Henry Mancini - The best of Henry Mancini

1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. Pink Panther Theme
3. Days of Wine and Roses
4. Moon River
5. A Shot in the Dark
6. (Theme from) Love Story
7. Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
8. Mr. Lucky
9. Peter Gunn
10. Experiment in Terror
11. The Windmills of Your Mind
12. Dream A Little Dream of Me
13. Love Is A Many-Splendoured Thing
14. By the Time I Get to Phoenix
15. Charade (Opening Titles)
16. The Shadow of Your Smile
17. Evergreen
18. Midnight Cowboy
19. Till There Was You
20. The Summer Knows
21. Baby Elephant Walk
22. (Theme from) Hatari!
23. Blue Satin
24. Momento to Moment

The Best of Henry Mancini

Henry Mancini died in June 1994 and the world lost one of the giants of the popular music field. His forty years composing career had earned him four Oscar's, twenty Grammy's and seven gold albums.

Born to a steel-working family in Pittsburgh seventy years earlier "Hank" learned his musical skills from Max Adkins, the musical director of Pittsburgh's Stanley Theatre. The visiting big-bands of the era were to influence the creative style of the young musician. In World War II he was drafted into the Army Air Corps and after being interviewed by Captain glenn Miller found himself playing piano in a band in Atlantic City.

In the mid-fifties he worked as a staff-arranger at Universal Studios, Hollywood. It was here that the long-term relationship with Blake Edwards began. Mancini composed all the themes in Blake Edwards' new T.V. show, 'Peter Gunn'. The relationship also saw Mancini compose the themes to the films, 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' and 'The Days of Wine and Roses'. However, the relationship was firmly cemented in 1963 when Henry composed the theme to Blake's new film, 'The Pink Panther'.

This collection contains all those titles and more. In addition to his own compositions we have Mancini's interpretation of other Classic film themes and popular songs. John Barry's 'Midnight Cowboy', Michel Legrand's 'The Summer Knows' and 'Windmills of Your Mind' are all given that special Mancini treatment.

The music of Henry Mancini will live forever. This special collection features the whole range of his work and includes all of his greatest compositions and arrangements. The association with the RCA Victor Label goes back to the mid-fifties and the Camden label is proud to present the very best of Henry Mancini.

(Michael Dunnington, March 1997)