Composer, Arranger. In 1955, he was hired by Phil Spector as an arranger and session keyboardist for Capitol Records Los Angeles. He arranged the bulk of Spector's "wall of sound" hits in the 1960s, with artists including The Rolling Stones, The Ronettes, The Crystals, Neil Young, Ike and Tina Turner, Buffalo Springfield, Randy Newman, Marianne Faithfull, the Neville Brothers, Jackie DeShannon and the Monkees. In 1963, he composed and recorded the instrumental hit, "The Lonely Surfer", and released the orchestral album, "St. Giles Cripplegate". In the 1970s and 1980s he wrote scores for such films as "Performance" (1970), "The Exorcist" (1973), and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). His score for "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982) was nominated for an Academy Award and he shared the Best Song Oscar for "Up Where We Belong", from the same film. In the 1990s, he collaborated with Miles Davis and John Lee Hooker, and scored Dennis Hopper's film "The Hot Spot". He died of cardiac arrest.
Composer, Arranger. In 1955, he was hired by Phil Spector as an arranger and session keyboardist for Capitol Records Los Angeles. He arranged the bulk of Spector's "wall of sound" hits in the 1960s, with artists including The Rolling Stones, The Ronettes, The Crystals, Neil Young, Ike and Tina Turner, Buffalo Springfield, Randy Newman, Marianne Faithfull, the Neville Brothers, Jackie DeShannon and the Monkees. In 1963, he composed and recorded the instrumental hit, "The Lonely Surfer", and released the orchestral album, "St. Giles Cripplegate". In the 1970s and 1980s he wrote scores for such films as "Performance" (1970), "The Exorcist" (1973), and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). His score for "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982) was nominated for an Academy Award and he shared the Best Song Oscar for "Up Where We Belong", from the same film. In the 1990s, he collaborated with Miles Davis and John Lee Hooker, and scored Dennis Hopper's film "The Hot Spot". He died of cardiac arrest.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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