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 1-25 of 165 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | PBS-036482 | 10-in. | 9/10/1939 | The duke's idea | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-036483 | 10-in. | 9/10/1939 | My heart keeps crying | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Judy Ellington | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-036484 | 10-in. | 9/10/1939 | Lilacs in the rain | Del Casino ; Charlie Barnet Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-036485 | 10-in. | 9/10/1939 | Take a tip from the whip-poor-will | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Judy Ellington | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-036486 | 10-in. | 9/10/1939 | The count's idea | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-036487 | 10-in. | 9/10/1939 | The girl with the pigtails in her hair | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Judy Ellington | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-038276 | 10-in. | 7/17/1939 | Cherokee | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-038277 | 10-in. | 7/17/1939 | For tonight | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Larry Taylor | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-038278 | 10-in. | 7/17/1939 | What's new? | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Larry Taylor | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-038279 | 10-in. | 7/17/1939 | Love grows on the white oak tree | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Judy Ellington | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-038280 | 10-in. | 7/17/1939 | (Stay up "Stan") The all night record man | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Judy Ellington | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-038281 | 10-in. | 7/17/1939 | The last jump (A jump to end all jumps) | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-042178 | 10-in. | 10/9/1939 | The wrong idea | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Billy May | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, songwriter | |
Victor | BS-043989 | 10-in. | 12/11/1939 | Now you know | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Mary Ann McCall | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-043990 | 10-in. | 12/11/1939 | I kinda like you | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Mary Ann McCall | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-043991 | 10-in. | 12/11/1939 | Night after night after you | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Mary Ann McCall | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-043992 | 10-in. | 12/11/1939 | Between 18th and 19th on Chestnut Street | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Mary Ann McCall | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-043993 | 10-in. | 12/11/1939 | Somebody told me | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Mary Ann McCall | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-043994 | 10-in. | 12/11/1939 | Clap hands, here comes Charlie | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-046056 | 10-in. | 1/3/1940 | Thank your stars | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Mary Ann McCall | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-046057 | 10-in. | 1/3/1940 | Tappin' at the Tappa | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-046058 | 10-in. | 1/3/1940 | Comanche war dance | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-046059 | 10-in. | 1/3/1940 | Southland shuffle | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-047709 | 10-in. | 2/27/1940 | Ev'ry Sunday afternoon | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Mary Ann McCall | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-047710 | 10-in. | 2/27/1940 | From another world | Charlie Barnet Orchestra ; Mary Ann McCall | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "May, Billy," accessed September 3, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/104862.
May, Billy. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/104862.
"May, Billy." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 3 September 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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