Johnny Green sound recordings and motion pictures
Overview
Sound recordings and motion pictures of American conductor, arranger, and composer Johnny Green.
Dates
- Creation: 1934-1989
Language of Materials
Collection materials are predominantly in English; some materials in French, German, and Italian.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Some of this collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
74 linear feet (171 containers)Consists of rehearsal, demo, and master recordings made by Green of motion picture soundtracks, television and radio broadcasts, and concert performances. Includes sound recordings made by others in which Green is featured. Also includes copies of motion pictures and videotape of television broadcasts that relate to Green's career.
Biographical / Historical
Conductor, arranger, and composer Johnny Green, Harvard AB 1928, achieved early fame as a songwriter and orchestra leader in the 1920s and 1930s. Among his most well known original compositions are such songs as "Body and soul", "Out of nowhere", and "I cover the waterfront". Beginning in 1942, he served for the next three decades as music director for several Hollywood motion picture studios, chiefly Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In the course of his career, he won Academy Awards for his work orchestrating, arranging, and conducting music for the following films: Easter parade; An American in Paris; West side story; and Oliver!. He also won an Academy Award as producer for The merry wives of Windsor overture, a subject in MGM's Concert hall series. In addition to his work in films, Green composed and conducted for radio and television; he was a board member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and guest conductor for a number of symphony orchestras, including the Hollywood Bowl.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- I. Reel-to-reel audiotape recordings, 10.5-inch
- II. Reel-to-reel audiotape recordings, 7-inch
- III. Reel-to-reel audiotape recordings, miscellaneous sizes
- IV. Audiocassettes
- V. Motion pictures
Special Equipment Required for Access:
Special equipment or surrogate required; consult Houghton Public Services.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository [Some materials temporarily stored in Lamont stacks awaiting end-processing].
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2004MT-49. Gift of Bonnie W. Green; received 1991 April 25.
2004MT-119. Purchased with the Rose fund from Ward Harrison; received: 2005 March 12.
2005MT-23. Purchased with the Rose fund from Ward Harrison ; received: 2005 October 7.
General note
Some of this collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.
Processing Information
Processed by: Michael W. Austin
- Title
- Green, Johnny, 1908-1989. Johnny Green sound recordings and motion pictures, 1934-1989: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02326
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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