The premiere of the Peter Gunn television series on American screens in late 1958 not only redefined the sonic aesthetics of the detective genre with Henry Mancini's inimitable score; it also unleashed an immediate shockwave that shook the entire recording industry. Within months, the two original albums signed by Mancini (The Music From Peter Gunn and More Music From Peter Gunn) became an unprecedented cultural phenomenon, topping the charts and proving that music for the small screen could possess a compositional rigor, modern sophistication, and commercial hook rivaling any major cinematic production.
The impact of those avant-garde arrangements didn't stop at dominating the sales charts; it acted as an immediate creative catalyst across the jazz community. For the musicians and arrangers of the day, Mancini’s work was not merely a fleeting piece of television repertoire, but a modern, dynamic, texture-rich canvas that begged for reinvention. The recording studio transformed into a laboratory of cross-pollinated responses where West Coast jazz, New York circles, and commercial studios engaged in a dialogue around the exact same rhythmic pulse, giving rise to a fascinating constellation of tribute albums such as those by bassist Aaron Bell, trumpeters Conte Candoli and Joe Wilder, saxophonist Ted Nash, drummers Shelly Manne and Frankie Capp, and the orchestral vision of arranger Ray Ellis.
However, before exploring the multiple interpretations and replicas that sprouted from that seed, it is imperative to pause at the original source. Next, the focus shifts exclusively to the two volumes that ignited the spark and rewrote the rules of the game: the recordings that Henry Mancini himself conceived alongside the titans of the West Coast to give definitive shape to the sonic universe of Peter Gunn.
Currently the music director of Spartan Productions, Mancini can now claim the distinction of being the first musican to compose modern jazz for the sound track of a filmed television series.
The music in this album offers an excellent sampling of the sounds you're likely to hear any Monday eve when Peter Gunn swings into action on NBC-TV. The musicians are the same jazzmen who are heard to outstanding advantage in all the programs. Here are some of them: Drummer Jack Sperling and bassist Rolly Bundock state the show's forceful opening motif, Fallout! The raw-sounding trumpet belongs to Pete Candoli, a veteran of the Woody Herman and Stan Kenton bands. Dreamsville, which might be subtitled "a love refrain for hipsters," features a moving alto sax solo by Ted Nash; his brother Dick can be heard dueling with fellow trombonist Milt Bernhart on Session at Pete's Pad. Saxist Ronnie Lang, who, in common with most of the musicians here, is a graduate of the Les Brown band, wields a bulging baritone on Sorta Blue. Other soloists at Mother's, the nitery where Peter Gunn hangs his Brooks Brothers jacket, are vibist Larry Bunker and pianist Johnny T. Williams.
This music is Peter Gunn's kind of jazz. I think you'll find that it's your kind, too.
*Blake Edwards (excerpt from the original liner notes of "The Music from Peter Gunn")*
MORE MUSIC FROM "PETER GUNN" is straight from the talented pen of the "original". It sparkles and swings. It has all the changes of mood, feeling and innuendo which make great drama and great jazz. Here are imaginative themes and improvisations, interpreted by some of the world's finest jazz artists. Here is big band jazz with the impact of tear gas or the delicacy of a fadeout kiss.
Each selection in this album is from a different episode of the "Peter Gunn" NBC-TV series. The titles are derived from the incidents or characters which inspired the themes. They are varied, descriptive and exciting. They are great compositions played by great musicians.
That seems to be the best way to describe this album . . . great!
*Bill Olofson (excerpt from the original liner notes of "More Music from Peter Gunn")*
When Blake Edwards and Henry Mancini teamed up for Peter Gunn in the fall of 1958, they didn't just score a stylish new TV detective series; they fundamentally changed the sound of American television. Before Peter Gunn, small-screen drama relied heavily on generic stock library cues or sweeping classical arrangements left over from Hollywood's golden age. Mancini shattered that mold by embedding authentic West Coast Jazz straight into the show's DNA. Powered by a relentless, driving guitar-and-piano ostinato, the score gave urban mystery a sleek, modern swagger, turning the fictional Mother's night club into a living, breathing cathedral for cool jazz.
Crucially, Mancini didn't use pale imitations; he brought the real titans of the Los Angeles scene into the studio—monsters like Shelly Manne, Pete Candoli, Ted Nash, Bud Shank, Victor Feldman, and a young John Williams on keys. Their legitimate swing and real-time improvisation gave every scene an unscripted urgency. Of course, this didn't emerge from a total vacuum. Cinema had already laid the groundwork for jazz as a dramatic language through landmark scores like Alex North's A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Elmer Bernstein's The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and Miles Davis's modal masterpiece for Louis Malle's Ascenseur pour l'échafaud. Even on screen, Mancini himself had just tested these waters by weaving jukebox jazz, rockabilly, and Afro-Cuban rhythms into Orson Welles's The Touch of Evil (1958)—which served as a direct incubator for what he was about to unleash on television.
Yet Mancini was the first to fully integrate this sound into the weekly fabric of the small screen. The payoff was monumental. The Music from Peter Gunn became a massive commercial phenomenon, staying on the Billboard charts for over two years and walking away with the very first Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1959. Overnight, it proved to studio executives that a modern jazz instrumental album could be a blockbusting asset. Almost instantly, a wave of jazz-heavy TV scores followed in its wake, from 77 Sunset Strip and Count Basie’s arrangements for M Squad to Elmer Bernstein’s work on Johnny Staccato. By bringing the West Coast sound to millions of living rooms every week, Mancini redefined the atmosphere of crime drama and paved the way for future giants like Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, and Oliver Nelson.
Henry Mancini
The Music From Peter Gunn
and
More Music From Peter Gunn
The Music from Peter Gunn is a soundtrack album to the TV series Peter Gunn, composed and conducted by Henry Mancini, and released in January 1959 by RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-1956). It was the first album ever to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1959. The album was followed by More Music from Peter Gunn, released on RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-2040) in July 1959. In 1998, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The opening theme music is notable for its combination of jazz orchestration with a straightforward rock 'n roll beat. In his autobiography Did They Mention the Music? Mancini stated: "The Peter Gunn title theme actually derives more from rock and roll than from jazz. I used guitar and piano in unison, playing what is known in music as an ostinato, which means obstinate. It was sustained throughout the piece, giving it a sinister effect, with some frightened saxophone sounds and some shouting brass. The piece has one chord throughout and a super-simple top line".
The Music from Peter Gunn was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
This CD collects most of the material Mancini wrote for the late-'50s, noir-ish TV drama Peter Gunn (RCA has two separate volumes out that cover all 24 tracks). The innovative and appropriate jazz soundtrack includes arrangements by Pete Candoli, Maxwell Davis, and Bob Florence and features some of the best Los Angeles session players of the time (Bud Shank, Russ Freeman, Red Mitchell, etc.). Mancini takes up from his earlier soundtrack for Orson Welles' Touch of Evil with brass-heavy, crime jazz tunes like "Fallout!" and rock & roll swing numbers like Spook!" and the title-track. The bulk of the material, though, is in a cool, West Coast jazz vein, including brisk swingers like "Blue Steel" and breezy and mid-tempo cuts like "Goofin' at the Coffee House." Also included are the kind of sleepy-eyed lounge cuts Mancini excelled at, like "Dreamsville," "A Quiet Gass," and "Soft Sounds." This is an excellent collection and one that ranks with Mancini's other fine film and TV work from the '50s and '60s. *Stephen Cook (allmusic.com)*
≈The Music From Peter Gunn≈
1 - Peter Gunn
2 - Sorta Blue
3 - The Brothers Go To Mother's
4 - Dreamsville
5 - Session At Pete's Pad
6 - Soft Sounds
7 - Fallout!
8 - The Floater
9 - Slow And Easy
10 - A Profound Gass
11 - Brief And Breezy
12 - Not From Dixie
(All compositions by Henry Mancini)
#1, #2, #7, #9, #12:
Ray Linn, Pete Candoli, Frank Beach, Uan Rasey (trumpets),
Milt Bernhart, Dick Nash, Jim Priddy, Karl DeKarske (trombones);
Vince DeRosa, John Cave, Dick Perissi, John Graas (french horns),
Ronnie Lang (tenor sax), Ted Nash (flute, alto sax), Victor Feldman (vibes),
John Towner Williams (piano), Bob Bain (guitar);
Rollie Bundock (bass), Jack Sperling (drums); Henry Mancini (arranger,coductor).
#4,#5:
Ray Linn, Pete Candoli, Frank Beach, Uan Rasey (trumpets),
Milt Bernhart, Dick Nash, Jim Priddy, Karl DeKarske (trombones);
Vince DeRosa, John Cave, Dick Perissi, John Graas (french horns),
Plas Johnson (tenor sax), Ted Nash (flute, alto sax), Larry Bunker (vibes),
John Towner Williams (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar);
Rollie Bundock (bass), Jack Sperling (drums); Henry Mancini (arranger,coductor).
#3, #6, #8, #10, #11:
Dick Nash (trombone), Ronnie Lang (baritone sax), Vic Feldman (vibes),
John Towner Williams (piano), Bob Bain (guitar),
Rollie Bundock (bass), Jack Sperling (drums).
Recorded in Hollywood, California, August 26 (#1), August 31 (#2, #4, #5, #7, #9, 12)
and September 4 (#3, #6, #8, #10, #11), 1958
≈More Music From Peter Gunn≈
13 - Walkin' Bass
14 - Timothy
15 - Joanna
16 - My Manne Shelly
17 - Goofin' At The Coffee House
18 - Odd Ball
19 - Blue Steel
20 - The Little Man Theme
21 - Spook!
22 - A Quiet Gass
23 - Lightly
24 - Blues For Mother's
(All compositions by Henry Mancini)
#16, #22, #23:
Pete Candoli (trumpet), Dick Nash (trombone), Ted Nash (tenor sax, flute),
Ronnie Lang (baritone sax), John Towner Williams (piano), Victor Feldman (vibes),
Bob Bain (guitar), Joe Mondragon (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).
#13, #17, #18, #20, #21:
Conrad Gozzo, Pete Candoli, Graham Young, Frank Beach (trumpets);
Dick Nash, Jim Priddy, Hoyt Bohannon, Karl DeKarske (trombones);
Paul Horn (alto sax, flute); Ted Nash (tenor sax, flute, piccolo);
Plas Johnson, Gene Cipriano (tenor saxes); Ronnie Lang (baritone sax);
John Towner Williams (piano); Victor Feldman (vibes);
Bob Bain (guitar); Rollie Bundock (bass); Shelly Manne (drums).
#14, #15, #19, #24:
Conrad Gozzo, Pete Candoli, Graham Young, Frank Beach (trumpets);
Dick Nash, Jim Priddy, John Halliburton, Karl DeKarske (trombones);
John Cave, John Graas, Dick Perissi, Vince DeRosa (french horns);
Paul Horn (alto sax, flute); Ted Nash (tenor sax, flute, piccolo);
Gene Cipriano (tenor sax); Ronnie Lang (baritone sax);
John Towner Williams (piano); Larry Bunker (vibes);
Bob Bain (guitar); Rollie Bundock (bass); Alvin Stoller (drums).
Recorded in Hollywood, California, February 17 (#16, #22, #23),
March 5 (#13, #17, #18, #20, #21) and March 6 (#14, #15, #19, #24), 1959
