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Henry Mancini Interview
In all of popular music, Henry Mancini is without a doubt one of the all
time greats. As the songwriter of “Moon River”, “Days
of Wine and Roses”, “Peter Gunn”, and “The Pink
Panther” theme song, Henry Mancini has achieved legendary status.
He is the winner of 3 Academy Awards, 20 Grammy Awards, and holds 6 Gold
Album Awards. His concerts take him all over the world and are always SRO.
At one time or another, Henry’s audience has included the Queen, the
President of the United States, and various heads of state.
Q – Mr. Mancini, do you ever write something
for the fun of it?
A – No. I have to have a reason. I don’t have time to sit down
and write for the so called ‘fun of it’. I mean, I write on assignment
for the fun of it. I just have too many things to do and one assignment goes
into another one. I have done very few things that haven’t been for a
purpose of one sort or another.
Q – How do you avoid being bothered when you
compose in the den of your home?
A – We’ve just finished building a house, that’s off on it’s
own, so, I’m not bothered as much as I used to be.
Q – What do you do when someone writes and
asks you for advice?
A – I must confess that when somebody writes and wants to get into a
Pen Pal type of thing, I just can’t do it. If I can-----I answer. If
they get into too much detail, I don’t have the time to answer it.
Q – What projects are you currently working
on?
A – I’ve got 2 pictures coming out this summer. One is ‘SOB’,
that’s a Blake Edwards picture with Julie Andrews, Larry Hagman, Robert
Preston and a whole bunch of other people. The other picture is my first experience
with a Disney picture and it’ll be called ‘Condor Man’.
Q – Do you see or hear anything new in today’s
music?
A – No, not really. On the Pop scene, nothing that is really exceptional.
Nothing has hit like Elton John did. I don’t really see anything that
spectacular.
Q – Where would you be today if you hadn’t
bumped into Blake Edwards at a barbershop?
A – I couldn’t answer that. I was in a position with a good amount
of experience behind me, and I think I eventually would have gotten into something
else, I mean as far as music goes-----in a different direction with different
people. I can’t even speculate, but, I know I would be doing the same
thing.
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