Clarence Edward "Pete" Carpenter (April 1, 1914 – October 18, 1987) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trombonist,

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 ...

, and veteran of television

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

. After a long career playing the trombone in bands and as a studio musician, Carpenter started working with composer

Earle Hagen Earle Harry Hagen (July 9, 1919 – May 26, 2008) was an American composer who created music for films and television. His best-known TV themes include ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', ''I Spy (1965 TV series), I Spy'', ''That Girl'' and ''The Mod Sq ...

and writing music for television on shows like '' Bewitched'' (1964), '' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.'' (1964), and ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The series ...

'' (1966–1967).

Music

Carpenter's collaboration with the much younger composer Mike Post began in 1968 and lasted until Carpenter's death nearly two decades later. The two saw some success when they wrote the theme for producer

Stephen J. Cannell Stephen Joseph Cannell (; February 5, 1941 – September 30, 2010) was an American television producer, writer, novelist, actor, and founder of Cannell Entertainment (formerly Stephen J. Cannell Productions) and The Cannell Studios. After start ...

's first show, the police detective drama '' Toma'' in 1973. But their big breakthrough was the top 10 ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' hit and

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 ...

-winning theme for Cannell's private detective drama ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner, aired on NBC from September 13, 1974, to January 10, 1980. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator Jim Rockford, with Noah Beery Jr. in th ...

'' in 1974, starring

James Garner James Scott Garner (né Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Ch ...

Film and television works

Carpenter and Post went on to score over 1800 hours of television, and to compose the music for television shows like ''

'' (1974), '' Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1976), ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

'' (1977), '' Magnum, P.I.'' (1980), '' Tenspeed and Brown Shoe'' (1980), ''

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'' (1983), '' Hardcastle and McCormick'' (1983), '' Riptide'' (1984), ''

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

'' (1984), ''

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'' (1985), as well as movies like ''

Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point (geometry), point on the projection plane, image plane of a graphical perspective, perspective rendering where the two-dimensional perspective projections of parallel (geometry), parallel lines in three-dimensional ...

'' (1971), ''

Rabbit Test The rabbit test, or Friedman test, was an early pregnancy test that required killing and dissecting a rabbit to obtain the results. The test was developed in 1931 by Maurice Friedman and Maxwell Edward Lapham at the University of Pennsylvania. ...

'' (1978), and '' Will: G. Gordon Liddy'' (1982). In addition to their

17th Annual Grammy Awards The 17th Annual Grammy Awards were presented March 1, 1975, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1974. Performers * The Spinners (American group), The Spinners - "Mighty Love ...

for Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumentalist for ''Rockford'', for ''Hunter'' the duo won a

Broadcast Music, Inc. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 22.4 milli ...

TV Music Award in 1989. "Believe It or Not" entered the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 on June 13, 1981, eventually peaking at No. 2 during the weeks ending August 15–22, 1981, kept off the top spot by "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, and spending a total of 18 weeks in the top 40. The theme for ''The A-Team'' and ''The Rockford Files'' have also made appearances on other television programs and movies, including the pilot for David Chase's hit show on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, ''

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'' (1999), and the films '' Not Another Teen Movie'' (2001), '' Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd'' (2003), ''

Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American Independent film, independent Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt (producer), Chris Wyatt and Sean C. Covel (producer), Sean Covel, written by Jared and J ...

'' (2004), and ''

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

'' (2004).

Personal life

Carpenter died of lung cancer in Sherman Oaks, California on October 18, 1987, at the age of 73. He was married to actress Maybeth Carr, the daughter of silent screen star Mary Carr, and had two children, Pete Jr., and Nancy. The '' Magnum, P.I.'' episode "Innocence... A Broad" was dedicated to him. In 1987, Mike Post and the BMI Foundation established a Pete Carpenter Memorial Fund to benefit young composers.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Pete 1914 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians American film score composers American jazz trombonists American male film score composers American television composers Deaths from lung cancer in California Emmy Award winners Grammy Award winners American male television composers American male trombonists