Tony Terran


Anthony "Tony" Terran was an American trumpet player and session musician. He was part of The Wrecking Crew, which was a group of session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who earned wide acclaim in the 1960s. The Wrecking Crew was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum on November 26, 2007.

Career

Regarded as one of the most versatile trumpet players in the music business, Terran influenced the Los Angeles music scene for more than four decades as a specialist of many musical styles. He performed and recorded with many artists including The Jackson 5, The Mamas & the Papas, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Bee Gees, Ray Charles, Chicago, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Tony Bennett, Eartha Kitt, Peggy Lee, Madonna, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Lou Rawls, Barbra Streisand, Baja Marimba Band, Tijuana Brass, The Carpenters, Tom Waits and Ricky Nelson.
Terran played on many recordings of television shows and film soundtracks such as I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, The Brady Bunch, I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, Happy Days, Popeye, The Carol Burnett Show, ', The Love Boat, ', Cheers, L.A. Law, The Simpsons, M*A*S*H, The Odd Couple, Mork and Mindy, Rocky I, II and III, The Karate Kid I, II and III, The Natural, All the President's Men, Broadcast News, Field of Dreams, Blazing Saddles, Grease, An Officer and a Gentleman, The Exorcist, Ghostbusters, Dirty Dancing, Three Amigos, Forrest Gump, Taps, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Deep.
He was also a featured soloist for composers and conductors including Nelson Riddle, John Williams, Patrick Williams, David Shire, Lalo Schifrin, Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Henry Mancini, Johnny Mandel, James Horner, Johnny Mandel, Charles Fox, Burt Bacharach and John Barry. Terran received the Most Valuable Player award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1974.
Terran was in high school when he started working on live radio shows in Buffalo, NY. In 1944, he arrived in Los Angeles after touring with Horace Heidt. In 1945, he began working with Bob Hope, and then with Desi Arnaz in 1946. His relationship with Arnaz helped shape Cuban/Latin music in the United States. Tony was the last surviving member of the Desi Arnaz Orchestra from the I Love Lucy television show. He had the distinction of playing on the first filmed television sitcom, and playing with some of the first R&B combo bands to use horns in the early 1950s.
Terran had one marriage from 1963–1976 to singer/dancer Avalon Adele Kirkham and has five children; Aprile Lanza Boettcher, Mark Terran, David Terran, Eve Terran and Jennifer Terran.
Terran died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 90.

Selected discography

As leader

with Chet Baker
with the Henri René Orchestra
with Lalo Schifrin