Frogtoon Music

Moon River by James Last

Artist Biography For James Last

James Last Hans Last * April 17 1929 In Bremen † June 9 2015 In Florida Was A German Composer And Big Band Leader With A Large Fan Base In Europe And World-Wide. Last's Trademark Was Arranging Pop Hits In A Big-Band Style His Series Of "party Albums" Is Equally Well-Known. Over The Course Of His Career He Has Sold Well Over 100 Million Albums. Last Learned How To Play Piano As Child Switching To Bass As A Teenager. He Joined Hans-Gunther Oesterreich's Radio Bremen Dance Orchestra In 1946 When He Was 17 Years Old. In 1948 He Became The Leader Of The Becker-Last Ensemble Which Performed For Seven Years. During That Time He Was Voted As The Best Bassist In The Country By A German Jazz Poll For Three Consecutive Years From 1950-1952. After The Disbandment Of The Becker-Last Ensemble He Became The In-House Arranger For Polydor Records As Well As For A Number Of European Radio Stations. For The Next Decade He Helped Arrange Hits For Artists Like Helmut Zacharias And Caterina Valente. Last Released His First Album "Non-Stop Dancing" In 1965. The Record Of Brief Renditions Of Popular Songs All Tied Together By An Insistent Dance Beat And Joyous Crowd Noises. It Was A Hit And Helped Make Him A Major European Star. Over The Next Four Decades Last Has Released Over 190 Records Including Several More Volumes Of Non-Stop Dancing. On These Records He Varies His Formula By Adding Different Songs From Different Countries And Genres As Well As Guest Performers Like Richard Clayderman And Astrud Gilberto. Though His Concerts And Albums Are Consistently Successful — Especially In England Where He Had 52 Hit Albums Between 1967-1986 Which Made Him Second To Elvis Presley In Terms Of Number Of Charting Records — He Has Only Had Two Hit Singles With "The Seduction " The Theme From American Gigolo 1980 And Biscaya From The Album "Biscaya". He Has Won Numerous Polls And Prizes For Example Billboard Magazine's "Star Of The Year" Trophy In 1976 And Has Been Honored For His Lifework With The German ECHO Prize In 1994. The Song "The Lonely Shepherd" Written By Last And Performed By Gheorghe Zamfir And The James Last Orchestra Was Featured In The Soundtrack To Quentin Tarantino's Film "Kill Bill Vol. 1" 2003 . Personally He Divides His Time Between Florida And Germany. He Gives Much Credit To His Wife And Son Who Helps With The Music.

Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Moon River

"Moon River" Is A Song Composed By Johnny Mercer Lyrics And Henry Mancini Music In 1961 For Whom It Won That Year's Academy Award For Best Original Song. It Is Most Well-Known For Being Sung In The Movie Breakfast At Tiffany's By Audrey Hepburn Although It Has Been Covered By Many Other Artists. It Became The Theme Song For Andy Williams Who First Recorded The Song In 1961 And Performed It At The Academy Awards Ceremonies In 1962. He Sang The First Eight Bars Of The Song At The Beginning Of His Television Show He Also Named His Production Company And Venue In Branson Missouri After Moon River. Williams' Version Was Vetoed By Cadence President Archie Bleyer Who Believed It Had Little Or No Appeal To Teenagers. Williams' Famous Version Never Charted Except As An LP Track Which He Recorded For Columbia In A Hit Album Of 1962. The Success Of The Song Was Responsible For Relaunching Mercer's Career As A Songwriter Which Had Stalled In The Mid-1950s Because Rock And Roll Replaced Jazz Standards As The Popular Music Of The Time. An Inlet Near Savannah Georgia Johnny Mercer's Hometown Was Named Moon River In Honor Of Him And This Song. The Popularity Of The Song Is Such That It Has Been Used As A Test Sample In A Study On People's Memories Of Popular Songs. The Original Version
Mercer And Mancini Wrote The Song For Audrey Hepburn To Fit Her Vocal Range. Initially The Lyrics Started "I'm Holly Like I Want To Be / Like Holly On A Tree Back Home..." However They Were Later Changed To Fit The Theme To The Movie Breakfast At Tiffany's. Although An Instrumental Version Is Played Over The Film's Opening Titles The Lyrics Are First Heard In A Scene Where Paul 'Fred' Varjak George Peppard Discovers Holly Golightly Hepburn Singing Them Accompanied By Her Guitar On The Fire-Escape Outside Their Apartments. There Was Much Behind-The-Scenes Consternation Which Erupted When A Paramount Pictures Executive Suggested Deleting The Song From The Film Immediately After A Very Successful San Francisco Preview. Hepburn's Reaction Has Been Described By Mancini And Others In Degrees Varying From Her Saying "over My Dead Body" To Her Using Somewhat More Colorful Language To Make The Same Point. Hepburn's Version Was Not Included In The Original Score Album To Breakfast At Tiffany's. Instead An Album Version Recorded By Mancini And His Chorus Was Released As A Single And Became A #11 Hit. In Different Versions Joel Whitburn's "Top Adult Contemporary Songs" Reported The Song As A #3 Or #1 Easy Listening Hit Due To Unpublished Charts In Billboard. Only Months After Hepburn's Death In 1993 Her Version Was Released On An Album Entitled Music From The Films Of Audrey Hepburn. Other Recordings
"Moon River" Was Released By South African Singer Danny Williams And Reached #1 In The UK. Shortly Thereafter Andy Williams Recorded The Song And Made It His Theme Song. It Was A Hit For Jerry Butler In 1961 Reaching #11 In The Billboard Charts. Other Artists That Have Covered The Song Are The Afghan Whigs Benny Anderssons Orkester Paul Anka Blake Louis Armstrong Vince Guaraldi Beru Revue Mary Black Sarah Brightman Liz Callaway Perry Como Ray Conniff Bobby Darin Ania Dąbrowska Dr. John Dump Billy Eckstine The Four Freshmen Connie Francis Bill Frisell Instrumental Emi Fujita Judy Garland Karel Gott Grant Green Instrumental Patty Griffin The Innocence Mission Although This Version Is Sometimes Incorrectly Cited As Being Performed By Milla Jovovich Bradley Joseph Instrumental Kim Yoo-Jin James Last Joey McIntyre Johnny Mathis Brad Mehldau Jane Monheit Morrissey Patsy Ann Noble Jim Reeves John Barrowman R.E.M. Mia Riddle Andrea Ross Frank Sinatra Barbra Streisand Sarah Vaughan Nan Vernon Kid Koala Westlife Victoria Williams The Divine Comedy And Tata Young. Mercer Himself Recorded The Song In 1974 For His Album Appropriately Named My Huckleberry Friend.

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