Ray Heindorf
with Irene Atkins
October 1977
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Side a: pp. 1-27
Family background--playing piano at six or seven--playing at school functions--playing at silent movie houses--Rotary Club--Rudolf Valentino, Lon Chaney--going to NY and hearing bands--working for Arthur Lang--arranging--study at the Troy conservatory in NY--going to Broadway shows and operas in NY--“talking pictures” in Hollywood -- Hollywood--Whoopee--Cassette Sidewalks in New York--copying and arranging--The Hollywood Review--recording--recording engineers--The Jazz Singer--MGM musicians--Whoopee--Holidays [sp] Kids in Spain--Roman Scandals--Samuel Goldwyn--Eddie Cantor--The Informer--Al Newman--working at Warners.
Side b: pp. 27-54
Doris Day--mixing--balancing levels--Mario Lanza--Betty Davis in Juarez, with scoring by Erich Korngold--An American in Paris--James Cagney and other actors--Alfred Newman--Charlie Chaplin--Violetera arrangement--City Lights--Chaplin’s song “Smile”--bad scenes, good music--competition between United Artists Studio and Warner Bros. for Heindorf--Streets of New York--“Cave Song”--“You Are Too Beautiful”--Al Jolson--decision to go to Warners--Warner musicals -- Richard Rodgers, Sweet Adeline--Al Jolson--Doris Day--Frank Sinatra--42nd Street--Busby Berkeley--working with Eddie Cantor--Golddiggers--Bright Lights--staging and orchestrating--camerawork in 42nd Street--“I’ve Only Got Eyes For You”--By a Waterfall--Dames--songs from Sweet Adeline with Irene Dunn--Lullaby of Broadway.
Side c: pp. 54-79
Tap dancing in Lullaby of Broadway--click tracks--Harry Warren--Roman Scandals--collaboration with others on the team--Wunderbar--Jolson’s version of “Going to Heaven on a Missouri Mule”--doing numbers live as opposed to doing “playbacks”--Calamity Jane--Bing Crosby--By a Waterfall--mouthing the words to a playback--Captain Blood--Eric Korngold--Copland--David Raksin -- Preecherino [sp?]--other pictures for which he composed the music--size of orchestra--All’s Fair in Love and War--Lullaby of Broadway--leakage on the soundtrack--All’s Fair in Love and War--Fashions of ‘34--recording--desire to do his own work--music meetings--Al Jolson and “Going to Heaven on a Mule”--Lullaby of Broadway--problems with singers’ intonation--musicians from the early Warner days -- The Helen Morgan Story--Helen Morgan--Gogie Grant--A Streetcar Named Desire--Unchained Melody--Bad Seed--Damn Yankees--Gwen Verdon--The Nun Story--Pajama Game--Music Man--Finian’s Rainbow--Fred Astaire and Petula Clark.
Side d: pp. 79-109
Working at Paramount—other people there—Bernard Kaun—Lawrence Tibbett—getting screen credit—working with different composers—Warner musicals—Louis Armstrong—Max Steiner—Symphony Moderne—Steiner’s orchestrating—orchestras in movies—Fantasia—Irving Berlin’s This is the Army—Jimmie Lunceford—Blues in the Night—Four Daughters, Four Wives, Four Mistresses—Ready, Willing, and Able—Jeepers, Creepers—jazz—equipment he had—Steiner—Erich Korngold—Gone With the Wind—working on an orchestration, sometimes using the piano—Al Jolson—opera—Yankee Doodle Dandy—Jimmy Cagney.
Side e pp. 109-139
George M. Cohan songs in Yankee Doodle Dandy—more on Jimmy Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and winning the Academy Award—The Hard Way—This is the Army—Kate Smith and “God Bless America”—Desert Song—“Begin the Beguine”—This is the Army choruses—Thank Your Lucky Stars—Errol Flynn—Bette Davis—making vocal arrangements—Hattie McDaniel—John Garfield and Humphrey Bogart—meeting people on the Warner Bros. lot—working with Eddie Cantor—Dinah Shore—Up in Arms, a Danny Kaye picture—Wonder Man—working with Danny Kaye—Hollywood Canteen—Desert Song—conducting his own musicals—Rhapsody in Blue—working with Ira Gershwin—Oscar Levant.
Side f pp. 139-169
Rhapsody in Blue continued--Some Sunday Morning—Young Man With a Horn—Harry James—“As Time Goes By” from Casablanca—Night and Day, the story of Cole Porter—Destination Tokyo—his pictures on television—The Time, the Place, and the Girl—My Wild Irish Rose—the “Two Guys” pictures—The Great Lie—Captain Blood, the Sea Hawk, the Sea Wolf—King’s Row—Come Fill the Cup—compositions that were written specifically for a picture—Symphony Moderne—Race Street—Romance on the High Seas—working with Doris Day—becoming head of the department—Pete Kelly’s Blues—Sincerely Yours—South of St. Louis—Young Man With a Horn, with Kirk Douglas—Harry James—Bix Biederbecke—Pete Kelly’s Blues—Young Man With a Horn—other musicals mentioned in passing—Marilyn Miller—Come Fill the Cup—
Goodbye, My Fancy.
Side g pp. 169-201
Bugles in the Afternoon—Stop, You’re Killing Me—Lullaby of Broadway—other fifties musicals—Always Leave Them Laughing, with Milton Berle—I’ll See You in My Dreams, with Danny Thomas—Whoopee!—The Eddie Cantor Story—Where’s Charlie, with Ray Bolger—About Face—other musicals in passing—The Jazz Singer—Ray Heindorf Day in his hometown in 1953—She’s Back on Broadway—Desert Song—So This is Love—Three Sailors and a Girl—Merv Griffin—The Hollywood Revue—The Eddie Cantor Story—A Star is Born—Judy Garland—writing songs—“The Man That Got Away”—scoring for orchestra—songs that come out of movies—Pete Kelly’s Blues—Jack Webb—Peggy Lee—The Jazz Singer—Serenade—Mario Lanza.
Side h: pp. 201--216
On a Clear Day-1776--Jack Warner.