b. Berthold Kaempfert, 16 October 1923, Hamburg, Germany, d. 21 June 1980, Majorca, Spain. A conductor, arranger, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Kaempfert played the piano as a child, and later studied at the Hamburg Conservatory of Music. By the time he joined Hans Bussch and his Orchestra during World War II, he was capable of playing a variety of instruments, including the piano, piano accordion and all the reeds. After the war he formed his own band, and became a big draw in West Germany before joining Polydor Records as a producer, arranger and musical director. In the latter role he had some success with the Yugoslavian Ivor Robic's version of "Morgen", which made the US Top 20 in 1959, and Freddy Quinn's "Die Guitarre Und Das Meer". A year later he made his own global breakthrough when he topped the US charts with his studio orchestra's recording of "Wonderland By Night". It was the precursor to a series of similar recordings in which a solo trumpet (usually Fred Moch) and muted brass were set against a cushion of lush strings and wordless choral effects, all emphasized by the insistent rhythm of a two-beat bass guitar.
This treatment was effectively applied by Kaempfert to several of his own compositions, which were also successful for other artists, such as "Spanish Eyes" (originally the instrumental "Moon Over Naples", Al Martino), "Danke Schoen" (Wayne Newton), "L-O-V-E" (Nat "King" Cole), "A Swingin' Safari" (Billy Vaughn), and "Wooden Heart", which Elvis Presley sang in his movie, G.I. Blues, and Joe Dowell took to the US number 1 spot in 1961. Two other Kaempfert numbers, "The World We Knew' (Over And Over)" and "Strangers In The Night" benefited from the Frank Sinatra treatment. The latter song, part of Kaempfert's score for the James Garner/Melina Mercouri comedy/thriller, A Man Could Get Killed, topped the US and UK charts in 1966. Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder, Carl Sigman, Kurt Schwabach, Milt Gabler, Fred Wise, Ben Weisman and Kay Twomey wrote lyrics for his most successful songs. Kaempfert himself had easy listening worldwide hits in his own inimitable style with revivals of "golden oldies" such as "Tenderly', Red Roses For A Blue Lady", "Three O'Clock In The Morning" and "Bye Bye Blues". In 1961, Wonderland By Night spent five weeks at number 1 in the US, and Kaempfert continued to chart in the US and UK throughout the 60s, but his records failed to achieve Top 40 status in the 70s, although he still sold a great many, and continued to tour.
Apart from his skill as an arranger and orchestra leader, Bert Kaempfert has another claim to fame in the history of popular music - he was the first person to record the Beatles. While they were playing a club in Hamburg in 1961, Kaempfert hired them to back Tony Sheridan, a singer who had a large following in Germany. After supplying the additional vocals on "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean" and "When The Saints Go Marching In", Kaempfert allowed Lennon And Co. to record "Ain't She Sweet" and "Cry For A Shadow". When the beat boom got under way, "My Bonnie", as it was then called, made the US Top 30 in 1964, and "Ain't She Sweet" became a minor hit in the UK. By the end of the decade the Beatles had broken up, and Kaempfert's best days were behind him, too. In 1980, after completing a successful series of concerts in the UK, culminating in an appearance at the Royal Albert Hall, he was taken ill while on holiday in Majorca, Spain, and died there on 21 June. The "New Bert Kaempfert Orchestra" was advertising its availability in UK trade papers in the early 90s.
