Nelson Riddle discography

Discography for arranger Nelson Riddle.

Singles

• "Lisbon Antigua" { US # 1 - February 1956 }
• "Port Au Prince" { US # 20 - April 1956 }
• "Theme From The Proud Ones" { US # 39 - July 1956 }
• "Route 66 Theme" { US # 30 - June 1962 - AC # 9, 1962 }
• "Naked City Theme" { US # 130 - October 1962 }
• "What's New" (Featuring Linda Ronstadt) US # 53 - December 1983 - AC # 5, 1983
• "I've Got A Crush On You" (Featuring Linda Ronstadt) AC # 7, 1984

Sources: Billboard Top Pop Singles, Billboard Adult Contemporary Billboard Bubbling Under Singles Books

As bandleader

Capitol

• 1955 The Music from "Oklahoma!"
• 1956 Lisbon Antigua (EP)
• 1956 The Tender Touch
• 1957 Hey... Let Yourself Go
• 1958 C'mon... Get Happy
• 1958 Sea of Dreams
• 1958 Witchcraft!
• 1959 The Joy of Living
• 1959 Sing a Song with Riddle
• 1961 Magic Moments from "The Gay Life"
• 1961 Love Tide
• 1962 Route 66 Theme and Other Great TV Hits
• 1962 Love is a Game of Poker
• 1962 The Best of Nelson Riddle
• 1962 More Hit TV Themes

Reprise

• 1964 White on White, Shangri-La, Charade & Other Hits of 1964
• 1965 Interprets Great Music, Great Films, Great Sounds
• 1966 Nat: An Orchestral Portrait of Nat "King" Cole

Solid State Records

• 1967 Music for Wives and Lovers

Liberty

• 1967 The Bright and the Beautiful
• 1968 The Riddle of Today

United Artists

• 1967 For Swinging Lovers
• 1968 The Contemporary Sound of Nelson Riddle

Capilano

• 1969 British Columbia Suite

Marble Arch Records

• 1970 Nelson Riddle Conducts the 101 Strings

Avon

• 1970 Avon Wishes You a Happy Holiday and a Joyous New Year

Bulldog Records

• 1970 The Look of Love

MPS Records

• 1971 Communication
• 1973 Changing Colors

Daybreak Records

• 1973 Vive LeGrand!

DRG

• 2006 Hey Diddle Riddle (recorded 1959)

Notable song arrangements

"What Is This Thing Called Love" (for Keely Smith)

"I've Got You Under My Skin" (for Frank Sinatra)

"One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)" (for Frank Sinatra)

"The Lady Is a Tramp" (for Frank Sinatra)

"Come Rain or Come Shine" (for Judy Garland)

"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" (for Judy Garland)

"Mona Lisa" (for Nat King Cole)

"Night and Day" (for Frank Sinatra)

"On The Street Where You Live" (for Dean Martin)

"Unforgettable" (for Nat King Cole)

"What's New" (for Linda Ronstadt)

"Witchcraft" (for Frank Sinatra)

Notable film and television work

The Rosemary Clooney Show (1956)

Lisbon (1956) (theme song topped the Billboard Top 100)

Till There Was You (from The Music Man in 1957)

Pal Joey (1957, starring Frank Sinatra)

The Untouchables (1959 TV series)

Li'l Abner (1959)

Can-Can (1960)

Ocean's Eleven (1960)

Route 66 (1960) (theme song earned Riddle a Top 40 single in 1962)

Naked City (TV series) (1960)

Lolita (1962)

4 for Texas (1963)

Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)

Original Music from The Rogues (1964 TV series)

A Man and His Music (1965/1966/1967 award winning television-specials for Frank Sinatra)

A Rage to Live (1965)

Batman (1966-68 TV series) (although Neal Hefti wrote the "Batman Theme" song, Riddle and Billy May scored the actual episodes)

Batman (1966 film)

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)

Paint Your Wagon (1969)

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)

This Is Your Life (1971)

Emergency! (1972)

The Julie Andrews Hour (1973)

The Great Gatsby (which repopularized Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do" and earned Riddle a 1974 Academy Award)

Orchestrations for Frank Sinatra

Capitol albums

• 1953 Songs for Young Lovers
• 1954 Swing Easy!
• 1955 In the Wee Small Hours
• 1956 Songs for Swingin' Lovers
• 1957 Close to You and More
• 1957 A Swingin' Affair!
• 1958 Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely
• 1960 Nice 'n' Easy
• 1961 Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!

Reprise albums

• 1963 The Concert Sinatra
• 1963 Sinatra's Sinatra
• 1964 Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners
• 1966 Moonlight Sinatra
• 1966 Strangers in the Night
• 1981 "The Gal that Got Away"/"It Never Entered My Mind" from She Shot Me Down

Orchestrations for Ella Fitzgerald

Verve albums

• 1959 Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook
• 1962 Ella Swings Gently with Nelson
• 1962 Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson
• 1962 Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook
• 1964 Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook

Pablo albums

• 1972 Ella Loves Cole (re-released in 1978 under the title Dream Dancing with two new Fitzgerald-Riddle tracks)
• 1982 The Best Is Yet to Come

Orchestrations for Nat King Cole

(All Capitol albums)

• 1953: Nat King Cole Sings for Two In Love
• 1955: The Piano Style of Nat King Cole
• 1956: Ballads of the Day
• 1958: St. Louis Blues
• 1958: Cole Español
• 1959: To Whom It May Concern
• 1960: Wild Is Love
• 2001: Night Lights — posthumous release for both Cole and Riddle; recorded in 1955/56

Orchestrations for other artists

• Judy Garland, Judy (Capitol, 1956), Judy in Love (Capitol, 1958)
• Phil Silvers, Phil Silvers and Swinging Brass' (Columbia Records, 1956)
• Peggy Lee, The Man I Love (Capitol Records, 1957) (conducted by Frank Sinatra)
• Keely Smith, I Wish You Love (Capitol Records, 1958)
• Peggy Lee, Jump for Joy (Capitol Records, 1958)
• Mavis Rivers, Take a Number (Capitol Records, 1959)
• Keely Smith, Swingin' Pretty (Capitol Records, 1959)
• Dinah Shore, Dinah, Yes Indeed! (Capitol Records, 1959)
• Sue Raney, When Your Lover Has Gone (Capitol Records, 1959)
• Dean Martin, This Time I'm Swingin' (Capitol Records, 1960)
• Rosemary Clooney, Rosie Solves the Swingin' Riddle! (RCA Records, 1960), Love (Reprise Records, 1963)
• Dean Martin, Cha Cha de Amor (Capitol Records, 1962)
• Johnny Mathis, I'll Buy You A Star (Columbia Records, 1962)
• Shirley Bassey, Let's Face the Music (EMI, 1962)
• Danny Williams, Swinging For You (HMV Records, 1962)
• Keely Smith, Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New (Reprise Records, 1962)
• Johnny Mathis, Live it Up (Columbia Records, 1963)
• Bing Crosby, Return to Paradise Islands (Reprise Records, 1964)
• Oscar Peterson, Oscar Peterson and Nelson Riddle (Verve Records, 1964)
• Jack Jones, There's Love And There's Love And There's Love (Kapp Records, 1965)
• Antonio Carlos Jobim, The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim (Warner Bros. Records, 1965)
• Eddie Fisher, Games that Lovers Play (RCA Records, 1966)
• Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Tina Sinatra, The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas (Reprise Records, 1968)
• Frank Sinatra, Jr., Spice (Daybreak Records, 1971)
• Steve Lawrence, Portrait of Steve (MGM Records, 1972)
• Linda Ronstadt, What's New? (Asylum, 1983), Lush Life (Asylum, 1984), For Sentimental Reasons (Asylum, 1986)
• Kiri Te Kanawa, Blue Skies (Decca Records, 1985)

Soundtrack: 1966 "El Dorado" (John Wayne)

Tributes to Riddle by other artists

• Erich Kunzel, Route 66 - That Nelson Riddle Sound (Telarc Records, 2000)