Easy listening composer and arranger
Joe Harnell was born in the Bronx, New York, on August 2, 1924. The son of a former vaudevillian, he initiated piano studies at the age of six and was playing professionally by 14, performing with a series of jazz bands (including his father's Catskills klezmer combo) while continuing his studies. After receiving a music scholarship to the University of Miami,
Harnell joined the U.S. Air Force in 1943, soon joining
the Glenn Miller Air Force Band. While stationed in Paris, he studied composition with
Nadia Boulanger, followed by a stint under
William Walton at London's Trinity College of Music. Following his 1946 USAF discharge,
Harnell returned to the U.S. and enrolled at Boston University's Tanglewood Institute, studying under
Aaron Copland and
Leonard Bernstein. Despite his classical training he pursued a career in jazz and pop, returning to New York in 1950 to serve as a freelance pianist with a series of bands, most notably
Lester Lanin's. As word of his compositional and arranging skills spread,
Harnell also found himself in demand as an accompanist and musical director, and in the years to follow he backed singers ranging from
Judy Garland to
Maurice Chevalier to
Marlene Dietrich, taking over from
Burt Bacharach.
In 1958,
Harnell signed on with
Peggy Lee, hot on the heels of her smash hit "Fever." Their partnership resulted in a pair of LPs,
Anything Goes: Cole Porter and Peggy Lee and the George Shearing Quartet, both arranged by
Harnell; he also played piano on her
Things Are Swingin' album. He remained with
Lee until 1961, and a year later was severely injured in an automobile accident. While recuperating, he was approached by Kapp Records, which was seeking to capitalize on the bossa nova craze. Working with sidemen including
Al Caiola and
Tony Mottola,
Harnell produced
Fly Me to the Moon, winning a Grammy Award for his bossa nova arrangement of the title song. Three more Kapp LPs (
More Bossa Nova Pops, 'Hud' and Other Movie Themes, and The Rhythm and the Fire) followed, and in all
Harnell headlined close to 20 instrumental and easy listening albums over the course of his career, most notably the Columbia release
Bossa Now! (featuring sideman
Vinnie Bell) and his swan song,
Moving On!!, issued via Motown.
During his time in New York City,
Harnell also wrote advertising jingles, and after several successful campaigns in the employ of Gray Advertising, he joined the company in 1964 as its musical director; in 1967, he signed as musical director of the television daytime talk show The Mike Douglas Show, a position he held until relocating to Hollywood in 1973. The move to Tinseltown coincided with
Harnell's return to composing, and he first earned notice for his work on the action series The Bionic Woman, going on to collaborate with the show's producer, Ken Johnson, on several subsequent projects, including The Incredible Hulk, Alien Nation, and V, winning the 1986 Emmy for best score for his work on the latter. During the late '80s
Harnell again shifted gears, joining the faculty of USC's Flora Thornton School of Music to teach film score composing. In 1991, he also served as soloist and musical director during the U.S. tour of the Columbia Concerts' production of
Cole Porter's 100th birthday party. In 2000
Harnell published his memoir, Counterpoint; he died of heart failure in Los Angeles on July 14, 2005.
–
Jason Ankeny, Rovi