Doc Severinsen

Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) and Carl Severinsen (1898–1972).{{cite web |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/42/Doc-Severinsen.html |title=Doc Severinsen profile |website=Filmreference.com |access-date=October 26, 2011}} He was nicknamed Doc after his father, the only dentist in Arlington, who was born in Germany to a Danish father and a Swiss mother. Severinsen's father played violin and wanted him to play it as well, but Severinsen wanted to play trombone.{{cite web |last1=Huey |first1=Steve |title=Doc Severinsen |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/doc-severinsen-mn0000167794/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=October 4, 2017}} Because his arms were not long enough for trombone,{{cite web |url=http://www.docseverinsen.com/about/ |title=Bio |website=Doc Severinsen |date=10 January 2011 |access-date=December 30, 2022}} and the small Arlington music store had none available, he settled for the cornet. A neighbor provided him with some lessons, while his father, tobacco in mouth, instructed him to spit out the notes like spitting tobacco. His mother threatened to spank him if he didn't practice.{{cite web |last1=Jackovich |first1=Karen |title=It's a Long Day's Journey from 'Tonight' When Doc Severinsen Comes Home to Oregon |url=http://people.com/archive/its-a-long-days-journey-from-tonight-when-doc-severinsen-comes-home-to-oregon-vol-16-no-2/ |website=People |access-date=October 4, 2017 |date=July 13, 1981}} Growing up, Severinsen idolized the trumpeter and band leader Harry James.

"wining (sic) the Music Teachers National Association’s National Contest at the age of 12"{{cite web |last1=Amin |first1=Aisha |title=Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/stream-never-too-late-doc-severinsen-story-documentary/17495/ |website=American Masters |publisher=PBS |access-date=14 February 2025 |date=8 March 2021}} - PBS

Severinsen proved to have a knack for the instrument, and was in a high school band when he was seven. At 9, he won a state trumpet contest, at 13, he joined a multi-state all-star band and, at 14, he auditioned for Tommy Dorsey but was not hired. He started a quartet called the Blue Notes that performed at local dances.

Before graduating from high school, he was hired to go on the road with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra. After graduation, he went on tour with Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. He served in the Army during World War II. Severinsen was a member of Sam Donahue's band between 1946 and 1951. In 1946, he played trumpet on radio station KODL.{{cite web |publisher=RadioFreshing KODL |title=About Us |url=http://www.kodl.com/KODL/media/abotkodl.html |access-date=April 13, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627112552/http://www.kodl.com/KODL/media/abotkodl.html |archive-date=June 27, 2009}}

In 1949, Severinsen landed a job as a studio musician for NBC, where he accompanied Steve Allen, Eddie Fisher, Dinah Shore, and Kate Smith, and was a member of the original band for Tonight Starring Steve Allen, and was the soloist playing the closing theme. He left the show with Allen in 1957. The leader of The Tonight Show Band, Skitch Henderson, asked him to return as first-chair trumpeter in 1962 for what had become The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and five years later, after Milton Delugg, Severinsen was leading the band.

Under Severinsen's direction, The Tonight Show Band, styled the NBC Orchestra, became perhaps the best known big band in America.{{cite web|title=Flash|work=SPIN|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYhJL9bSu1YC&pg=PT17|date=June 1992|publisher=SPIN Media|page=17|volume=8|issue=3|issn=0886-3032}} Severinsen became one of the most popular bandleaders, appearing almost every night on television. He led the band during commercials and while guests were introduced. He joked with Johnny Carson, the show's host, and developed an amusing habit of wearing gaudy clothing.

The show introduced a comic "Stump the Band" segment in which audience members called out the titles of obscure songs to see if the band could play them. Severinsen often cried "key of E", his signal for the band to strike up a western theme, and then he would enthusiastically sing a country music-flavored nonsense song.

Severinsen substituted for Ed McMahon on occasions when Ed was absent as Carson's announcer and sidekick. He typically assumed this role when the show featured a guest host, which became increasingly frequent during the program's later years. Tommy Newsom was usually the band's substitute director when Severinsen was away from the show or filling in for McMahon. The sidekick role was omitted from the show when Leno guest hosted (it was discontinued altogether after Leno replaced Carson permanently). While Leno guest hosted for Carson, Severinsen typically introduced Leno and led the band while interacting with Leno in a similar manner to his interactions with Carson and McMahon.

Doc continued as bandleader until Carson's retirement in May 1992. Doc, along with Tommy Newsom and Ed Shaughnessy, appeared on the January 31, 2005 episode of Late Show with David Letterman performing "Here's That Rainy Day" in honor of Johnny Carson, who died on January 23 of that same year. He appeared on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show in February 2015 when the show traveled to Los Angeles for a week. He played for the evening with The Roots. The appearance helped to promote his nationwide tour.

Through the 1970s to the 1990s Severinsen also made appearances on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Bonanza, The Bionic Woman, Cheers and The Larry Sanders Show, among others.

During the early 1960s, Severinsen began recording big band albums, then moved toward instrumental pop music by the end of the decade. In the 1970s he recorded jazz funk, then disco, finding hits with "Night Journey" and "I Wanna Be With You". He released an album with the jazz fusion group Xebron in 1985. During the next year, he recorded The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen which won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance. After Carson retired in 1992, he toured with some of the band's members, including Conte Candoli, Snooky Young, Bill Perkins, Ernie Watts, Ross Tompkins, and Ed Shaughnessy.

Severinsen performed with high school bands, in particular in the 1970s with Don Caneva's John Hersey High School Bands, which recorded four albums.{{cite news|last=Daday|first=Eileen O.|date=August 11, 2008 |title=Ex-Hersey band director remembered|url=http://prev.dailyherald.com/story/?id=234215 |work=Daily Herald |location=Chicago, IL |access-date=September 25, 2015|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925201421/http://prev.dailyherald.com/story/?id=234215 |archive-date=September 25, 2015}}{{cite news|title=Obituaries, "Don Ernest Caneva"|work=U-T San Diego| date=September 8, 2008|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/utsandiego/obituary.aspx?n=donald-ernest-caneva&pid=116923834|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621094728/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/utsandiego/obituary.aspx?n=donald-ernest-caneva&pid=116923834|archive-date=June 21, 2015|url-status=live |access-date=September 25, 2015}}{{cite news|last=Gonzalez|first=Blanca|date=September 16, 2008|title=Don Caneva; third-generation band director had music in his blood|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080916/news_1m16caneva.html|work=U-T San Diego|access-date=September 25, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110000820/http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080916/news_1m16caneva.html|archive-date=November 10, 2014}}

He performed the "Star-Spangled Banner" on at least three nationally telecast occasions; however, the first two renditions were marred by problems. When he accompanied actor Pat O'Brien, as O'Brien recited the National Anthem at Super Bowl IV, the public address system at Tulane Stadium went dead for a minute, although viewers were unaware of it. Fifteen years later, when he performed the anthem again prior to the Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns fight, a giant US flag on the side of the Fantasy Tower at Caesar's Palace overlooking the outdoor ring was not unfurled properly due to problems with the roping. He performed the anthem again, as well as "O Canada", at the 1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Anaheim, California. With the game being played in the Los Angeles television and radio market, he was accompanied by the Tonight Show band. As of 2020, Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra's performance remains the most recent non-vocal rendition of the national anthem at the Midsummer Classic.

Severinsen is credited for co-writing the hit song "Stop and Smell the Roses" with Mac Davis, although both parties agree that Severinsen only came up with the title.{{cite book|author=Hyatt, Wesley|year=1999|title=The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits|publisher=Billboard Publications|isbn=0823076938}}

File:Doc Severinsen In Seattle 2009.JPG

Severinsen was the principal pops conductor for several American orchestras during and after his time on The Tonight Show. His first position was with the Phoenix Symphony in 1983.{{cite web|title=Artistic Staff − Doc Severinsen |url=http://www.phoenixsymphony.org/artists/artistic_staff_severinsen.html |publisher=Phoenix Symphony |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209005049/http://www.phoenixsymphony.org/artists/artistic_staff_severinsen.html |archive-date=February 9, 2007}} He then held similar positions with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra.

He retired from conducting in 2007 and was named Pops Conductor Emeritus in Milwaukee{{cite web|url=http://www.milwaukeesymphony.org/newspress/newsreviewsarchives/view.asp?id=30025839|title=Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra|website=Milwaukeesymphony.org|access-date=February 5, 2016}} and Pops Conductor Laureate in Minnesota.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/4905.html |title=News: Doc Severinsen to Step Down as Minnesota Orchestra's Pops Conductor |website=Playbillarts.com |date=2006-07-15 |access-date=2011-10-26}} Severinsen was also named distinguished visiting professor of music and Katherine K. Herberger Heritage Chair for Visiting Artists at Arizona State University School of Music in 2001 and 2002.[http://music.asu.edu/e-Notes/Summer2002/severinsen_sum02.html ASU HCFA SOM {{!}} e-Notes {{!}} Severinsen in concert] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904105605/http://music.asu.edu/e-Notes/Summer2002/severinsen_sum02.html |date=September 4, 2006}}

In 2014, he was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/21/3-being-inducted-into-scandinavian-american-hall/|title=3 new inductees to Scandinavian-American Hall|work=The Washington Times|access-date=February 5, 2016}}

Severinsen performed his final concert, accompanied by his San Miguel 5 group, on September 1, 2022, in Saratoga Springs, New York.{{cite web |last1=Freedman |first1=Geraldine |title=Doc's last show: Severinsen, 95, to play at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs with San Miguel 5 |url=https://dailygazette.com/2022/08/25/docs-last-show-severinsen-95-to-play-uph-with-san-miguel-5/ |website=The Daily Gazette |access-date=September 2, 2022 |date=August 25, 2022}}

File:Doc Severinsen and daughter Nancy 1974.JPG

On June 23, 1949, Severinsen married Jane Simpson Frazer. They had four children before divorcing.

On August 7, 1964, Severinsen married Evonne Nyman. They had one child and were divorced in 1976.

In 1980, he married Emily Marshall, who was a television writer and producer and is an on-camera subject in a 2020 PBS documentary produced by American Masters titled Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story that premiered April 2, 2021.{{cite web |title=Doc Severinsen Recalls High Notes, Low Notes and Everything in Between |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/28/arts/television/doc-severinsen-pbs.html |date=March 28, 2021 |access-date=2021-04-03}}{{cite episode|title=Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/stream-never-too-late-doc-severinsen-story-documentary/17495/|series=American Masters|orig-date=April 2, 2021|season=35|number=4|access-date=April 3, 2021}} They met when she was working as a secretary for The Tonight Show producer Fred de Cordova.{{cite web|last=Sheff|first=Vicki|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20119094,00.html|title=Doc Severinsen Finds His Key, and It's Writer Emily Marshall| website=People.com| date=1988-12-19| access-date=2011-10-26}} In 1992, after The Tonight Show, Severinsen moved to Mexico with his wife, and formed a new band, The San Miguel Five. They divorced in 2006. Marshall died in 2023.

By 2013, Severinsen was living in Tennessee for a few years, moving to Tennessee to be closer to Cathy Leach, principal trumpeter with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and professor of trumpet at the University of Tennessee.{{cite news |last1=Bledsoe |first1=Wayne |title=At 85, Doc Severinsen still a young man with a horn |url=https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/get_out/performance/at-85-doc-severinsen-still-a-young-man-with-a-horn/article_6059d38a-b157-11e2-af01-001a4bcf887a.html |access-date=14 February 2025 |work=East Valley Tribune |agency=Scripps Howard News Service |date=30 April 2013 |language=en}} {{as of|2021}} Severinsen's "companion" was trumpet player Cathy Leach,{{cite web |title=Bio |url=https://cathyleachtrumpet.com/bio/ |website=Cathy Leach, trumpet |access-date=14 February 2025}} a professor emerita of trumpet at the University of Tennessee. In 2022, Leach was cited as his wife.{{cite web |title=Legendary Tonight Show Band Leader, Trumpeter Doc Severinsen Featured at Gardner-Webb |url=https://gardner-webb.edu/news/legendary-doc-severinsen-featured-on-gwu-campus/ |website=Gardner-Webb University |access-date=14 February 2025}} Severinsen and Leach perform together.{{cite web |title=Events |url=https://cathyleachtrumpet.com/events/ |website=Cathy Leach, trumpet |access-date=14 February 2025}}

Severinsen has been quoted as saying that he has been married four times.{{cite web |last=Turner |first=Brett |title=News |website=Doc Severinsen |date=2011-01-10 |url=https://www.docseverinsen.com/news/ |access-date=2021-04-03}}

Severinsen's children are Nancy, Cindy, Allen, Robin, and Judy. He has eight grandchildren, including Blaire and Gray Reinhard, who write and perform roots rock music together in various incarnations as Curtis & Reinhard and the Blaire Reinhard Band.{{Cite web|url=http://www.docseverinsen.com/news/|title=Doc Severinsen|website=Doc Severinsen|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-17}}

• A String of Trumpets (Everest, 1960) with Billy Mure
• Tempestuous Trumpet (Command, 1961)
• The Big Band's Back in Town (Command, 1962)
• Torch Songs for Trumpet (Command, 1963)Harold, Chuck. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZVdQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7FYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7191,3615346&dq "Platter Patter: Album Recalls Kennedy's Death"], The St. Petersburg Evening Independent. December 21, 1963. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
• High, Wide & Wonderful (Command, 1965)
• Fever! (Command, 1966) (Pop No. 147)
• Command Performances (Command, 1966) (Pop No. 133)
• Live!: The Doc Severinsen Sextet (Command, 1967)
• Swinging & Singing (Command, 1967)
• The New Sound of Today's Big Band (Command, 1967)
• The Great Arrival (Command, 1968)
• Doc Severinsen & Strings (Command, 1968)
• Doc Severinsen's Closet (Command, 1970)
• Brass Roots (RCA Victor, 1971) (Pop No. 185)
• Sixteen Great Performances (ABC Records, 1971)
• Brass on Ivory (RCA Victor, 1972) (Pop No. 74) with Henry Mancini
• Doc (RCA Victor, 1972)
• Brass, Ivory & Strings (RCA Victor, 1973) (Pop No. 185) with Henry Mancini
• Rhapsody for Now! (RCA Victor, 1973)
• Trumpets & Crumpets & Things (ABC, 1973)
• Night Journey (Epic, 1976) (Pop No. 189)
• Brand New Thing (Epic, 1977)
• Live from Beautiful Downtown Burbank Tommy Newsom Featuring Doc Severinsen (Direct Disk Labs, 1978)
• Doc Severinsen and Friends (Everest, 1978)
• London Sessions (Firstline, 1980)
• Seductive Strings Featuring Doc Severinsen (Bainbridge, 1980)
• Doc Severinsen Plays Modern Trumpet Concertos (Firstline, 1981)
• And Xebron (Passport, 1985)
• Episodes (Pro-Arte, 1986)
• Ja-Da (MCA, 1986)
• The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen (Amherst, 1986) (Pop No. 65)
• The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen, Vol. II (Amherst, 1988)
• Facets (Amherst, 1988)
• The Big Band Hit Parade (Telarc, 1989)
• Trumpet Spectacular (Telarc, 1990)
• Once More...With Feeling! (Amherst, 1991)
• Merry Christmas from Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Orchestra (Amherst, 1991) (Pop No. 171)
• Unforgettably Doc (Telarc, 1992)
• Good Medicine (RCA/Bluebird, 1992)
• Lullabies and Goodnight (Critique, 1992)
• Two Sides of Doc Severinsen (The Right Stuff, 1993)
• Swingin' the Blues (Azica, 1999)
• From the Archives (Essential Media Group, 2012)
• ''Torch Songs for Trumpet (Command, 2025)

• El Ritmo De La Vida (Tejate, 2009) with Gil Gutierrez{{cite web |title=Bio |url=https://www.docseverinsen.com/about/ |website=Doc Severinsen |access-date=14 February 2025 |date=10 January 2011}} and Pedro Cartas
• En Mi Corazon (Tejate, 2010) with Gil Gutierrez and Pedro Cartas
• Oblivion (Bandcamp, 14 November 2013);{{cite web |author1=Doc Severinsen & The San Miguel Five |title=Oblivion |url=https://gilgutierrez.bandcamp.com/album/oblivion |website=Gil Gutiérrez |publisher=bandcamp |access-date=14 February 2025 |language=en}} (CD Baby, 2014);{{cite web|title=Doc Severinsen {{!}} Album Discography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/doc-severinsen-mn0000167794/discography|website=AllMusic|access-date=October 4, 2017}} with Gil Gutierrez,{{cite web |title=Doc Severinsen and the San Miguel Five |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlcjcmpagpE |website=YouTube |access-date=14 February 2025 |date=27 June 2014 |quote=Doc Severinsen joins Gil Gutiérrez and the San Miguel Five in Grass Valley, CA, as part of the Music in the Mountains Festival.}} Charlie Bisharat, Jimmy Branly, Kevin Thomas, Luis Conte , Otmaro Ruiz and Rene Camacho{{cite web |author1=Doc Severinsen & the San Miguel Five |title=Éjele |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt0GiI911sY |website=YouTube |access-date=14 February 2025 |date=5 July 2015 |quote=℗ 2014 Gil Gutierrez & Doc Severinsen}}

With Chris Connor

• 1959 Witchcraft
• 1961 Chris Connor Sings the George Gershwin Almanac of Song

With The Ray Charles Singers

• 1959 Sunrise Serenade (Decca)

With Urbie Green

• 1956 All About Urbie Green and His Big Band (ABC-Paramount)
• 1958 Let's Face the Music and Dance
• 1960 The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green
• 1963 Urbie Green & His Sextet

With Skitch Henderson and "The Tonight Show" Orchestra

• 1964 Skitch...Tonight!Skitch Henderson, liner notes to Columbia LP, CL 2367.
• 1965 More Skitch Tonight!Mort Goode, liner notes to Columbia LP, CL 2450.

With Gerry Mulligan

• 1961 Gerry Mulligan Presents a Concert in Jazz
• 1963 Gerry Mulligan '63

With Tito Puente

• 1957 Night Beat
• 1957 Top Percussion
• 1960 Tambó

With others

• 1956 The Swingin' Miss "D", Dinah Washington
• 1957 Dinah Washington Sings, Fats Waller
• 1957 Stormy Weather, Lena Horne
• 1958 Steve Allen at the Roundtable, Steve Allen
• 1958 United Nations, Toshiko Akiyoshi
• 1959 Late Date with Ruth Brown, Ruth Brown
• 1959 More Charlie Barnet, Charlie Barnet
• 1959 New York, N.Y., George Russell
• 1959 Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements, Gene Krupa
• 1961 Gloomy Sunday and Other Bright Moments, Bob Brookmeyer
• 1961 The Jazz Version of "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying", Gary McFarland
• 1961 Into the Hot, Gil Evans
• 1961 Memories Are Made of This, Ray Conniff
• 1961 Perceptions, Dizzy Gillespie
• 1962 Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith, Jimmy Smith
• 1962 All the Sad Young Men, Anita O'Day
• 1962 Big Bags (Riverside, 1962), Milt Jackson
• 1962 Big Band Bossa Nova, Stan Getz
• 1962 Big Noise from Winnetka, Bob Haggart
• 1962 It's About Time, Joe Morello
• 1962 Joe Morello, Joe Morello
• 1962 Off Beat Percussion, Don Lamond
• 1962 Spanish Guitar, Tony Mottola
• 1962 Vibrations, Enoch Light
• 1963 Right Here, Right Now, Billy Taylor
• 1964 Dimension "3", Enoch Light
• 1974 The Hi-De-Ho Man, Cab Calloway
• 1987 Jazz, Tony Bennett
• 1988 Big Band Hit Parade, Erich Kunzel
• 1989 Swinging West, Steve Lawrence
• 1994 Eartha-quake, Eartha Kitt
• 1994 Loose Walk, Sonny Stitt
• 1997 Jammin' with Ben Webster, Ben Webster
• 1999 Some Cats Know, Connie Evingson{{cite web|title=Doc Severinsen {{!}} Credits {{!}} AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/doc-severinsen-mn0000167794/credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=October 5, 2017}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• {{Official website|http://www.docseverinsen.com}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140222160120/http://www.financialnewsandtalk.com/jazzatthespa/Dochour1.mp3 Jazz at the Spa interview] (audio)
• [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/doc-severinsen Interview with Doc Severinsen] at NAMM Oral History Library
• {{IMDb name|0786341}}
• [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/343217 Doc Severinsen recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
• {{Discogs artist}}

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{{succession box|title=The Tonight Show bandleader|before=Milton DeLugg|after=Branford Marsalis|years=1967–1992}}

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Category:1927 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Gilliam County, Oregon

Category:American jazz bandleaders

Category:American jazz trumpeters

Category:American male trumpeters

Category:United States Army personnel of World War II

Category:Arizona State University faculty

Category:Bebop trumpeters

Category:American big band bandleaders

Category:Grammy Award winners

Category:Military personnel from Oregon

Category:Swing trumpeters

Category:American people of Danish descent

Category:The Tonight Show Band members

Category:Distinguished Service to Music Medal recipients

Category:United States Army soldiers

Category:Musicians from Oregon

Category:21st-century American trumpeters

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Category:American male jazz musicians