Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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McFARLAND, Gary

(b 23 October 1933, Los Angeles CA; d 3 November 1971, NYC) Vibes, composer. He came from a musical family but did not read music until the late 1950s, then became one of the most successful writers of big-band arrangements of the '60s, only to die prematurely of a 'heart attack' (a prankster put liquid methadone in his drink). He studied at Berkeley '59, went to NYC; the album Concert In Jazz '61 by Gerry Mulligan on Verve included two McFarland compositions, Essence '64 by John Lewis on Atlantic included six. On Verve he wrote All The Sad Young Men for Anita O'Day and his own treatment of the Broadway score How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying '61, LPs with Bill Evans, Stan Getz (Big Band Bossa Nova, no. 13 in the pop album chart '64); he made Soft Samba '64 and began a series of LPs on Impulse with Point Of Departure, followed by Profiles, Simpatico and Tijuana Jazz. He toured with a quintet mid-'60s and led the house band at Downbeat Jazz Festival in Chicago '65; he was co-founder of the Skye label, on which his America The Beautiful ('a jazz lament for America') reached the top 200 LPs in Billboard '69.