Representative Albums: "Velvet Voices, Satin Songs," "Songs of the West," "Songs of the South/Songs of the Sea"
Biography
The Norman Luboff Choir was among the most popular choral ensembles of their day, releasing a series of hit easy-listening LPs during the late 1950s and 1960s. Luboff was born May 14, 1917 in Chicago, where he began his career as a vocalist and arranger for area radio programs; in 1948 he relocated to Hollywood, signing on to compose movie music for Warner Bros. The first incarnation of the Norman Luboff Choir was formed during the mid-1950s, and in the years to follow they released a series of albums on Columbia that drew on music from a variety of genres and geographic locales, with titles including Calypso Holiday, Broadway!, Songs of the Cowboy and Songs of the Caribbean. The choir also backed a number of vocalists including Harry Belafonte and Doris Day, and although their recording career came to a halt during the late 1960s, they continued touring until Luboff's cancer-related death on September 22, 1987. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was taught piano as a child and was part of his high schoolchorus. Luboff studied at the University of Chicago, after which he wrote programs and sang for a Chicago radio station. In the mid-1940s, Luboff moved to New York City to expand his musical horizons, but it would be in Hollywood where he would achieve national fame, doing the choral and vocal arrangements for a number of motion pictures. In 1950, he established the Walton Music Corporation to publish his musical works. However, he is best remembered as the founder and conductor of the Norman Luboff Choir, recognized worldwide as one of the leading choral groups of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The choral group toured extensively and recorded more than seventy-five albums. The holiday albums Songs of Christmas (1956) and Christmas with the Norman Luboff Choir (1964) were perennial bestsellers for years, and the former remains in print as a compact disc re-release. Luboff and his choir also won the 1961 Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus.
The Choir's "Songs of the Cowboy" and "Songs of the Trail" albums were released on CD in 1999 as "Cowboy's Dream" with 25 tracks.