Billy May
Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for The Green Hornet (1966), The Mod Squad (1968), Batman (with Batgirl theme, 1967), and Naked City (1960). He collaborated on films such as Pennies from Heaven (1981), and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return, among others. May wrote arrangements for many top singers, including Frank Sinatra, Yma Sumac, Nat King Cole, Anita O'Day, Peggy Lee, Vic Damone, Bobby Darin, Johnny Mercer, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Jack Jones, Bing Crosby, Sandler and Young, Nancy Wilson, Rosemary Clooney, The Andrews Sisters and Ella Mae Morse. He also collaborated with satirist Stan Freberg on several classic 1950s and 1960s comedy music albums. As a trumpet player in the 1940s Big Band era, May recorded such songs as "Measure for Measure", "Long Tall Mama", and "Boom Shot", with Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, and "The Wrong Idea", "Lumby", and "Wings Over Manhattan" with Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra. With his own band, he had a hit single, "Charmaine". In the 1950s he released several successful albums of his unique orchestral arrangements and compositions, including Sorta-May and Sorta-Dixie. |
Birth and Death Data: Born November 10, 1916 (Pittsburgh), Died January 22, 2004 (San Juan Capistrano)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1939 - 1959
Roles Represented in DAHR: trumpet, arranger, leader, composer, songwriter, vocalist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 76-100 of 165 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | BS-060912 | 10-in. | 2/19/1941 | The spirit is willing | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-060913 | 10-in. | 2/19/1941 | A little old church in England | Dorothy Claire ; Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-060914 | 10-in. | 2/19/1941 | Perfidia | Dorothy Claire ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-060915 | 10-in. | 2/20/1941 | It's always you | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-060916 | 10-in. | 2/20/1941 | Spring will be so sad (When she comes this year) | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-060917 | 10-in. | 2/20/1941 | The air minded executive | Tex Beneke ; Dorothy Claire ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-060918 | 10-in. | 2/20/1941 | Below the equator | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061243 | 10-in. | 5/7/1941 | Boulder buff | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061244 | 10-in. | 5/7/1941 | The booglie wooglie piggy | Tex Beneke ; The Four Modernaires ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and mixed vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061245 | 10-in. | 5/7/1941 | Chattanooga choo choo | Tex Beneke ; The Four Modernaires ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061246 | 10-in. | 5/7/1941 | I know why | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Paula Kelly | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061253 | 10-in. | 5/20/1941 | Don't cry, Cherie | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061254 | 10-in. | 5/20/1941 | Cradle song | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance, with male vocal solo and vocal ensemble | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061255 | 10-in. | 5/20/1941 | Sweeter than the sweetest | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Paula Kelly ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance, with female vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061265 | 10-in. | 5/28/1941 | I guess I'll have to dream the rest | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061266 | 10-in. | 5/28/1941 | Take the 'A' train | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061267 | 10-in. | 5/28/1941 | Peekaboo to you | The Four Modernaires ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | PBS-061268 | 10-in. | 5/28/1941 | The angels came thru | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-064471 | 10-in. | 6/25/1941 | Under blue Canadian skies | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-064472 | 10-in. | 6/25/1941 | The cowboy serenade (While I'm rollin' my last cigarette) | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-064473 | 10-in. | 6/25/1941 | You and I | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-064474 | 10-in. | 6/25/1941 | Adios | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067625 | 10-in. | 8/11/1941 | It happened in Sun Valley | Tex Beneke ; Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Paula Kelly ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with mixed vocal trio and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067626 | 10-in. | 8/11/1941 | I'm thrilled | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
Victor | BS-067627 | 10-in. | 8/11/1941 | The kiss polka | Ernie Caceres ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Paula Kelly ; Modernaires | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet and male vocal quartet | instrumentalist, trumpet |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "May, Billy," accessed November 21, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/104862.
May, Billy. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/104862.
"May, Billy." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 21 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Billy May
Discogs: Billy May
Allmusic: Billy May
Grove: Billy May
IMDb: Billy May
Britannica: Billy May
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: May, Billy - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85072634
Wikidata: Billy May - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q713273
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/112757306
MusicBrainz: Billy May - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5146db52-8ac5-44e9-a89a-affdb76bbb0c
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
Feedback
Send the Editors a message about this record.