Samuel H. Pottle (May 8, 1934 – July 4, 1978) was an American composer, conductor, and musical director involved in many theatrical and television productions. Born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, he is perhaps best remembered for his work on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' and ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

'', having co-written the iconic melody ''Muppet Show''

theme song 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 ...

for the latter. However, Pottle was also involved with many theatrical productions in the 1960s and 1970s. His principal collaborators were David Axelrod and Tom Whedon, although he also worked with other lyricists. He replaced

Joe Raposo Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH (February 8, 1937 – February 5, 1989) was an American composer and songwriter. He is best known for his work on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'', for which he wrote the theme song, and several no ...

as musical director for ''

'' from season 6 through season 9. Pottle graduated from

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

in 1955. At Yale he was president of the Yale Dramatic Association, and in 1954 he wrote the music for the Dramat's successful original musical, "Stover at Yale." His father was Frederick Pottle, Sterling Professor of English at Yale. He died on July 4, 1978, from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while on holiday in Great Barrington,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. His partner, writer Charles Choset, dedicated the 1982 plays ''Letters to Ben'' and '' The Messiah'' to him. His remains were donated to medical science.

Credits

Theatre

*All Kinds of Giants (off Broadway) (1961) book and lyrics by Tom Whedon *Money a Musical Play for Cabaret (1963) with book and lyrics by David Axlerod and Tom Whedon *The Mad Show (1966) Broadway theatre - conductor *''Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place'' ( La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, 1968) - composer *Cry for Us All (Broadway, 1970) - musical supervisor *''The Meehans'' (1977) - composer

Television

''Sesame Street''

*Musical director *Composer **"What's the Name of That Song?" (with David Axlerod) - 1974 **"City-Country Song" (with Emily Kingsley) - 1974 **"Mary Had a Bicycle" (with David Korr) - 1974 **"I Just Adore Four" (with Joseph A. Bailey) - 1974 **"Numerical Correspondence Song" (with David Korr and David Axlerod) - 1974 **"The Subway" (with Grace Hawthorne) - 1974 **"Swamp Mushy Muddy" (with Norman Stiles and David Axlerod) - 1974 **"Beep" (with Emily Kingsley) - 1974 **"Happy / Sad" (with Gene Moss) - 1974 **"Women Can Be" (with Carol Hall) - 1974 **"Wonder Child" (with David Axlerod) - 1974 **"A Very Simple Dance" (with Carol Hall) - 1974 **"Counting Is Wonderful" (with Emily Kingsley and David Axlerod) - 1975 **"I Want a Monster to Be My Friend" (with

Robert Pierce Robert Pierce (1914–1978) was an American Baptist minister and relief worker. He is best known as the founder of the international charity organizations World Vision International in 1950 and Samaritan's Purse in 1970. Early life and educati ...

) - 1975 **"Frazzle" (with David Axlerod) - 1975 **"Fur" (with David Axlerod) - 1975 **"Monster Lullaby" (with David Axlerod) - 1975 **"Keep Christmas With You (All Through the Year)" (with David Axlerod) - for Merry Christmas from Sesame Street, 1975 **"I Hate Christmas" (with David Axlerod) - for '' Merry Christmas from Sesame Street'', 1975 **"Elevator Song" (with Ray Sipherd) - 1976 **"It's Funny" (with David Korr) - 1976 **"The Transylvania Polka" (with Tony Geiss) - 1976 **"Madame Schwartzhead Blending" (with David Axlerod) - 1976 **"This Frog" (with David Axlerod) - 1976 **"One Way" (with Christopher Cerf) - 1976 **"Bus Stop" (with David Axlerod) - 1976 **"A Song from Kermit" (with David Axlerod) - 1976 **"I Love a March" (with Carol Hall) - 1976 **"Ah, For the Joys of the Countryside" (with David Axlerod) - 1976 **"Proud of Me" (with Carol Hall) - 1976 **"Just Around the Corner" (with David Axlerod and Ray Sipherd) - 1976 **"Furry Blue Mommy of Mine" (with David Axlerod) - 1977 **"Cookie Disco" (with Christopher Cerf) - 1977 **"Feelin' Good/Feelin' Bad" (with David Axlerod) - 1977 **"Sound It Out" (with Sara Compton) - 1977 **"Cry" (with Sara Compton) - 1977 **"I Got a Song" (with David Axlerod) - 1977 **"Sing After Me" (with Tony Geiss) - 1977 **"Beginning, Middle, End" (with David Korr) - 1977 **"Count Up To Nine" (with David Axlerod) - 1977 **"This is my J" (with David Axlerod) - 1977 **"Three Waltzing Chickens" (with David Axlerod) - 1977 **"Disco D" (with Tony Geiss) - 1978 **"Pigeons on Parade" (with Tony Geiss) - 1978 **"David's Street Fever" (with Northern Calloway) - 1979 (posthumous) **"Six of One" (with

Alan Menken Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer and conductor. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Alan Menken, numerous accolades including winning eight Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, Tony ...

) - 1979 (posthumous) **"Without People" (with

) - 1981 (posthumous)

''The Muppet Show''

*Composer **" ''The Muppet Show'' Theme" (with

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

) - 1976

Other works

*Composer **"Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" (text by John Greenleaf Whittier) for SATB choir and piano, publ. Trigon Music, 1972 **"Jabberwocky" (text from

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

's poem of the same name) for SATB choir, piano, harpsichord and small instruments, publ. Trigon Music, 1972 **"We'll Find America" (with David Axlerod) - 1975

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pottle, Sam American male composers American male conductors (music) Yale University alumni 1934 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians