Don Costa
| Don Costa | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Dominick P. Costa |
| Born |
June 10, 1925 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 19, 1983 (aged 57) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Popular music, Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Conductor, arranger, record producer, musician |
| Instruments | Guitar |
Dominick P. "Don" Costa (June 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983) was an American recording artist, arranger, conductor, and record producer. He discovered singer Paul Anka, and is perhaps best known for conducting and arranging several hit albums by Frank Sinatra, including Sinatra and Strings and My Way.
Costa was born in Boston, Massachusetts to an Italian American family. As a child, he took a keen interest in learning the guitar, and he became a member of the CBS Radio Orchestra by the time he was in his teens. In the late 1940s, Costa moved to New York to further his career by becoming a session musician. He played guitar along with Bucky Pizzarelli on Vaughn Monroe's hit record "Ghost Riders in the Sky." It was around this time that Costa started experimenting with combinations of instruments, producing musical arrangements, and peddling them to a few notable big bands.
It was this self-promotion that caused two young up and coming singers to notice his work. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé invited Costa to write some vocal backgrounds for their future recordings. He agreed, and thus began an association that led to their joining a new record label being headed by Sam Clark as president: ABC-Paramount Records. It was here that Costa accepted the position of head A&R man as well as chief arranger and producer. Many hits were to follow, not only with Lawrence and Gormé, but with Lloyd Price, George Hamilton IV and Paul Anka. Apart from his arranging skills, Costa was an excellent guitarist and during the period 1956 - 1957 he released two 45s on ABC-Paramount using the alias Muvva "Guitar" Hubbard, the first an R&B styled instrumental "Ponytail" which he also wrote, as well as a cover version of Bill Justis hit record, "Raunchy".
...
Wikipedia