Peter, thank you so much for posting this link, which just provided a most delightful diversion. Learning of Nino Rota's admiration for Alfred Newman was alone worth the trip!
For anyone interested in Golden Age composers, I urge you to check out this site, which (as Peter notes) features Mr. Raksin's witty and insightful recollections of his colleagues.
It has been a while since Raksin and his autobiography were discussed – so this is just a bump for Mr. Raksin and that book which very late-to-the-party I’ve just finished reading: “The Bad and the Beautiful: My Life in a Golden Age of Film Music.” It is available as a Kindle edition on Amazon:
The Kindle version contains both a short version and a long version of the book – but be aware that it is a very wonky Kindle edition with repeated pages, typos, and eccentric organization.
But, of course, none of that matters as the book is overflowing with entertaining and detailed stories of Hollywood and the general music community of both Hollywood and the world at large. Mr. Raksin seemed to have known or worked with absolutely everyone. The stories are told with panache and vivid honesty.
There is a great Raksin story involving Frank Zappa. I'm paraphrasing here from Raksin's own account which is somewhere on the net. Raksin and Zappa were friends. Raksin had an agreement (apparently verbal) with someone at RCA to record an album of his film music (early seventies). Things were proceeding when the someone at RCA died in a car accident and Raksin's deal was off. When Zappa asked Raksin how the record was coming along, Raksin told him the news. Zappa commiserated. Next thing you know, another someone from RCA approaches Raksin to record the album. Raksin insisted on some credentials; turned out the exec was the president of the label. The album, of course, was the great recording that was released as part of Charles Gerhardt's series, though Raksin conducted it. Raksin totally credited Zappa with making that happen.
