Herschel Burke Gilbert

Hershel Burke Gilbert (1918-2003) was interviewed for two-and-a-half hours in Los Angeles, CA. Gilbert talked about his early interest in music and his studies in college (including eventually studying conducting and composing at Julliard) and his part in a local dance band.  He talked about becoming an arranger for Harry James during the big band era of the 1940s that led to his move to Los Angeles and Columbia Pictures.  He talked about working with composer Heinz Roemheld on such films as The Fuller Brush Man and Dimitri Tiomkin on such films as Duel in the Sun.  He also talked about other features he scored including Otto Preminger’s Carmen Jones. Gilbert talked about his association with the American Society of Music Arrangers and described American Federation of Music president James C. Petrillo, the legendary union head.  Gilbert then talked about the Mutell (music for television) music service, which supplied music for low-budget television series such as The Adventures of Superman, and dozens of others throughout the 1950s.  He spoke in great detail about working with the creative team of Jules Levy-Arthur Gardner-Arthur Leven on the series The Rifleman, for whose theme and incidental music he scored. He talked about becoming the executive music director at Dick Powell’s Four Star Productions and the outsourcing of the music recording internationally. He talked about working on such series as The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, The Westerner, and Burke’s Law.  Finally he talked about his work as the Executive Music Supervisor at CBS in the 1960s, including his contributions to such series as Rawhide. The interview was conducted by Jon Burlingame on April 30, 2001.