Bert Kaempfert

Kaempfert was born in Hamburg, Germany, where he received his lifelong nickname, Fips, and studied at the local school of music. A multi-instrumentalist, he was hired by Hans Busch to play with his orchestra, before serving as a bandsman in the German Navy during World War II. He later formed his own big band and toured with them, following that by working as an arranger and producer, making hit records with Freddy Quinn and Ivo Robić. Kaempfert met his future wife, Hannelore, in 1945. They married a year later, on 14 August 1946. They had two daughters, Marion and Doris.[1]

Throughout the 1960s, various artists recorded renditions of Kaempfert's music:

• "Strangers in the Night" (with words by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder), was originally recorded as part of his score for the 1966 film A Man Could Get Killed. It became a #1 hit for Frank Sinatra in 1966, despite Sinatra's hatred of the song, which he called the “worst fucking song that I have ever heard”.[2] This was followed a year later with another hit for Sinatra, "The World We Knew (Over and Over)".
• "Wooden Heart", sung by Elvis Presley in the film G.I. Blues was a hit in 1961. Joe Dowell's cover of "Wooden Heart" became a big hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 28, 1961. Kaempfert arranged this traditional German folk song Muss i denn for the Presley movie.
• His instrumental "Moon Over Naples", when given words by Snyder, became "Spanish Eyes", originally a hit for Al Martino and also recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck, Presley, and many others.
• "Danke Schoen", with words added by Kurt Schwabach and Milt Gabler, became Wayne Newton's signature song.
• "L-O-V-E", with words added by Milt Gabler, was a hit for Nat King Cole.
• "Almost There", which reached No. 67 on the U.S. charts but No. 2 on the U.K. charts, was recorded by Andy Williams.[3]
• His 1962 movie theme from the film 90 Minuten nach Mitternacht (Terror After Midnight), with lyrics added by Herb Rehbein and Joe Seneca, became a pop ballad called "Love After Midnight", recorded by both Patti Page (1964) and Jack Jones (1966).
• A jazzier number called "A Swingin' Safari" was the theme tune for the long-running TV game show The Match Game, used on the NBC version from 1962 to 1967. The composer received credit for the theme ("Music by Bert Kaempfert"). Many today remain confused thinking that the recording actually used on The Match Game was an American cover version by the Billy Vaughn orchestra. But it was Kaempfert's version all the way.
• Another 1962 single, "That Happy Feeling", became well known as background music for children's television programming, most notably that of Sandy Becker on his daily WNEW-TV (now WNYW) show in New York between 1963 and 1967.
• The LP entitled A Swingin' Safari was heavily influenced by South African kwela style music, containing versions of "Zambesi", "Wimoweh", "Skokiaan", and "Afrikaan Beat", as well as the title track. Many of the tracks were later used in the film An Elephant Called Slowly (1969).
• "Tahitian Sunset" was sampled extensively by the lo-fi dance artists Lemon Jelly as their track "In the Bath".

In 1963, jazz trumpeter Bobby Hackett recorded a complete album with 12 Kaempfert compositions, Bobby Hackett Plays the Music of Bert Kaempfert. It has now been re-released in the United States under the Sony Records label in the Collectable Jazz Classics series, along with the album Bobby Hackett Plays The Music of Henry Mancini on a "2-in-1" CD.

In 1967, jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain recorded the album Pete Fountain Plays Bert Kaempfert in Hamburg, Germany, with musicians from Kaempfert's orchestra. It featured Kaempfert's signature hits.

In 1967, the Anita Kerr Singers released the LP Bert Kaempfert Turns Us On!, a tribute to Kaempfert, featuring the standard hits.

In 1967, Jimi Hendrix included the melody of "Strangers in the Night" in his improvised guitar solo for his famous guitar-burning version of "Wild Thing" at the Monterey Pop Festival.[4]

In 1968, jazz trumpeter Al Hirt recorded the album Al Hirt Plays Bert Kaempfert. It too featured Kaempfert's major hits. That year, BMI awarded accolades to five of Kaempfert's songs: "Lady", "Spanish Eyes", "Strangers in the Night", "The World We Knew", and "Sweet Maria". Many of his hits during the 1960s were composed and arranged with the help of German Herb Rehbein, who became a successful bandleader in his own right. Rehbein's death in 1979 shook Kaempfert deeply. Both Kaempfert and Rehbein were posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 1970, Johnny Mathis issued a double-LP album set, Sings the Music of Bacharach & Kaempfert, for Columbia. It consisted of a total 21 tracks in a heavyweight gatefold picture sleeve. The Kaempfert tracks were done in his arrangement style, and the Bacharach tracks were done in the American's unique upbeat style. The same year Kaempfert composed the score for the war film You Can't Win 'Em All, starring Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson.

By the 1970s, sales of Kaempfert's music had declined, but he continued to record. His version of the Theme from Shaft was admired by composer Isaac Hayes and remained popular with audiences. He expanded the musical scope of his band and recorded in a wide variety of styles. He also began to play live concerts with his orchestra, beginning in 1974, with an appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Kaempfert is sampled in the 1998 song "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies. The song's lyrics also declare that "Bert Kaempfert's got the mad hits".

Kaempfert used many musicians who were available in Germany and other parts of Europe, including many of the same players who played for James Last, Kai Warner, and Roberto Delgado. He featured such top soloists as trumpeters Charly Tabor, Werner Gutterer, Manfred Moch, and Ack van Rooyen, trombonists Åke Persson, and Jiggs Whigham, and sax/flute player Herb Geller. Drummer Rolf Ahrens supplied the characteristically simple but steady beat, often playing just a snare drum with brushes.

Another contributor to Kaempfert's music was guitarist/bassist Ladislav "Ladi" Geisler, who popularized the famous "knackbass" (crackling bass) sound, using the Fender Telecaster Bass Guitar, which became the most distinctive feature of many Kaempfert recordings — a treble staccato bass guitar sound in which the bass string was plucked with a pick and immediately suppressed to cancel out any sustain. An acoustic bass played a simple pattern in unison with this staccato electric bass, which created a unique sound. It was Geisler who lent his guitar amplifier to The Beatles for their recording session with Tony Sheridan, after the band's own equipment proved to be inadequate for recording purposes.[5]

Street sign for Bert-Kaempfert-Platz, a street in Hamburg, Germany named in Kaempfert's honour.

Kaempfert died suddenly following a stroke at his home in Mallorca on 21 June 1980, at the age of 56, shortly after a successful appearance in the United Kingdom.

Bert-Kaempfert-Platz, a square in the Barmbek district of Hamburg, Germany, is named after him.

Titles are for European releases; the U.S. release may have a different title.

• Official website (in English)
• Bert Kaempfert discography
• Classicthemes.com
• Bert Kaempfert medley