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Born

  • March 12, 1912
  • Springfield, MA

Died

  • September 20, 1996

Real Name

  • Paul Weststein

Marriages / Children

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Paul Weston

Popular orchestra leader, best known as the father of lounge music. Paul Weston was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and grew up in Pittsfield. As an economics major at Dartmouth he became fascinated with jazz music, particularly swing. He soon began playing in college bands and led his own group, the Green Serenaders.

While doing graduate studies at Columbia University Weston sold a few arrangements to bandleader Joe Haymes. Rudy Vallee heard Weston's work and hired him as an arranger for his radio program. Weston later left Vallee for a short stint with Bing Crosby and was eventually hired by Tommy Dorsey, who had just quit the band he co-led with his brother, Jimmy. It was with Dorsey that Weston would meet his future wife, singer Jo Stafford, who was at that time a member of the vocal group the Pied Pipers.

Weston left Dorsey in 1940 to freelance as a conductor and arranger, working with such artists as Dinah Shore and Bob Crosby. Crosby brought him to to Hollywood in 1942, arranging for his orchestra on Holiday Inn. This led to other work at Paramount and an introduction to singer/songwriter Johnny Mercer, who was in the planning stages of forming Capitol Records. Mercer offered Weston the job of A&R Director and the opportunity to record his own music.

The days of swing were over, and Weston saw that the public's taste was now moving toward gentler material. In 1944 he released his first ''mood music'' album, Music for Dreaming. Featuring smooth, melodic jazz instrumentals with full orchestration, it was a huge success. He went on to record a series of groundbreaking albums based on the same concept, blazing the trail for such artists as Les Baxter, Martin Denny, and Esquivel to follow with their own brand of ''lounge'' music in the 1950s and 1960s.

While at Capitol Weston worked with a number of artists, including Mercer, Stafford, Betty Hutton and Margaret Whiting. There he developed a deep friendship with Stafford, a relationship that eventually ended in marriage in 1952.

In 1950 Weston left Capitol for Columbia Records. There he continued composing mood music and had his own radio show for CBS in 1951 and 1952. In 1957 Weston returned to Capitol. He also served as musical director at NBC and spent seven years on Bing Crosby's radio show. After retiring from television he became musical director with Disney on Parade for three years.

During the 1950s and 1960s Weston and Stafford recorded several albums under the names of Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. The Jonathan and Darlene recordings were parodies of a bad lounge act, featuring off-key warbling and clumsy piano work. The couple's Jonathan and Darlene in Paris won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.

In the early 1970s both Stafford and Weston retired from active performing. They founded Corinthian Records and began to reissue their own material. Paul Weston passed away in September of 1996.