John Green (composer)

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Johnny Green


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Birth_name = John Green
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Born = birth date|1908|10|10
New York City, New York, USA
Died = death date and age|1989|17|5|1908|10|10
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Occupation = Composer, conductor
Years_active = 1930-1989
Label = Paramount Pictures
Associated_acts = Gus Kahn, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, Edward Heyman, Paul Francis Webster, Mack David, Billy Rose, Johnny Mercer
URL =
Notable_instruments =

John Green ("Johnny") (October 10, 1908 – May 17, 1989) was a composer and conductor.

Early life

Born in New York City, Green attended Horace Mann School, the New York Military Academy and later graduated from Harvard University. His musical tutors were Herman Wasserman, Ignace Hilsberg and Walter Spalding. Early on he arranged for the Lombardo Orchestra he also contributed to revues, such as "Three's a Crowd".

Career

Between 1930 and 1933 he was the arranger and conductor for Paramount Pictures and worked with singers Ethel Merman, Gertrude Lawrence and James Melton. After 1933 he had his own orchestra which he used to play around the country. He also, until 1940, conducted orchestras for the Jack Benny and Philip Morris records and radio shows.

From 1949 to 1959, Green was the Music Director at MGM. There, he produced numerous film scores, such as "Raintree County". On loanout to Universal, he composed the songs for the Deanna Durbin musical, "Something in the Wind", one of her last films before retiring.

Nominated for an Oscar thirteen times, he won the award for "Easter Parade", "An American in Paris", "West Side Story", and "Oliver!", as well as for the short subject "The Merry Wives of Windsor Overture".

Having left MGM, he conducted with various orchestras, such as the Denver Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra.

Green was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. [Yarrow, Andrew L. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2DB133EF934A25756C0A96F948260 "John Green, 80, a Film Composer and Arranger Who Won 4 Oscars"] , "The New York Times", may 17, 1989. Accessed October 14, 2007.]

Discography

Film Musicals

Green conducted the orchestra for the following film musicals:
*"Easter Parade"
*"Fiesta"
*"Bathing Beauty"
*"Summer Stock"
*"Toast of New Orleans"
*"An American in Paris"
*"Royal Wedding"
*"Brigadoon" (the 1954 film)
*"High Society"
*"West Side Story" (a United Artists release)
*"Bye Bye Birdie" (the 1963 film) (a Columbia Pictures release)
*"Oliver!" (a Columbia Pictures release)

ongs

Some of Green's hit songs are:
*"Body and Soul"
*"Coquette"
*"I’m Yours"
*"Oceans of Time"
*"Out of Nowhere"
*"Weep No More My Baby"
*"I Cover the Waterfront"
*"An Hour Ago This Minute"
*"Rain, Rain, Go Away"
*"Easy Come, Easy Go"
*"You’re Mine, You"
*"The Steam is on he Beam"
*"I’ve Got a Heavy Date"
*"I Wanna Be Loved"
*"Hello, My Lover, Goodbye"
*"Something in the Wind"
*"The Turntable Song"
*"The Song of Raintree County"

References

External links

* [http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_home_page.asp?exhibitId=261 Profile] at the Songwriters Hall of Fame