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Nelson Riddle 1921 - 1985

Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. was born on June 1, 1921 at Oradell, NJ, USA in Oradell, Bergen County, New Jersey United States, and died at age 64 years old on October 6, 1985 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Nelson Riddle.

Nelson Smock Riddle Jr.

June 1, 1921

Oradell, NJ, USA in Oradell, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States

October 6, 1985

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States

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Nelson Smock Riddle Jr.'s History: 1921 - 1985

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Introduction

Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader, and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. Born: June 1, 1921, Oradell, NJ Died: October 6, 1985, Los Angeles, CA Children: Christopher Riddle, Nelson Riddle III, MORE Spouse: Naomi Tenenholtz (m. 1970–1985), Doreen Moran (m. 1945–1970)
06/1

1921

Birthday

June 1, 1921

Birthdate

Oradell, NJ, USA in Oradell, Bergen County, New Jersey United States

Birthplace

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Military Service

He was in the Merchant Marine and the Army during WWII.
Professional Career

After his graduation from Rumson High School, Riddle spent his late teens and early 20s playing trombone in and occasionally arranging for various local dance bands, culminating in his association with the Charlie Spivak Orchestra. In 1943, Riddle joined the Merchant Marine, serving at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York for about two years while continuing to work for the Charlie Spivak Orchestra.[citation needed] Riddle studied orchestration under his fellow merchant mariner, composer Alan Shulman. After his enlistment term ended, Riddle traveled to Chicago to join Tommy Dorsey's orchestra in 1944, where he remained the orchestra's third trombone for eleven months until drafted by the Army in April 1945, shortly before the end of World War II. He was discharged in June 1946, after fifteen months of active duty. He moved shortly thereafter to Hollywood to pursue a career as an arranger, and spent the next several years writing arrangements for multiple radio and record projects.[3]: 69 In May 1949, Doris Day had a #2 hit, "Again", backed by Riddle. Capitol years In 1950, Riddle was hired by composer Les Baxter to write arrangements for a recording session with Nat King Cole; this was one of Riddle's first associations with Capitol Records. Although one of the songs Riddle had arranged, "Mona Lisa," soon became the biggest selling single of Cole's career, the work was credited to Baxter.[3]: 81 However, once Cole learned the identity of the arrangement's creator, he sought out Riddle's work for other sessions, and thus began a fruitful partnership that furthered the careers of both men at Capitol. During the same year, Riddle also formed a friendship with Vern Yocum (born George Vernon Yocum), a big band jazz musician (and brother of Pied Piper Clark Yocum) who would transition into music preparation for Frank Sinatra and other entertainers at Capitol Records. A collaboration followed, with Vern becoming Riddle's "right hand" as copyist and librarian for the next thirty years. In 1953, Capitol Records executives viewed the up-and-coming Riddle as a prime choice to arrange for Frank Sinatra. Sinatra was reluctant, however, preferring instead to remain with Axel Stordahl, his long-time collaborator from his Columbia Records years. When the success of the first few Capitol sides with Stordahl proved disappointing, Sinatra eventually relented and Riddle was called in to arrange his first session for Sinatra, held on April 30, 1953. The first product of the Riddle-Sinatra partnership, "I've Got the World on a String", became a runaway hit and is often credited with relaunching the singer's slumping career. Riddle's personal favorite was a Sinatra ballad album, one of his most successful recordings, Only the Lonely. For the next decade, Riddle continued to arrange for Sinatra and Cole,[5] in addition to such Capitol artists as Kate Smith, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Keely Smith, Sue Raney, and Ed Townsend. He also found time to record his own instrumental discs, released on Capitol in both 45 RPM single, and LP album format. Riddle's most successful tune was "Lisbon Antigua", released in November 1955, which reached and remained at the #1 position for four weeks in 1956. Riddle's most notable LPs were Hey ... Let Yourself Go (1957) and C'mon ... Get Happy (1958), both of which peaked at a respectable number twenty on the Billboard charts. In 1959, he won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Composition First Recorded and Released in 1958 (over 5 minutes duration) at the inaugural award ceremony for Cross Country Suite.[6] While at Capitol, Riddle continued his successful career arranging music for film, most notably with MGM's Conrad Salinger on the first onscreen duet between Bing Crosby and Sinatra in High Society (1956), and the 1957 film version of Pal Joey directed by George Sidney for Columbia Pictures.
10/6

1985

Death

October 6, 1985

Death date

Unknown
Cause of death

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Death location

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Obituary

Nelson Riddle, the Oscar-winning composer, and arranger who was famed for his work with such stars as Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt died today. He was 64 years old. Mr. Riddle, a resident of Los Angeles, died at 6:54 P.M. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of cardiac and kidney failure, Ron Wise, a hospital spokesman said. In recent years the composer had made a comeback with Miss Ronstadt in her ''What's New?'' and ''Lush Life'' albums of richly orchestrated old standards, He won an Oscar in 1975 for music adaptation for the score of ''The Great Gatsby,'' based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, and a Grammy award in 1958 for ''Cross-Country Suite.'' His 1962 composition, ''Theme from Route 66'' made it to 30th on Billboard magazine's pop charts that year, and was one of the first television show themes to be recorded and commercially released. Mr. Riddle had been taken to the hospital Monday and slipped into a coma at 7:30 today, his son Christopher said. The composer's six children and second wife, Naomi, spent today with him, the son said. ''We were with him all day long,'' he said. Mr. Riddle, who was born June 1, 1921 in Oradell, N.J., had suffered liver problems for years, his son said. ''He had been getting weaker in the last six months,'' Christopher Riddle added. Started as a Trombonist Nelson Riddle began his career as a trombonist-arranger with the Charlie Spivak Band in 1941 and worked as an arranger with the bandleader Tommy Dorsey in 1947. In 1983, the ''What's New?'' album became the third-best-selling album in the nation, with more than 3.5 million copies sold. The ''Lush Life'' album in 1984 sold more than 1.5 million copies, and a recently completed third album with Miss Ronstadt has yet to be named, Christopher Riddle said. It is to be released later this year. The composer's first big hit came in 1956 with ''Lisbon Antigua,'' a crisp piano solo backed by one of Mr. Riddle's deeply chorded arrangements. It made it to No. 1 on the charts for three weeks and was followed a month later by his ''Port au Prince.'' He also composed the theme from ''The Proud Ones,'' which made it to No. 4 in 1956. Known for Television Work But it was his work with Frank Sinatra that brought Mr. Riddle his greatest fame, both on records and on television, where he provided the music for ''The Frank Sinatra Show'' from 1950-52 on the CBS network and from 1957-58 on ABC. Later, Mr. Riddle and his orchestra provided the music for the long-running hit ''Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' on CBS from 1967 to 1975, ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in'' on NBC from 1968-1973, ''The Leslie Uggams Show'' on CBS in 1969, ''The Tim Conway Show'' in 1970, ''The Julie Andrews Hour'' on ABC in 1972 and 1973 and ''The Helen Reddy Show'' on NBC in 1973. Besides his wife, Naomi, and son Christopher, survivors included his eldest son, Nelson Riddle III, his daughters Rosemary Ann Acerra, Bettina Marie Bellini, Cecily Jean Finnegan, and Maureen Alicia Riddle. The children's mother, Doreen Moran Riddle, died in 1980 of cancer. Funeral arrangements were pending.

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