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96-585: In 1958, United Artists released an album of music from the film The Big Country , for which composer Jerome Moross received an Academy Award nomination. In 1959, United Artists released Forest of the Amazons, a cantata by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos adapted from the music he composed for MGM 's Green Mansions , with the composer conducting the Symphony of the Air . Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayão

192-407: A clash with Buck, which is ultimately settled with a shootout using the old dueling pistols. Buck fires before the signal, his bullet grazing McKay's forehead − and leaving him open to be shot by McKay. Buck crawls under a wagon in a display of cowardice that convinces McKay to spare him. The frustrated Buck snatches another gun from a nearby cowboy, forcing Rufus to kill his own son. Rufus then goes to

288-533: A composer, Basie is known for writing such jazz standards as " Blue and Sentimental ", " Jumpin' at the Woodside " and " One O'Clock Jump ". William Basie was born to Lillian (Childs) and Harvey Lee Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey . His father worked as a coachman and caretaker for a wealthy judge. After automobiles replaced horses, his father became a groundskeeper and handyman for several wealthy families in

384-481: A crowd of 15,000. Count Basie and his Orchestra played at the tenth Cavalcade of Jazz concert also at Wrigley Field on June 20, 1954. He played along with The Flairs , Christine Kittrell , Lamp Lighters, Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five , Ruth Brown , and Perez Prado and his Orchestra. The big band era appeared to have ended after the war, and Basie disbanded the group. For a while, he performed in combos, sometimes stretched to an orchestra. In 1950, he headlined

480-692: A distribution deal with Jet Records , Electric Light Orchestra was signed. UA also distributed the otherwise-independent Grateful Dead Records in the early-to-mid 1970s. In England, Andrew Lauder , who had been head of A&R at the UK branch of Liberty Records, transferred to UA when Liberty was shut down in 1971. His signings included the Groundhogs , Aynsley Dunbar (only in the UK), Hawkwind , Bonzo Dog Band , Brinsley Schwarz , Man (all originally Liberty artists), High Tide , Help Yourself , Dr. Feelgood ,

576-529: A home in the new whites-only neighborhood of Addisleigh Park in 1946 on Adelaide Road and 175th Street, St. Albans, Queens . On April 11, 1983, Catherine Basie died of heart disease at the couple's home in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. She was 67 years old. Daughter Diane Basie died October 15, 2022, of a heart attack. Count Basie died of pancreatic cancer in Hollywood, Florida , on April 26, 1984, at

672-725: A hotbed of jazz, where he lived down the block from the Alhambra Theater . Early after his arrival, he bumped into Sonny Greer , who was by then the drummer for the Washingtonians, Duke Ellington 's early band. Soon, Basie met many of the Harlem musicians who were "making the scene," including Willie "the Lion" Smith and James P. Johnson . Basie toured in several acts between 1925 and 1927, including Katie Krippen and Her Kiddies (featuring singer Katie Crippen ) as part of

768-604: A letter stating: "I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am with the new ending.... The shots you made are complete perfection." The Blanco Canyon scenes were filmed in California's Red Rock Canyon State Park in the Mojave Desert . The ranch and field scenes with greenery were filmed in the Sierra Nevada foothills near the town of Farmington in central California. Today Snow Ranch, a working cattle ranch,

864-481: A long engagement at the Grand Terrace Cafe . Right from the start, Basie's band was known for its rhythm section. Another Basie innovation was the use of two tenor saxophone players; at the time, most bands had just one. When Young complained of Herschel Evans ' vibrato, Basie placed them on either side of the alto players, and soon had the tenor players engaged in "duels". Many other bands later adapted

960-514: A long list of inspired and talented jazz soloists. Count Basie was the featured artist at the first Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field on September 23, 1945, which was produced by Leon Hefflin Sr. Al Jarvis was the Emcee and other artists to appear on stage were Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers, The Peters Sisters , Slim and Bam , Valaida Snow , and Big Joe Turner . They played to

1056-442: A lot of members turn over, and the band worked many play dates with lower pay. Dance hall bookings were down sharply as swing began to fade, the effects of the musicians' strikes of 1942–44 and 1948 began to be felt, and the public's taste grew for singers . Basie occasionally lost some key soloists. However, throughout the 1940s, he maintained a big band that possessed an infectious rhythmic beat, an enthusiastic team spirit, and

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1152-668: A major cross-country tour, including their first West Coast dates. A few months later, Basie quit MCA and signed with the William Morris Agency, who got them better fees. On February 19, 1940, Count Basie and his Orchestra opened a four-week engagement at Southland in Boston, and they broadcast over the radio on February 20. On the West Coast, in 1942 the band did a spot in Reveille With Beverly ,

1248-437: A musical film starring Ann Miller , and a "Command Performance" for Armed Forces Radio , with Hollywood stars Clark Gable , Bette Davis , Carmen Miranda , Jerry Colonna , and the singer Dinah Shore . Other minor movie spots followed, including Choo Choo Swing , Crazy House , Top Man , Stage Door Canteen , and Hit Parade of 1943 . They also continued to record for OKeh Records and Columbia Records. The war years caused

1344-470: A platitude. Peace is a pious precept, but fightin' is more excitin'. That's what it proves." Variety called the film "one of the best photography jobs of the year", with a "serviceable, adult" storyline "which should find favor with audiences of all tastes." Harrison's Reports declared it "a first-rate super-Western, beautifully photographed in the Technirama anamorphic process and Technicolor. It

1440-439: A second screenplay and Robert Wilder wrote another, with the final script by James R. Webb and Sy Bartlett . After arbitration, Webb, Bartlett and Wilder received screenplay credit and Wyler and West received adaptation credit. Uris was not given credit as his script deviated too much from the original story. Director William Wyler was known for shooting an exorbitant number of takes on his films, usually without explaining to

1536-753: A television special with Fred Astaire , featuring a dance solo to " Sweet Georgia Brown ", followed in January 1961 by Basie performing at one of the five John F. Kennedy Inaugural Balls. That summer, Basie and Duke Ellington combined forces for the recording First Time! The Count Meets the Duke , each providing four numbers from their play books. During the balance of the 1960s, the band kept active with tours, recordings, television appearances, festivals, Las Vegas shows, and travel abroad, including cruises. Some time around 1964, Basie adopted his trademark yachting cap. Through steady changes in personnel, Basie led

1632-489: A venue also opened to several other black entertainers. In 1959, Basie's band recorded a "greatest hits" double album The Count Basie Story ( Frank Foster , arranger), and Basie/Eckstine Incorporated , an album featuring Billy Eckstine, Quincy Jones (as arranger) and the Count Basie Orchestra. It was released by Roulette Records, then later reissued by Capitol Records. Later that year, Basie appeared on

1728-504: Is a 1958 American epic Western film directed by William Wyler , starring Gregory Peck , Jean Simmons , Carroll Baker , Charlton Heston , and Burl Ives . The supporting cast features Charles Bickford and Chuck Connors . Filmed in Technicolor and Technirama , the picture was based on the serialized magazine novel Ambush at Blanco Canyon by Donald Hamilton and was co-produced by Wyler and Peck. The opening title sequence

1824-592: Is a long picture, perhaps too long for what the story has to offer, but there is never a dull moment from start to finish and it holds one's interest tightly throughout." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called it "super stuff. Franz Planer's photography of Texas is downright awe-inspiring, the characters are solid, the story line firm, the playing first-rate, the music more than dashing in this nearly three-hour tale which should delight everybody." John McCarten of The New Yorker wrote, "Of those involved in this massive enterprise, Mr. Bickford and Mr. Ives are

1920-520: Is also used during the winter months (of lower fire risk) by a club of the National Association of Rocketry for launches of model and mid- and high-power amateur rockets. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote in a negative review, "for all this film's mighty pretensions, it does not get far beneath the skin of its conventional Western situation and its stock Western characters. It skims across standard complications and ends on

2016-530: The Famous Door , a mid-town nightspot with a CBS network feed and air conditioning , which Hammond was said to have bought the club in return for their booking Basie steadily throughout the summer of 1938. Their fame took a huge leap. Adding to their play book, Basie received arrangements from Jimmy Mundy (who had also worked with Benny Goodman and Earl Hines ), particularly for "Cherokee", "Easy Does It", and "Super Chief". In 1939, Basie and his band made

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2112-677: The Hippity Hop show; on the Keith , the Columbia Burlesque , and the Theater Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) vaudeville circuits; and as a soloist and accompanist to blues singer Gonzelle White as well as Crippen. His touring took him to Kansas City , St. Louis , New Orleans , and Chicago . Throughout his tours, Basie met many jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong . Before he

2208-551: The Modern Jazz Quartet . In 1966, the Solid State division was begun, recording several albums by The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra . Other subsidiary labels were Unart , Ascot , United Artists Jazz , Musicor (United Artists was half owner of the company from 1960 to 1964 before selling in 1965, Ultra Audio (an audiophile label), UA Latino (Spanish-language music,) and Veep. Unart was created in 1958 and

2304-596: The Universal-International short film "Sugar Chile" Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet . He reformed his group as a 16-piece orchestra in 1952. This group was eventually called the New Testament band. Basie credited Billy Eckstine , a top male vocalist of the time, for prompting his return to Big Band. He said that Norman Granz got them into the Birdland club and promoted

2400-767: The West Side Story original cast album and film soundtrack on CD. Sony has owned most of Mancini's soundtrack albums since its music division's merger with BMG in 2004. The label produced rock and roll and R&B hits from 1959 and into the 1960s by the Clovers , Marv Johnson , the Falcons , the Exciters , Patty Duke , the Delicates , Bobby Goldsboro , Jay and the Americans , and later Manfred Mann and

2496-422: The " Tale Spinners for Children " name throughout the 1960s. These were album-length adaptations of classic fairy tales and children's stories done in an audio drama format. United Artists Special Projects were budget records designed for product and movie tie-ins. Examples are The Incredible World of James Bond , an album sold by Pepsi Cola and Frito Lay of cover version themes and original soundtrack music of

2592-550: The 1940 census. He married Catherine Morgan on July 13, 1940, in the King County courthouse in Seattle, Washington. In 1942, they moved to Queens. Their only child, Diane, was born February 6, 1944. She was born with cerebral palsy and the doctors claimed she would never walk. The couple kept her and cared deeply for her, and especially through her mother's tutelage, Diane learned not only to walk but to swim. The Basies bought

2688-494: The Band. Basie also toured with Bennett, including a date at Carnegie Hall . He also recorded with Sammy Davis Jr. , Bing Crosby , and Sarah Vaughan . One of Basie's biggest regrets was never recording with Louis Armstrong , though they shared the same bill several times. In 1968, Basie and his Band recorded an album with Jackie Wilson titled Manufacturers of Soul . Count Basie introduced several generations of listeners to

2784-493: The Basie Orchestra in the mid-1970s, and Fitzgerald and Basie also met on the 1979 albums A Classy Pair , Digital III at Montreux , and A Perfect Match , the last two also recorded live at Montreux. In addition to Quincy Jones , Basie was using arrangers such as Benny Carter (Kansas City Suite) , Neal Hefti ( The Atomic Mr Basie ) , and Sammy Nestico (Basie-Straight Ahead) . Frank Sinatra recorded for

2880-466: The Basie band a boost and wider recognition. Soon after, Benny Goodman recorded their signature " One O'Clock Jump " with his band. A few months later, Holiday left for Artie Shaw 's band. Hammond introduced Helen Humes , whom Basie hired; she stayed with Basie for four years. When Eddie Durham left for Glenn Miller 's orchestra, he was replaced by Dicky Wells . Basie's 14-man band began playing at

2976-529: The Basie orchestra, in a charity benefit for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children . Sinatra later said of this concert "I have a funny feeling that those two nights could have been my finest hour, really. It went so well; it was so thrilling and exciting". Basie also recorded with Tony Bennett in the late 1950s. Their albums together included In Person and Strike Up

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3072-504: The Big Band sound and left an influential catalog. Basie is remembered by many who worked for him as being considerate of musicians and their opinions, modest, relaxed, fun-loving, dryly witty, and always enthusiastic about his music. In his autobiography, he wrote, "I think the band can really swing when it swings easy , when it can just play along like you are cutting butter." Count Basie made most of his albums with his big band. See

3168-580: The Big Muddy as a wedding gift for her, which initially convinces her to attempt to make amends with McKay. When she learns of McKay's plan to allow the Hannasseys equal access to the water, she leaves for good. Wanting to lure the Major into an ambush in the canyon leading to his homestead, Rufus takes Maragon hostage. Although McKay personally promises Rufus equal access to the water, he finds himself in

3264-580: The Blues) " becoming a huge hit. With Billy Eckstine on the album Basie/Eckstine Incorporated , in 1959. Ella Fitzgerald made some memorable recordings with Basie, including the 1963 album Ella and Basie! . With the New Testament Basie band in full swing, and arrangements written by a youthful Quincy Jones , this album proved a swinging respite from her Songbook recordings and constant touring she did during this period. She even toured with

3360-543: The Buzzcocks , the Stranglers and 999 . He also licensed UK releases for several influential German bands during the early 70s, the best known of which were Can , Neu! and Amon Düül II . Lauder left UA in late 1977 to help found Radar Records . The label's most commercially successful artist was country artist Kenny Rogers who signed to UA in the mid-1970s, enjoying a long string of hit singles and albums. In

3456-516: The Easybeats . Berry Gordy placed a number of early Motown acts with United Artists, including Marv Johnson and Eddie Holland in 1959. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were hired to produce artists signed to the label after they left Atlantic. These included the Exciters, Bobby Goldsboro , Jay and the Americans , the Clovers, and Mike Clifford. United Artists covered folk music when it added Gordon Lightfoot to its roster and easy listening with

3552-500: The Hannassey ranch, despite McKay's attempts to defuse the situation. The Major's group of twenty men finds neither Rufus nor Buck, so they settle for terrorizing the Hannassey women and children, shooting holes in the Hannassey water reservoir. They find Buck's posse in town and proceed to beat and humiliate three of them. Meanwhile, McKay privately tames and rides Old Thunder after many unsuccessful attempts and swears his only witness,

3648-695: The Liberty name in favor of United Artists. Mainstream pop acts were signed to the label, among them Traffic , the Spencer Davis Group , Peter Sarstedt , Shirley Bassey , and War . The label attempted to update the style of 1950s rock group Bill Haley & His Comets with a 1968 single. After UA bought Mediarts Records , the roster grew to include Don McLean , Merrilee Rush , Paul Anka , Chris Rea , Dusty Springfield , Bill Conti , Northern Calloway , Johnny Rivers , Ike & Tina Turner , Gerry Rafferty , and Crystal Gayle . Later, through

3744-648: The Palace Theater in Red Bank, where doing occasional chores gained him free admission to performances. He quickly learned to improvise music appropriate to the acts and the silent movies . Though a natural at the piano, Basie preferred drums. Discouraged by the obvious talents of Sonny Greer , who also lived in Red Bank and became Duke Ellington 's drummer in 1919, Basie switched to piano exclusively at age 15. Greer and Basie played together in venues until Greer set out on his professional career. By then, Basie

3840-468: The Reno Club and often performed for a live radio broadcast. During a broadcast the announcer wanted to give Basie's name some style, so he called him "Count". It positioned him with Earl Hines , as well as Duke Ellington. Basie's new band played at the Reno Club and sometimes were broadcast on local radio. Late one night with time to fill, the band started improvising. Basie liked the results and named

3936-641: The Roof (1971), and Man of La Mancha (1972). The soundtrack album of United Artists's West Side Story (1961) was released by Columbia Records , which had also released the Broadway cast album. Also, the American version of the soundtrack album of United Artists's Help! (1965), also starring the Beatles, was released on Capitol Records . As Henry Mancini was signed to RCA Victor, that company handled

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4032-532: The Terrill-Hannassey dispute. With the only river nearby running through it, access is vital for both herds during times of drought. McKay persuades Maragon to sell the ranch to him in the hopes of both securing a gift for Patricia and ending the conflict by continuing Maragon's policy of unrestricted access to the river. McKay shows up at the camp of the Terrill search party led by Leech sent out to find

4128-683: The United Artists Records catalog were reissued on Liberty during these years. Two significant exceptions were a couple of Beatles albums not previously controlled by EMI in the United States: the A Hard Day's Night (1964) soundtrack album, and Let It Be (1970). The Let It Be album was actually released by Apple Records in both the UK and the US but because the movie had been distributed by United Artists Pictures, in America

4224-781: The Woodside Hotel in Harlem their base (they often rehearsed in its basement). Soon, they were booked at the Roseland Ballroom for the Christmas show. Basie recalled a review, which said something like, "We caught the great Count Basie band which is supposed to be so hot he was going to come in here and set the Roseland on fire. Well, the Roseland is still standing". Compared to the reigning band of Fletcher Henderson , Basie's band lacked polish and presentation. The producer John Hammond continued to advise and encourage

4320-427: The actors what to do differently except "[make it] better", and this one was no exception. Many of the actors, including Jean Simmons and Carroll Baker, were so traumatized by his directing style that they refused to speak about the experience for years. Simmons later said they constantly received rewrites for the script, making acting extremely difficult. Gregory Peck and Wyler, who were good friends, fought constantly on

4416-670: The addition of piano duo Ferrante & Teicher . United Artists' involvement with jazz was significant. The company hired Alan Douglas in 1960 to run its jazz division. Other producers were George Wein , Jack Lewis, and Tom Wilson . United Artists released jazz albums by Count Basie , Art Blakey , Ruby Braff , Betty Carter , Teddy Charles , Kenny Dorham , Mose Allison , Duke Ellington , Art Farmer , Bud Freeman , Curtis Fuller , Benny Golson , Billie Holiday , Milt Jackson , Dave Lambert , Booker Little , Howard McGhee , Gerry Mulligan , Oliver Nelson , Herb Pomeroy , Bill Potts , Zoot Sims , Rex Stewart , Billy Strayhorn , and

4512-681: The addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Webster . When the band voted Moten out, Basie took over for several months, calling the group Count Basie and his Cherry Blossoms. When his own band folded, he rejoined Moten with a newly re-organized band. A year later, Basie joined Bennie Moten's band, and played with them until Moten died in 1935 from a failed tonsillectomy. The band tried to stay together but failed. Basie then formed his own nine-piece band, Barons of Rhythm, with many former Moten members including Walter Page (bass), Freddie Green (guitar), Jo Jones (drums), Lester Young (tenor saxophone) and Jimmy Rushing (vocals). The Barons of Rhythm were regulars at

4608-408: The age of 79. Basie hitched his star to some of the most famous vocalists of the 1950s and 1960s, which helped keep the Big Band sound alive and added greatly to his recording catalog. Jimmy Rushing sang with Basie in the late 1930s. Joe Williams toured with the band and was featured on the 1957 album One O'Clock Jump , and 1956's Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings , with " Every Day (I Have

4704-586: The album was distributed by United Artists rather than EMI. Both previously non-EMI Beatles albums were reissued on the Capitol label, which already controlled the rest of the Beatles' catalog in the United States. When producer Jerry Weintraub was enlisted to revive the United Artists movie studio in 1986, he attempted to revive the United Artists Records label as well. However, only one album

4800-484: The architecture of the film. In a poll of 500 films held by Empire , it was voted 187th-greatest movie of all time. Ives won the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor, as well as a Golden Globe Award. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for the musical score by Jerome Moross. The Academy Film Archive preserved The Big Country in 2006. A comic-book adaptation of the novel and tie-in to

4896-489: The area. Both of his parents had some type of musical background. His father played the mellophone , and his mother played the piano ; in fact, she gave Basie his first piano lessons. She took in laundry and baked cakes for sale for a living. She paid 25 cents a lesson for Count Basie's piano instruction. The best student in school, Basie dreamed of a traveling life, inspired by touring carnivals which came to town. He finished junior high school but spent much of his time at

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4992-460: The audience into shouts of encouragement and appreciation and casual beads of perspiration to drop from Chick's brow onto the brass cymbals, the Count maintained an attitude of poise and self-assurance. He constantly parried Chick's thundering haymakers with tantalizing runs and arpeggios which teased more and more force from his adversary. The publicity over the big band battle, before and after, gave

5088-704: The band into the 1980s. Basie made a few more movie appearances, such as in the Jerry Lewis film Cinderfella (1960) and the Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles (1974), playing a revised arrangement of "April in Paris". In 1982 Basie and his orchestra were the featured entertainment for the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Pittsburgh Steelers at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center . Basie

5184-564: The band name of Jones-Smith Incorporated; the sides were "Shoe Shine Boy", "Evening", "Boogie Woogie", and "Oh Lady Be Good". After Vocalion became a subsidiary of Columbia Records in 1938, "Boogie Woogie" was released in 1941 as part of a four-record compilation album entitled Boogie Woogie (Columbia album C44). When he made the Vocalion recordings, Basie had already signed with Decca Records , but did not have his first recording session with them until January 1937. By then, Basie's sound

5280-716: The band winged every number without sheet music using "head arrangements". He met Fats Waller , who was playing organ at the Lincoln Theater accompanying silent movies, and Waller taught him how to play that instrument. (Basie later played organ at the Eblon Theater in Kansas City). As he did with Duke Ellington, Willie "the Lion" Smith helped Basie out during the lean times by arranging gigs at " house-rent parties ", introducing him to other leading musicians, and teaching him some piano technique. In 1928, Basie

5376-449: The band, and they soon came up with some adjustments, including softer playing, more solos, and more standards. They paced themselves to save their hottest numbers for later in the show, to give the audience a chance to warm up. His first official recordings for Decca followed, under contract to agent MCA, including " Pennies from Heaven " and " Honeysuckle Rose ". Hammond introduced Basie to Billie Holiday , whom he invited to sing with

5472-470: The band. (Holiday did not record with Basie, as she had her own record contract and preferred working with small combos). The band's first appearance at the Apollo Theater followed, with the vocalists Holiday and Jimmy Rushing getting the most attention. Durham returned to help with arranging and composing, but for the most part, the orchestra worked out its numbers in rehearsal, with Basie guiding

5568-480: The bands" with Chick Webb 's group. Basie had Holiday, and Webb countered with the singer Ella Fitzgerald . As Metronome magazine proclaimed, "Basie's Brilliant Band Conquers Chick's"; the article described the evening: Throughout the fight, which never let down in its intensity during the whole fray, Chick took the aggressive, with the Count playing along easily and, on the whole, more musically scientifically. Undismayed by Chick's forceful drum beating, which sent

5664-634: The canyon for a final confrontation with the Major and challenges him to a one-on-one showdown. Armed with rifles, the two old men advance and kill one another. With that, the hostilities end, and McKay and Julie, clearly falling in love, ride off together with Ramon to start a new life together. Robert Wyler and Jessamyn West wrote the first screenplay for the film based on the Donald Hamilton story that had been serialized in The Saturday Evening Post . Leon Uris wrote

5760-567: The change of ownership allowed Jet Records to end its relationship with UA and switch its distribution to CBS Records , with the Jet back catalog transferring to CBS distribution as well. UA dumped many ELO albums into the cutout market, which CBS was unable to prevent. However, CBS reissues of early ELO albums through Out of the Blue (1977) contained copyright notices for United Artists Music and Records Group. Unable to generate enough income to cover

5856-403: The development of swing music, and at one performance at the Pearl Theatre in Philadelphia in December 1932, the theatre opened its door to allow anybody in who wanted to hear the band perform. During a stay in Chicago, Basie recorded with the band. He occasionally played four-hand piano and dual pianos with Moten, who also conducted. The band improved with several personnel changes, including

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5952-434: The enormous ranch owned by her father, Henry "The Major" Terrill. After a meeting with Patricia's friend, schoolteacher Julie Maragon, McKay, and Patricia are accosted by a group of drunks led by Buck Hannassey, the son of the Major's ardent and implacable enemy Rufus Hannassey − with whom he's had a longstanding feud over water access for cattle. In spite of the harassment and mockery, McKay surprises Patricia by making light of

6048-431: The first three James Bond films, and Music from Marlboro Country , various cover versions of the theme to The Magnificent Seven and original soundtrack music from Elmer Bernstein 's Return of the Seven that was sold by Philip Morris as a tie-in to its Marlboro cigarette brand. In 1969, United Artists merged with co-owned Liberty Records and its subsidiary, Imperial Records . In 1971, Liberty/UA Records dropped

6144-422: The first time with Basie on 1962's Sinatra-Basie and for a second studio album on 1964's It Might as Well Be Swing , which was arranged by Quincy Jones . Jones also arranged and conducted 1966's live Sinatra at the Sands which featured Sinatra with Count Basie and his orchestra stayed at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas at Sinatra's request. In May 1970, Sinatra performed in London's Royal Festival Hall with

6240-458: The incident and stating that he's experienced worse and the boys meant no harm, they were just drunk. The next morning, McKay declines an invitation from the Major's foreman Steve Leech to ride an indomitable bronco stallion named "Old Thunder". McKay then brings a pair of dueling pistols once owned by his father to the Major as a gift. When the Major learns of Buck's pestering of his daughter and future son-in-law, he gathers his men and goes to raid

6336-404: The level of those led by Duke Ellington or Fletcher Henderson . Where the Blue Devils were "snappier" and more "bluesy", the Moten band was more refined and respected, playing in the " Kansas City stomp " style. In addition to playing piano, Basie was co-arranger with Eddie Durham , who notated the music. Their " Moten Swing ", which Basie claimed credit for, was an invaluable contribution to

6432-495: The listener who remembers 1938 and the youngster who has never before heard a big band like this." In 1957, Basie sued the jazz venue Ball and Chain in Miami over outstanding fees, causing the closure of the venue. In 1958, the band made its first European tour. Jazz was especially appreciated in France, The Netherlands, and Germany in the 1950s; these countries were the stomping grounds for many expatriate American jazz stars who were either resurrecting their careers or sitting out

6528-415: The live album Count Basie at Newport . " April in Paris " (arrangement by Wild Bill Davis) was a best-selling instrumental and the title song for the hit album. The Basie band made two tours in the British Isles and on the second, they put on a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II , along with Judy Garland , Vera Lynn , and Mario Lanza . He was a guest on ABC 's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom ,

6624-401: The loan, Liberty/United Records was sold to EMI in 1979 for $ 3 million and assumed liabilities of $ 32 million. EMI dropped the United Artists name in 1980 and revived the Liberty label for releases by artists who had been signed to UA. This incarnation of Liberty Records operated between 1980 and about 1986, when it was deactivated and its artists assigned to other EMI labels. Many albums from

6720-443: The mid-to-late 1970s, the company was known as United Artists Music and Records Group (UAMARG). In 1978, UA executives Artie Mogull and Jerry Rubinstein bought the record company from Transamerica with a loan from EMI , which took over distribution of the label. The official name of the company was changed to Liberty/United Records, but the United Artists Records name was retained under license. The deal led to an immediate setback, as

6816-404: The most commendable as they whoop and snort about the sagebrush. But even they are hardly credible types, and as for the rest of the cast, they can be set down as a rather wooden lot." Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times called the film "too self consciously 'epical' to be called great, but at its best, which is frequently, it's better than good." The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that

6912-501: The movie was first released in 1957. Count Basie William James " Count " Basie ( / ˈ b eɪ s i / ; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra , and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like

7008-688: The new band through recordings on the Mercury , Clef , and Verve labels. By 1956, Basie's recordings were also showcased by Ben Selvin within the RCA Thesaurus transcription library. The jukebox era had begun, and Basie shared the exposure along with early rock'n'roll and rhythm and blues artists. Basie's new band was more of an ensemble group, with fewer solo turns, and relying less on "head" and more on written arrangements. Basie added touches of bebop "so long as it made sense", and he required that "it all had to have feeling". Basie's band

7104-476: The other band members. He called Basie "Holy Man", "Holy Main", and just plain "Holy". Basie favored blues , and he would showcase some of the most notable blues singers of the era after he went to New York: Billie Holiday , Jimmy Rushing , Big Joe Turner , Helen Humes , and Joe Williams . He also hired arrangers who knew how to maximize the band's abilities, such as Eddie Durham and Jimmy Mundy . When Basie took his orchestra to New York in 1937, they made

7200-459: The picture's attempts to convey a message were for the most part "superficial and pedestrian," and found that "the pivotal character of McKay, played on a monotonously self-righteous note by Gregory Peck, never comes alive. It is mainly due to the power of the climactic canyon battle, and Burl Ives' interesting playing as Rufus, that this remains a not unsympathetic film, decorated pleasantly by Jean Simmons and with spirit by Carroll Baker." The film

7296-469: The piece " One O'Clock Jump ". According to Basie, "we hit it with the rhythm section and went into the riffs , and the riffs just stuck. We set the thing up front in D-flat, and then we just went on playing in F." It became his signature tune. At the end of 1936, Basie and his band, now billed as Count Basie and His Barons of Rhythm, moved from Kansas City to Chicago, where they honed their repertoire at

7392-492: The presumed lost McKay. Upon returning to Ladder Ranch, Leech calls McKay a liar when McKay explains he was never lost or in danger. Again McKay refuses to be goaded into a fight, which disappoints Patricia enough to make the pair reconsider their engagement. Before dawn and without an audience, McKay challenges Leech to a prolonged outdoor fistfight, which ends in a draw. In the morning, Maragon tells Patricia of McKay's purchase of

7488-455: The proceedings. There were often no musical notations made. Once the musicians found what they liked, they usually were able to repeat it using their "head arrangements" and collective memory . Next, Basie played at the Savoy , which was noted more for lindy-hopping , while the Roseland was a place for fox-trots and congas . In early 1938, the Savoy was the meeting ground for a "battle of

7584-404: The ranch hand Ramon, to secrecy. A gala is held on the Terrill ranch in honor of Patricia's upcoming wedding. At the height of the festivities, an armed Rufus crashes the party and accuses the Major of the hypocrisy of pretending to be a gentleman when his actions speak otherwise. The next day, McKay secretly goes to Maragon's abandoned ranch, known as the "Big Muddy", the property at the center of

7680-709: The rights to soundtrack albums UA Records released under license from MGM Music . The catalog of most British acts who were signed to the British branch of UA Records is today controlled by the Parlophone unit of Warner Music Group , with North American distribution by Rhino Entertainment . One exception is the band The Vapors , whose rights to their UA/Liberty recordings are owned by RT Industries, which acquired them from WMG in 2018. However, Warner's services division Alternative Distribution Alliance serves as RT's distributor. The Big Country The Big Country

7776-532: The set and had a falling out for three years, although they later reconciled. Wyler and Charles Bickford also clashed, as they had done 30 years previously on the production of his 1929 film Hell's Heroes . Burl Ives, however, claimed to have enjoyed making the film. Before principal photography was complete, Wyler left for Rome to start work on Ben-Hur , delegating creation of the final scenes involving McKay and Maragon to his assistant Robert Swink , whose resulting scenes pleased Wyler so much that he wrote Swink

7872-596: The soundtracks of the United Artists films that he composed the music for, most notably The Pink Panther ; exceptions include Gaily, Gaily , The Hawaiians , The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Revenge of the Pink Panther . Many of these soundtracks have reverted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , whose MGM Music unit licensed them to other labels for reissue, first Rykodisc , then Universal Music and EMI. As owner of Columbia and RCA Victor, Sony released

7968-534: The split tenor arrangement. In that city in October 1936, the band had a recording session which the producer John Hammond later described as "the only perfect, completely perfect recording session I've ever had anything to do with". Hammond first heard Basie's band on the radio and went to Kansas City to check them out. He invited them to record, in performances which were Lester Young's earliest recordings. Those four sides were released on Vocalion Records under

8064-511: The use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, his minimalist piano style, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans , the guitarist Freddie Green , trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison , plunger trombonist Al Grey , and singers Jimmy Rushing , Helen Humes , Thelma Carpenter , and Joe Williams . As

8160-439: The years of racial divide in the United States. Neal Hefti began to provide arrangements, including " Li'l Darlin' ". By the mid-1950s, Basie's band had become one of the preeminent backing big bands for some of the most prominent jazz vocalists of the time. They also toured with the "Birdland Stars of 1955", whose lineup included Sarah Vaughan , Erroll Garner , Lester Young , George Shearing , and Stan Getz . In 1957, Basie

8256-506: Was 20 years old, he toured extensively on the Keith and TOBA vaudeville circuits as a solo pianist, accompanist, and music director for blues singers, dancers, and comedians. This provided an early training that was to prove significant in his later career. Back in Harlem in 1925, Basie gained his first steady job at Leroy's, a place known for its piano players and its " cutting contests ". The place catered to "uptown celebrities", and typically

8352-530: Was a Prince Hall Freemason as a member of Wisdom Lodge No. 102 in Chicago as well as a Shriner . Basie was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. On July 21, 1930, Basie married Vivian Lee Winn, in Kansas City, Missouri. They were divorced sometime before 1935. Some time in or before 1935, the now single Basie returned to New York City, renting a house at 111 West 138th Street, Manhattan, as evidenced by

8448-544: Was a big hit, being the second-most popular movie in Britain in 1959. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes , the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. President Dwight D. Eisenhower liked the movie so much, he screened it on four successive evenings in the White House during his second administration. Playmobil designed an entire cowboy line based on

8544-424: Was characterized by a "jumping" beat and the contrapuntal accents of his own piano. His personnel around 1937 included: Lester Young and Herschel Evans (tenor sax), Freddie Green (guitar), Jo Jones (drums), Walter Page (bass), Earle Warren (alto sax), Buck Clayton and Harry Edison (trumpet), Benny Morton and Dickie Wells (trombone). Lester Young, known as "Prez" by the band, came up with nicknames for all

8640-694: Was created by Saul Bass . Burl Ives won the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for his performance, as well as the Golden Globe Award . The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for the musical score , composed by Jerome Moross . The film is one of the few in which Heston plays a major supporting role rather than the lead. Former sea captain James McKay travels to the American West to join his fiancée Patricia at

8736-652: Was in Tulsa and heard Walter Page and his Famous Blue Devils , one of the first big bands , which featured Jimmy Rushing on vocals. A few months later, he was invited to join the band, which played mostly in Texas and Oklahoma . It was at this time that he began to be known as "Count" Basie (see Jazz royalty ). The following year, in 1929, Basie became the pianist with the Bennie Moten band based in Kansas City, inspired by Moten's ambition to raise his band to match

8832-497: Was in operation until 1959, producing singles by vocal groups; it was reinstated in 1967 for budget albums . In 1966 United Artists acquired the masters of Sue Records , an R&B and soul record label in New York City which produced Ike & Tina Turner , Baby Washington , and jazz organist Jimmy McGriff . Some material produced by Sue was reissued on Unart. United Artists produced a series of children's records under

8928-609: Was playing with pick-up groups for dances, resorts, and amateur shows, including Harry Richardson's "Kings of Syncopation". When not playing a gig, he hung out at the local pool hall with other musicians, where he picked up on upcoming play dates and gossip. He got some jobs in Asbury Park at the Jersey Shore , and played at the Hong Kong Inn until a better player took his place. Around 1920, Basie went to Harlem ,

9024-492: Was released: the soundtrack for The Karate Kid Part II , a film Weintraub had produced for Columbia Pictures before being hired at UA. A single from the movie's soundtrack, Mancrab's "Fish for Life," was also released on United Artists Records. The United Artists catalog is controlled by Capitol Records, now part of Universal Music Group (who also owns the non-soundtrack catalog of MGM Records , once owned by UA's current parent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ). Capitol Records also has

9120-857: Was sharing Birdland with such bebop musicians as Charlie Parker , Dizzy Gillespie , and Miles Davis . Behind the occasional bebop solos, he always kept his strict rhythmic pulse, "so it doesn't matter what they do up front; the audience gets the beat". Basie also added flute to some numbers, a novelty at the time that became widely copied. Soon, his band was touring and recording again. The new band included: Paul Campbell, Tommy Turrentine , Johnny Letman , Idrees Sulieman , and Joe Newman (trumpet); Jimmy Wilkins, Benny Powell , Matthew Gee (trombone); Paul Quinichette and Floyd "Candy" Johnson (tenor sax); Frank Wess (tenor sax and flute); Marshal Royal and Ernie Wilkins (alto sax); and Charlie Fowlkes (baritone sax). DownBeat magazine reported: "(Basie) has managed to assemble an ensemble that can thrill both

9216-570: Was the featured soloist on the unusual recording, which was released on both LP and reel-to-reel tape. United Artists releases included soundtracks and cover versions from the James Bond movies, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), A Hard Day's Night starring the Beatles (1964), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), Fiddler on

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