Tags
Abbott & Costello, arranger, composer, Dragnet theme song, Mayo Clinic, Music, One Hit Wonder, open heart surgery, The Ballad of Davy Crockett, Voices of Walter Schumann
The Ballad of Davy Crockett, The Voices of Walter Schumann (1955)
Walter Schumann was attending law school when he abruptly quit to join his USC college dance band. He quickly went after a career in the music industry. Working as a composer and arranger, he scored several Abbott & Costello films. He also composed the theme song for the TV series Dragnet. In the early to mid-1950s, he gathered 20 talented vocalists together to form the Voices of Walter Schumann. They had a hit with The Ballad of Davy Crockett. It peaked at #29 in April 1955. In the summer of 1958, Schumann was admitted to the Mayo Clinic undergoing one of the first open heart surgeries performed in the United States. After complications arose following the surgery, Schumann died on August 21, 1958 at age 44. “Voices” continued on for another 5 years.
