Jazz Connection Magazine

Grammy Award-winning arranger, composer, singer and

vocal chorus director Alan Copeland, above, has combined

musicality with wit during his eminent career.

The way Alan Copeland sees it, arranging a musical score is a rush that can be best compared to jumping out of an airplane. The Grammy Award-winning arranger, composer and singer who literally single-handedly has re-written the repertoire for the celebrated vocal group, The Modernaires, for over the last 50 years, and who formed his own critically acclaimed vocal troupe, the Alan Copeland Singers, for records and television, has long been a favorite among a diversity of artists such as Count Basie, Horace Silver, David Rose, Les Brown, Sarah Vaughn, Dick Haymes, Helen Forrest, Ella Fitzgerald, Jim Nabors, Engelbert Humperdinck, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and Peter Marshall, among others.

"Arranging is like a drug," said Copeland, who turns 79 this month, via telephone from his home in Soulsbyville, CA, a hamlet in the mountains near Sonora. "Once you experience working with wonderful musicians and then hearing your work back, you become absolutely addicted to it. There's not much I can do about it. I'll be trying to do it as long as I can because it's a huge turn on."

Copeland's works have been so aptly described by the noted jazz critic Stanley Dance, as that of combining "musicality with wit." Copeland himself admitted that his take on music is often times a little "off-center."

Many artists such as Peter Marshall, who is best known as the popular host of the famed Hollywood Squares game show on television for 15 years, finds that "different perspective" in Copeland's writing refreshing. Copeland has written Marshall's stage and nightclub acts since 1973.

"Alan brings a vivid imagination to the table every time I work with him," said Marshall, 78, in a telephone conversation from his home in Sherman Oaks, CA. "He's an amazing musician. Once, I wanted to do a song with impressions in my act and I asked Alan to come up with different people singing in it. He came in the next day with it. He's so prolific."

While Copeland may be prolific, he remains highly regarded by musicians but under-recognized by the general public.

"I don't know why I'm not more recognized," Copeland said. "I think I have a cult following among musicians. I know that I'm known in musicians' circles and highly respected. It's just one of those things, I guess."

With over 58 years of arranging history under his belt, Copeland can write out any chart and make it look easy, while in fact, arranging does come easy for him these days, he said.

"There's still a lot to it," he said. "It takes an investment in creativity that you absorb through your life time. You're able to draw from a pool from the stuff that you've done. Just as a person practices a piano, he gets better and better. I think that I've gotten better as the years have gone by. I'm now at my peak. I'm still anxious to arrange whenever I can."

Despite his diversity of work throughout the course of his career, Copeland has never strayed too far from the shadow of Glenn Miller and his eminent vocal group. He has had a number of tours of duty with The Mods, both as a regular and as a sub.

Born on Oct. 6, 1926, in Los Angeles, CA, Copeland's musical odyssey began at age 10 when his mother started him with piano lessons.

"I was no child prodigy," Copeland admitted. "I should have really practiced more than I did. I did apply myself enough to learn the rudiments of how to read music, etc. I had a head start that way."

But it wasn't until about three years later that Copeland began taking a serious interest in music when he became a member of the renowned Bob Mitchell Boys Choir. Since it's formation during the mid-1930s, the Mitchell Boys Choir appeared on countless radio shows of the day and in over 100 motion pictures.

As a member of the Choir, Copeland helped to record the sound track for The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939) starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O"Hara, and Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent (1940). He and the Choir appeared in several classic films such as Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien; Frank Capra's Meet John Doe (1941), starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Brennan; and in another Cagney film, Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), in which the cinema's quintessential "tough guy" won an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Although he was in that celebrated Cagney film about the life of songwriter George M. Cohan, Copeland lamented that he was not visible in the film.

"I was just awestruck just being on the set for Yankee Doodle Dandy," Copeland recalled. "I really didn't have the moxie to think about being in a place where the camera could see me. But, I'm there, I assure you!" (laughs)

During the time he was with the Choir, Copeland developed a friendship with singer/pianist David Street, who took the young teen under his wing and worked with him in furthering to develop his piano technique.

"I pretty much took off from there," Copeland said. "David was a wonderful singer whose career never developed as it should have."

Street went on to become a contract vocalist with Johnny Mercer's newly-formed Capitol Records in 1942. He can be heard on Here You Are, backed by Freddie Slack and his orchestra, on Capitol's second release, # 102, which is on the flip side of Ella Mae Morse's Cow-Cow Boogie, the fledging label's first million-seller.

In between his school studies, piano practice and his daily three-hour rehearsals with the Choir, the teenage Copeland became enamored with many of the vocal groups that were popular during that period, including the Merry Macs, Four Hits And A Miss, and the Four King Sisters, among others. But his favorite vocal group was The Modernaires, who helped contribute numerous hits to bandleader Glenn Miller's musical canon.

"I was taken with the blend of the group," Copeland said. "The Modernaires were always on the cutting edge."

The Modernaires, however, were not just a sensation that Miller happen to discover. They were organized six years prior to joining Miller in 1941 and were performing and recording with other bands of the period before Miller even formed his own outfit.

The beginnings of The Modernaires go back to 1935 in Buffalo, NY, when three high school students - Hal Dickinson, Chuck Goldstein and Bill Conway - formed a trio calling themselves "The Three Weary Willies," appearing on radio in the area. Their first major job singing with a band was with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra, calling themselves "Don Juan-Two-And-Three."

Heading to New York City, the trio recorded with Red McKenzie's Mound City Blue Blowers. Soon after, they joined Ozzie Nelson's band and became known as "The Three Wizards Of Ozzie." Next came a stint with Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, where they recruited Ralph Brewster as the group's fourth voice.

In 1936, the foursome now called themselves "The Modernaires," and debuted that summer with saxophonist Charlie Barnet and his orchestra at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, NY. They also recorded some of their best known pre-Miller works with Barnet including Make Believe Ballroom (recorded Aug. 3, 1936) and The Milkman's Matinee (Sept. 24, 1936). These tunes served, respectfully, as the theme songs for noted WNEW New York City disc jockeys Martin Block and Art Ford.

The Modernaires also recorded with George Hall's band and appeared in the musical short, You Hit The Spot, with Harry Reser's orchestra. In 1938, the Mods joined the ranks of Paul Whiteman where they were featured on the portly maestro's weekly radio show and recorded seventeen sides on the Decca label.

On New Year's Eve 1939, Hal Dickinson married Paula Kelly, the pretty and talented singer from Al Donahue's society band.

On Jan. 13, 1941, The Modernaires joined the Miller band and were usually teamed up with Miller's popular vocalists Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, and saxophonist/singer Gordon "Tex" Beneke. Around the same time the Mods joined Miller, Hutton left to go on maternity leave. Replacing her was Dorothy Claire from Bobby Byrne's band.

The first Miller-Modernaires hit to be recorded was Perfidia (Feb.19), with Dorothy Claire on the lead on the vocal.

On March 20 of that year, Claire left Miller to rejoin Byrne. Paula Kelly was then brought aboard as a temporary replacement as the band's girl singer. Although Chuck Goldstein could and did sing the highest of high parts, Kelly now assumed the lead vocal duties.

The Modernaires with Paula Kelly in 1946. The

Modernaires are, top left, Hal Dickinson, Johnny Drake,

Fran Scott, and Ralph Brewster (front).

One of the first major hits of the Paula Kelly-Modernaires combination occurred on May 7, 1941 when the band recorded the Harry Warren and Mack Gordon tune, Chattanooga Choo Choo, that was featured in the movie Sun Valley Serenade, starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Milton Berle, Lynn Bari, Joan Davis and the Nicholas Brothers. With Tex Beneke joining in on the recording, Choo Choo became the first record ever to be certified as a million seller. It sold this amount within six months after its release and eventually became one of the few multi-million sellers in pre-rock-era times. (Miller subsequently was awarded with a gold-plated platter of Choo Choo on his Chesterfield broadcast on Feb. 10, 1942 - the first "gold record" trophy given to anyone.) Kelly and the Mods also appeared in the film singing the piece.

Paula Kelly and the Mods had another hit recording that appeared on the flip side of Chattanooga Choo Choo, the pretty ballad piece, I Know Why (May 7). Other chart toppers they recorded include I Guess I'll Have To Dream The Rest (May 28, 1941, with Ray Eberle); The Kiss Polka and Elmer's Tune (both on Aug. 11). Elmer's Tune faired well with the public and became a number one hit record in October 1941.

But by that time Hutton returned to the Miller fold and Kelly found work with clarinet playing bandleader Artie Shaw.

Meanwhile, The Modernaires kept cranking out more hits with Miller: Slumber Song (Nov. 24, 1941), a romantic ballad that featured the soft tones of the Mods. The tune replaced Moonlight Serenade as the band's theme song during the dispute between ASCAP and BMI, the two copyright collection societies, in October 1940; Moonlight Cocktail (Dec. 8, 1941, with Ray Eberle); the spirited Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (Feb. 18, 1942, with Marion Hutton and Tex Beneke); (I've Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo (with Marion Hutton and Tex Beneke) and Serenade In Blue (with Ray Eberle), both recorded on May 20, 1942, that were featured in the Miller band's second and final movie, Orchestra Wives, starring George Montgomery, Ann Rutherford, Carole Landis, Caesar Romero, Lynn Bari and Jackie Gleason; and Jukebox Saturday Night (July 15, 1942, with Skip Nelson), a novelty tune which gave vocalists and sidemen an opportunity to impersonate musical personalities. Ralph Brewster spoofs two of the Ink Spots on the piece.

On Sept. 27, 1942, Miller disbanded his civilian band to join the Army after playing a final concert at the Central Theater in Passaic, NJ. Soon after, the first of a series of replacements occurred with the Mods as Chuck Goldstein, one of the original thee members, left to form his own vocal quintet, "The Four Chicks And Chuck."

By the end of 1942, the Mods joined Tex Beneke and Marion Hutton for a short time appearing as "The Glenn Miller Singers." When Beneke and Hutton left, the group became known solely as "The Modernaires" in theaters and nightclubs across America. Bill Conway, another member of the original trio, then left to join the service.

Replacements to maintain The Modernaires' unique sound were difficult and a revolving door of singers took place during the next two years. In 1943, Hal Dickinson hired Fran Scott who stayed with the group until 1959. Paula Kelly also rejoined the group and stayed until her retirement in 1978. She died on April 2, 1992, just four days shy of her 73rd birthday. Dickinson died in 1970.

Little did Copeland realize that he would become a member of the famed five-some by decade's end.

Copeland's musical pursuits were interrupted by military service in the Navy during World War II.

Upon his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Copeland set out to form his own vocal group - a two-male, two-female quartet calling themselves the Twin Tones (with Tom Kenny, Doris Brian and Gwen Brian) .

In 1947, the Twin Tones got their first big professional break by singing with Jan Garber's orchestra. Garber, known as "The Idol Of The Airlanes," led a very successful society-type show band since the mid-1920s.

"Thanks to a friend of mine who was singing with Jan, he convinced Jan that he should hear us," Copeland said. "We auditioned for Jan and we got the job. We traveled all over the country and sang at all the great ballrooms."

During their brief stint with Garber, Copeland's quartet recorded four commercial sides for Capitol Records, including For Heaven's Sake, a beautiful ballad written by Elise Bretton, Sherman Edwards and Donald Meyer, and a handful of transcriptions, Copeland said.

In addition to doing all the arrangements for his quartet, Copeland also tried his hand at arranging for the Garber band. He took a chance and wrote an arrangement of a few choruses of Peg 'O My Heart that was played in a medley. After hearing his work played by the band, Copeland became hungry to learn all he could about the art of arranging, he said.

"Once you experience the adrenalin of hearing your own stuff back, you have to do more," Copeland said.

Garber's cordial personality and knack for showcasing a wonderful show band provided the perfect springboard for Copeland's talents and others like him.

"Jan was terrific to me and my group," Copeland recalled about his former boss. "He was also a pretty nifty violinist. He'd bring out the violin on occasion and play a bit. He had a wonderful time up there in front of the band."

While the Garber band was playing at the Biltmore Ballroom in Los Angeles, Copeland was given a tip by singer Ginny O'Connor Mancini (a former member of Mel Torme's Mel-Tones and Tex Beneke's Mellolarks and a newlywed of then up-and-coming composer and arranger Henry Mancini) that The Modernaires were looking for a replacement for Ralph Brewster, the group's top tenor voice, who was leaving to pursue a career as a choral director, according to Copeland.

"I managed to get in touch with Tom Sheils, the manager of The Modernaires, and he felt that I had a good enough track record to warrant an audition with the group," Copeland said. "I went out to Fran Scott's house, who was the arranger and singer with the group then. I was able to cut the charts even though they were in a higher range than I usually sing. The members of the group liked me and I was in. There I was with the Number One group in the country!"

What made The Modernaries such a successful group, both artistically and commercially, was its behind-the-scenes workings of its most fervent cheerleader, Hal Dickinson, according to Copeland.

"Hal was a very enthusiastic and generous guy, a wonderful singer, who kept in constant contact with the home office while we were on the road," Copeland said. "He was the liaison between the home office and us. He would always keep us excited and enthusiastic because there was always something new on the scene coming up for us."

Dickinson's hipness and interest to current musical trends helped to keep The Modernaires in the forefront of the popular music scene. Contributing to the group's ever-present contemporary musical edge was Fran Scott, who also saw double-duty as the group's arranger. After joining The Mods, Copeland worked closely with Scott in learning more about the finer points of arranging. Within a short time, he and Scott shared the work load of arrangements.

The Modernaires with Paula Kelly in 1960: (starting clockwise at bottom left are:)

Alan Copeland, Hal Dickinson, Vernon Polk, Chuck Kelly and Paula Kelly, Sr.

"Fran was very generous in helping to teach me the' little tricks,' like not writing the trumpet parts too high or knowing how to voice the alto saxophone when accompanied by only three brass," Copeland said. "I kept getting more and more into arranging."

Copeland then expanded his horizons on learning how to arrange by taking some private lessons with Henry Mancini, who had recently relocated to Los Angeles after leaving Tex Beneke's band.

"I had three months of weekly lessons with Hank and that put me in a good place," Copeland said.

Shortly after Copeland joined The Mods in 1948, the group was re-contracted to be regulars on Bob Crosby's Club 15 radio show, a fifteen-minute musical variety program which aired over CBS from 1946 through 1952, which evolved into the half-hour daytime television show, The Bob Crosby Show, that aired live five days a week, from 1953 through 1956. The Mods were previously original regulars on the show but they were unexpectedly dropped from the cast. After a brief hiatus, they rejoined the Crosby show, according to Copeland.

"Being the new kid on the block, it was very exciting for me to be part of the show," Copeland said.

During those ensuing years, Copeland shined on both Crosby programs, flexing his arranging muscles for Crosby's band and for his smaller Dixieland outfit, the Bob Cats. He also stepped out occasionally as a member of The Modernaires to be showcased by Crosby to sing a duet or a solo piece.

"Bob was really fantastic to work for and with," Copeland said. "He gave me opportunities to be in the limelight. He was very kind that way. He befriended The Modernaires to an extraordinary degree. He was very anxious to create the best circumstances for everyone."

Without a doubt, being a regular on Crosby's shows helped Copeland to jump start his career as a composer, arranger and singer, he said.

"Also, being able to do a few impersonations always helped me out a great deal," he said. "Through the course of my time with The Modernaires, I covered a lot of bases with impressions."

In 1953, Hollywood beckoned Copeland once again to the silver screen as he made an appearance as a member of The Modernaires in the bio pic, The Glenn Miller Story. He can be seen in the film wearing a USO uniform as the group backs up songstress Frances Langford singing Chattanooga Choo Choo for enthusiastic servicemen in England.

"The Mods were the obvious choice to do Chattanooga Choo Choo in the film," Copeland said. "Of course, Tex Beneke wasn't in the movie due to some disagreement between him and the Miller estate. It's really a shame. He should have been there."

With appearances in 28 movies since 1935, Langford's role in The Glenn Miller Story would be her last. She died this past July at age 91.

"I never crossed paths with Frances after making that movie," Copeland said. "I had worked along side her on radio when I was with the Mitchell Boys Choir. She was a wonderful singer."

Years later, Copeland would go on to make two guest appearances as an actor on the hit comedy television series, The Odd Couple, starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. He portrayed a man named "Alan" in the episode titled "A Different Drummer" (Feb. 22 1974), and as a piano player in "Strike Up The Band Or Else" (Oct. 17, 1974).

In 1954, Copeland's compositional stock rose, returning huge dividends when a couple of songs he collaborated on - When I Stop Loving You and Make Love To Me - were recorded by two vocal giants of the day: Frank Siantra and Jo Stafford. Sinatra's recording of When I Stop Loving You (recorded for Capitol Records on Aug.23, 1954, with orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle), was a team effort with Mort Greene and George Cates, an executive for Coral Records who later became Lawrence Welk's right-hand man for 25 years. Although the recording only made a whimper on the pop charts, it was nonetheless recorded by the most influential pop singer of the twentieth century, "Ol' Blue Eyes" himself.

The Modernaires with Frances Langford in a scene from The Glenn Miller Story. Alan Copeland is

pictured to Langford's right.

Stafford's rendition of Make Love To Me (recorded on Dec. 8, 1953, for Columbia Records), became a monster hit for the songstress the following year, second only to You Belong To Me, recorded two years earlier. The song was a spin off of Tin Roof Blues, a Dixie Blues number from the 1920s, originally written by Ben Pollack, George Brunies, Leon Rappolo, Paul Mares, Mel Stizel and Walter Melrose. Copeland and Bill Norvas polished the song up at the bridge and gave it new lyrics.

"I accidentally came on upon Tin Roof Blues at a party I was attending for group singers," Copeland recalled. "The hostess of the party had a fake book on the piano. I leafed through the fake book and stumbled on the song. I played it. I thought about it and felt that the song could be a hit with some re-working. I teamed up with Bill (Norvas) and we worked on it."

In 1954, Make Love To Me rose to Number Two on Cash Box Magazine's charts and went to Number One on the Billboard chart sparring back and forth for that position with Doris Day's Secret Love.

After leaving the Crosby show, Copeland ventured out on a short-lived career as a single, recording the album, No Sad Songs For Me, for Coral Records in 1956.

"It's a nice piece of work," Copeland said of the project. "I'm very proud of it. Frank Comstock arranged all the charts. It still sounds as progressive as anything going on."

By 1957, Copeland felt that it was time for him to seek other pastures. So, when the opportunity came for him to become a cast member of television's Your Hit Parade, he jumped at the chance.

"I left the Crosby show trying to do a single when I saw an article in Variety that the Hit Parade staff was being replaced," Copeland said. "I sent in a few numbers I did on kinescope (a recording of a television program made by filming the picture on a television monitor) and I got the gig."

Your Hit Parade was a weekly network television program that aired from 1950 to 1959. The program enjoyed some popularity but was never as successful as its radio predecessor which began in 1935 and ran for fifteen years before moving to television. Both the radio and television versions featured the most popular songs of the previous week as determined by a national "survey" of record and sheet music sales. The methodology behind this survey was never revealed but most audience members were willing to accept the tabulations without question. Both the TV and radio versions were sponsored by the American Tobacco Company's Lucky Strike cigarettes.

Original cast members for the TV program included Eileen Wilson, Snooky Lanson, Dorothy Collins and a wholesome array of young fresh-scrubbed "Hit Parade Singers and Dancers." Gisele MacKenzie joined the cast in 1953.

The TV version featured the top seven tunes of the week and several Lucky Strike extras. These extras were older more established popular songs that were very familiar to audiences. The top seven tunes were presented in reverse order not unlike the various popular music count-downs currently heard on radio. The top three songs were presented with an extra flourish and audience members would speculate among themselves as to which tunes would climb to the top three positions and how long they would stay there.

The continuing popularity of certain songs over a multiple-week period had never been a problem for the radio version of the program with its "Top Ten" list. Regular listeners were willing to hear a repeat performance of last week's songs perhaps with a different vocalist than the previous week to provide variation.

The television Hit Parade attempted to dramatize each song with innovative skits, elaborate sets, and a large entourage of performers. Creating new skits for longer running popular songs proved much more difficult on television, with such hits from the period as How Much Is That Doggie In The Window and Shrimp Boats Are Coming.

A much more serious problem facing the program was the changing taste in American popular music. Rock 'n' roll was displacing the syrupy ballads that had been the mainstay of popular music during the 1930s and 1940s. The earlier music had a multi-generational appeal and the radio version of Your Hit Parade catered to a family audience. The rock music of the 1950s was clearly targeted to younger listeners and actually thrived on the disdain of its older critics.

Further, much of the popularity of the faster paced rock hits was dependent on complex instrumental arrangements and the unique styling of a particular artist or group. Rock music's first major star, the brooding, sensuous Elvis Presley, was a sharp contrast to the less charismatic styles of the the show's staff singers. As rock (and Presley) gained in popularity, the ratings for Your Hit Parade plummeted. So, the cast was changed in 1957.

"Rock 'n' roll was taking over music and the sponsors wanted to bring in new, younger talent," Copeland said. "Stalwarts like Gisele MacKenzie and Snooky Lanson were let go. They brought in four new younger people of which I was one."

Copeland and his family relocated from California back to New York, as the show was initially televised from Brooklyn.

Despite the changes in cast and material, Your Hit Parade was simply out of touch with the current musical scene.

"For the most part, the kids weren't interested in how I sang Jail House Rock and the parents of the kids didn't care for the rock 'n' roll revolution to begin with," Copeland said. "As a consequence, we weren't able to keep the ratings up to stay on the air."

"It was a bittersweet experience," Copeland said. "Here you are on the doorstep of fame and the door slams on you!" (laughs)

For Copeland, the doorstep to fame would come via the back door. His notoriety as an artist would be more readily recognized and appreciated by fellow musicians through his compositional works and arrangements than as an entertainer by the general public at large.

The Modernaires with Paula Kelly, Jr. in 2005: The Modernaires are pictured above performing on stage at the Paradise

Performing Arts Center in Paradise, CA, on May 28 with the Skyliners Big Band. (L-R) are Joe Croyle, Martha Dickinson,

Julie Dickinson, Paula Kelly, Jr., and Alan Copeland.

- Photo by Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

In 1959, Copeland rejoined The Modernaires, staying for the next four years. In August of the following year, The Mods (Paula Kelly, Hal Dickinson, Vernon Polk, Chuck Kelly and Copeland) recorded an album for United Artists, The Modernaires Sing The Great Glenn Miller Instrumentals, of up-dated musical arrangements and special lyrics by Copeland that breathed new life into a number of the great instrumental hits made famous by Glenn Miller. Copeland's imagination brought new life to such Miller standards as Tuxedo Junction, String Of Pearls, Sunrise Serenade, Pennsylvania 6-5000, Sleepy Town Train, In The Mood, St. Louis Blues March, Little Brown Jug, Stardust, Adios, Caribbean Clipper and Moonlight Serenade.

In addition to helping keep Miller's music more in the mainstream by giving it a fresh perspective, the project also gave The Mods an excuse to perform those revered signature tunes, according to Copeland.

"If we didn't have lyrics to some of these tunes, we'd have to let them go by the wayside," Copeland said. "That's what prompted me to write lyrics to In The Mood and Tuxedo Junction. We wanted to incorporate them into our act. I think it's a good album. I tried to keep it with the Miller mystic, but bringing it up to date a little bit."

The album was produced by Don Costa, who is no slouch when it comes to award-winning arranging. Having a person of his caliber in any artist's corner is always an added plus.

"Can you image that?" Copeland said of Costa's involvement with the album. "I was really in awe of his arranging. I still am to this day. He's a giant."

Other albums by The Modernaires in which Copeland 's arranging talents were creatively utilized include Like Swung (Mercury Records 1959) with the Pete Rugolo Orchestra, including Conte Candoli, trumpet; Frank Rosolino, trombone; Bud Shank, flute; Morty Corb, bass; and Jack Sperling, drums; Some Other Street: The Johnny Hamlin Quintet With The Hal Dickinson Singers (Philips 1962), an unusual collaboration between Johnny Hamlin, a superb jazz accordionist, and The Modernaires, appearing under a pseudonym without their lead singer, Paula Kelly, with all the numbers relating to a street theme: Street Of Dreams, Easy Street, On A Little Street In Singapore; New Top Hits In The Glenn Miller Style (Capitol Records 1964), with Tex Beneke, in which Copeland never received any arranging credit on the album; and Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Music In The Style Made Famous By Glenn Miller (Warner Bros. 1963).

Something New reunited The Modernaires with Paula Kelly, Beneke, and Miller's famed boy signer, Ray Eberle. The project showcases some extraordinary ensemble work by the band on Baubles, Bangles And Beads, a well-crafted tenor sax solo by Beneke on Little Girl Blue, some hip vocalese work by The Mods on Crazy Rhythm, and a "Chattanooga Choo Choo-like flavor "on Atcheson, Topeka, And The Santa Fe, sung by Beneke and The Mods.

"I tried to do a left-handed version of Chattanooga Choo Choo on Atcheson, Topeka, And The Santa Fe," Copeland quipped.

Copeland's lone original, I Belong To You, a pretty ballad number, is given exceptional treatment by Eberle.

Something New ranks as one of Copeland's personal favorites because of the musicianship and for the album's contemporary sound, he said.

It was during this period that The Modernaires became regulars on comedian Red Skelton's hour-long TV show that was televised in color over CBS. Then, in 1965, The Mods were unexpectedly released from the show's cast.

"The only thing I could think of is that the choreographer on the show wasn't pleased with how The Mods were integrated into his numbers," Copeland surmised about the group's dismissal. "He was a very polished dancer who had very involved routines. We were not used to doing that kind of stuff."

Copeland was asked to stay on with the Skelton show because he had been doing some arranging under the wing of David Rose, Skelton's musical director, and he liked Copeland's writing. (Copeland had written a chart on the Jimmy Smith hit, Take A Walk On The Wild Side, that impressed Rose.) As a result, a new dimension in Copeland's career was born.

"I was approached about staying and forming an in-house vocal group which became the Alan Copeland Singers," Copeland said. "We started out as the 'Skel-tones,' then we were able to get my name involved and it became the Alan Copeland Singers."

In addition to directing his new vocal group, Copeland played an active role in assisting Rose with the arrangements of the show's production numbers, he said.

"The work load on the show was enormous and I became one of the guys who could help David out," Copeland said. "David was very helpful. He was a very charming, gracious, talented, genius-of-a-man. He was my mentor. I can't say enough about David or Hank (Mancini), for that matter, for helping me out."

The Alan Copeland Singers, patterned stylistically in part from The Modernaires, became very popular on the Skelton show and the new vocal group soon found itself in the recording studio making records. Although Copeland's records were nothing like those of Ray Conniff's in style, they were similar in approach - the blending of vocal choruses with orchestra accompaniment, while often times featuring a pretty young lady on the albums' covers. While Conniff's music was more "lounge-like and relaxing" in style, Copeland's was more pulsating and driving in nature.

"Ray was a cool musician," Copeland said. "He was very successful at what he did."

Albums the Alan Copeland Singers recorded include Cool Country (ABC-Paramount Records 1966); Bubble Called You (ABC-Paramount Records 1967); and If Love Comes With It (with the late guitar great, Joe Pass) (A&M Records 1968).

In 1965, Copeland also worked as the arranger/conductor on Jim Nabors' million selling single for Columbia Records, Cuando Caliente El Sol, and two years later, on the actor/singer's holiday LP, The Jim Nabors' Christmas Album (Columbia).

Copeland's interests in working with a diversity of artists led him to record with jazz giants Count Basie and Horace Silver. The results - Basie Swinging, Voices Singing (with Count Basie and his Orchestra) (ABC-Paramount Records June 1966); and Silver 'N' Voices (with Horace Silver Quintet) (Blue Note Records September and October 1976) - were artistically satisfying for the vocal director/ composer/arranger.

"Going from Jan Garber to Count Basie is a pretty big step!" Copeland quipped. "Working with Count Basie was a thrill! When Horace Silver wanted to do an album with voices, he called Earle Hagen (composer of Harlem Nocturne) to ask if he could recommend a vocal arranger for the project. Earle told him about me because I was studying film scoring from Earle. Horace and I got together and I played for him the Basie album. We worked together on the Silver 'N' Voices album. Horace and I have since become good friends."

Juke Box Saturday Night Memories: The Modernaires with Paula Kelly, Jr., performing in Paradise, CA, on May 28, 2005,

with the Skyliners Big Band. (L-R) Joe Croyle, Martha Dickinson, Julie Dickinson, Paula Kelly, Jr., and Alan Copeland.

- Photo by Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

Silver 'N' Voices contains eight Silver originals. Rounding out the celebrated hard bop pianist's quintet on the recording are Tom Harrell, trumpet; Bob Berg, tenor sax; Ron Carter, bass; and Al Foster, drums. Copeland's singers - six voices strong, including himself - are Monica Mancini (the daughter of Henry and Ginny Mancini), Avery Sommers, Richard Page, Dale Verdugo, and Joyce Copeland (Alan's wife). But Copeland's most recognized work as an arranger and vocal director came in 1968 when he fused a Lalo Schifrin tune written as a theme for a popular TV spy drama with that of a John Lennon and Paul McCartney collaboration into a Grammy Award-winning hit. The tune was Mission Impossible/Norwegian Wood. While the two songs are vastly different in nature, Copeland was able to fit them together nicely like a glove.

"I don't know, really, what prompted it, but I just had a vision in my head of these two songs working together," Copeland said of the song's genesis. "Once the light bulbs went on in my head, I began working it through."

After the recording session for Mission Impossible/Norwegian Wood was completed, Bob Thiele, the A&R man for ABC-Paramount Records, told Copeland right then and there that he felt the song would be a turn table hit, according to Copeland. And Thiele was so right.

"It turned out that every disc jockey in town was playing it three or four times a day," Copeland said.

The song came out during the time when Mission Impossible was one oft he hottest spy shows on television. The show, starring Peter Graves, Greg Morris, Barbara Bain, Martin Landau and Peter Lupus, ran for seven seasons from September 1966 to April 1972.

And when Copeland was presented with the coveted trophy for Best Contemporary Pop Performance By A Chorus at the 11ith Annual Grammy Awards in 1969, he was more than elated.

"It flipped me out when I got nominated for a Grammy and even more so when I won!" Copeland said. "I knew I had something with the record, but I had no idea it was going to be played like it was."

Mission Impossible/Norwegian Wood can be heard by logging to Alan Copeland's official website at www.alancopeland.com

Copeland made a return trip to the Grammy Awards eight years later in 1977, having some of his original works performed during the televised gala.

He also worked as choral supervisor for the 1970 Blake Edwards' film, Darling Lili, a World War II spy drama starring Rock Hudson and Julie Andrews. Although a box office flop, the motion picture did manage to garner three Oscar nominations, two of which were in the music category thanks to the works of Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini.

In addition, Copeland worked as the choral supervisor for Bing Crosby's Christmas television shows for over two decades as well as arranger and choral conductor for singer Robert Goulet's television special, An Hour With Robert Goulet (1964).

He can also be heard in a non-credited role as the voice on a record in the 1967 Julie Andrews musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Copeland and his wife, Joyce, who performs under the name of "Mahmu Pearl," together formed "Feather," recording three albums during the1980s for Discovery Records: Goin' Through Changes (1980), Chen Yu Lips ((1982), and Zanzibar (1985). Feather also appears on two Horace Silver's albums: There's No Need To Struggle (Silveto Records 1983) and Guides To Growing Up (Silveto 1986).

In 1979, Copeland worked once again with Frank Sinatra, reprising his role as back up singer on the crooner's celebrated Trilogy project (Reprise Records) on the song, My Shining Hour (recorded Sept. 17, 1979). (While as a Modernaire, Copeland appeared on a handful of Sinatra recordings for Columbia from 1949 and 1950.)

The Modernaires with Paula Kelly, Jr., pose for a photo with Bob Durham, manager of the Paradise Performing

Arts Center, and his wife, Roz. Pictured (l-r) are Joe Croyle, Paula Kelly, Jr., Martha Dickinson, Julie Dickinson,

and Alan Copeland.

- Photo by Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

In 1996, The Modernaires - Paula Kelly, Jr., her sister, Martha Dickinson, Bill Tracy and Copeland - recorded the CD, The Modernaires Now (Alpha Omega Records), music made famous by Glenn Miller and other bands and singers of the Big Band Era. The Mods were backed up by trombonist Bill Tole and his Orchestra. Special guest artist Tex Beneke joined in on the fun reprising Chattanooga Choo Choo and Kalamazoo. It would be Beneke's final recorded work. He died on May 30, 2000, at age 86.

Other selections on the CD include renditions of Dream and On The Sunny Side Of The Street made famous by The Modernaires' vocal rivals, The Pied Pipers and The Sentimentalists, who sang with Tommy Dorsey.

In 2000, Copeland joined fellow arrangers Sammy Nestico, Ray Ellis and Larry White to work on Peter Marshall's CD, Boy Singer. Marshall started his career in entertainment as a boy singer with the Bob Chester and Johnny "Scat" Davis bands in the mid-1940s.

"Alan is an old friend, a very talented old friend," Marshall said. "We've known each other for over 50 years. We worked together in 1950 when he was with The Modernaires and I was doing an act with my comedy partner, Tommy Noonan. He's been writing arrangements for me forever. He's the greatest special material writer in the world."

A self-produced project, Marshall waxed 15 of his favorite songs on Boy Singer, stemming mostly from the war years. He is backed by a lush 46-piece orchestra consisting of the finest studio musicians in Los Angeles, including saxophonist Pete Christlieb, trumpeters Rick Baptist and Wayne Bergerson, trombonist Bill Waltrous, and West Coast jazz icons (the late) Pete Jolly on piano and Chuck Berghofer on bass.

Copeland arranged and conducted the orchestra on six of the album's tracks including The More I See You and You'll Never Know, two of crooner Dick Haymes' greatest hits (Haymes, incidentally, was also Marshall's brother-in-law, having been married to Marshall's sister, actress Joanne Dru.), and Night Life, a Willie Nelson tune about the Houston beer joints where he once worked and hung out.

"I think Boy Singer is a wonderful album and Night Life is the best thing I've ever done," Copeland said.

Marshall, who is heard nationally on the Music Of Your Life radio network, also remains an active performer. He is currently co-starring in the production, And Then She Wrote, a colorful miscellany of music by women composers from past and present.

He has also been trying to jump start a project that, if successful, will directly involve Copeland.

Marshall has been in contact with a producer in Las Vegas who is interested in reprising the old Hollywood Palace television show from the 1960s and early 1970s into a live thirty-minute syndicated TV show with live performers. If the project materializes, Copeland would be brought in to direct the show's vocal group, according to Marshall.

Two shows have already been taped, with 1950s hit maker Don Cherry, a Las Vegas resident, appearing on the first show in August, Marshall said.

"The show is waiting in the wings, so I don't know if we are going to do this thing or not," Marshall said.

As he awaits the possible go-ahead from Marshall on this project, Copeland keeps the music playing his life by writing and arranging music, occasionally performing with The Modernaires, and seeking out publishers who would find interest in publishing his autobiography, which he aptly titles, Juke Box Saturday Nights, he said.

"I have some wonderful quotes for the book from Jo Stafford, Frankie Laine and others," Copeland said. "Jo said she read the manuscript in one sitting so I know there's interest in it."

One of the most recent appearances by Copeland and The Modernaires occurred over Memorial Day weekend in Paradise, CA, when the celebrated vocal group teamed up with the Skyliners Big Band from nearby Chico, to present "Juke Box Saturday Night," an annual holiday concert extravaganza. Copeland, subbing for the ailing Bill Tracy, was joined on stage by Paula Kelly, Jr., and her two sisters, Martha and Julie Dickinson, and Joe Croyle, who joined The Mod in the 1990s.

Despite Tracy's absence, the Paradise show was one of the most memorable times Copeland has had with The Modernaires, he said.

"I thought the evening was magical," Copeland said. "We had three girl singers. The band was burning. The piano player and drummer were right on it. The electric bass was burning. The audience was great. I've been involved in a lot of concerts in my life, but this was extraordinarily special, I thought."

As his association with The Modernaires approaches its 58th year (and counting!), Copeland thinks the vocal group's legacy in American popular music is reflected in such attributes as romance, tenderness and joyfulness, he said.

"When all this was going on, a guy would go out with a girl a couple times before he would put his arm around her, and the first kiss was like dynamite," Copeland said. "I associate Glenn Miller with that kind of thing. Of course, The Modernaires were the romance aspect of the Miller thing with Serenade In Blue, Perfidia, and all those tenderness songs. The Mods always had that magical air of happiness that was contagious."

While Copeland's music is contagious in its own right, he feels that his contribution to music has been to creatively combine tightly harmonized vocal sounds with that of the full contemporary sound of the orchestra with a bit of flare and with a bit of wit.

"The benchmark would be the Count Basie album, in a general sense," Copeland said. "I think I am able to combine, as Billy May did, music with a sense of humor. I guess that's my musical personality. I'm a little off-center. I was never down that middle-of-the-road like Ray Conniff. I'm a little bit of a different taste."