Ralph Carmichael, composer and Emmy Award-winning arranger-conductor for Nat King Cole, Jack Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Roger Williams, died Oct. 18 in Camarillo, Calif. He was 94.
Carmichael got his big break when Capitol Records producer Lee Gillette was introduced to his arrangement in the 1950s. This led to the prolific collaboration between Carmichael and Cole, starting with Cole arranging the 1960 Christmas album “The Magic of Christmas” which was re-packaged in 1962 as “The Christmas Song.” Carmichael and Cole produced nine full studio projects together including Nat’s final sessions in 1964 for the album “L.O.V.E,” more collaborations with Nat than any other arranger. He was also a primary arranger/conductor for pianist Roger Williams, creating 20 albums together including the 1965 hit “Born Free.”
Carmichael also wrote charts for TV shows such as “My Mother the Car” and “I Love Lucy” as well as movie scores, including “The Blob,” “4D Man” and “The Cross and the Switchblade.
Carmichael got his big break when Capitol Records producer Lee Gillette was introduced to his arrangement in the 1950s. This led to the prolific collaboration between Carmichael and Cole, starting with Cole arranging the 1960 Christmas album “The Magic of Christmas” which was re-packaged in 1962 as “The Christmas Song.” Carmichael and Cole produced nine full studio projects together including Nat’s final sessions in 1964 for the album “L.O.V.E,” more collaborations with Nat than any other arranger. He was also a primary arranger/conductor for pianist Roger Williams, creating 20 albums together including the 1965 hit “Born Free.”
Carmichael also wrote charts for TV shows such as “My Mother the Car” and “I Love Lucy” as well as movie scores, including “The Blob,” “4D Man” and “The Cross and the Switchblade.
- 10/21/2021
- by Katie Song
- Variety Film + TV
Ralph Carmichael, a prolific composer and arranger of film and TV scores whose writing or arranging credits include I Love Lucy, Bonanza, My Mother the Car, the sci-fi classic The Blob and some of the most beloved and enduring Christmas recordings ever made, died Monday in Camarillo, Calif. He was 94.
His death was announced by family spokesperson Jim Pedersen. A cause was not specified.
A pioneering figure in contemporary Christian music, Carmichael began a long career in television and film in the early 1950s when he headed the music department of his alma mater, the Southern California Bible College, and his school band was featured on the local Los Angeles TV program Campus Christian Hour. The show won an Emmy Award in 1951.
Around the same time, he began writing incidental music charts for I Love Lucy, a role he’d also fill on December Bride, Bonanza and The Frankie Lane Show,...
His death was announced by family spokesperson Jim Pedersen. A cause was not specified.
A pioneering figure in contemporary Christian music, Carmichael began a long career in television and film in the early 1950s when he headed the music department of his alma mater, the Southern California Bible College, and his school band was featured on the local Los Angeles TV program Campus Christian Hour. The show won an Emmy Award in 1951.
Around the same time, he began writing incidental music charts for I Love Lucy, a role he’d also fill on December Bride, Bonanza and The Frankie Lane Show,...
- 10/20/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
An old monster formula props up this fantastic film, but at its heart is a brilliant central idea that excites the imagination. Jack H. Harris’s sophomore picture after The Blob is on the awkward side, but the good stuff is much better than we expect it to be. Ambitious performances by Robert Lansing, Lee Meriwether and James Congdon come through with something unique, with graces we just don’t find in independent Sci-Fi from the late 1950s. And the new Blu-ray rejuvenates the film’s special effects — all it took was a good 4K restoration.
4D Man
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 85 min. / Street Date August 20, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Robert Lansing, Lee Meriwether, James Congdon, Robert Strauss, Edgar Stehli, Patty Duke, Guy Raymond, Chic James, Elbert Smith, Jasper Deeter.
Cinematography: Theodore J. Pahle
Film Editor: William B. Murphy
Original Music: Ralph Carmichael
Written by Theodore Simonson,...
4D Man
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 85 min. / Street Date August 20, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Robert Lansing, Lee Meriwether, James Congdon, Robert Strauss, Edgar Stehli, Patty Duke, Guy Raymond, Chic James, Elbert Smith, Jasper Deeter.
Cinematography: Theodore J. Pahle
Film Editor: William B. Murphy
Original Music: Ralph Carmichael
Written by Theodore Simonson,...
- 8/13/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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