Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Harnell (Joe) collection (ARA)
PA Mss 258
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Joe Harnell collection (ARA)
Identifier/Call Number: PA Mss 258
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear Feet;
(1 record box, 1 document box)
Creator:
Harnell, Joe (1924-2005)
Date (inclusive): 1965-2000
Date (bulk): 1982 October 11-1988 November 01
Abstract: The Joe Harnell collection consists of 1.5 linear feet dating from 1965-2000, with the bulk of the material from 1982-1988.
A majority of the materials are scripts that Harnell collected while composing film scores; with the remaining material consisting
of his autobiography
Counterpoint, a DVD from an episode of
The Mike Douglas Show, and a CD of film music that Harnell composed and conducted.
Joe Harnell (1924-2005) spent his life composing and performing music in various fields of entertainment ranging from military
bands, an accompanist for singers such as Judy Garland, Maurice Chevalier, and Marlene Dietrich, a jingle writer, a musical
director for talk shows, and working in Hollywood composing film scores. His accomplishments were represented with a Grammy
Award for his arrangement of "Fly Me To the Moon" and an Emmy nomination for his musical work on the show
V. Near the end of his career he became a faculty member at USC's Thornton School of Music.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library.
The collection is open for research.
Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through
the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to
the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator
and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.
All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department
of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of
California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is
not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of Item], Joe Harnell collection, PA Mss 258. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara
Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
This collection forms part of the American Radio Archives (ARA), which documents the early history of broadcasting, with an
emphasis on California. The ARA was formerly housed at the Thousand Oaks Public Library and was owned and administered by
the Thousand Oaks Library Foundation. It was transferred to the UCSB Library in 2021.
Joe Harnell, born on August 2, 1924, was an American composer, musician, and music arranger. He began playing piano at six
years old and performed in his father's ensemble at the age of fourteen. He attended the University of Miami in the early
1940s and then joined the Air Force in 1943, where he played with Glenn Miller's Army Air Forces Band. Throughout his time
in the army he studied music with Nadia Boulanger while stationed in Paris and William Walton while at Trinity College of
Music in London. After he was discharged from the Air Force in 1946, he studied at Tanglewood under Aaron Copland and Leonard
Bernstein.
Harnell's music career began as a for-hire pianist in New York City where he played mostly pop and jazz music. In the 1950s
he played in Lester Lanin's band and found work as an accompanist for singers such as Judy Garland, Maurice Chevalier, and
Marlene Dietrich. In 1963, Harnell achieved his biggest accomplishment with his arrangement of "Fly Me to the Moon" where
he won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Joe Harnell began his television musical career as an integral part of the
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, where he would play piano with many guests at the end of each episode. When the
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show ended in 1963, Harnell wrote jingles for Grey Advertising in 1964 and in 1967 became the musical director for
The Mike Douglas Show. In 1973 Harnell began writing film scores for shows like
The Bionic Woman,
The Incredible Hulk,
Alien Nation and
V. He is also credited with writing the theme music for the NBC daytime soap,
Santa Barbara.
In 2000, Joe Harnell co-authored his autobiography
Counterpoint with Ira Skutch, just 5 years before his death on July 14, 2005, in Sherman Oaks, California.
The Joe Harnell collection consists of one record box and one document box mostly containing scripts of shows that Harnell
had worked on in the 1980s. Also included are a copy of his autobiography,
Counterpoint, which he co-authored with Ira Skutch, a DVD recording of a 1970 episode of
The Mike Douglas Show and a CD of film music that was composed and conducted by Joe Harnell between 1965 and 1990.
The materials in this collection are arranged into two series by type.
Series 1: Scripts; Series 2: Other Materials.
Forms part of the American Radio Archives (ARA).
Harnell, Joe and Ira Skutch.
Counterpoint: The Journey of A Music Man. Xlibris Corporation, 2000.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Television scripts -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Motion picture plays -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Screenplays