Max Harris (15 September 1918 – 13 March 2004)
- accessed 22 May 2012 was a British film and television

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

. He played the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

piano accordion A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more that of an organ than a piano, as they are both aerophones, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deir ...

.John Chilton ''Who's Who of British Jazz'', London: Continuum, 2004, p. 165

Biography and career

Harris was born in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England, into a Jewish family; his father was a tailor from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and his mother had emigrated from

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

."In Memory of Max Harris"
, Jazz Professional Harris was raised in London. He originally embarked on a career in dance bands and as a jazz musician,Spencer Leig

''The Independent'', 25 March 2004 working as a pianist for the bands of Stan Atkins and Teddy Foster in the late 1930s, although in his late teens he was a trumpeter with Lew Foster. During his war service, Harris became a captain in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

. Post-war, Harris worked aboard the ''

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

'' on six cruises, and in groups led by clarinettist Carl Barriteau and drummer

Jack Parnell John Russell Parnell (6 August 1923 – 8 August 2010) was an English musician and musical director. Biography Parnell was born into a theatrical family in London, England. His uncle was the theatrical impresario Val Parnell. During h ...

. He was in the pit band for Parnell's ''Fancy Free'' review in 1951, and remained with Parnell after the show's short run working as an arranger and composer. He left in 1954 to join Cyril Stapleton BBC Show Band. An arranger for visiting American singers such as

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

and

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 ...

, he wrote jingles for commercials in the later 1950s. Harris' theme music for the

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, director, comedian, singer, and composer. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest ...

series '' The Strange World of Gurney Slade'' (1960) reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart, and still resurfaces in fresh contexts. Harris also provided the theme music for the

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

(LWT) TV series ''The Gold Robbers'' (1969), the

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

science-fiction series ''

Doomwatch ''Doomwatch'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist ( ...

'' (1970–72), the LWT drama anthology series ''Big Brother'' (1970), the LWT police drama series ''

New Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

'' (1972), the ITV comedy series ''

Odd Man Out ''Odd Man Out'' is a 1947 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, and starring James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, and Kathleen Ryan. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it follows a wounded Nationalist leader who attempts to evade pol ...

'' (1977) and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

serial '' A Horseman Riding By'' (1978). Harris contributed the themes for several series featuring

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

, such as ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal ...

'' and ''

Open All Hours ''Open All Hours'' is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes over four series, which aired in 1976, 1981, 1982, and 1985. The programme was developed from a television pilot broadcast ...

'', and worked on the

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978) and '' The Singing Detective'' ...

serial ''

The Singing Detective ''The Singing Detective'' is a six-part BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon and directed by Jon Amiel. Its six episodes are "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It". ...

'' (1986), which included arranging and performing its accordion-based main theme. The Max Harris Group provided the music for the fourth series of ''

Round the Horne ''Round the Horne'' is a BBC Radio comedy programme starring Kenneth Horne, first transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The show was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, who wrote the first three series. The f ...

'' (1968), and he wrote the theme tune in

klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

style for Radio 4's '' The Attractive Young Rabbi'' (1999–2002). His film work included the scores to ''

Baby Love "Baby Love" is a song by the American music group the Supremes from their second studio album, '' Where Did Our Love Go''. It was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland and was released on September 17, ...

'' (1969), the film version of ''

On the Buses ''On the Buses'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom that was broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Chesney and Wolfe, Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned thr ...

'' (1971), ''

One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing ''One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing'' is a 1975 comedy film set in the early 1920s, about the theft of a dinosaur skeleton from the Natural History Museum. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distributi ...

'' (1975), and ''

Carry On England ''Carry On England'' is a 1976 British comedy film, the 28th release in the series of the original 30 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1978). It was released in October 1976 and featured ''Carry On'' regulars Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas, Joan Sim ...

'' (1976). He was also music director on several jazz albums issued during the 1970s which partnered violinists

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. ...

and

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Max 1918 births 2004 deaths English film score composers English male film score composers English music arrangers English television composers Musicians from Bournemouth British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Service Corps officers 20th-century English male musicians