Word: friedman
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Recently, for example, Friedman stuffed 48 of his latest songs into his attache case and hopped a jet for Hollywood. There, after hiring a Capitol Records studio, he gathered together his arranger-conductor (Jazz Great Benny Carter), a crack 49-piece band (including Saxophonist Bud Shank, Drummer Louis Bellson, Guitarist Barney Kessel), Vocalists Carmen McRae and Joe Williams, and a chorus of twelve. Then for the next few days he sat back and listened to the best that the music profession can do with songs like his Look What I Found...
This week Friedman will be at it again. Carter and his forces will record three new compositions that Friedman wants to include in a new vanity album, his second in seven years. "I think I've written a lot of very good songs," he says. "But with what each one is costing me, I'm not sure I can afford to write any more...
...Friedman's lyrics celebrate family, home, patriotism and brotherhood. Many of his songs are dedicated to one or the other of his five children, like Jenny...
...Friedman's melodies, Benny Carter diplomatically says: "He doesn't refine them the way a professional does. If he spent just a little more time, he would have a great song instead of a good song...
...None of Friedman's songs has ever been published commercially, though he would not object if a record company or publisher took an interest in them. Basically, he is just a Mittyesque amateur who has always been surrounded by music at home, and probably always will be. He was playing ukulele by four, guitar by six, and classical and pop piano by eight, plus studying harmony. At Tiffin (Ohio) High School and at Cleveland's Case Institute, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering, Friedman kept on playing in his spare time. At Tiffin he even headed...