FUN FACT: The growls of the Bumble in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, were performed by Larry D. Mann (Yukon). "Larry was our go to guy," says Bill Giles (Sound engineer) "We knew he could do the laugh and growls of The Abominable Snow Monster!" #rudolphtherednosedreindeer

FUN FACT: The growls of the Bumble in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, were performed by Larry D. Mann (Yukon). "Larry was our go to guy," says Bill Giles (Sound engineer) "We knew he could do the laugh and growls of The Abominable Snow Monster!" #rudolphtherednosedreindeer

Bill Giles reminded me of this story from my book THE MAKING OF THE RANKIN/BASS HOLIDAY CLASSIC: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, which I forgot about :) Janis Orenstein (Clarice) came to the studio after school with her mom to record "There's Always Tomorrow," and nailed it on the first take! He said he never recorded anyone that did that...it was rare. He had her do a few more takes BUT it was the first take that made it into the special and on the soundtrack album. He also told me about a soundtrack album that was attempted in the studio, that was beyond the DECCA LP that was released, that was a total disaster and never released.

Bill Giles

Rankin/Bass magazine articles on news stands now 12-12-2020

Bill Giles Wednesday

Bill Giles called me today and we had a nice long chat! Bill was the recording engineer in Canada for Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! He also engineered many legendary sessions with artists such as Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Sonny and Cher and even worked on preparing Beatle tracks for the US. This story

 Janis Orenstein was the wonderful voice

C. 2001 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives  

always impresses me! Did you know Janis Orenstein nailed her performance of "There's Always Tomorrow" in one take? Bill says He and Bunny Cowan were the only ones in the studio with Janis and her Mom. They recorded a 2nd take as a backup, but they used the first performance for the special! Bill says she was in the studio for all of 15 minutes. Janis went on to become an Opera singer and the last I heard from her, she was living in Germany. Bill said he heard Alfie Scopp (Charlie-In-the-box) passed away. Alfie signed my GE ad and last I heard he was 96. Bill also confirmed that Peg Dixon was the voice of Mrs. Claus. I couldn't remember. #clarice #billgiles #rankinbass #rudolphtherednosedreindeer #canada #rcarecordingstudio #rcavictor #theresalwaystomorrow

NPR/MARKETPLACE The Making of Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer show

http://www.marketplace.org/2015/12/07/business/holiday-business-rudolph

Friday! After spending a nice day with Denise and then Josh, I heard this NPR/MARKETPLACE show on the expressway (behind two gaper's delays/accidents) :) It was short but fun! It wasn't Paul Coker, Jr. and I after all. It was changed to a MAKING OF Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer show! Starting with Paul Soles (Hermey) and my good friend Bill Giles (Sound Engineer) and then myself. I did suggest them to the interviewer Emma Jacobs (Who is a Canadian, as are Soles and Giles). Fun on I-294! Black Friday/Cyber Monday cleaned us out on most of our books, I picked up all the printer could do by today for my appearance tomorrow PLUS back orders and we'll have a short supply for orders placed right now for Christmas! So order soon! Ironically, my mailbox had a package from Paul Coker, Jr. today of more HEAT MISER and SNOW MISER cards! I have been doing a Rudolph interview with The Huffington Post today, which I think will appear tomorrow. Television on Tuesday on ME & YOU on THE U WCIU Ch. 26...not sure if we are taping or going live yet. Many more radio requests today too...so tune in to your local station :)

Perry Como

I have an appreciation for Perry Como coming out of this holiday season, after my facebook friend Rich Dudas sent me several of his Christmas shows on DVD with various sponsors!  Love these shows!  His Chesterfield and Kraft Music Hall specials had class.  I got some great insight into his recording career from my pal Bill Giles, who worked many years for RCA Victor and with Como.  Richard Carpenter wrote the liner notes of this 3 disc RCA Christmas collection.

ALFIE SCOPP

C. 2001 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives Alfie Scopp, seen all the way to the right of Larry D. Mann, and voice of Charlie-In-The-Box is still living today at age 95 in Canada. Bill Giles told me that he was very close friends with Robert Goulet, and they would play cards in the studio frequently. I believe this is how Arthur met Goulet and would hire him to sing THE DAYDREAMER in 1966

JANIS ORENSTEIN

Bill reminded me of this story from my book THE MAKING OF THE RANKIN/BASS HOLIDAY CLASSIC: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, which I forgot about Janis Orenstein (Clarice) came to the studio after school with her mom to record "There's Always Tomorrow," and nailed it on the first take! He said he never recorded anyone that did that...it was rare. He had her do a few more takes BUT it was the first take that made it into the special and on the soundtrack album. He also told me about a soundtrack album that was attempted in the studio, that was beyond the DECCA LP that was released, that was a total disaster and never released.

 

Just heard from Bill Giles, the Sound Engineer in Canada on RANKIN/BASS' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Just heard from my friend Bill Giles, the sound engineer on Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in Canada at RCA Recording and where I learned all about the sessions for the classic TV special! Hi: Rick; Saw you being interviewed on CBS. Great comments. Who would have thought that Rudolf would celebrate 50 years of viewing and receive such excellent ratings. People that I have talk to say that it wouldn’t be Christmas without watching Rudolf. Think of all the families that grew up with Rudolf. It certainly was a honor working on this Christmas special. I hope Arthur was aware of the special 50th anniversary commemorative US stamps issued by the Post office, before he passed away. I now winter in Hudson Florida, so I receive comments from both US. and Canadian viewers.




Bye for now. Bill Giles

C. 2001 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

Another article Bill gave me during the making of my Rudolph book

BILL GILES: Sound engineer on RANKIN/BASS' RUDOLPH

From the book THE MAKING OF THE RANKIN/BASS HOLIDAY CLASSIC: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (MISER BROS PRESS)
Rick Goldschmidt Archives
Bill was very helpful in the making of my book and was the head sound engineer at the RCA Victor Canadian studios!