Whitey Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Gordon "Whitey" Mitchell (February 22, 1932 – January 17, 2009) was an American jazz
bassist and television writer/producer. He was born in Hackensack
, New Jersey
.
Mitchell was the brother of bassist Red Mitchell
. He began on clarinet and tuba as a youngster before choosing bass as his primary instrument. He studied radio & television at Syracuse University and then plunged into the New York jazz scene, becoming a regular at the famed nightspots Birdland and Basin Street East. He led his own groups at The Village Vanguard and The Embers and later toured with big band greats Benny Goodman and Pete Rugolo, played Carnegie Hall with Gene Krupa, appeared with Buddy Rich, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Lester Young on Jazz At The Philharmonic.He played with Elinor Sherry and Shep Fields
in the early 1950s before serving in the Army
during the Korean War
. From 1954 he worked freelance in New York City
, playing with Gene Krupa
(1955), Mel Tormé, Jack Jones, J.J. Johnson
, Kai Winding
, Pete Rugolo
, Lester Young
, Charlie Ventura
, Herbie Mann
, Betty Roche
, Oscar Pettiford
(1956–1957), Gene Quill
, Joe Puma
, Johnny Richards, Peter Appleyard
, Andre Previn
, and Benny Goodman
(1963–1964). He performed on hundreds of recording sessions, television and film scores and released several albums under his own name, including one with ABC-Paramount in 1956, and worked with Red and Blue Mitchell
in 1958 as "The Mitchells, Red, Whitey & Blue," on a Metrojazz release. Mitchell recorded with Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Anthony Newley, and played the bass solo introduction on Ben E. King's hit record "Stand By Me." He often placed in the Metronome and Downbeat jazz polls.
After 1965 he largely ceased playing jazz and moved to Hollywood on advice from Lenny Bruce
and Andre Previn to pursue a career as a television writer. He worked on shows such as Get Smart
, All in the Family
, The Jeffersons
, Good Times
, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
, The Odd Couple
, Mork and Mindy
, and several Bob Hope
television specials. He wrote the feature film Private Resort starring Johnny Depp.
Mitchell taught screenwriting at UCLA and UC Riverside. In 1995 he, and his wife Marilyn, moved to Palm Desert, California
, where he had his own radio show, The Power Lunch and wrote a golf
column for a local magazine. He recorded his CD "Just In Time and played jazz in all the nightclub venues. He was the author of two books, Hackensack to Hollywood: My Two Show Business Careers" and Star Walk: A Guide to the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.
Mitchell was a board member of the Palm Springs Walk Of Stars and was honored with his own star in tribute to his two show business careers. He's been inducted into his New Jersey high school's Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bassist and television writer/producer. He was born in Hackensack
Hackensack
-Communities:*Hackensack, Minnesota*Hackensack, New Jersey*South Hackensack, New Jersey*New Hackensack, New York-Train stations:*New Bridge Landing *Anderson Street in Haceknsack, New Jersey...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Mitchell was the brother of bassist Red Mitchell
Red Mitchell
Keith Moore "Red" Mitchell Keith Moore "Red" Mitchell Keith Moore "Red" Mitchell (September 20, 1927, New York City - November 8, 1992, Salem, Oregon, was an American jazz double-bassist, composer, lyricist, and poet. He was the brother of Whitey Mitchell....
. He began on clarinet and tuba as a youngster before choosing bass as his primary instrument. He studied radio & television at Syracuse University and then plunged into the New York jazz scene, becoming a regular at the famed nightspots Birdland and Basin Street East. He led his own groups at The Village Vanguard and The Embers and later toured with big band greats Benny Goodman and Pete Rugolo, played Carnegie Hall with Gene Krupa, appeared with Buddy Rich, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Lester Young on Jazz At The Philharmonic.He played with Elinor Sherry and Shep Fields
Shep Fields
Shep Fields was the band leader for the "Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm" orchestra during the Big Band era of the 1930s.-Biography:...
in the early 1950s before serving in the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. From 1954 he worked freelance in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, playing with Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
(1955), Mel Tormé, Jack Jones, J.J. Johnson
J.J. Johnson
J. J. Johnson was a United States jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. He was sometimes credited as Jay Jay Johnson....
, Kai Winding
Kai Winding
Kai Chresten Winding was a popular Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is well known for a successful collaboration with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson.-Biography:...
, Pete Rugolo
Pete Rugolo
Pietro "Pete" Rugolo was an Italian-born jazz composer and arranger.-Life and career:Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily, Italy. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa, California...
, Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
, Charlie Ventura
Charlie Ventura
Charlie Ventura was a tenor saxophonist and bandleader.Ventura was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had his first successes working with Gene Krupa. In 1945 he won the Down Beat readers' poll in the tenor saxophone division...
, Herbie Mann
Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music...
, Betty Roche
Betty Roché
Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Roché was an American blues singer, who became most famous with her cover of the song "Take the "A" Train". She recorded with the Savoy Sultans, Hot Lips Page, Duke Ellington, Charles Brown and Clark Terry.Roché was born in Wilmington, Delaware, United States...
, Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop.-Biography:...
(1956–1957), Gene Quill
Gene Quill
Daniel Eugene Quill was an American alto saxophonist known for his bebop jazz records with Phil Woods. He and Woods recorded as Phil and Quill...
, Joe Puma
Joe Puma
Joe Puma was an American jazz guitarist.Puma's first professional experience came with Joe Roland in 1949-50. He acted as a session musician for many jazz musicians of the 1950s, including Louie Bellson, Artie Shaw, Eddie Bert, Herbie Mann, Mat Mathews, Chris Connor, and Paul Quinichette; he also...
, Johnny Richards, Peter Appleyard
Peter Appleyard
Peter Appleyard, is a Canadian jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer of English birth. He has spent most of his life living and performing in the city of Toronto where for many years he was a highly popular performer in the city's nightclubs and hotels...
, Andre Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
, and Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
(1963–1964). He performed on hundreds of recording sessions, television and film scores and released several albums under his own name, including one with ABC-Paramount in 1956, and worked with Red and Blue Mitchell
Blue Mitchell
Richard Allen Mitchell was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.-Biography:...
in 1958 as "The Mitchells, Red, Whitey & Blue," on a Metrojazz release. Mitchell recorded with Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Anthony Newley, and played the bass solo introduction on Ben E. King's hit record "Stand By Me." He often placed in the Metronome and Downbeat jazz polls.
After 1965 he largely ceased playing jazz and moved to Hollywood on advice from Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider , better known by the stage name Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American comedian, social critic and satirist...
and Andre Previn to pursue a career as a television writer. He worked on shows such as Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
, All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
, The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
, Good Times
Good Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...
, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
, The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
, Mork and Mindy
Mork and Mindy
Mork & Mindy is an American science fiction sitcom broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC. The series starred Robin Williams as Mork, an alien who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-man egg-shaped spaceship. Pam Dawber co-starred as Mindy McConnell, his human friend and roommate...
, and several Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
television specials. He wrote the feature film Private Resort starring Johnny Depp.
Mitchell taught screenwriting at UCLA and UC Riverside. In 1995 he, and his wife Marilyn, moved to Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...
, where he had his own radio show, The Power Lunch and wrote a golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
column for a local magazine. He recorded his CD "Just In Time and played jazz in all the nightclub venues. He was the author of two books, Hackensack to Hollywood: My Two Show Business Careers" and Star Walk: A Guide to the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.
Mitchell was a board member of the Palm Springs Walk Of Stars and was honored with his own star in tribute to his two show business careers. He's been inducted into his New Jersey high school's Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.