 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Bert Kaempfert" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Bert Kaempfert | |
|---|---|
 Kaempfert in 1967 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert (1923-10-16)16 October 1923 Barmbek, Hamburg, Germany |
| Died | 21 June 1980(1980-06-21) (aged 56) Mallorca, Spain |
| Genres | Easy listening,instrumental,jazz,big band,Exotica |
| Occupations | Orchestra leader,composer |
| Instruments | Trumpet,accordion,clarinet,piano,saxophone, |
| Years active | 1939–1980 |
| Labels | Polydor,Decca USA,MCA |
| Website | www.kaempfert.de/en/ |
Bert Kaempfert (bornBerthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a Germanorchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, andcomposer. He madeeasy listening andjazz-orientated records and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, including "Strangers in the Night", "Danke Schoen", "Moon Over Naples" and "A Swingin' Safari".[1] In 1961, Kaempfert was the first to produce professional music recordings bythe Beatles.
Kaempfert was born inHamburg,Germany, where he received his lifelong nickname, Fips, and studied at the Hamburg School of Music.[2] A multi-instrumentalist who played accordion, piano, clarinet, and other instruments, he was hired by Hans Busch to play with his orchestra, before serving as a bandsman in theGerman Navy duringWorld War II. He later formed his ownbig band and toured with them, following that by working as anarranger andproducer, making hit records withFreddy Quinn andIvo Robić. Kaempfert met his future wife, Hannelore, in 1945. They married a year later, on 14 August 1946. They had two daughters, Marion and Doris.[3]
Kaempfert's first hit with his orchestra was "Wonderland by Night". Recorded in July 1959, the song could not get released in Germany, so Kaempfert took the track toDecca Records in New York, which released it in the United States in the fall of 1960.[1] With its haunting solo trumpet by Charles Tabor, muted brass, and lush strings, the single topped the American pop charts and turned Bert Kaempfert and Orchestra into international stars. Over the next few years, he revived such pop tunes as "Tenderly", "Red Roses for a Blue Lady", "Three O'Clock in the Morning", and "Bye Bye Blues", as well as composing pieces of his own, including "Spanish Eyes" (a.k.a. "Moon Over Naples"), "Danke Schoen", and "Wooden Heart", which were recorded by, respectively,Al Martino,Wayne Newton, andElvis Presley. For Kaempfert, little brought him more personal satisfaction thanNat King Cole recording his "L-O-V-E".
Kaempfert's orchestra made extensive use of horns. A couple of numbers that featured brass prominently, "Magic Trumpet" and "The Mexican Shuffle", were played by both Kaempfert's orchestra and byHerb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. The Brass covered "Magic Trumpet", and Kaempfert returned the favor by covering Brass compadre Sol Lake's number "The Mexican Shuffle". The latter tune evolved into a TV ad,TheTeaberry Shuffle.
In his capacity as record producer, Kaempfert played a part in the rise ofthe Beatles. In 1961, he hired the Beatles to backTony Sheridan on an album calledMy Bonnie. Sheridan had been performing in Hamburg, and needed to recruit a band to play behind him on the proposed tracks. Kaempfert auditioned and signed the Beatles, and recorded two tracks with them during his sessions for Sheridan: "Ain't She Sweet" (sung by rhythm guitaristJohn Lennon) and "Cry for a Shadow" (an instrumental written by Lennon and lead guitaristGeorge Harrison). The album and its singles, released byPolydor Records, were the Beatles' first commercially released recordings.[4]
On 28 October 1961, a customer in theLiverpool music store owned byBrian Epstein asked for a copy of "My Bonnie". The store did not have it, but Epstein noted the request. He was so intrigued by the idea of a Liverpool band releasing a record that he investigated. That led to his discovery of the Beatles and, through his efforts, their signing byGeorge Martin toParlophone Records after Kaempfert helped them avoid any contractual claim from Polydor.
Throughout the 1960s, various artists recorded renditions of Kaempfert's music:
In 1963, jazz trumpeterBobby Hackett recorded a complete album with 12 Kaempfert compositions,Bobby Hackett Plays the Music of Bert Kaempfert. It was re-released in the United States under the Sony Records label in the Collectable Jazz Classics series, along with the albumBobby Hackett Plays The Music of Henry Mancini on a "2-in-1" CD.
In 1967, jazz clarinetistPete Fountain recorded the albumPete Fountain Plays Bert Kaempfert in Hamburg, Germany, with musicians from Kaempfert's orchestra. It featured Kaempfert's signature hits.
In 1967, theAnita Kerr Singers released the LPBert Kaempfert Turns Us On!, a tribute to Kaempfert, featuring the standard hits.
In 1967,Jimi Hendrix included the melody of "Strangers in the Night" in his improvised guitar solo for his guitar-burning version of "Wild Thing" at theMonterey Pop Festival.[7]
In 1968, jazz trumpeterAl Hirt recorded the albumAl Hirt Plays Bert Kaempfert. It too featured Kaempfert's major hits. That year,BMI awarded accolades to five of Kaempfert's songs: "Lady", "Spanish Eyes", "Strangers in the Night", "The World We Knew", and "Sweet Maria". Many of his hits during the 1960s were composed and arranged with the help of German Herb Rehbein, who became a successful bandleader in his own right. Rehbein's death in 1979 shook Kaempfert deeply. Both Kaempfert and Rehbein were posthumously inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame.
In 1970,Johnny Mathis issued a double LP,Sings the Music of Bacharach & Kaempfert, for Columbia. It consisted of 21 tracks in a heavyweight gatefold picture sleeve. The Kaempfert tracks were done in his arrangement style, and theBacharach tracks were done in the American's unique upbeat style. The same year, Kaempfert composed the score for the war filmYou Can't Win 'Em All, starringTony Curtis andCharles Bronson.
By the 1970s, sales of Kaempfert's music had declined, but he continued to record. His version of the "Theme fromShaft" was admired by composerIsaac Hayes[citation needed] and remained popular with audiences. He expanded the musical scope of his band and recorded in a wide variety of styles. He also began to play live concerts with hisorchestra, beginning in 1974, with an appearance at theRoyal Albert Hall in London.
Kaempfert is sampled in the 1998 song "One Week" by theBarenaked Ladies. The song's lyrics also declare that "Bert Kaempfert's got the mad hits".
Kaempfert used many musicians who were available in West Germany and other parts of Europe, including many of the same players who played forJames Last,Kai Warner, andRoberto Delgado. He featured such topsoloists as trumpeters Charly Tabor, Werner Gutterer,Manfred Moch, andAck van Rooyen, trombonistsÅke Persson andJiggs Whigham, and sax/flute playerHerb Geller. Drummer Rolf Ahrens supplied the characteristically simple but steady beat, often playing just a snare drum with brushes.
Another contributor to Kaempfert's music was guitarist/bassistLadislav "Ladi" Geisler, who popularized the "knackbass" (crackling bass) sound, initially playing aGibson EB and later aFender Jazz Bass Guitar, which became the most distinctive feature of many Kaempfert recordings — a treble staccato bass guitar sound in which the bass string was plucked with a pick and immediately suppressed to cancel out any sustain. An acoustic bass played a simple pattern in unison with this staccato electric bass, which created a unique sound. It was Geisler who lent his guitar amplifier toThe Beatles for their recording session withTony Sheridan, after the band's own equipment proved to be inadequate for recording purposes.[8]
Kaempfert died suddenly following astroke at his home inMallorca on 21 June 1980, at the age of 56, shortly after a successful appearance in the United Kingdom.[citation needed]
Bert-Kaempfert-Platz, a square in theBarmbek district ofHamburg, Germany, is named after him.[citation needed]
Kaempfert appears as a character in the 1994 filmBackbeat, played by actorWolf Kahler.
Titles are for European releases; the U.S. release may have a different title.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
