ABSTRACT
American songwriter, record producer, and arranger, born in Webster Groves, Missouri, although raised in Chicago, where his father worked as a movie theater organist. He moved to St. Louis in the early 1930s where he worked as a radio announcer and freelance pianist, and then in 1936 became arranger for the popular Isham Jones band; he later arranged for other big bands as well. He worked on Broadway and in Hollywood, and then served as music director for radio station NBC in its Hollywood studios from 1939 to 1944. In 1945, he joined Decca Records as their house conductor. He conducted the orchestra on many Decca releases, including popular recordings by Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, and the folk group the Weavers, including their number one hit recording of “Goodnight Irene” in 1950 (Decca 27077). He also had his own hits with his orchestra between 1942 and 1953. From the mid-1950s, Jenkins joined the staff of Capitol Records. He worked as arranger-conductor for several vocalists in the 1950s and early 1960s, including Judy Garland and Nat “King” Cole, and won a Grammy for his arrangements for Frank Sinatra’s album September of My Years (1965; Reprise 1014). Jenkins died in Malibu, California.
