Buddy Baker (composer)
| Buddy Baker | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Norman Dale Baker |
| Born |
January 4, 1918 Springfield, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | July 26, 2002 (aged 84) Hollywood, California |
| Genres | Soundtrack |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
| Years active | 1934–1994 |
Norman Dale "Buddy" Baker (January 4, 1918 – July 26, 2002) was an American composer who, together with Paul J. Smith, scored many Disney films, such as The Apple Dumpling Gang in 1975, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again in 1979, The Shaggy D.A. in 1976, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1977, and The Fox and the Hound in 1981.
Baker was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, and got his degree in music from Southwest Baptist College. He later went to the West Coast in the 1930s to arrange music scores for radio. He became the Musical Director on Bob Hope's radio show.
One of his first hits as a big band arranger on record was "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" for the Stan Kenton Orchestra. He later became a professor at L.A. City College in the early 1950s. Among his early students were film composer Jerry Goldsmith and jazz drummer Louis Bellson with whom he composed and arranged Journey Into Love (Norgran, 1954).
At about this time, his friend George Bruns asked him to compose music for the Disney television show Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. He stayed on at the Disney studio, and eventually became its music director, as well as chief composer for Disneyland and other Disney theme parks.
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