Johnny Mann obit

Funeral services set for composer Johnny Mann

Hollywood 'Music Mann' spent final years in Anderson

 

He was not on the list.

ANDERSON, S.C. —

Almost a week after word that Hollywood composer and conductor Johnny Mann passed away, funeral services have been announced.

Mann, who worked with the likes of Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, died last Wednesday night in Anderson, according to the family.

They say Mann died at his home. He was 85 years old.

Visitation is scheduled for Friday, June 27, 6-9 p.m. at McDougald's Funeral Home, located at 2211 North Main Street in Anderson.

Funeral services will take place on Saturday, June 28, 11 a.m. St. John's United Methodist Church, located at 515 South McDuffie Street in Anderson.

A statement issues by the family said Mann had been active until the end, having just attended a two-hour rehearsal for the Concert of Hope and Remembrance on Tuesday night.

Mann is best known for the 42 albums he arranged and conducted for his Johnny Mann Singers resulting in five Grammy Award nominations and two Grammy Awards, according to his website.

The site goes on to say:

Johnny got his start in Hollywood arranging scores for seven full-length motion pictures for Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox and Columbia Studios. He then became the choral director of the "NBC Comedy Hour," which led to the formation of The Johnny Mann Singers and a record contract. Along with being musical director of the original "Alvin and The Chipmunks" TV series, he sang the voice of "Theodore".

Mann and his wife Betty retired to Anderson, S.C., in 2005, where he continued to produce radio station jingles, guest conduct around the country and participate in local choirs, the family statement said. He was presented an honorary doctorate by Anderson University in 2010, and wrote the university’s new alma mater, “The Sounds of Anderson.”

Mann appeared at a reception at the school in June 2013, where he signed copies of his memoir, "The Music Mann: My life in Music."

His family calls it a rich telling of Mann's experiences during the golden years of Hollywood choral music.

“Not only a show business memoir, it is the testimony of one man’s relationship with God and how his faith guided, nurtured and sustained him in very bleak times,” the family statement went on to say.

Johnny Mann began his music career in the late 1940s in his hometown of Baltimore before serving in the army playing as a member of the U.S. Army Field Band from 1951 to 1953. After his honorable discharge, he moved to Los Angeles to continue his professional music career.

As bandleader of The Johnny Mann Singers, he and the group had done sound recording and reproduction for various guest singers and were the presentators of the TV series titled Stand Up and Cheer (1971–1974). In addition, Mr. Mann was the musical director for the 1967-69 ABC-TV late night talk show, The Joey Bishop Show, and had twice performed at the White House. He was also musical director of The Alvin Show and was the singing voice of the chipmunk named Theodore. Mann was also choral director for The NBC Comedy Hour. Mann was credited as "Johnnie Mann" in some of his earlier works. His group's most notable alumna was Vicki Lawrence.

The Johnny Mann Singers performed a strongly patriotic musical presentation at the 1972 Emmy Awards telecast hosted by Johnny Carson. Following their performance, Carson returned to the stage and declared "War Bonds are available in the lobby", a sarcastic comment on the group's flag-waving. The remark offended some conservative viewers around the country.

Mann wrote a number of radio jingles, the most famous being the "Sound of the City" jingle for KSFO in San Francisco, California. This jingle became as requested as many of the songs played by KSFO in the era of Don Sherwood. It was adapted by Mann for other radio stations around the country, which included KFRC (AM) in San Francisco and CKLW in Windsor, Ontario. Mann can be seen on YouTube videos at a Los Angeles recording studio directing his six-voice jingle singers while they sing jingles for radio station KRTH-FM (K-Earth 101).

In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.

In 2005, Mann and his wife, Betty, retired to Anderson, South Carolina, but he continued to produce radio station jingles, guest conduct around the country, and participate in local musical programs.

In April 2014, at the age of 85, he was a guest conductor of The South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University's spring gala where he led the university choir in performing The Johnny Mann Singers arrangement of "Up, Up and Away". At the song's conclusion, the audience of about 1,000 stood in Mann's honor.

The Johnny Mann Singers recorded 42 albums, mainly for Liberty Records, from the 1950s to the 1970s. In the mid-1970s, the Johnny Mann Singers began recording with Light Records.

In the early 1960s, the Singers provided backing for several vocalists, including rock 'n' roll and rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette (including "God, Country and My Baby") and pop singer Bobby Vee. The Singers were also involved with the Si Zentner Orchestra, The Crickets, and Eddie Cochran, who was also signed to Liberty Records in Hollywood.

The Johnny Mann Singers' instrumental "Cinnamint Shuffle (Mexican Shuffle)" "bubbled under" the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1966, reaching number 126. Their next single, a cover version of "Up, Up and Away", became the hit version of the song on the UK Singles Chart, overtaking the US hit version by The 5th Dimension. The version also won a Grammy Award in 1968 in the Best Performance by a Choir of Seven or More Persons category. In total, Mann was nominated for five Grammys, two of which he won.

On December 10, 1960, Mann married actress Lori Nelson. They had two daughters, Susan Lori and Jennifer Lee, before divorcing in April 1973.

Mann married actress Lynn Marie Dolin on July 26, 1975. They occasionally appeared as a couple on the game show, Tattletales. They had no children together and divorced on August 3, 1983.

On August 20, 1983, Mann married Elizabeth Jane "Betty" Weinmann. They remained married for over 30 years, until Mann's death in 2014. He and Betty were members of St. John's United Methodist Church in Anderson, South Carolina, where they sang in the choir.

Music Department

Stand Up and Cheer (1971)

Stand Up and Cheer

6.8

TV Series

conductor

1971

1 episode

 

Stan Laurel in Salute to Stan Laurel (1965)

Salute to Stan Laurel

5.6

TV Special

choral director

1965

 

Linus the Lionhearted (1964)

Linus the Lionhearted

6.9

TV Series

special musical arrangements

1964

2 episodes

 

The Nut House!! (1964)

The Nut House!!

7.0

TV Movie

choral director

1964

 

Danny Kaye in The Danny Kaye Show (1963)

The Danny Kaye Show

7.8

TV Series

arrangervocal director

1963

1 episode

 

The Alvin Show (1961)

The Alvin Show

7.0

TV Series

musical director

1961–1962

26 episodes

 

Actor

The Alvin Show (1961)

The Alvin Show

7.0

TV Series

Crowd MemberJim the Taxi DriverHerbie ...

1961–1962

6 episodes

 

Composer

The Alvin Show (1961)

The Alvin Show

7.0

TV Series

Composer

1962

1 episode

 

Additional Crew

Doris Day and James Garner in The Thrill of It All (1963)

The Thrill of It All

6.9

leader: Johnny Mann Singers (uncredited)

1963

 

Soundtrack

Claudette Colbert in Texas Lady (1955)

Texas Lady

5.5

Soundtrack ("Texas Lady")

1955

 

Self

All-Star Party for 'Dutch' Reagan (1985)

All-Star Party for 'Dutch' Reagan

6.4

TV Special

Self (uncredited)

1985

 

The Bob Braun Show (1967)

The Bob Braun Show

2.4

TV Series

Self - Vocalist

1975–1982

2 episodes

 

Lee Meriwether in Rhyme and Reason (1975)

Rhyme and Reason

5.8

TV Series

Self

1975

1 episode

 

ABC's Wide World of Entertainment (1973)

ABC's Wide World of Entertainment

8.1

TV Series

Self - Judge

1974

1 episode

 

Stand Up and Cheer (1971)

Stand Up and Cheer

6.8

TV Series

Self - Host

1971–1974

86 episodes

 

Johnny Carson in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

8.5

TV Series

Self

1973–1974

2 episodes

 

Mike Douglas in The Mike Douglas Show (1961)

The Mike Douglas Show

7.0

TV Series

Self - Bandleader

1972–1973

2 episodes

 

Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr in The 15th Annual Grammy Awards (1973)

The 15th Annual Grammy Awards

7.4

TV Special

Self

1973

 

Password (1961)

Password

7.4

TV Series

Self

1972

5 episodes

 

Merv Griffin in The Merv Griffin Show (1962)

The Merv Griffin Show

6.6

TV Series

Self - Musician

1972

1 episode

 

Aretha Franklin in The 14th Annual Grammy Awards (1972)

The 14th Annual Grammy Awards

7.4

TV Special

Self

1972

 

Betty Hughes and Friends

TV Series

Self

1971

1 episode

 

Tempo

TV Series

Self

1970

2 episodes

 

The Joey Bishop Show (1967)

The Joey Bishop Show

7.1

TV Series

ThemselvesSelf - Musical Director

1967–1969

9 episodes

 

Milton Berle, Oliver Hardy, Johnny Cash, Bobby Darin, Ralph Edwards, Shirley Jones, Stan Laurel, and Jayne Mansfield in This Is Your Life (1950)

This Is Your Life

6.9

TV Series

Self

1961

1 episode

 

The George Gobel Show (1954)

The George Gobel Show

7.2

TV Series

Self

1958

1 episode