Henry Mancini and The Music of Peter Gunn

TVC 654.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with music journalist and music historian Jon Burlingame (Music for Prime Time: A History of American Television Themes and Scoring). Jon’s latest book, Dreamsville: Henry Mancini, Peter Gunn, and Music for TV Noir, is a combination history of Peter Gunn (NBC/ABC, 1958-1961) on television; biography of Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-winning composer Henry Mancini; and discography of all of the original music that Henry Mancini composed for both Peter Gunn and Mr. Lucky (CBS, 1959-1960) and the soundtrack albums that accompanied both series. Topics this segment include the pivotal role that Alan Livingston, then head of programming for NBC, played in releasing Mancini’s music for Peter Gunn as a soundtrack album, how Mancini handpicked many of the musicians who recorded with him on both Peter Gunn and Mr. Lucky, including John Williams and Bob Bain. Dreamsville: Henry Mancini, Peter Gunn, and Music for TV Noir is available from BearManor Media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices