Has anybody ever read John Caps' book "Henry Mancini...Reinventing Film Music"? His research in the scores isn't bad, though mostly in the case there are a few errors. He writes that "Hans J. Salter started scoring in Hollywood in the '20s" when Salter was actually working for U.F.A. in Germany at the the time and didn't compose any music for a film made in Hollywood until he scored one scene for "A Rage In Paris" in '38. Still, it's working looking at regarding Mancini's film music.
I've read it and enjoyed it. Offers a lot that Mancini's autobiography does not. Caps can be a really good writer; I thought his article "The John Barry Tryptych" for Elmer Bernstein's Magazine was thoughtful. The interesting thing, for me, about Mancini is that he often chose light and sometimes silly projects, which did not always bring out the best in him, while he could also write some incredibly beautiful tunes and addicting ostinatos. Moon River is probably my favorite song--period.
