-Up and Cheer. Hammack then was a conductor and a pianist for NBC. He joined ASCAP in 1958. Hammack's popular song compositions include I'm Going Home, Eliza, and You Bug Me.
Hammack got his first break playing piano for Red Nichols as one of his post-war Five Pennies, appearing with Nichols in a number of film shorts in the early 1950s. Hammack also worked as a freelance arranger and writer for Bob Crosby, Lawrence Welk, and Tony Osborne. His version of Raymond Scott's Powerhouse is featured on several space age pop compilations, and he also recorded with Esquivel.
Formal education
Hammack earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in music, from the University of Texas at Austin in 1945. He had entered as a freshman in the fall 1938, but, beginning September 21, 1942, spent two years in the Air Force, stationed at Muskogee, Oklahoma. At Texas, he studied piano at the newly established (1938) College of Fine Arts with Thomas Arthur Gorton, PhD (1910–1997), who, in addition to being a concert pianist, went on to become Dean of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Kansas from 1950 to 1975.
He graduated from Paris High School in 1938. Hammack was also a proficient trombonist. While in high school and college, Hammack led his own dance orchestra.
Selected discography
As leader
As leader of the back-up musical group
As keyboardist (re-release dates)
As composer/arranger
As conductor
Selected filmography
Orchestra leader
Composer
- Seaside Westside (16 September 1964)
- The Big Jump (23 September 1964)
- The Case of the Slippery Slipsy (30 September 1964)
- How to Raise Children Without Really Trying (7 October 1964)by)
- Mickey Crashes the Movies (14 October 1964)
- The Way the Fortune Cookie Crumbles (21 October 1964)
- Goodnight, Whoever You Are (28 October 1964)
- Nobody Buys Retail (4 November 1964)
- Hard Work Never Hurt Anyone (11 November 1964)
- Honest Injun (25 November 1964)
- Somebody's Been Sleeping in My Bed (2 December 1964)
- For the Love of Grandpa Toddie (9 December 1964)
- One More Kiss (16 December 1964) (composer & conductor)
- Luck O' the Irish (23 December 1964)
- The Elephant Mickey Won't Forget (30 December 1964)
- Be My Guest (6 January 1965)
- Mickey Takes Over (13 January 1965)
- Hooray for Love (1963 TV episode)
Music department
- Summer Magic: Part 2 (1965) TV episode (orchestrator)
- Summer Magic: Part 1 (1965) TV episode (orchestrator)
Actor
Sideman