b. 1936
Hidle Brown Barnum (b.15. Juli 1936 in Houston, Texas)
iis an American music producer, instrumentalist, singer, and arranger.
As a child, Barnum worked as an actor in film and television. In 1955, he founded the doo-wop group The Dootones at the request of label owner Dootsie Williams from Dootone Records. Their only release was “Teller of Fortune,” and the band broke up. In 1956, he replaced Bobby Nunn in the Robins, whom he also produced in part. He sang on twelve Robins records for the Whippet Records, Knight Records, Arvee Records, and Gone Records labels until 1961. In addition to his first solo single, “Blue Moon,” on Imperial Record, and studio work as a musician, for example as a drummer on Dorsey Burnette's rockabilly classic “Bertha Lou,” he produced various artists, including the number five hits “Tan Shoes” and “Pink Shoelaces” in 1959.
He achieved his first chart entry in his own right in 1960 with the instrumental “Lost Love” on Eldo Records. This success led to a contract with RCA Records, where he released his first album, “The Big Voice of Barnum.” Although he continued to release a number of his own records, his work as an arranger and producer came to the fore. A move to Capitol Records in 1965 was the logical next step given his growing reputation. Together with his colleague David Axelrod, he developed an orchestral jazz-funk sound that would have a major influence in the decades to come. He produced recordings by musicians such as Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Etta James, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, and The Supremes.
In the mid-1970s, Barnum moved to television, where he composed and produced music for series and advertising jingles. With the H. B. Barnum's Life Choir, he founded a gospel ensemble with which he regularly performed at services in St. Paul's Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
He arranged the music for Mahalia's album
"What The World Needs Now“, CBS 1969