Carmen Dragon
conducted the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra (which he conducted for ten
years), and they performed on The Standard School Broadcast, broadcast on NBC
in the western U.S. for elementary schools from 1928 through the 1970’s. The
show was sponsored by the Standard Oil Company of California (now the Chevron
Corporation), but other than the name there were no commercials. The program
featured a high quality introduction to classical music for young people
growing up in the 1940’s and early 1950’s. He also conducted the Capitol
Symphony orchestras, and he composed, conducted and arranged for a number of
American radio and television programs (including the Standard School Broadcast
in 1949). He also conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestrac, the BBC Symphony
Orchestra, and several British television series, and he was a guest conductor
for a number of American symphony orchestras. He joined ASCAP in 1950.
Carmen Dragon made a series of popular light classical albums for Capitol Records during the 1950’s with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Some of these recordings have been reissued by EMI on CD. Dragon appeared as himself briefly at the end of the 1979 film The In-Laws, conducting the fictitious Paramus Philharmonic.
Carmen Dragon’s accomplishments include: Oscar winner
(Cover Girl, 1944); Emmy winner (Christmas television special, 1964); Star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame (5,000 hours of radio broadcasts); Music Educator
(Standard School Broadcast - a national music education program broadcast
directly into elementary classrooms); Orchestrator Extraordinaire
(Internationally acclaimed for his unique, lush style); Conductor/Music
Director (20 years with the prestigious Glendale Symphony Orchestra and
orchestras world- wide); Recording Artist (featured on over 39 recordings with
the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Capitol Symphony); Film Composer (over 30
films including Cover Girl and the 1950's cult classic Invasion of the Body
Snatchers). The Antioch Unified School District named one of its new elementary
schools in his honor. Carmen Dragon Elementary School opened in September 2004.
Of the legacies left
behind by Carmen Dragon, the most accessible are the many wonderful
orchestrations of pops and light classics available for rental through Carmen
Dragon Music Library. Dragon's lush arrangements are appreciated by conductors
and musicians for their rich musical content and diversity of style, and every
audience enjoys his unique way of expressing emotion through music.
His children: Son,
Daryl Dragon of the 1970s pop music duo The Captain & Tennille; Daughter,
Carmen E. Dragon (died July 11, 2010), classical worldwide harpist; Son, Dennis
Dragon, drummer for the popular surf band Surf Punks; also produced much of The
Captain & Tennille's music; Daughter, Kathryn Dragon Henn, Manager of Mr.
Dragon's Orchestral Pops Rental Library. He was father-in-law of Toni Tennille.
Carmen Dragon died of cancer, aged 69, in a Santa Monica,
California hospital, on March 28, 1984.
(Info edited from Carmen Dragon Website; Wikipedia & IMDB)
6 comments:
For “Carmen Dragon & The Hollywood Bowl Pops Orchestra
– An Evening With Cole Porter” (1962) go here:
http://www100.zippyshare.com/v/cd4UhXVk/file.html
1. Begin the Beguine 4:30
2. In the Still of the Night 3:25
3. Wunderbar 3:35
4. So in Love 5:45
5. Just One of Those Things 2:16
6. Night and Day 3:40
7. I Get a Kick out of You 2:47
8. Easy to Love 2:41
9. I've Got You Under My Skin 4:35
10. All Through the Night 4:43
My father jus asked me to look for this record, sin he lost his LP. Unfortunately the link is down and this record is only available at itunes Germany. I hope you could upload it again.
Many thanks.
Hello Jaben, I have managed to find the LP, so if you still want it let me know.
Thanks, boppinbob!
I have found 65 public domain songs of Carmen Dragon on archive.org
https://archive.org/details/CarmenDragon65Songs/
One ore two of those are from this album.
My father was happy with this collection, but he still misses the Cole Porter album.
If you could share it you would make my old man happy.
Cheers!
Here you are Jaben
http://www.mediafire.com/file/29686fyp36synpy/Carmen_Dragon_-_Cole_Porter.rar
Link active for 30 days only. Regard, Bob
Thank you very much, boppinbob!
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