The Living Strings were a studio orchestra founded in 1959 by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

for a series of

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

recordings issued on the

RCA Camden RCA Camden was a budget record label of RCA Victor, originally created in 1953 to reissue recordings from earlier 78rpm releases. The label was named "Camden", after Camden, New Jersey where the offices, factories and studios of RCA Victor and its ...

budget label. There were also related groups called the Living Voices, Living Brass, Living Guitars, Living Marimbas, Living Jazz, Living Trio, Living Percussion, and Living Organ. RCA Victor record producer

Ethel Gabriel Ethel Nagy Gabriel (November 16, 1921 – March 23, 2021) was an American record producer and record executive with a four-decade career at RCA Victor. She produced over 2,500 music albums including 15 RIAA Certified Gold Records and hits by Elv ...

created the "Living Strings" series of albums, which were easy-listening instrumental string versions of popular tunes, the type of music that came to be known pejoratively as

elevator music Elevator music (also known as Muzak, piped music, or lift music) is a type of background music played in elevators, in rooms where many people come together for reasons other than listening to music, and during telephone calls when placed on ho ...

. There was no actual orchestra known as the Living Strings. The orchestra for most of the recordings was made up of musicians from various British orchestras assembled for the purpose of making the records. (

Johnny Douglas John William Henry Tyler Douglas (3 September 1882 – 19 December 1930) was an English cricketer who was active in the early decades of the twentieth century. Douglas was an all-rounder who played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1 ...

was a frequent conductor and arranger.) In addition to the standard Hollywood, Nashville or New York sessions, some LPs were recorded in other countries (Mexico, England, Germany etc). The first Living Strings release was ''Living Strings Play Music of the Sea'', which was arranged and conducted by Douglas. Another of the Living Strings albums he did, ''Feelings'', went RIAA Gold. The Living Strings won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in 1968.

References

Easy listening musicians Musical groups established in 1959 RCA Victor artists 1959 establishments in the United States {{orchestra-stub