Richard Hayman born 27 March 1920

Richard Hayman (March 27, 1920 – February 5, 2014) was an American arranger, harmonica player and conductor. 

As a young man, Hayman taught himself to play the harmonica and accordion, and performed in local bands before moving to the west coast. In the late '30s as a player and an arranger he worked for three years with Borrah Minevitch’s Harmonica Rascals, and later played with Leo Diamond. He also appeared in vaudeville, and had several ‘bit’ parts in movies.

In the early '40s he arranged background music for films such as Girl Crazy (1943), Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) and State Fair (1945). In the late '40s he was arranger for Vaughan Monroe for a long spell, and in the early 50s was musical director and arranger for Bobby Wayne, providing the accompaniment on Wayne hits such as, ‘Let Me In’ and ‘Oh Mis’rable Lover’.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Hayman recorded a series of albums for Mercury Records. His 1957 outing "Havana In Hi-Fi" was first in the label's pop music stereo LP series (SR 60000). Hayman is also noted for albums now regarded as Exotica.

 

 

                               

  In 1953 he started recording for Mercury Records with his own orchestra, featuring his own harmonica solos, and others by Jerry Murad, leader of the Harmonicats. His biggest hit was the 1953 single "Ruby". Hayman took the theme for the motion picture Ruby Gentry, and through his specially stylized arrangement, utilizing a harmonica as the solo instrument with a large, quasi-symphonic orchestra, the song zoomed to the top of the hit parade all over the world and brought about a renewed interest in the harmonica. It should also be mentioned that the flip side of the 45rpm and 78rpm single hit "Ruby" was the hit "Dansero" which also became an international favourite hit. Perhaps for this reason the single sold thousands or perhaps millions of copies for several years in the early to mid-1950s worldwide.

 Other hits ‘April in Portugal’, ‘Limelight (Terry’s Theme)’, ‘Eyes of Blue’ (theme from the film, Shane), ‘The Story of Three Loves’ (the film title theme), ‘Off Shore’ and ‘Sadie Thompson’s Song’ (from the Rita Hayworth movie, Miss Sadie Thompson). His last chart entry, in 1956, was ‘A Theme from the Threepenny Opera (Moritat)’, featuring pianist Jan August. He also made some recordings under the name of Dick Hayman and the Harmonica Sparklers. He composed several numbers such as ‘Dansero’, ‘No Strings Attached’, ‘Serenade to a Lost Love’, ‘Carriage Trade’, ‘Skipping Along’ and ‘Valse d’Amour’. He continued to chart into the early 1960s with titles like "Night Train".

Hayman is most famous for having been the principal arranger at the Boston Pops Orchestra for over 30 years where his award-winning arrangements are still used today. He occasionally guest-conducted there, and when Arthur Fiedler had a time conflict with his job as pops conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, he recommended Hayman for the post.

 

Hayman was closely affiliated with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years. Known for his sequined jackets, harmonica solos, and corny jokes, he became its Principal Pops Conductor in 1976, leading both the Pops at Powell and Queeny Park concerts. Queeny Pops, with concertgoers seated at tables in the acoustically atrocious but centrally located (in the suburbs of west St. Louis County) Greensfelder Field House, was a hit for many years, and made it possible for the SLSO to offer its musicians a full 52-week annual contract. That ended when a financial crunch in 2001, coinciding with a realization that the SLSO's pops concerts had not changed with the times, led to the cancellation of the Queeny Pops series and a marked reduction in overall pops concerts by the orchestra.

Hayman's last event with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, where he held the title of Pops Conductor Emeritus, took place on June 27, 2010, to honour his 90th birthday. The St. Louis Metro Singers, who performed with him at many Pops concerts, were also on stage at the event. He retired as the Principal Pops Conductor of the Grand Rapids, Michigan Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Space Coast Pops Orchestra in Cocoa, Florida in 2012.

 

Hayman died in a Manhattan nursing home on February 5, 2014. He was 93.  (Compiled and edited from Wikipedia & All Music)

Here's a clip of Richard Hayman playing and conducting his own hit Ruby, from the motion picture Ruby Gentry. Recorded Sunday Nov. 14 2004 at Eissey Theatre, Palm Beach Gardens. With the Florida Sunshine Pops.