Mitchell Ayres
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Mitchell Ayres (December 24, 1909 – September 5, 1969) was an orchestra leader, music arranger, composer and performer.Social Security Death Index
-> He is best known for his many years of work with
Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...
on radio, records, and television and as the musical conductor for ''
The Hollywood Palace ''The Hollywood Palace'' was an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights (except September 1967 to January 1968, when it aired on Tuesday nights) on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled ''The Satur ...
''.


Early years

Born Mitchell Agress in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
, he attended
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, majoring in physical education, but began performing professionally at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...
while still a Columbia student. After graduation, Ayres became a violinist with the Roxy Theater Orchestra; he later moved on to the same position with the
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second-oldest professional symphony or ...
. Because he wanted to return to New York, Ayres left classical music for popular, accepting a job with Jimmy Carr's Orchestra. Ayres later worked with
Abe Lyman Abe Lyman (born Abraham Simon; August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) was a bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including '' Your Hit Parade''. Biography Bo ...
and Jack Little, known as Little Jack Little.


Fashions in Music

In 1937, after working in Little's band for a few years, Ayres and some of the other musicians decided to break away and start their own band. The musicians were extremely business-minded when planning their venture. The band was treated like a company, where each member had an equal number of stock shares in the new band. The orchestra leader was decided by election, and it was Ayres who was voted the head of the orchestra. Calling themselves "Fashions in Music" and selecting the song " You Go to My Head" as their theme, the members worked on arrangements and developing their own style while waiting for their first engagement. It took some time, but the orchestra got its first job at Brooklyn's Hotel St. George. The original contract with the hotel called for the band to play there for four weeks; their stay turned out to be seven months long. Fashions in Music was then signed to their first recording contract for "Row, Row, Row", which sold 50,000 copies soon after its release. Radio stations began playing the record, and the orchestra was in demand for appearances throughout the country. In 1939,
Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is an American record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of children's music, blues, jazz and swing in the 1930s and 1940s. Bluebird was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebi ...
offered the band an initial one-year contract; the arrangement lasted until 1942. All the while, the orchestra continued to function as a company, with the musician shareholders discussing business matters and voting on them. By 1940, the orchestra had its own show on CBS Radio. Ayres and the band appeared in three 1940s films: '' Swingtime Johnny'', '' Moonlight and Cactus'', and '' Lady, Let's Dance''. Ayres and his orchestra reached the national top 5 with their version of "Make Believe Island" (1940), vocal by Mary Ann Mercer.


Studio work and Como

During World War II, Ayres began conducting for vocal groups such as
The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...
. He also began working for
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
as a musical director, working with
Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...
,
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 ...
,
Pearl Bailey Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) was an American actress, singer, comedian and author. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in '' St. Louis Woman'' in 1946. She received a Special Tony Award for the ti ...
, and others signed to the record label, including
Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...
and
Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...
. Mitchell Ayres' first association with Perry Como came in 1944 when he was asked to conduct for a demo recording of a radio program with Como as its host. The program became '' The Chesterfield Supper Club''. Ayres and Como shared an enthusiasm for golf and often played together. In 1948, Como offered Ayres the job as the conductor of his "Supper Club" broadcasts while the two were playing golf. Ayres and his orchestra also began recording with Como for
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 ...
; Como's pronunciation and phrasing on the recordings of "Kol Nidrei" and "Eli, Eli" were learned from a member of Ayres' orchestra, who was the son of a rabbi. When ''The Chesterfield Supper Club'' moved to television in late 1948, Ayres and his orchestra were part of the cast. Ayres and his orchestra remained with Como on his
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
television show, moving to
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
for both ''The Perry Como Show'' and ''Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall''. While both Ayres and Como were working at CBS, Ayres and his orchestra also worked on the ''TV's Top Tunes'' program, which was a summer replacement for Como's television show. They were regulars on Como's programs until 1964. In 1963, after almost 20 years of a regularly scheduled radio or television show, Perry Como was not certain if he would continue making regular television appearances. His uncertainty caused Ayres to accept an offer to become the conductor for a new television show, ''
The Hollywood Palace ''The Hollywood Palace'' was an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights (except September 1967 to January 1968, when it aired on Tuesday nights) on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled ''The Satur ...
'', which premiered in January 1964. He was nominated for an
Emmy award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for his musical work on the show in 1966 and again in 1968. At the time of his death, Ayres was working for the television program.


Death

Ayres was struck and killed by a car while crossing a street in
Winchester, Nevada Winchester is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States that contains part of the Las Vegas Strip. It is one of a number of CDPs in the unincorporated urbanized area directly south of Las ...
on September 5, 1969. He was in the
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
area working as the musical conductor for
Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...
' show at the newly opened Landmark Hotel. He was survived by his wife, Georgianna, a son, Lawrence, and a daughter, Judith. One week after her husband's death, Georgianna Ayres died of a heart attack. Ayres and his wife are buried at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery in Glendale, California, United States. It is the original and current flagship location of Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries, a chain of six cemeteries and four additional mortuaries ...
.


Compositions

Among the songs composed by Ayres are "Scratchin' the Surface", "He's a Wolf", "I'm a Slave to You" and "Madeira".


References


External links


Watch

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Listen


Row, Row, Row
Mitchell Ayres and "Fashions in Music" 1939 Internet Archive
Girl of My Dreams
Mitchell Ayres Orchestra with Buddy Clark 1949 Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayres, Mitchell 1909 births 1969 deaths Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Musicians from Milwaukee Songwriters from Wisconsin American music arrangers American male conductors (music) Orchestra leaders Road incident deaths in Nevada Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) 20th-century American conductors (music) Bluebird Records artists Classical musicians from Wisconsin 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters