TT 330: Themes Produced by Norman Lear
varied and tuneful
The NY Times obit of Norman Lear by Richard Severo and Peter Keepnews is a good read. (Gift link.)
Theme songs were clearly important to Lear. The duet of Archie and Edith at the top of All in the Family is indelible, but even more to my taste is the wistful closing instrumental by the great Roger Kellaway on tack piano.
In terms of funky TV themes, nothing tops Sanford and Son by Quincy Jones. Legendary bassist Chuck Rainey deals out not just the low end, but also high register double-stops like a guitar. Rainey also accidentally plays an audible wrong note at the end. We call that a “clam,” and, indeed, this is about the biggest clam in pop culture that I can think of. Q left the clam in on purpose because the show was a comedy.
The full-blown symphonic overture to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is a bit mysterious. From Wikipedia:
The theme song, "Premiere Occasion," was selected from the stock music library Southern Library of Recorded Music. It was written by British composer Robert Charles Kingston under the pseudonym Barry White and copyrighted in 1965, a full decade before Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman first aired, lending the illusion of a soap opera that already had a long history.
Ornette Coleman and Charlie Haden led off their duo recital Soapsuds, Soapsuds with “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.” In fact, the first thing we hear from Ornette on the LP is his imitation of the vocal shout “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman!” before going on to declaim the melody in fairly straightforward fashion. (At least it is far more straight than the other Ornette cover, “Embraceable You” from This Is Our Music.) After a bluesy Texas tenor improvisation with swinging bass, both Ornette and Charlie take turns “yelling” “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman!” on their instruments before playing a considerably more avant section. One gets the sense that the two really dug the surreal TV show.
Thomas Morgan also praised the theme (and the show) recently in conversation.
The three themes cited above are notably diverse: piano solo, funk, and symphonic. Most of the other famous themes for famous Norman Lear productions feature memorable vocal performances, including Donny Hathaway for Maude and another personal favorite, Ja’net Dubois for The Jeffersons.
Lyrics by Jeff Barry and Ja'net Dubois:
Well we're movin' on up
To the east side
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin' on up
To the east side
We finally got a piece of the pie.
My comment has nothing to do with the fabulous and dearly departed Norman Lear. But I beg your indulgence because I'm sitting in Moynihan Train Stn., which has apparently - and inexplicably - turned into A Hang on Friday nights, and there's a DJ at the bar next to the falafel vendor 😳 who is playing a version of "P.Y.T." with the wrong changes. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
brilliant. I look froward to actually reading it, or hearing it, and not just smoking it. Skimming, rather. I have said, and not to curry favor or curry flavor with the EI that this guy could win a MacFound genius grant just for writing about music....
those were the days.