Charles Randolph Grean (October 1, 1913 – December 20, 2003) was an American producer and composer.
Grean's first work was as a copyist in severalbig bands, includingGlenn Miller,Artie Shaw, andCharlie Spivak. He worked atRCA Victor Records underSteve Sholes,[1] producingcountry and Western recordings by such artists asEddy Arnold,Pee Wee King, theSons of the Pioneers,Texas Jim Robertson andElton Britt.[2]
He was the arranger for theNat King Cole recording of "The Christmas Song." In 1950, he wrote "The Thing," apopular song which reachednumber one on the charts in a version sung byPhil Harris. The same year he became the head ofA&R atRCA Victor Records, passing over his previous superior, Sholes.
In the early 1950s he formed a production company with Joseph Csida called Csida-Grean, a management company which had handled Arnold's career and produced his syndicated television show,Eddy Arnold Time.
One of Grean's compositions became a focus of litigation in 1958 in the caseDorchester Music v. National Broadcasting Company [171 F. Supp. 580 (S.D. Cal. 1959)].[3]Fred Spielman, who had composed the song "Rendezvous" in 1953, charged that Grean had plagiarized from his song in writing "I Dreamed," using the access he had as A&R director to the original manuscripts when "Rendezvous" was submitted to RCA for recording. (No charge was made with reference to the lyrics.) The court found in favor of the plaintiff on November 18, 1958.
Grean co-wrote the song "He'll Have to Stay" (answer to 1959's "He'll Have to Go") that went to #4 on theUS pop chart byJeanne Black in 1960.[4]
In the late 60s, much of his success came from working withLeonard Nimoy, for whom he produced and wrote a great portion ofNimoy's music. He also producedBetty Johnson's hits "I Dreamed" and "The Little Blue Man." He also producedThe Mills Brothers' late 1960s albumFortuosity, which yielded the hit "Cab Driver". In 1969 he reached the charts as a performer, with his group, the Charles Randolph Grean Sounde, doing a version ofRobert Cobert's "Quentin's Theme" fromDark Shadows. (Billboard #13 pop, #3 easy listening, Cash Box #8, #5RPM) In 1973, his group was the stage band forJack Paar's return to late-night television,Jack Paar Tonite, which aired as one of the rotating programs featured onABC's Wide World of Entertainment on theABC television network.
On December 20, 2003, he died from natural causes at age 90.[5]
Grean was married four times, once toBetty Johnson; although the marriage to Johnson was short-lived, the professional relationship continued and he produced a number of her recordings.
