BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross (center) is pictured at the YMF gala with Merv Griffin and John Ottman. Photo by AnnaMaria Disanto

Since 1955, the YMF has provided encouragement and recognition to gifted young musicians from around the country through financial assistance, performance opportunities and music education programs. BMI sponsors various YMF events throughout the year.  ]]> 2006-11-22T03:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/335029 Wayne, Jennifer, Griffin, Merv, Country Merv Griffin and the production skills of Carl Jackson, but then, standing out is in her genes: Jennifer Wayne is the granddaughter of American icon John Wayne.

Jennifer Wayne (seated) is welcomed by BMI's Jody Williams. Photo by E. Dawson

]]> 2006-10-18T05:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/334615 Artists, Griffin, Merv, Ottman, John Young Musicians Foundation held its annual awards gala recently celebrating 51 years as the premiere youth music organization in the country. Sponsored by BMI, the event honored renowned composer Merv Griffin with the premiere of the "Merv Griffin Rose," the first celebrity flower by Organic Bouquet. Griffin, the winner of last year's YMF Humanitarian Award, was recently named chairman of Foundation's board of directors.

BMI's Ivanne Deneroff, Kraft/Engel Management's Richard Kraft, BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross, BMI composer and YMF honoree John Ottman, and BMI's Linda Livingston

The evening's program featured special performances that included fellow BMI film composer John Ottman (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; Fantastic Four; X-Men II; The Usual Suspects), who served as guest composer.

YMF Executive Director Edye Rugolo, BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross and BMI composer Merv Griffin

Since 1955, YMF has provided encouragement and recognition to gifted young musicians from around the country through financial assistance, performance opportunities and music education programs. BMI sponsors various YMF events throughout the year.

Photos by Alex Berliner

BMI saluted the premier country music songwriters, artists and publishers at its 2004 Country Awards, staged last night (11/8) at the BMI offices on Music Row in Nashville.

Country Awards Song List

Country Awards Event Photos

Crystal Gayle; BMI President & CEO Del Bryant; Shania Twain; Kitty Wells, Casey Beathard; Toby Keith, Loretta Lynn; Universal Music Senior VP/GM Pat Higdon; BMI President Emeritus Frances Preston; and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville President & CEO Donna Hilley.

Shania Twain's "Forever and For Always" was proclaimed Country Song of the Year. Casey Beathard earned the title of Country Songwriter of the Year, with superstar Toby Keith collecting Country Songwriter/Artist of the Year honors. Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville was named Country Publisher of the Year. A highlight of the gala was a tribute to Loretta Lynn, who was named a BMI ICON for "her enduring influence on generations of music makers."

The black-tie ceremony was hosted by Del Bryant, BMI President and CEO. Frances W. Preston, President Emeritus, and Paul Corbin, Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations, Nashville, assisted with the presentations to the BMI-affiliated writers and publishers of the 50 most performed songs in the country music format.

Loretta Lynn	Shania Twain

"Forever and For Always," written and recorded by Shania Twain, won the 36th Robert J. Burton Award as Most Performed Country Song of the Year for tallying the most US broadcast performances during the eligibility period. Included on Twain's 10-times platinum Mercury Nashville album, UP!, "Forever and For Always" was published by her company Loon Echo, Inc., and by Universal-Songs of PolyGram International, Inc., and was co-written with her husband, Robert John "Mutt" Lange (share not licensed through BMI).

Casey Beathard	Toby Keith

"Forever and For Always" is Twain's fourth BMI Song of the Year win. It was named Song of the Year at the 2004 BMI London Awards, and her smash "You're Still the One" received the honor at both the 1999 BMI Pop and Country Awards. She was also named BMI Songwriter of the Year at both the 1999 and 2000 Pop and Country Awards and now owns a total of 28 BMI Awards.

The BMI Country Songwriter of the Year trophy went to Casey Beathard, who placed five titles on the most performed list: "Drinkin' Bone" (recorded by Tracy Byrd), "Hot Mama" (Trace Adkins), "The Love Song" (Jeff Bates), "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" (Kenny Chesney) and "Walk a Little Straighter" (Billy Currington).

Toby Keith was crowned BMI Country Songwriter/Artist of the Year on the strength of his #1 hits "American Soldier," "Beer For My Horses" and "I Love This Bar." Keith, who now has 15 BMI Awards, was also named Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2001.

Eight songwriters were double winners, contributing two songs each to the most-performed list: Bob DiPiero, Scotty Emerick, Tony Martin, Wendell Mobley, Tim Nichols, Tom Shapiro, Jeffrey Steele, and Twain.

Other writer/artists earning awards were Keith Urban, Sara Evans, Lonestar's Richie McDonald, Clint Black, Kix Brooks & Ronnie Dunn, Buddy Jewell, Craig Morgan, Pat Green, Jeff Bates, and Sherri� Austin.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville was named BMI Country Publisher of the Year by accumulating the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. Donna Hilley, President & CEO, accepted on behalf of the publisher, which boasted 18 songs on the most-performed list (through its companies Sony/ATV Acuff Rose and Sony/ATV Tree).

Other publishers with multiple award-winning songs included Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (8); Universal-Songs of PolyGram International, Inc. (6); EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc. (4); Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc./Zomba Songs Inc., and Tokeco Tunes (3 each).

President Emeritus Frances Preston was recognized with the President's Award; BMI's Del Bryant led the tribute, joined by Kris Kristofferson, Vince Gill, and Alabama's Randy Owen. Preston, who joined BMI in 1958 and created the Country Awards in 1959, served as President & CEO from 1986 until August of this year. The award, given to those in the entertainment industry deserving of special recognition, has previously been bestowed on the group Alabama, Merv Griffin, Earle Hagen, Harlan Howard, Willie Nelson, Billy Sherrill, Pete Townshend and Brian Wilson.

The evening culminated in the ICON tribute to Loretta Lynn, which included an introduction by Preston, remarks from Kitty Wells, and performances by Crystal Gayle, Lynnís sister (singing Coal Minerís Daughter�) and Martina McBride (�You Ainít Woman Enough�). A BMI affiliate for 43 years, the Kentucky-born Lynn launched her career in 1960 with her self-composed "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl." Soon she was topping the charts with the feisty female classics she wrote, including "You Ain't Woman Enough" (1966), "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin'" (1966), "What Kind of Girl (Do You Think I Am)" (1967), "Fist City" (1968), "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1970), "You're Lookin' at Country" (1971), "Rated X" (1972) and "The Pill" (1975). The first woman ever to become the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year, she released her 71st album, the acclaimed Van Lear Rose, earlier this year.

Lynn joins a distinguished list of previous BMI ICONS, including country songwriter/artists Bill Anderson and Dolly Parton; pop songwriting master Brian Wilson; R&B legends James Brown, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Isaac Hayes and Al Green; Motown songwriting trio Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland; and blues/rock/soul artist Van Morrison.

Of course, a mere glimpse at Griffin's resume definitively demonstrates he has done exponentially more. But he has a point: In what he admits was a 30-minute session noodling around on his piano, Griffin created what has to be one of America's best-known melodies: the immortal theme to his game show, "Jeopardy!"

"That 'Jeopardy' theme is simply amazing," Griffin does allow. "I've written the shortest, most recognizable song. There was a list compiling the shortest songs: 'Happy Birthday to You' is 17 seconds. 'Jeopardy' is 14 seconds. So I rewrote it in another key, then added the 'bum-bump' to get it to 30 seconds, which was the amount of time contestants needed to write the question to the Final Jeopardy answer. Now, it's played at sporting events; I've played it with the Boston Pops in a huge arrangement. It's one of the most lucrative themes in history."

Griffin acknowledges that "the music brought fame to the show," whereas another theme he wrote for another of his game shows, "Wheel of Fortune," endures due to the simple genius of the game. "[Fewer] people recognize that theme, but it just sounds right," Griffin says. "I visualized that wheel going around and around when writing it. They've performed it a number of ways — 10 years ago, they did it with a big band; that was a great arrangement. Today, it's a kind of nondescript rock & roll arrangement that's more annoying than anything else."

Music kicked off Griffin's storied career, of course, with performances on San Francisco radio and tours with Freddy Martin and His Orchestra. His first hit came in 1950, with "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts." Fifty years later, he returned to the studio to work on another album, It's Like a Dream, boasting a title song written by Griffin.

" After 25 years of not singing, wondered if I could do it again," Griffin explains of the latest album, which was successful enough for him to consider returning to the studio.

Griffin was hardly idle when not singing. He hosted Emmy-winning late-night and afternoon talk shows — "When I went off in 1986, I was down to listening to soap opera stars solve the world's problems, which was driving me nuts," he cracks — and enjoyed entrepreneurial successes with his TV-production company and hotel chain.

The secret to career longevity, Griffin confides, is simple: "Never let audiences know what's going to happen next. I felt that nothing was bad for the show." As an example, he recalls a time when a cow defecated in front of his late-night talk show's studio audience. "I said, 'Ohhh, it's my first bad review,' and went on with the show. You want people to realize that they need to keep watching because anything can happen."

Even winning a prestigious award for a 14-second tune.

One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the BMI Richard Kirk Award for Outstanding Career Achievement to composer Randy Edelman. Named after late BMI Vice President Richard Kirk, the prestigious award is given annually to the composer who has made significant contributions to film and TV music. Past recipients of the award include John Barry, Danny Elfman, Charlie Fox, Jerry Goldsmith, Earle Hagen, Michael Kamen, Alan Menken, Thomas Newman, Mike Post, Lalo Schifrin, Richard and Robert Sherman, W.G. "Snuffy" Walden, John Williams and Patrick Williams.

Randy Edelman

Merv Griffin

Eminem

Another highlight of the dinner was the presentation of the BMI President's Award to entertainer Merv Griffin. BMI created the President's Award in 1993 to honor an exceptional person in the entertainment industry deserving of special recognition. It symbolizes BMI's commitment to creative and unique individuals who have made this industry what it is today. Past awardees include Harlan Howard, Earle Hagen, Brian Wilson, Willie Nelson, Alabama and Pete Townshend.

Recognized as one of the great melodic composers in film music, Edelman grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, studying piano at an early age and later majoring in piano and composition at the Cincinnati Music Conservatory. While in Cincinnati, he began freelancing as a music arranger at James Brown's King Records, and also wrote original music for regional theater. Upon graduation, Randy headed back to New York where he signed on as a staff writer at CBS April Blackwood Music. He worked as a music arranger and musician on Broadway and later went on the road as a musical director for many entertainers. He recorded solo records, which led him to open for such diverse groups as The Carpenters and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. His songs were recorded by such popular recording artists as Barry Manilow ("Weekend in New England"), Olivia Newton-John, Patti LaBelle, The Carpenters, The 5th Dimension, Jackie DeShannon, and Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Edelman became interested in using his background as a classical musician and arranger to pursue his interest in film scoring. In between his album recording, he began scoring several television and feature films including MacGyver, Maximum Security, Brisco County Jr. and several award-winning After School Specials. Within 12 years, Edelman had scored over 60 films. His diverse credits include the Golden Globe and British Academy Award-nominated score for The Last of the Mohicans, Gettysburg, Kindgergarten Cop, XXX, While You Were Sleeping, The Mask and Anaconda. Edelman has also written the NBC NFL Football Theme, the Sports Century documentary series theme, and the on-air Olympic theme for NBC. His scores have opened the Super Bowl and closed the Atlanta Olympic broadcast for which he received an Emmy Award. He is currently scoring the theme to the 2003 Wimbledon tennis tournament and Nia Vardalos's new film, Connie and Carla.

At the dinner, Edelman was honored by many of the directors with whom he has worked, being described by them as a passionate, focused, committed, free spirit with a devil-may-care attitude. Writer/Director Jonathan Lynn (The Whole Nine Yards, My Cousin Vinny) said Edelman's award was, "Thoroughly well deserved for years of writing one terrific score after another, and it's been my pleasure and privilege to work with you." Calling him one of the great songmeisters of this era, Director/Producer Ivan Reitman (Twins, Ghostbusters II, Kindergarten Cop) said Edelman, "...latches onto what's going on in the film in a very clear and emotional way, and he tries to find a musical equivalent that parallels his own emotional response."

Producer Roger Birnbaum (Connie and Carla, Shanghai Noon, Six Days Seven Nights), who has worked with Edelman since he wrote "Weekend In New England" which Barry Manilow recorded, said "...the thing that's unique about Randy is that in his compositions the basis is always a very, very beautiful melody - and that to me distinguishes him from other composers." He went on to add that; "...it's his versatility, his love of movies, his love of music that doesn't really pigeonhole him into being one kind of composer for one kind of music. He has the ability to compose for all kind of stories, regardless if it's dramatic or comedic."

Director Rob Cohen (XXX, The Skulls) added that, "...when you have a Randy Edelman score thematically things develop and interrelate, and it very much feels like an emotional world being described..." Director/Producer Henry Winkler (MacGyver) added that, "Randy brings a sweetness, an innocence, a soul to his music and somehow he can translate life into music. When you listen to it, it's filled with emotion; it's filled with inspiring sounds that literally go right up your spine."

Director/Producer Ronald F. Maxwell (Gods and Generals, Gettysburg) referred to him as a "tune factory," "...what makes him special for a motion picture is that the melody he comes up with is derived from the moment or absolutely from the character in that moment. There's nothing alien about what he does in terms of the story, so the music fits completely..."

One of the television's most successful personalities with his Emmy-award winning "Merv Griffin Show," Merv Griffin has created the scores and themes for two of the most-watched and longest-running game shows in television history: "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" He has also made significant contributions as a recording artist, songwriter and producer, and is highly regarded for his business acumen and philanthropic activities. Owner of Merv Griffin's Beverly Hilton Hotel among other hotel properties, he recently released his second autobiography, Merv: Making the Good Life Last, and has signed a deal with ABC Family to bring back his hit series, "Dance Fever."

Composers receiving the most nods at the BMI Film & Television awards included composers John Williams for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, Catch Me If You Can and Minority Report; Danny Elfman for Spider-Man, The Simpsons, Men In Black II and Chicago; and Mike Post for Law &Order, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: CI and NYPD Blue. Other multiple winning composers included David Vanacore for Joe Millionaire, Survivor: Amazon and Survivor: Thailand; Thomas Newman for Six Feet Under (two awards) and Road to Perdition; and Eminem for 8 Mile and "Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile (two awards).

For the second year, BMI honored the composers of the highest-ranking cable television shows of the year with the BMI Cable Television Music Award. Award recipients included Mark Mothersbaugh for Rugrats and Mind of the Married Man, Kara Dio Guardi for For The People, Howlin' Wolf for The Sopranos, Douglas Cuomo for Sex and the City, Starr Parodi and Jeff Fair for The Division, and Danny Pelfrey and David Bergeaud for Strong Medicine. BMI also gave the first Cable Mini-Series Award to Laura Karpman for Taken.

"Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile was named The Most Performed Song From A Motion Picture and also recognized for winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song. "Lose Yourself" was written by Eminem and Jeff Bass and published by Eight Mile Style Music.

BMI's Emmy Award winning composers were also honored, including Newman for Six Feet Under, Glen Daum for Sesame Street, Jeff Beal for Dateline NBC: Peggy & Dorothy; Walter Murphy for "You've Got A Lot To See" from Family Guy, A.J. Gundell, Jerry Pilato, Dominic Messinger and Gary Kuo for All My Children; Lenny Williams for National Geographic Explorer - "Haunt of the Hippo"; and George Fenton (PRS) for Blue Planet: Seas of Life. 2003 BMI Film & Television Awards

Edelman is known for his vast and diverse credit list, including scores to "The Last of the Mohicans," "Gods and Generals," "While You Were Sleeping," "The Mask, " "Anaconda," "Billy Madison," "XXX" and more. He wrote the hit "Weekend In New England" and has worked with such varied groups as The Carpenters and Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention. He won an Emmy Award for his closing theme for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and his score to "The Last of the Mohicans" was nominated for the British Academy Award and a Golden Globe.

The BMI Award for Outstanding Career Achievement is named after past BMI Vice President Richard Kirk and is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions in the fields of film and TV music. Former recipients of the prestigious award include John Barry, Danny Elfman, Charlie Fox, Jerry Goldsmith, Earle Hagen, Michael Kamen, Alan Menken, Thomas Newman, Mike Post, Lalo Schifrin, Richard and Robert Sherman, W.G. "Snuffy" Walden, John Williams and Patrick Williams.

In addition to being one of television's most successful personalities with his Emmy Award-winning "Merv Griffin Show," Griffin has created the scores and themes for two of the most-watched and longest-running game shows in television history: "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" He has also made significant contributions as a recording artist, songwriter and producer, and is highly regarded for his business acumen and philanthropic activities. Owner of Merv Griffin's Beverly Hilton Hotel among other hotel properties, he recently released his second autobiography, Merv: Making the Good Life Last, and has signed a deal with ABC Family to bring back his hit series, "Dance Fever."

BMI created the President's Award in 1993 to honor an exceptional person in the entertainment industry deserving of special recognition. It symbolizes BMI's commitment to creative and unique individuals who have made this industry what it is today. Past awardees include Harlan Howard, Earle Hagen, Brian Wilson, Willie Nelson, Alabama and Pete Townshend.