Richard Warren Joseph Hayman (March 27, 1920 – February 5, 2014) was an American musician who was the chief music arranger of the Boston Pops Orchestra for over 50 years, and served as a pops conductor for orchestras including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony and the Grand Rapids Symphony in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[1]
He toured and recorded as a harmonica player and made dozens of recordings for Mercury Records as "Richard Hayman and His Orchestra." His biggest hit was a single, "Ruby," from the 1952 film Ruby Gentry, starring Jennifer Jones and Charlton Heston. Hayman's arrangement featured himself as harmonica soloist. Over a lengthy career, he created musical arrangements for more than 50 artists and entertainers including Barbra Streisand, Bob Hope, Liza Minnelli and Olivia Newton-John.[2]
A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States,[3] Hayman's career in music began in his teen years as a player and arranger for the Borrah Minnevitch Harmonica Rascals.[3] In the 1940s, he became an arranger for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios doing arrangements (often uncredited) for such MGM films as Girl Crazy, Meet Me in St. Louis and Thousands Cheer.[3] From 1945 to 1950, he was musical director for the Vaughn Monroe Orchestra.[3]
In the 1950s and 1960s, Hayman recorded a series of albums for Mercury Records.[3] His 1957 outing Havana In Hi-Fi, was first in the label's pop music stereo LP series (SR 60000).
Hayman is most famous for having been the principal arranger at the Boston Pops Orchestra for over 30 years where his award-winning arrangements are still used today. He occasionally guest-conducted there, and when Arthur Fiedler had a time conflict with his job as pops conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, he recommended Hayman for the post.
Hayman was also closely affiliated with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years. Known for his sequined jackets, harmonica solos, and corny jokes, he became its Principal Pops Conductor in 1976, leading both the Pops at Powell and Queeny Park concerts. Queeny Pops, with concertgoers seated at tables in the acoustically atrocious but centrally located (in the suburbs of west St. Louis County) Greensfelder Field House, was a hit for many years, and made it possible for the SLSO to offer its musicians a full 52-week annual contract.
That ended when a financial crunch in 2001, coinciding with a realization that the SLSO's pops concerts had not changed with the times, led to the cancellation of the Queeny Pops series and a marked reduction in overall pops concerts by the orchestra.
In 1985, he was appointed Principal Pops Conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony, serving more than 21 seasons until his retirement in 2006 after which he was named Pops Conductor Laureate. Hayman founded and conducted the Florida Sunshine Pops orchestra in Boca Raton and continued to make guest conducting appearances in the United States and Europe.
His biggest hit was the 1953 single "Ruby". Hayman took the theme for the motion picture Ruby Gentry,[3] and through his specially stylized arrangement, utilizing a harmonica as the solo instrument with a large, quasi-symphonic orchestra, the song zoomed to the top of the hit parade all over the world and brought about a renewed interest in the harmonica. It should also be mentioned that the flip side of the 45rpm and 78rpm single hit "Ruby" was the hit "Dansero" which also became an international hit.
He continued to chart into the early 1960s with titles such as "Night Train".
Hayman's last event with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, where he held the title of Pops Conductor Emeritus, took place on June 27, 2010, to honor his 90th birthday. The St. Louis Metro Singers, who performed with him at many Pops concerts, were also on stage at the event.
Hayman is also noted for albums now regarded as Exotica.
Hayman died at a hospice in New York on February 5, 2014. He was 93.[1]
| Date of Release | Title | Label | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Simonetta | Mercury | sheet music | |
| 1954 | Music For A Quiet Evening | Mercury | ||
| 1956 | Serenade For Love | Mercury | ||
| 1956 | Come With Me To Faraway Places | Mercury | ||
| 1956 | Reminiscing With Richard Hayman | Mercury | ||
| 1956 | Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing | Mercury | ||
| 1956 | Time For Listening | Mercury | ||
| 1957 | Two Tickets To Paris | Mercury | Hayman plays accordion | |
| 1957 | My Fair Lady | Mercury | ||
| 1957 | Music For People Who Can't Sleep | Mercury | ||
| 1957 | Havana In Hi-Fi | Mercury | ||
| 1958 | Plays Great Motion Picture Themes Of Victor Young | Mercury | ||
| 1959 | Voodoo! | Mercury | ||
| 1959 | Caramba! Exotic Sounds Of The Americas | Mercury | ||
| 1960 | Conducts Pop Concert In Sound | Mercury | ||
| 1960 | Campfire Songs | Mercury | ||
| 1961 | Harmonica Holiday | Mercury | see Charles Leighton | |
| 1962 | Gypsy | Mercury | ||
| 1962 | Songs Of Wonderful Girls | Mercury | ||
| 1963 | The Music Of Cleopatra | Time | ||
| 1967 | Classics In Pop! | Mercury | ||
| 1967 | Melodies Of Love | Mainstream | ||
| 1969 | Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine | Command | ||
| 1969 | Cinemagic Sounds | Command | ||
| 1973 | Electronic Evolutions | Command | with Walter Sear | |
| 1974 | Million Dollar Motion Picture Themes | Musicor | ||
| 1974 | Marlon Brando's Great Movie Themes | RCA Victor | ||
| 1980 | Tender Moments | Time | with The Manhattan Pops Orchestra | |
| 1980 | Italy, The Pride & Passion | Bainbridge | with The Manhattan Pops Orchestra | |
| 1981 | Ruby | AFE | ||
| 1987 | Harlem Nocturne | KEM-Disc | ||
| 1989 | Rhapsody In Blue • Piano Concerto | Naxos | with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra | |
| 1989 | Star Trek: A Journey Through The Galaxies | Naxos International | with the Philharmonic Rock Orchestra | |
| 1989 | Star Wars (The Music Of John Williams And Other Composers) | Naxos International | with the Philharmonic Rock Orchestra | |
| 1989 | Silent Night | Naxos International | ||
| 1989 | A Christmas Festival | Naxos International | ||
| 1989 | Joy To The World | Naxos International | with the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra | |
| 1990 | To All The Girls I've Loved Before (The Julio Iglesias Songbook) | Naxos International | ||
| 1990 | The Greatest Love Of All | Naxos International | ||
| 1990 | Melodies Of Love | Naxos International | ||
| 1990 | Majestic Marches | Naxos | with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra | |
| 1991 | Viva Espana And Mexico | Naxos International | ||
| 1991 | Vintage Broadway | Naxos International | ||
| 1995 | Remembering Duke Ellington | Naxos | with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra | |
| 2006 | The Music Of Henry Mancini | Naxos | ||
| Unknown | Motion Picture Themes | Time | with The Manhattan Pops Orchestra | |
| Unknown | Presents The Electric People | Murbo | ||
| Unknown | Fabulous Generation Of Motion Picture Themes | Time | ||
| Unknown | Broadway Hits And Other Themes | Time | ||
| Unknown | Themes From Great Films | Time | with Hugo Montenegro |
| Date of Release | Artist | Title | Label | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Sophie Tucker | Golden Jubilee (Fifty Golden Years) | Mercury | ||
| 1955 | Helen Merrill | Helen Merrill with Strings | Emarcy | First six tracks only | |
| 1956 | Morgana King | For You, For Me, Forevermore | Emarcy | ||
| 1957 | Belmonte And His Orchestra | Belmonte Plays Latin For Americans | RCA Victor | One track only | |
| 1959 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Pops Christmas Party | RCA Red Seal | One track only | |
| 1959 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Song Of India | RCA Victor | One track only | |
| 1960 | The Don Baker Trio | Hammond For Dancing | Capitol Records | One track only | |
| 1961 | Orchestra Del Oro | Soul Of Harlem | Sonodor | One track only | |
| 1961 | Kai Winding's Trombones And Orchestra | Kai Olé | Verve | One track only | |
| 1961 | The Jonah Jones Quartet | Great Instrumental Hits Styled By Jonah Jones | Capitol | One track only | |
| 1961 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Music From: Guys & Dolls / Greenwillow / The Most Happiest Fella / Hans Christian Andersen / Where's Charley? | RCA Victor Red Seal | Fifteen tracks only | |
| 1962 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | No Strings - State Fair | RCA Victor Red Seal | Six tracks only | |
| 1962 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Pops Roundup | RCA Victor Red Seal | Six tracks only | |
| 1963 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Star Dust | RCA Victor Red Seal | Four tracks only | |
| 1964 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (And Other Hits From The Big Shows) | RCA Victor Red Seal | Three tracks only | |
| 1964 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | "Pops" Goes The Trumpet (Holiday For Brass) | RCA Victor Red Seal | Three tracks only | |
| 1965 | Vivienne Dells Chiesa | The New Vivienne Della Chiesa | 20th Century Fox Records | Co-arranged with Sid Bass | |
| 1965 | Paul Nero, Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Nero Goes "Pops" | RCA Victor Red Seal | Six tracks only | |
| 1966 | Chet Atkins, Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | The "Pops" Goes Country | RCA Victor Red Seal | ||
| 1966 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | All The Things You Are | RCA Victor Red Seal | ||
| 1966 | Duke Ellington, Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | The Duke at Tanglewood | RCA Victor Red Seal | ||
| 1969 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Play The Beatles | RCA Red Seal | Ten tracks only | |
| 1970 | Chet Atkins | This Is Chet Atkins | RCA Victor | Three tracks only | |
| 1970 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | A Christmas Festival | Polydor | One track only | |
| 1970 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Fabulous Broadway | Polydor | Three tracks only | |
| 1970 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Motion Picture Classics | RCA Red Seal | Eighteen tracks only | |
| 1971 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Arthur Fiedler Superstar | Polydor | Four tracks only | |
| 1972 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Play The Music Of Paul Simon | Polydor | ||
| 1972 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | What The World Needs Now (The Burt Bacharach-Hal David Songbook) | Polydor | Six tracks only | |
| 1972 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Gotta Travel On | Polydor | ||
| 1972 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Forgotten Dreams | Polydor | Three tracks only | |
| 1973 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Greatest Hits Of The '20s | RCA | Five tracks only | |
| 1973 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Greatest Hits Of The '30s | RCA | Six tracks only | |
| 1973 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Greatest Hits Of The '40s | RCA | Five tracks only | |
| 1973 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Greatest Hits Of The '60s | RCA | ||
| 1973 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Greatest Hits Of The '70s | RCA | Six tracks only | |
| 1974 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Fiedler In Rags | Polydor | Three tracks only | |
| 1974 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | You Will Be My Music | Polydor | ||
| 1975 | Strings For Pleasure | Play The Music Of John, Paul, George & Ringo | Music For Pleasure | Nine tracks only | |
| 1975 | Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra | Play The Neil Diamond Songbook | Polydor | One track only | |
| 1980 | Ettore Stratta And London Symphony Orchestra | Music From The Galaxies | CBS | ||
| 1985 | Sarah Vaughan | The Rodgers & Hart Songbook | PolyGram | One track only | |
| 1987 | Helen Kardon | What Matters Most | KDM | ||
| 1989 | Erich Kunzel And Cincinnati Pops Orchestra | Victory At Sea And Other Favorites | Telarc | Two tracks only |