Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985)[1] was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s.

He worked with many vocalists at Capitol Records, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Rosemary Clooney and Keely Smith.

[citation needed] After his graduation from Rumson High School, Riddle spent his late teens and early twenties playing trombone in and occasionally arranging for various local dance bands, culminating in his association with the Charlie Spivak Orchestra.

In 1943, Riddle joined the Merchant Marine, serving at Sheepshead Bay, New York for about two years while continuing to work for the Charlie Spivak Orchestra.

Although one of the songs Riddle had arranged, "Mona Lisa," soon became the biggest selling single of Cole's career, the work was credited to Baxter.

[10] However, once Cole learned the identity of the arrangement's creator, he sought out Riddle's work for other sessions, and thus began a fruitful partnership that furthered the careers of both men at Capitol.

Riddle drew on Sinatra's rhythm section, led by drummer/percussionist Irving Cottler (who was the featured drummer on Nat King Cole's "Mona Lisa").

In 1963, Riddle joined Sinatra's newly established label Reprise Records, under the musical direction of Morris Stoloff.

In 1964, Riddle partnered with Tom Jobim, who is considered to be one of the great exponents of Brazilian music and one of the main founders of the bossa nova movement.

There was a "Batmanesque" tone in the soundtrack for Howard Hawks' John Wayne film El Dorado, also scored by Riddle in 1966, due to his continued heavy use of brass.

In 1969, he arranged and conducted the music to the film Paint Your Wagon, which starred a trio of non-singers, Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg.

Although Riddle would write various arrangements for Sinatra until the late 1970s, Strangers In The Night, released in 1966, was the last full album project the pair completed together.

The collection of Riddle-arranged songs was intended to expand on the success of the title track, which had been a number one hit single for Sinatra arranged by Ernie Freeman.

Biographer Peter J. Levinson offered a sober assessment of the project, arguing that Riddle was "out of his depth" with the fusion of contemporary and classical instrumentation.

During the 1970s, Riddle's film and television efforts included the score for the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, which earned him his first Academy Award, after some five nominations.

The Nelson Riddle Orchestra also made numerous concert appearances throughout the 1970s, some of which were led and contracted by his good friend, Tommy Shepard.

And in 1981, he also arranged and conducted the medley of "The Gal That Got Away" and "It Never Entered My Mind" for Sinatra's album "She Shot Me Down", which was the final time he worked for Frank.

In the spring of 1982, Riddle was approached by Linda Ronstadt—via telephone through her manager and producer, Peter Asher—to write arrangements for an album of jazz standards that Ronstadt had been contemplating since her stint in The Pirates of Penzance.

The program was hosted by Frank Sinatra, who sang "Fly Me to the Moon" and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" (backed by a solo dance routine by Mikhail Baryshnikov).

In the decade prior to Beatlemania, most of the great band singers and crooners of the 40s and 50s codified a half-century of American pop standards on dozens of albums ... many of them now long out-of-print.

Riddle's eldest son Nelson III resides in London, England, and is married to British actress Paula Wilcox.

[citation needed] In a 1982 radio interview on WNEW with Jonathan Schwartz, Riddle cited Stan Kenton's "23°N — 82°W" arranged by Bill Russo as inspiration for his signature trombone interplay crescendos.

[citation needed] In 1985, Riddle died in Los Angeles, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, at age 64 of cardiac and kidney failure as a result of cirrhosis, with which he had been diagnosed five years earlier.

[citation needed] The opening showcased a gala concert of Riddle's works, with Ronstadt as a featured guest performer.

The album showcased expanded orchestral adaptations of the original arrangements provided by the Nelson Riddle Archives, and was presented in a state-of-the-art digital recording that was among the first titles to be released on multi-channel SACD.