Dick Jacobs

Dick Jacobs (29 March 1918 – 20 May 1988)

Dick was an American musician, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, music director and an artists-and-repertoire director for several record labels (Coral, Decca, Brunswick and Springboard). He helped Jackie Wilson, Buddy Holly, Bobby Darin and others early in their careers in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Jacobs was born in New York City, United States, and graduated from New York University. During World War II, he served in the United States Army, then returned to the city and spent several years arranging for Tommy Dorsey. After that, he partnered with Sy Oliver to pursue freelance arranging work.

Dick Jacobs

When he was hired to be the musical director for the television series, "Your Hit Parade", for its 1957–58 season, he replaced most of the existing studio orchestra members with his own choices including Dick Hyman, Don Lamond, Al Caiola and Jerome Richardson.

At that point, the Hit Parade orchestra became one of the first on-screen orchestras to become integrated. In 1953, he produced a number of acts, including "The McGuire Sisters" and "Teresa Brewer", and by 1958 had a hit single, the theme tune from the movie "Kathy-O". In 1956, his recording of "Man with the Golden Arm" sold over one million copies as a single and was awarded a gold disc.

According to The Ultimate Book of Songs and Artists, by Joel Whitburn, Jacobs's biggest hits were "Main Title" and "Molly-O" (1956), "Petticoats of Portugal" (1956), and "Fascination" (1957).

Dick Jacobs brought a lush instrumental orchestral sound to a number of rock and roll songs in the late 1950s, notably those for Buddy Holly and Cirino Colacrai and his vocal quartet, The Bowties. Eventually retiring in the late 1970s, he and Harriet Jacobs wrote "Who Wrote That Song?", a reference book on popular songs and songwriters.

You can hear him talk in this recording of True Love Ways below

He died in 1988 in New York City, at the age of 70.

Below is a clip of Dick talking about working with Buddy on the String Sessions in New York.