Leo Diamond (June 29, 1915 – September 15, 1966) was an American

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

player. He was regarded as a virtuoso of the instrument, and performed in several

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s. Diamond had two US chart hits, "Off Shore" (1953) and " Melody of Love" (1955). He also issued a string of LPs in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Biography

Diamond was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and learned the

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

before winning a harmonica contest held by bandleader

Edwin Franko Goldman Edwin Franko Goldman (January 1, 1878 – February 21, 1956) was an American composer and conductor. One of the most significant American band composers of the early 20th century, Goldman composed over 150 works, but is best known for his March ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

. Diamond joined

Borrah Minevitch Borrah Minevitch (born Boruch Minewitz; November 5, 1902–June 26, 1955) was a Russian-American harmonica player, comic entertainer, entrepreneur, and leader of his group The Harmonica Rascals. Life and career He was born in the village of B ...

's Harmonica Rascals in 1930, and appeared with the group in several films. He arranged and composed tunes for the Harmonica Rascals, toured with them in Europe and South America, and premiered his ''Concerto for the Harmonica'' at the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

in London. He left to form his own group, the Solidaires (sometimes cited as the Harmonaires) around 1943. They appeared on

American Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the United States Armed Forces provides to soldiers stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. AFN comprises two sub ...

radio, and in movies including ''

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

'', ''

Hi'ya, Sailor ''Hi'ya, Sailor'' is a 1943 American comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough and written by Stanley Roberts. The film stars Donald Woods, Elyse Knox, Eddie Quillan, Frank Jenks, Phyllis Brooks and Jerome Cowan. The film was released on October ...

'' (both 1943), '' Swing Out, Sister'' and '' Forever Yours'' (both 1945). Biography by Tony Wilds, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 24 April 2019 "Leo Diamond and His Harmonica", ''Mental Itch''
Retrieved 24 April 2019 By 1950, Diamond started to establish a solo career, principally as a recording artist, although he also performed in clubs across the US. He provided the soundtracks to several films, including '' Miss Sadie Thompson'' and ''

The Eddie Cantor Story ''The Eddie Cantor Story'' is a 1953 American musical drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Keefe Brasselle, Marilyn Erskine and Aline MacMahon. It is a biopic based on the life of Eddie Cantor featuring Brasselle as Cantor. It was ...

''. His self-penned

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

, "Off Shore", for Ambassador Records, reached number 14 on the US pop chart in 1953, and he also recorded an album, ''Harmonica Moods'', for the label. In 1955,

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 ...

released the album ''Harmonica Magic of Leo Diamond'', and Diamond's version of the 1903 song "Melody of Love" reached number 30 on the pop chart. This was followed in 1956 by ''Skin Diver Suite'', described as "the quintessential harmonica opus", with conductor

Murray Kellner Murray Kellner (April 29, 1900 – November 20, 1991) was an American violinist who had a long and prolific career on records and radio from the 1920s to the 1970s as an orchestral director, session musician and arranger. He was sometimes cre ...

, one of several attempts by Diamond to raise the reputation of the harmonica as a serious solo instrument. Diamond then moved to

ABC-Paramount Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! Records, Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquire ...

who released the albums ''Exciting Sounds from Romantic Places'' (1959) and ''Subliminal Sounds'' (1959). Leo Diamond, ''Discogs.com''
Retrieved 24 April 2019 On these albums, Diamond "played all parts on a variety of harmonicas, most of his own design. He also mixed in sound effects such as jet noise and bird calls, and experimented with tape mixing methods to produce recordings that rank among the most innovative in

exotica Exotica is a musical genre that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman, named after the 1957 Mart ...

.... music that is anything but easy listening." Leo Diamond, ''Space Age Pop''
Retrieved 24 April 2019

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

championed Diamond, and as a result he signed to

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

when it was established in 1960. Diamond released several albums on the label in 1961 and '62: ''Exciting Sounds of the South Seas'', ''Themes From The Great Foreign Films'', ''Off Shore'', and ''Harmonica Sounds In Country And Western Music''. However, by this time "the popular audience had lost what little interest it had in harmonica music", and the albums were criticized for "boring arrangements...

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

only exaggerated the inappropriateness of the harmonica". Diamond died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in 1966, aged 51.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond, Leo 1915 births 1966 deaths American harmonica players Exotica