Hal Mooney

Hal Mooney, born Harold Mooney, (February 4, 1911 - March 23, 1995) was an American composer and arranger.

Hal Mooney was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a young man, Mooney was a professional pianist. He attended Brooklyn and St. John's Law Schools. After studying music under New York University professor Orville Mayhood and then under the influential Joseph Schillinger, he was invited to join the arrangers' roster for the popular Hal Kemp Orchestra, alongside John Scott Trotter (who was about to leave the band) and Lou Busch.

Mooney then moved to the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, but World War II was breaking out and soon he was called up by the United States Army.

On his return from the war, Mooney became a freelance arranger in Hollywood and started to make a name for himself, providing charts for top vocalists such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Peggy Lee, Kay Starr, and Billy Eckstine.

In 1956, Mooney finally swapped freelancing for an exclusive contract, becoming in-house arranger and A&R Director at Mercury Records, where he would remain until the late 1960s. There, he provided arrangements for another raft of top singers, including Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Helen Merrill, Ernestine Anderson and, on Mercury's parent label, Philips Records, Nina Simone.