Billy May
Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for The Green Hornet (1966), The Mod Squad (1968), Batman (with Batgirl theme, 1967), and Naked City (1960). He collaborated on films such as Pennies from Heaven (1981), and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return, among others. May wrote arrangements for many top singers, including Frank Sinatra, Yma Sumac, Nat King Cole, Anita O'Day, Peggy Lee, Vic Damone, Bobby Darin, Johnny Mercer, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Jack Jones, Bing Crosby, Sandler and Young, Nancy Wilson, Rosemary Clooney, The Andrews Sisters and Ella Mae Morse. He also collaborated with satirist Stan Freberg on several classic 1950s and 1960s comedy music albums. As a trumpet player in the 1940s Big Band era, May recorded such songs as "Measure for Measure", "Long Tall Mama", and "Boom Shot", with Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, and "The Wrong Idea", "Lumby", and "Wings Over Manhattan" with Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra. With his own band, he had a hit single, "Charmaine". In the 1950s he released several successful albums of his unique orchestral arrangements and compositions, including Sorta-May and Sorta-Dixie. |
Birth and Death Data: Born November 10, 1916 (Pittsburgh), Died January 22, 2004 (San Juan Capistrano)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1939 - 1959
Roles Represented in DAHR: trumpet, arranger, leader, composer, songwriter, vocalist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 101-125 of 165 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | BS-067628 | 10-in. | 8/11/1941 | Delilah | Tex Beneke ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067629 | 10-in. | 8/11/1941 | From one love to another | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067630 | 10-in. | 8/11/1941 | Elmer's tune | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067741 | 10-in. | 9/3/1941 | Says who? Says you, says I! | Tex Beneke ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Marion Hutton ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067742 | 10-in. | 9/3/1941 | Orange Blossom Lane | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067743 | 10-in. | 9/3/1941 | Dear Arabella | Tex Beneke ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Marion Hutton ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067744 | 10-in. | 9/3/1941 | The man in the moon | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067745 | 10-in. | 9/3/1941 | Ma-ma-Maria (Fee-dle, ee-dle-lee, fee-dle, ee-dle-la) | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067746 | 10-in. | 9/3/1941 | This time the dream's on me | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068066 | 10-in. | 11/3/1941 | Humpty-Dumpty heart | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068067 | 10-in. | 11/3/1941 | Everything I love | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and vocal choir | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068068 | 10-in. | 11/3/1941 | A string of pearls | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068069 | 10-in. | 11/3/1941 | Baby Mine | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and vocal ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068071 | 10-in. | 11/3/1941 | Day dreaming | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068418 | 10-in. | 11/24/1941 | Moonlight sonata | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Chummy MacGregor | Jazz/dance band, with piano solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068419 | 10-in. | 11/24/1941 | Slumber song | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with humming | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068420 | 10-in. | 11/24/1941 | (There'll be blue birds over) The white cliffs of Dover | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068421 | 10-in. | 11/24/1941 | We're the couple in the castle | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068422 | 10-in. | 11/24/1941 | It happened in Hawaii | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and vocal ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068456 | 10-in. | 12/8/1941 | Moonlight cocktail | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068457 | 10-in. | 12/8/1941 | Happy in love | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Marion Hutton | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068458 | 10-in. | 12/8/1941 | Fooled | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068459 | 10-in. | 12/8/1941 | Keep 'em flying | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068460 | 10-in. | 12/8/1941 | Chip off the old block | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-068461 | 10-in. | 12/8/1941 | The story of a starry night | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "May, Billy," accessed November 1, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/104862.
May, Billy. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 1, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/104862.
"May, Billy." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 1 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Billy May
Discogs: Billy May
Allmusic: Billy May
Grove: Billy May
IMDb: Billy May
Britannica: Billy May
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: May, Billy - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85072634
Wikidata: Billy May - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q713273
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/112757306
MusicBrainz: Billy May - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5146db52-8ac5-44e9-a89a-affdb76bbb0c
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