LINKS

• View his movie credits.
• View his TV credits.
• Read more on Famous Alumni Musicians.
• Visit his website.

Notes on his wife, Jackie DeShannon

Jackie was born in Kentucky and became one of the first female singer-songwriters in the '60s. Two of her most well-known songs include her recording of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and the million-copy seller "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (written and performed by DeShannon in 1969). In 1982, she won a Grammy with Donna Weiss for writing "Bette Davis Eyes." In 2010, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, with approximately 53 singles and 38 albums to her name. When she first started out, she even toured with the Beatles.

That means some American concert goers end up thinking he had attached his name to covers. The confused music aficionados will coyly approach him after a show to confide, "I have to admit I've heard that music before."

Edelman shook his head at the thought, then told the UC audience that he was giving them a warning: "After you have heard these next themes and think, 'I've heard this before,' I want you to know that I didn't steal this shit!"

Later in the evening, he regaled the audience with way in which he tried to tell Ted Turner "no" to composing the score for "Gettysburg," which was originally slated to be a TV miniseries. At the time, he dreaded the thought of composing 18 hours of music for a historical piece. In retrospect, giving in was probably a good thing, considering that around the Fourth of July each year, many symphonies play "Gettysburg" themes rather than the "1812 Overture."

In the 1960s, when Edelman enrolled at UC, a degree in music was not his initial goal. Instead of heading for CCM, he was in the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences preparing to follow his parents' desire for him to be a dentist. Soon he realized, "I wasn't cut out for that."

To reinforce his gut instinct, he entered a CCM concerto contest being judged by Erich Kunzel, the famous conductor/founder of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. When Endelman came in second place, Kunzel took the student aside and wanted to know why he wasn't studying at the conservatory.

He ended the conversation insisting that Randy continue his musical efforts. Much to his parents' disappointment, he took Kunzel's advice.

During much of college, he worked college band gigs, playing piano in a couple different groups and even recording at James Brown's Kings Records with some of the band members. When three of his band mates showed up at CCM for a long-awaited reunion, they all emphasized what a great guy Edelman had been during their band days and how obvious it quickly became that their pianist's talents greatly exceeded their own.

Edelman closed the concert by playing the Steinway grand piano on stage and singing one of his songs made popular by Barry Manilow in 1976, "Weekend in New England." His publisher had repeatedly refused to accept the piece, yet Edelman believed in it enough that he coughed up the money to make his own demo. And not needing to share the subsequent money with anyone, Endelman got it to Manilow, "who loved it just as I had written it," he told the audience with a slightly smug smile.

Apparently, Manilow and Edelman both knew what they were doing. The recording reached No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart and No. 10 on the Billboard's Hot 100.

"As a composer, you always hope that one day you will write that one song that will live on," Edelman explained. "This may be it."

As he sat down at the piano to play the song, he explained that he lacked a singing voice but would give it a try. Personally, I didn't notice his voice much because directly behind me was a melodious woman's voice singing the entire song, word for word.

She wasn't loud enough to be heard all over the auditorium, but the fervor in her voice made it clear that she couldn't help herself. She had to sing. It seems that she was in love with the song, almost as much as she was in love with the composer. It was Jackie DeShannon.

Married to Randy since 1976 (a particularly long time in Hollywood years), Jackie had been with her husband at UC for several days while he taught master classes and rehearsed the orchestra. After the concert, she was not hesitant to exclaim, "The kids were great!"

Randy Edelman's bragging rights

Award: BMI Lifetime Career Achievement Award, 2003. Watch video.

Film-score compositions include:

• "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story"
• "The Last of the Mohicans"
• "Ghostbusters II"
• "While You Were Sleeping"
• "Weekend in New England"
• "Twins"
• "Kindergarten Cop"
• "Mask"
  

Film trailers in which his music was used:

• “Patch Adams”
• “The Truman Show”
• “A Few Good Men”
• “Patriot Games”
• “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone”
  

His music was also in:

• Disney movies
• Academy Awards
• NBC's Olympic Games ('96, '02, '08)
• Super Bowl XXXII ('98)
• World Series ('97)
  
• NBC's NFL telecasts ('95–97)
• "MacGuiver" TV series ('85-92, 139 episodes)
  

His songs were recorded by:

• Olivia Newton-John
• Blood Sweat and Tears
• The Fifth Dimension
• Barry Manilow
• Patti Labelle
• Bing Crosby

In his early years, he performed with:

• Frank Zappa
• The Carpenters

Orchestrated songs for:

• "Godfather of Soul" James Brown