LOU HALMY, a trumpeter born in Budapest Hungary, was one of my favorite people in the music business. He was also one of the most brilliant.
Lou had started out on the East Coast where he worked as a musician for "society" bands like Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra. (They played on"The Woodbury Hour With Bob Hope") and in the "The Big Broadcast of 1938," a movie with Bob Hope, W.C. Fields and Dorothy Lamour - the Great Depression era.
He worked for Bob Ross Music Publishing at the time I worked with him and did a lot of work for Pat Boone at the time too.
When I wrote a song, I would play it on the guitar for Lou. LOU WOULD WHISTLE THE SONG BACK TO ME. Then I knew he "got it." Based on his whistling, he would write the lead sheet and pass it on to one of the "copiers" who wrote the actual music sheet with notations. Lou was considered a professional whistler!
Lou could "authenticate" music. He had that audiographic memory, so he appeared in many court hearings where various people were trying to establish their rights to intellectual properties and other issues. He was an expert.
Lou passed away up in Oregon on March 14, 2005. He had been in the music business for about 75 years and was 94 years old! One of my favorite memories of Lou was him driving the car he had, a tiny MG with the fancy spokes.
PS: Lou had a giant record that sold excellent called "THE HAPPY WHISTLER!" The song was covered by a number of other artists.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
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My dad passed away in 2007 and I finally started going through his papers. He was a musician and I found quite a bit of correspondence between my dad and Lou Halmy. I wanted to know who Lou Halmy was so I googled him. To my surprise I found out he was an very established musician. Apparently, he was arranging my dad's stuff. Very cool
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