Billy May Arrangements
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2010562512
General International Standard for Archival Description
Music Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Music Division, 2010
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Billy May Arrangements 1939-1995
May, Billy
Biographical History for: Billy May Arrangements 1939-1995
Biographical Note Date Event 1916 November 10 Born in Pittsburgh to Isabel Stevenson and Ed May 1933 Arranges first work, When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba, while at Schenley High School 1936 October Joins the Pittsburgh Local AFM and tours with the Etzi Covato band as a trombone player 1938 Meets Charlie Barnet and begins writing arrangements for him on a weekly basis, including the hit Cherokee 1939 August Charlie Barnet hires him to play trumpet with his band on a permanent basis 1940-1942 Joins the Glenn Miller band and delivers his first trumpet solo on I Dreamt I Dwelt In Harlem 1944 Writes arrangements for Frank Sinatra's Your Hit Parade and for the Phil Harris band on The Jack Benny Show Begins career as a recording arranger/conductor 1944-1946 Plays on the Red Skelton Show under Ozzie Nelson and works with John Scott Trotter on Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall 1946-1950s Works with Alan Livingston at Capitol Records to produce recordings for children, including the hit tune I Taut I Taw a Puddy Tat 1950s-1960s Arranges and records almost constantly for the music and entertainment industry's biggest names, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mercer, Mel Blanc, and Stan Freberg Composes original soundtrack for the film Sergeants Three, as well as music for various television shows, such as The Green Hornet 1953-1954 Abandons road touring and sells rights for the traveling Billy May Band to entrepreneur Ray Anthony 1958 Wins Grammy Award for best arrrangement for his album Big Fat Brass 1959 Wins Grammy Award for best arrrangement for Come Dance With Me 1969-1973 Produces arrangements for Time-Life documentaries The Swing Era and As You Remember Them 1973 Marries Doris Ranson 2004 January 22 Dies in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Scope and Content Note The Billy May Arrangements principally consist of holograph or photocopied manuscript scores, parts, lead sheets, and sketches for works created between 1939 and 1995. Additional materials include printed scores, part changes, film cues, and a handful of counterpoint exercises. Although May worked almost exclusively as an arranger for long periods throughout his career, he did compose original music, and several of these titles are represented in this collection. I Taut I Taw a Puddy Tat, Front Page Rag, and his film score for Sergeants Three are notable examples. Titles and cross-references are arranged alphabetically and standardized according to Jack Mirtle's The Music of Billy May: a Discography (1998). Part sets are complete unless indicated otherwise.
series
Music, 1939-1995
file
All of me
Score
Parts
Always
Angel eyes
Aviation suite
Short score
Back Bay shuffle
Scores
Be my love
The beat goes on
Beer barrel polka
Blonde again
Lead sheet
Blue and all alone
Blue suede shoes
Blues medley
Short score/sketch
Bouncing runners
Call me
Can't I
Carnival
Cartoon medley
Charmaine
Cheek to cheek
Cherokee
Chicago
Children of the night
Christmas medley
Cocktails for two
Come fly with me
Piano-conductor score
Come rain or come shine
Horn-double bass score
Wind and string parts
Come together
Concentrate
Congratulate me
Cool water
Dance of the hours
Dancing on the ceiling
Dat dere
Desert song
Dichter und Bauer
Do nothin' 'till you hear from me
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?
Don't be that way
Easy street
Easy to love
Ebb tide
Es ist genug
Brass parts
Fat man boogie
Filet of soul
Finale--G minor symphony (Mozart)
Fingers
Five foot two
Wind parts
Frank Sinatra medley
Front page rag
Frenesi
Gin and tonic
The girl from Ipanema
A handful of stars
A hard day's night
Hello out there, hello
High noon
Honest and truly
How deep is the ocean?
Huguette waltz
Hungarian dance no. 5 (Brahms)
I can't believe (you're in love with me)
I concentrate on you
I don't know where I'm goin' (but I'm glad you come along)
Lyric sheets
I guess I'll have to change my plans
I taut I saw a puddy tat
Piano part
I'll see you again
In the mood disco
Italian street song
It's easy to remember
I've got you under my skin
Joanna
Jornal do Brasil
King David
A kiss to build a dream on
Late, late show
Lean baby
Little mo'
Long hair mambo
Love is just around the corner
Love wise
Lover
Lover come back to me
Lullaby in rhythm
Lulu's back in town
Mad about the boy
The man I love
March of the toys
Melody in F
Michelle
Miles behind
Minuet (Paderewski)
Minuet in G
Moanin'
Morning sunrise
Music to watch girls by
My last affair
My little suede shoes
My old flame
My silent love
Nancy
Nelson [i.e. D.D. Nelson] tunes
Lead sheets
Nova amor
Nutty squirrels
Oh by jingo
Wind and brass parts
Old Cayucos
Old gold--Theme
Piano score
One kiss
Opportunity rag
Opus one
Orchids
Overture '88
Ozzie's tune
Panama
Perfidia
Persian market
Pick yourself up
Playboy's theme
Poet and peasant
The preacher
Pretty playthings
Purple
Condensed score
Quiet hours
Reunion song
Riverboat shuffle
Rose Marie
Santa Lucia
Say it isn't so
The second chase
Serenade--Student Prince
Sergeants Three (film, 1962)
Short scores
The setting sun
The shadow of your smile
She didn't say yes
The sheik of Araby
Shiny stockings
Silvery cloud
Skyliner
Softly, as I leave you
Solving the riddle
The song is you
Sooper sloop
Sorta blues
South Rampart Street parade
Star eyes
Strangers in the night
Studies and sketches
Exercises and miscellaneous sketches
Counterpoint exercises
Sunset colors
Take the A train
Tenderly
That old black magic
There is no greater love
These are the good old days
Thou swell
Turk's tune
Twelve days of Christmas
Uh! Oh!
Unforgettable
Vilia
Violin concerto (Tchaikovsky)
Violin and trumpet parts
Waltzing Matilda
When I take my sugar to tea
When my sugar walks down the street
When the saints go marching in
Short scores/sketches
When your lover has gone
Whisper not
Wings over Manhattan
You ain't makin' it
You and the night and the music
You may swing
You stepped out of a dream
You'd be so nice to come home to
You're the top
Unidentified
Score fragment