Monday, March 04, 2019

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jim Bryant

Artist:Jim Bryant
Song:Something's Coming
Album:West Side Story: The Original Sound Track Recording




These days actors do all their own singing in movies even if they can't really sing. But back in the old days, there were many singers who did the singing for actors who couldn't sing. And they didn't get credit because the studios didn't want the audience to know. Today it's common knowledge who did the actual singing and I want to feature those singers. Of course the most famous film musical to have both lead characters dubbed was the 1961 film West Side Story. Natalie Wood's singing was by Marni Nixon and Richard Beymer's singing was by Jim Bryant. Marni did a lot of dubbing so she is well known to film and music fans. Bryant wasn't really a singer. He was born June 2, 1929 in Birmingham, AL. He studied composition at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He moved to New York in 1953 and he was a background singer for a few years. Then he moved to Los Angeles and was in the house band at the nightclub Puccini's. He auditioned and got the West Side Story job. But he wasn't experienced at dubbing work and didn't have an agent. So Bryant never was a regular like Bill Lee for example. Bryant did all of Beymer's vocals in West Side Story including Something's Coming and Maria. Bryant also sang for James Fox in the 1967 film Thoroughly Modern Millie. He became friends with legendary film composer John Williams. Bryant frequently worked for Williams as an orchestrator on the TV series Lost In Space among other things. He also composed the background music used at Walt Disney theme parks. Bryant was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2008. On imdb, he gets a credit for the 2007 film Charlie Wilson's War. That should be credited to country music singer Jimmy Bryant. The two are friends but frequently mistaken for each other. Here's Jim Bryant performing Something's Coming in the 1961 film West Side Story.

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