1959

The Music from Peter Gunn - Henry Mancini

Everybody knows this first song. The title track to this television series became a standard for sexy spy tunes. This is the kind of music I imagine our grandparents listening to at pool parties in the late 50’s. Henry Mancini follows in the footsteps of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman, leading his band along with grace and poise, but not shying away from the experimental sounds to come. Whereas the big band sound is never forgotten here, not to mention perfected by the tickling of the piano keys with the trumpet on Dreamsville and Slow And Easy, the vibraphone and guitar have a beautiful relationship on this album that gives it a modern flare. Just listen to them sharing lines and riffs on tracks such as The Floater and A Profound Gass. It all seems familiar though until you reach Spook! The guitar's constant swagger draws on a standard blues riff but seems to open the way into surf rock. The track saunters on with the deep brass moaning in and out and the hi-hat of the drums never failing. Do you hear that? It’s the sound of the sixties coming down the road, and she’s never leaving.

I only know of one other piece by Mancini, his work in Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and who after hearing Moon River can ever forget it? That single would come to win him Record of The Year in 1962. It's a rare thing when a soundtrack becomes wildly popular, but Mancini's work on Peter Gunn not only won the first Album of The Year but also part two earned him a nomination the next year. It was the late fifties and people clearly loved their big bands. He managed to capture the allure and the mystique of private eyes and smokey offices with the blinds drawn, but escaped the cliche of genre and make a work of art that stands all on its own.

other 1959 nominees

Come Fly With Me - Frank Sinatra

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook - Ella Fitzgerald

Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely - Frank Sinatra

Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor, Op. 23 - Van Cliburn