Biography
Speculation has long circulated regarding the discomfort a musician sharing the surname Manson might experience due to inevitable mix-ups with the notorious cult leader whose recordings include the track “Helter Skelter.” In the realm of actual music, the possibility that Eddy Manson’s work could be mistaken for the primitive output of that other Manson would have been especially unwelcome for a globally recognized chromatic harmonica virtuoso, composer, and Hollywood session player. An erroneous royalty statement for one of Charles Manson’s songs would hardly have ranked among career highlights, no matter how routinely such clerical errors occurred. Observers have therefore wondered whether these circumstances explain why Eddy Manson became an outspoken advocate for Christian Right groups that target both the popular music business and the film industry. Whether Catholic or Baptist, these organizations welcomed an ally named Manson in their campaigns against figures such as Marilyn Manson.
Manson’s most celebrated achievement remains the entirely chromatic-harmonica score for the 1953 film The Little Fugitive, a work whose lofty assertions about music’s influence he repeated in on-screen commentary for the anti-rock video Hell’s Bells. “Music is used everywhere to condition the human mind. It can be just as powerful as a drug and much more dangerous because nobody takes musical manipulation very seriously.” He continued: “Music is a two-edged sword. It’s really a powerful drug. Music can poison you, lift your spirits or make you sick without knowing why.” He further maintained, “You can hypnotize people with music and when they get at their weakest point you can preach into their subconscious minds what you want to say.” Regarding cinema he observed, “We manipulate people like crazy in films. It’s a tremendous release. I can make you feel any emotion I want you to feel at any time. It’s a Machiavellian power we project gut to gut.” The notion of mind control exercised through harmonica performance seemed plausible to him given sufficient preparation.
Formal training took place at the Juilliard School of Music and the New York University School of Radio and Television. Composition studies were pursued with Vittorio Giannini and Rudy Schramm, clarinet instruction with Jan Williams, and orchestration analysis with Adolf Schmidt. Early assignments included live-television scores for Armstrong Circle Theater, Kraft Theater, Westinghouse Theater, Studio One, and Lamp Unto My Feet. The Little Fugitive soundtrack earned multiple award nominations that same year. Over subsequent decades the often solitary or eerie timbre of his harmonica appeared in numerous motion pictures and series, among them Ben Casey and The Virginian. Film credits encompass Coal Miner’s Daughter, Oklahoma Crude, The Longest Day, Hard Times, and Born on the Fourth of July.
Beyond screen work, his arranging assignments proved remarkably diverse, encompassing material for Michael Jackson prior to the singer’s rhinoplasty, the Miracles, the Jackson 5, actor and comedian Red Buttons, and Don Ho. One of his best-known harmonica appearances on the hit parade was the Rosemary Clooney novelty “I Found My Mama.” Serious composition yielded Symphony No. 1, Fugue for Woodwinds, Ballad for Brass, and Parable For 16 Horns, the last of which found particular favor among brass players in the musicians’ union. Americana explorations produced the arrangements Yankee Doodle Toccata and Bachiana Americana. In the 1950s he released a series of flamboyant instrumental “hi-fi” albums under his own name on RCA. Live performance as a harmonica soloist continued throughout his life, having begun at age fifteen with Johnny O’Brien Harmonica Hi-Hats. During the 1980s he served as music director and vice president of the Los Angeles Creative Arts Temple; in 1993 he assumed a two-year post as artistic director of Temple Sholom Aleichem. He also taught film scoring at UCLA and contributed a regular column to Overture magazine.
Manson’s most celebrated achievement remains the entirely chromatic-harmonica score for the 1953 film The Little Fugitive, a work whose lofty assertions about music’s influence he repeated in on-screen commentary for the anti-rock video Hell’s Bells. “Music is used everywhere to condition the human mind. It can be just as powerful as a drug and much more dangerous because nobody takes musical manipulation very seriously.” He continued: “Music is a two-edged sword. It’s really a powerful drug. Music can poison you, lift your spirits or make you sick without knowing why.” He further maintained, “You can hypnotize people with music and when they get at their weakest point you can preach into their subconscious minds what you want to say.” Regarding cinema he observed, “We manipulate people like crazy in films. It’s a tremendous release. I can make you feel any emotion I want you to feel at any time. It’s a Machiavellian power we project gut to gut.” The notion of mind control exercised through harmonica performance seemed plausible to him given sufficient preparation.
Formal training took place at the Juilliard School of Music and the New York University School of Radio and Television. Composition studies were pursued with Vittorio Giannini and Rudy Schramm, clarinet instruction with Jan Williams, and orchestration analysis with Adolf Schmidt. Early assignments included live-television scores for Armstrong Circle Theater, Kraft Theater, Westinghouse Theater, Studio One, and Lamp Unto My Feet. The Little Fugitive soundtrack earned multiple award nominations that same year. Over subsequent decades the often solitary or eerie timbre of his harmonica appeared in numerous motion pictures and series, among them Ben Casey and The Virginian. Film credits encompass Coal Miner’s Daughter, Oklahoma Crude, The Longest Day, Hard Times, and Born on the Fourth of July.
Beyond screen work, his arranging assignments proved remarkably diverse, encompassing material for Michael Jackson prior to the singer’s rhinoplasty, the Miracles, the Jackson 5, actor and comedian Red Buttons, and Don Ho. One of his best-known harmonica appearances on the hit parade was the Rosemary Clooney novelty “I Found My Mama.” Serious composition yielded Symphony No. 1, Fugue for Woodwinds, Ballad for Brass, and Parable For 16 Horns, the last of which found particular favor among brass players in the musicians’ union. Americana explorations produced the arrangements Yankee Doodle Toccata and Bachiana Americana. In the 1950s he released a series of flamboyant instrumental “hi-fi” albums under his own name on RCA. Live performance as a harmonica soloist continued throughout his life, having begun at age fifteen with Johnny O’Brien Harmonica Hi-Hats. During the 1980s he served as music director and vice president of the Los Angeles Creative Arts Temple; in 1993 he assumed a two-year post as artistic director of Temple Sholom Aleichem. He also taught film scoring at UCLA and contributed a regular column to Overture magazine.
Albums
