Jack Fascinato

Thanks to a long-running role as conductor and arranger for Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jack Fascinato issued several albums credited to himself, among them Music from a Surplus Store, which space age pop enthusiasts now regard as a prime collector’s item. He entered the world on September 11, 1915 in Bevier, MO, spent his formative years in nearby Hannibal, and taught music at the local high school prior to his World War II service. Once discharged, he established himself in Chicago, where he led a jazz trio from the piano. Fascinato received the post of musical director for the popular children’s program Kukla, Fran & Ollie in 1947 and received widespread praise for elaborate presentations that ranged from a St. George and the Dragon performance with Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops to yearly productions of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Mikado. When the show relocated its studios to Los Angeles, he moved as well and soon pursued outside assignments, landing a 1952 Capitol Records engagement with the ascending country crossover artist Tennessee Ernie Ford. Their collaboration proved highly fruitful; over the ensuing years Fascinato arranged and conducted nearly two dozen Ford LPs and contributed to several chart successes, among them “Sixteen Tons.” His rising stature at the label led to the 1959 appearance of Palm Springs Suite, an album of thematically connected original pieces, while its successor, Music from a Surplus Store, incorporated sonic textures derived from ordinary second-hand objects. Fascinato also supplied music for hundreds of advertising spots before his death on Christmas Day, 1994.