AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Phil Harris

Artist:Phil Harris w/Bruce Reitherman
Song:The Bare Necessities
Album:Walt Disney's The Jungle Book





For everything Phil Harris did over the years, he is probably best known for singing The Bare Necessities in the 1967 Walt Disney film The Jungle Book. He was born June 24, 1904 in Linton, IN but he grew up on Nashville. His parents were circus performers and Harris' first job was as a drummer in his father's band. He moved to Los Angeles and led his own band in the early 30s. His 1933 short film So This Is Harris! directed by Mark Sandrich won a Best Short Subject Oscar. In 1936, Harris became musical director of the radio show The Jack Benny Program. When he showed that he could adlib snappy one liners, Harris was added to the cast of the show. He stayed with Benny until 1952. He also continued to record his own music. These were usually novelty songs with Harris talking as opposed to singing. The Thing was a number one hit in 1950. Harris married 20th Century Fox musical star Alice Faye in 1942 and The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show was on NBC Radio in the late 40s. He got into TV in the 50s. While Walt Disney was casting the 1967 film The Jungle Book, he met Harris at a party and hired him to play Baloo. Harris adlibbed most of his lines. This also led to the hiring of Louis Prima as King Louie and the chemistry between them was a big part of The Jungle Book's success. The score was composed and arranged by long time Disney composer George Bruns. Terry Gilkyson was hired to write the songs. He was a Disney staff songwriter at the time. But Disney thought his songs were too dark. The Sherman Brothers were hired to write new songs. All of Gilkyson's songs were discarded except for The Bare Necessities. And it turned out to be the most memorable song from the film. Bruce Reitherman played Mowgli. He is the son of Disney animation legend Wolgfang Reitherman. He went on to produce TV nature documentaries. The trumpet solo is by former Woody Herman trumpeter Cappy Lewis. When The Jungle Book soundtrack was released in 1967, it had mostly the songs from the film. This 1997 CD release adds much of George Bruns' score and a couple of Terry Gilkyson demos for songs that weren't used. Harris also appeared in The Aristocats and Robin Hood. But he continued to appear on TV regularly until his death on Aug. 11, 1995 at age 91. Here's Phil Harris with Bruce Reitherman performing The Bare Necessities in the 1967 film The Jungle Book.