16, 1927, and studied at Baruch College and Columbia University. Norman Gimbel was born in Brooklyn on Nov. Gimbel finally received the best original song honor in 1980, with composer David Shire for “It Goes Like It Goes,” a ballad sung by Jennifer Warnes for “Norma Rae.”Īt the close of the 20th century, when performing rights organization BMI announced which songs had been played the most on radio and television in the past 100 years, three of his tunes were ranked in the top 100: “Girl From Ipanema” at No. Other Fox-Gimbel collaborations included the theme songs to TV series such as “The Paper Chase” and “Wonder Woman.” They also received Oscar nominations for the songs “Richard’s Window,” performed by Olivia Newton-John for “The Other Side of the Mountain,” and “Ready to Take a Chance Again,” sung by Barry Manilow in “Foul Play.” Their theme for the “Happy Days” spinoff “Laverne & Shirley,” “Making Our Dreams Come True,” was originally titled “Hoping Our Dreams Will Come True,” until the show’s producers told them, “Our girls will make their dreams come true” and had them tweak the song, according to Fox. Gimbel and Fox also wrote the Top 10 hit “I Got a Name” for the Jeff Bridges film “The Last American Hero” - it was recorded by Jim Croce and released as a single shortly after his death in a plane crash in September 1973 - and created the themes for shows such as “Happy Days,” inspired by the early rock-and-roll record “Rock Around the Clock.” “I felt victimized for most of my early career.” “I felt like I was pushed onstage, and I was singing other people’s material, although that material was based on my private diaries,” she said. She told the New York Times that Gimbel studied her diaries and letters, in an effort to make their songs sound more authentic, and added that he and Fox “were very, very controlling.” Lieberman, however, often said that the song was based on a poem she had written after a Don McLean concert. I wrote the music that night and the next day we got together with Lori and she loved it.” “He wrote the lyric that day, called me at the end of the day and read me the lyric over the phone. “Norman had a book with some titles and thoughts of lyrics and he had this title, ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song,’ ” Fox told the Los Angeles Times. The trumpeter, flugelhornist, singer and composer was affectionately known locally as “Bra Hugh.” He was 78. Often called the “Father of South African jazz,” Hugh Masekela was also an anti-apartheid activist who succeeded in fusing politics with his music, making his songs and performances compelling and timeless. According to Fox, he and Gimbel had recorded nine songs with Lieberman when Capitol Records told them, about 1972, that it wanted to release an album as soon as possible, leaving the songwriters scrambling to come up with one last tune. The tune earned Flack two Grammys, for record of the year and best female pop vocal performance, while Gimbel and Fox shared the Grammy for song of the year.īut the origins of the ballad, first recorded by folk singer Lori Lieberman - for whom Gimbel and Fox served as producers, managers and publishers in the 1970s - remained the subject of occasional dispute. 1 when recorded by Roberta Flack in 1973, and was later covered by the hip-hop group the Fugees. The duo’s most commercially successful song, “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” rose to No. He never used an extra word in expressing his feelings or describing the human condition.” “Norman was an extraordinary lyricist,” said composer Charles Fox, with whom he wrote more than 150 songs, beginning with the score to the 1970 children’s movie “Pufnstuf.” Gimbel also adapted songs in Spanish - including the Dean Martin hit “Sway,” from Mexican composer Luis Demetrio’s “¿Quién Será?” - and in French, most notably from the 1964 movie musical “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” starring Catherine Deneuve.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |