Dave Appell
| Dave Appell | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 24, 1922 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | November 18, 2014 (aged 92) |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, musical arranger and record producer |
| Associated acts | The Applejacks |
David Appell (March 24, 1922 – November 18, 2014) was an American musician, musical arranger and record producer born in Philadelphia.
Appell (pronounced "AP-el") is associated mainly with the Cameo-Parkway record label, in whose history he played a substantial part. He started working as an arranger for several United States Navy big bands in the mid-1940s during his service in World War II, including Jimmie Lunceford's black orchestra.
He later arranged for dance orchestras, including Benny Carter and Earl "Fatha" Hines. He recorded for a while on Decca Records as the Dave Appell Four, until Paul Cohen of Decca suggested he change the group name to the Applejacks. Appell also became a publisher, joining ASCAP in 1955, collaborating with Max Freedman.
He appeared prominently in the 1956 Alan Freed film, Don't Knock the Rock, and worked for a while as the studio band and music director on the Ernie Kovacs TV and radio shows in Philadelphia. Next Appell and the Applejacks were playing in Las Vegas, but they soon began to pine for their hometown and returned to Philadelphia, where they started working for Cameo Records, a label founded by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe.
Appell did background vocals, session work as a guitarist, engineering, arranging and producing. The first hit artist on the Cameo label was Charlie Gracie with "Butterfly". Appell's band backed Gracie on that million-seller in 1957, and on the singer's subsequent hits, "Fabulous", "Ninety-Nine Ways" and "Wander in' Eyes". In 1958 Appell and his group backed John Zacherle on his Top 10 novelty hit "Dinner With Drac".
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