MR. MIKE'S HENRY MANCINI MISCELLANY
As of March, 2024, I am providing a home for B.J. Major's awesome Henry Mancini discography!! (← Enter or Return To It...)
100TH ANNIVERSARY HENRY MANCINI RELEASE:
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mancini's birth in 1924, Dutton/Vocalion in England has released a 2-SACD/CD set which contains The Best of Mancini, Volumes 1 and 2, The Concert Sound of Henry Mancini, and Mancini Salutes Sousa. The Sousa album is from a CD-4 recording, the other material was originally released on Quad 8 tapes (related to 8-tracks). As well, there is a bonus track of the title from Man of the World, a 1960s UK TV series which starred Craig Stevens (of Peter Gunn fame). This is a hybrid SACD which can also be played in stereo.
The set can be ordered directly from Dutton Vocalion's website as well as Amazon in various countries and other retailers.
A copy of the booklet from this release is here.
Now, will Dutton/Vocalion please, please issue the CD-4 quad recording of Mancini Live in Japan?!?
SIGNED ALBUMS
I met Henry Mancini backstage after two concerts he gave in different years conducting the Vancouver Symphony, bringing along several of his albums for him to sign. The ones signed in ballpoint pen are from the first meeting, the ones in brown Sharpie pen the second. (The first date was July 2, 1979, the second was February 17, 1984.)
Arabesque
The Best of Mancini
Breakfast at Tiffany's (Japanese LP)
Charade
The Concert Sound of Henry Mancini (my favorite Mancini album -- he said he did NOT like the cover picture)
Darling Lili
Experiment in Terror — Front —
Back
A Mancini Concert
More Music from Peter Gunn
Peter Gunn
Peter Gunn Mosaic Cover
The Pink Panther
Rock Pretty Baby
Summer Love
Touch of Evil (Challenge LP)
Two for the Road
The Wild Side of Henry Mancini (Touch of Evil, Vol. 2)
SOME COVERS OF INTEREST:
The Wild Side of Henry Mancini
This is the follow-up to Touch of Evil on the Challenge label. From what I can gather, this is a very rare item, only 1,000 copies were allegedly made. (I know of three, and they are all radio station promo copies, including my own.) Here is the back cover.
This version of Peter Gunn (RCA LPM-1956) uses a stock cover (the back cover is identical to the original issue). When signing his way through my pile of his albums, Mancini told me that RCA substituted this cover temporarily when Peter Gunn proved to be a runaway success and they ran out of the regular covers.
Crown LP devoted to Peter Gunn music, arranged by sax/flute player Ted Nash, who appeared on the original RCA Peter Gunn sessions. This cover LP and some others from the era have been reissued on CD. Click here to see the contents, booklet front cover, booklet back cover and CD back cover.
Portraits in Stereo
5-LP box set issued by RCA in the USA in 1964 containing five of Mancini's stereo recordings, each in a separate jacket: The Music from Peter Gunn, The Mancini Touch, Mr. Lucky Goes Latin, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Charade.
Front Cover • Back Cover • The individual jackets can be seen on B.J. Major's site.
Laurindo Almeida - Contemporary Creations for Spanish Guitar
Album of compositions commissioned by Almeida, who played on some of Mancini's albums. It contains a selection by Mancini, plus several others by Hollywood composers. Here is the back cover.
A Shot in the Dark (45 RPM)
A Mancini Showcase -- Front - Back
Selmer Varitone Sampler -- Front - Back
VIEWS OF THE TOUCH OF EVIL CD (released by Fresh Sounds Spain):
Front cover
Back cover
Booklet back cover
CD art
May 1968 photo of Mancini, showing him with Bernard T. Ness, the Managing Director of RCA in Great Britain, and Terry Oates.
Unidentified photo of Mancini with some orchestra.
Mancini's obituary from the New York Times.
PIANO FOLIOS OF MANCINI MUSIC:
Breakfast at Tiffany's (selections)
Charade (complete score)
Days of Wine and Roses (arrangement not by H.M.)
Experiment in Terror (main theme)
The Great Race (selections)
Mr. Lucky (selections)
Peter Gunn (selections)
Peter Gunn, Volume 2 (selections)
Peter Gunn, arranged for Hammond Organ (selections)
The Pink Panther (selections)
Songs and Themes by Mancini (Front Cover) (Contents Page)
LIVE CONCERTS:
Mancini conducts the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
Mancini Live in Japan
SOME OTHER MANCINI SITES:
Nipper's Place (Our Man in Hollywood -- Mancini Discussion Forum -- only titles are available at Internet Archive, no access to articles)
A biography at Space Age Pop Music
Sean Baker's two "jingle tributes" to Mancini (from Internet Archive; some links may not work).
OTHER STUFF:
Article about Mancini from Kastlemusick Exchange, February, 1977, a publication for record collectors.
A blatant plug for my own music, much of which was inspired by "The Man."
Check out my Peter Gunn episode guide. It lists instances of Mancini's music from the Peter Gunn soundtrack albums which were featured in the three seasons of the show, as well as "turgid anal-ysis" of the episodes in the spirit of my Hawaii Five-O Page.