Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Folder
Title
Phil Harris – Alice Faye Arrangements
Date(s)
- 1946 - 1954 (Creation)
Extent
7 linear feet; 7 banker's boxes
Name of creator
Biographical history
Phil Harris (June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was a singer, songwriter, jazz musician, actor and comedian, best remembered for his voice work; he provided the voices for “Baloo” in Disney’s The Jungle Book and “Little John” in Disney’s Robin Hood. Born Wonga Philip Harris in Linton, Indiana, Harris grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. Beginning in the late 1920s, he worked as a drummer in an orchestra he formed with Carol Lofner in San Francisco. When the partnership ended, he continued to perform with his own band. In the mid-1930s, Harris became musical director of The Jell-O Show starring Jack Benny. Although responsible for singing and leading the band, Harris had a quick wit and comic timing that insured his inclusion into Benny’s comic ensemble.
Phil Harris and Alice Faye married in 1941; it was a second marriage for both of them. Although insiders predicted the union would not last more than six months, the marriage lasted fifty-four year, until Harris’s death in 1995. In 1946, the couple began co-hosting a Sunday night comedy-variety show titled The Fitch Bandwagon, sponsored by F. W. Fitch Co., a hair products manufacturer located in Des Moines, Iowa. The show’s premise, to showcase big bands, shifted as the popularity of Harris and Faye’s family skits grew in popularity. In 1948, Rexall, a pharmaceutical company, became the show’s sponsor and its title changed to The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show. The couple played themselves in the weekly situation comedy that included two young actresses playing the couple’s real-life daughters. The show featured Harris as a bumbling, slightly vain husband and Faye as his loving, but sharp-tongued wife. During each episode, Faye and Harris sang a couple of songs. Generally, Faye performed ballads and Harris sang swing numbers. The show ended in 1954.
The couple continued to work, separately and together, until Harris’s death.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Alice Faye (May 5, 1915 – May 9, 1998) was a successful musical film star before walking off the lot of Fox Studios to focus on her personal life. Born Alice Jean Leppert in New York City, Faye began her career as a chorus girl before finding a spot in George White’s Scandals of 1931, a Broadway show in which Rudy Vallée starred. Vallée later hired her as a singer on his radio show. In 1934, she moved to film when Fox Studios turned the George White’s Scandals of 1931 into a movie and hired her to play Vallée’s love interest. Over the next eleven years, Faye showcased her warm contralto voice in over 30 films, mostly plotless, lighthearted entertainment. She was a favorite of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter, and introduced more songs to the Hit Parade than any other female Hollywood movie star. In 1945, Faye accepted a dramatic lead role in Fallen Angel; however, the final version emphasized Fox Studio’s new protégé Linda Darnell rather than Faye. She left the studio and did not return for seventeen years.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Walter Scharf (August 1, 1910 - February 24, 2003) was an American film composer and conductor who worked with Alice Faye and Rudy Vallée. When Vallée moved to Hollywood, Scharf followed. In the course of his Hollywood career, Scharf composed, arranged and/or conducted the music to over 100 feature films including Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Funny Girl, and The Cheyenne Social Club. His prodigious career also included television and stage plays. From 1948 to 1954, Scharf worked as the musical director for the Phil Harris – Alice Faye Show, arranging and composing music for the radio show.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Approximately 140 musical arrangements for the weekly NBC radio show The Phil Harris – Alice Faye Show. The arrangements were created by Walter Scharf.
System of arrangement
Arrangements are alphabetized by song title.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
All material is open to the public without restriction. Copyright laws of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) govern the making of photocopies or other reproductions.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the Great American Songbook Foundation. Music written prior to 1923 is in the public domain. For more information, please consult the staff of the Library & Archives.
Languages of the material
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Received from Michael Feinstein on December 29, 2008.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
A collection of personal items is on display at the Carnegie Heritage & Arts Center in Linton, Indiana. https://visitgc.com/where-to-go/arts/carnegie-heritage-arts-center/#.YG9hNWRKhPZ
Related descriptions
Notes element
Specialized notes
- Citation: Phil Harris – Alice Faye Arrangements, The Great American Songbook Foundation.
- Processing information: Processed by Janice Roger, completed May 2014.
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Harmitz, Aljean. “Alice Faye, Hollywood Star Who Sang for Her Man, is Dead,” New York Times, May 10, 1998. Accessed March 15, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/10/us/alice-faye-hollywood-star-who-sang-for-her-man-is-dead.html.
Parish, James Robert. The Fox Girls. New Rochelle, NY: 1971.
“Benny Show’s Phil Harris Dies at 89.” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1995. Accessed April 7, 2015. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-08-13/news/mn-34742_1_phil-harris.
"The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Phil_Harris-Alice_Faye_Show&oldid=603798654 (accessed April 7, 2015).
“Walter Scharf, 92; Movie and TV Composer, Arranger, Conductor.” Los Angeles Times, February 28, 2003. Accessed April 7, 2015. http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/28/local/me-scharf28.
Scharf, Walter and Michael Friedland. Composed and Conducted by Walter Scharf. Totowa, NJ: Vallentine, Mitchell, 1988.
Archivist's note
Finding aid created by Janice Roger, May 2014.
AtoM description created by Ashlee James, January 2018.
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Scharf, Walter (Contributor)
- Phil Harris-Alice Faye show (Radio Program) (Subject)