George Greeley(1917-2007)

Greeley was born Georgio Guariglia in Westerly, Rhode Island on 23 July 1917. His father, James, had three music schools, and a traveling orchestra. Georgio was taught to read music at an early age and was playing piano and mandolin when he was five years old. He studied music at Columbia University, where he met and formed a long-time friendship with Paul Weston. George Greeley won a scholarship to the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied piano and composition, graduating in 1939.

George Greeley began his professional career arranging music for several popular figures such as Tommy Dorsey, Glen Gray, Abe Lyman, Leo Reisman, and Kay Kyser. After about a year with Dorsey, Greeley defected to Abe Lyman because "the money was better, and Abe had me writing three arrangements a week. I'd studied composition and orchestration at Juilliard, and wanted to practice what I'd learned." During World War II, he conducted an U.S. Air Force band. He also became involved in the Hollywood radio scene, working as arranger top shows for NBC and CBS.

Greeley went to work at Columbia Pictures as staff pianist and orchestrator. As orchestrator, Greeley would fill out the sketches supplied by composers that included Max Steiner, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Leonard Bernstein, and Dmitri Tiomkin. As pianist, he performed on hundreds of motion pictures, including Picnic and The Eddy Duchin Story. He also worked as a composer. Concurrent with his work at Columbia Pictures, Greeley worked for Capitol Records, where he was a music director, arranger, and conductor for various artists including Gordon MacRae, Dean Martin, Ella Logan, Jane Powell, Jane Froman, and Keely Smith. At the behest of his friend Paul Weston, Greeley also played piano (and harpsichord) on recording sessions for acts including Frankie Laine, Jo Stafford, Hoagy Carmichael, Sarah Vaughn, Eartha Kitt, and Doris Day.

George Greeley was among the earliest artists signed to the Warner Bros. Records label when it was founded in the late 50s. Greeley produced and performed as pianist (and occasionally as conductor) on fourteen popular albums between 1957-1967. Greeley's subsequent recordings were all hits for the label. Greeley's 1961 album for Warner Bros. Records, "The Best of the Popular Piano Concertos," peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200. On loan to Dot Records, he also ghost-conducted albums by Billy Vaughan and Lawrence Welk. Greeley's stint at Warner Brothers ended as times and popular tastes changed. By that time Greeley had begun working working in television and more success were to come...in television and concerts across the country.

George Greeley performed as featured artist in Australia, Canada, Korea, Brazil, and Argentina. Closer to home, he performed concerts with the Boston Pops, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Greeley died of emphysema in Los Angeles, California on May 26, 2007 at age 89.