Information/Write-up
Robert Wesley “Bob” McMullin was born on April 29, 1921, in Lewiston, Utah, and moved with his family to Raymond, Alberta, at the age of four. Raised in a musical household, he and his four siblings were all talented performers. By age eleven, Bob was playing drums in the family band, and over the years he became proficient on clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, and percussion. A naturalized Canadian citizen in 1946, he was known in musical circles as “Mr. Versatility,” a title earned through his ability to excel as a performer, conductor, arranger, composer, and musical director across multiple genres.
During the Second World War, McMullin served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, leading and touring Europe with an RCAF dance band. Following the war, he settled in Edmonton, working as an arranger and composer for network radio shows while performing on trumpet and clarinet. With the advent of television, he moved to Winnipeg in 1955, which remained his base for the rest of his career.
McMullin’s output was prolific, with over 150 original compositions spanning classical, jazz, variety, musical comedy, and rock ’n’ roll. Many of his works were used as themes or background cues for CBC programs, network radio, and fourteen film documentaries. As musical director for Winnipeg’s Rainbow Stage, he conducted productions of West Side Story, Oklahoma!, South Pacific, and other Broadway favourites, backing artists such as Gordon MacRae, Anita Bryant, Shirley Harmer, Tommy Hunter, Denny Vaughan, and The Four Lads. He also appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall, culminating in a recording with American singer Enzo Stuarti, and conducted the Richard Club’s collaborations with the Winnipeg University Glee Club.
McMullin was equally active in television and film, serving as musical director for King of Kensington, House of Pride, The Collaborators, and Sidestreet, as well as composing for films including On the Edge of the Ice Pack (1972), Race Home to Die (1973), and The Shadow of the Hawk (1976). Known for his quick wit, humility, and consummate professionalism, he was admired as much for his personal warmth as for his musical accomplishments.
Bob McMullin passed away on January 3, 1995, in Regina, Saskatchewan. His career left a lasting imprint on Canadian music, particularly in Winnipeg, where he was celebrated as one of the city’s most versatile and accomplished musicians.
-Robert Williston
Liner notes:
McMULLIN'S SHORTS
Short Original Tunes by Bob McMullin
And His Orchestra
Disc jockeys across Canada have one never-ending problem — a shortage of "shorts", a lack of good, bright, instrumental tunes that will not only catch the listener's ear, but also neatly fill one of those brief awkward spots in recorded programs when the end of the show’s coming up or a newscast or a sports bulletin is just about due. There’s not time to play a long number. What’s needed is an attractive but abbreviated bit of music. (Co-ordinating producers in television often have a similar problem. When film runs short, they need good “fills” to play behind local slides, or they may require background music for “promos” and commercials.)
The short original tunes on this LP are designed to relieve the disc jockey’s dilemma, and at the same time, provide a collection of brief, very appealing tunes that make for good entertainment anytime. Many of them would make excellent themes.
Most of these strictly-Canadian compositions were originally written by Bob McMullin as short orchestral items for the Winnipeg editions of CBC Radio’s “AFTER NOON” Show. When Bob found there was a dearth of short standard “pops” that could be kept to about two minutes in length, he decided to write his own “originals” instead. In a typical reflection of his quiet, droll sense of humour, Bob used either a pun or a play on words for each of his titles.
Although Bob is well-known from coast-to-coast in Canada as the conductor of countless radio and TV shows from Winnipeg, he always maintains his favourite musical activity is composing. When you play “McMullin’s Shorts”, you’ll realize he had fun writing them — and you’ll have just as much fun listening to them!
ALL COMPOSITIONS BY BOB McMULLIN, BMI (CANADA) LTD.
CBC
McMULLIN'S SHORTS
Courtes mélodies originales par Bob McMullin
et son orchestre
Les “disc jockeys” aux Canada sont toujours aux prises avec le même problème: une pénurie de “shorts”, un manque de bonnes pièces légères et instrumentales qui non seulement captent l’aimable à l’oreille mais qui comblent avec justesse ces moments intermédiaires à la fin d’une émission, immédiatement avant le bulletin d’informations. A défaut de temps pour jouer une pièce ordinaire, il faut un morceau court mais attrayant. (Les coordonnateurs à la télévision ont souvent le même problème: soit qu’ils aient un bref intermède à combler ou soit qu’ils aient besoin d’une musique de fond pour des annonces-réclame ou des annonces commerciales.)
Les courtes mélodies originales sur ce microsillon ont été composées pour remédier à ce problème. Aussi sont-elles une collection de pièces musicales qu’on aime bien écouter en tout temps, et presque toutes pourraient servir d’indicatifs musicaux.
La plupart de ces compositions, toutes bien canadiennes, furent écrites par Bob McMullin comme interludes musicaux pour “After Noon Show”, une émission de radio réalisée à Radio-Canada, Winnipeg. Lorsque Bob se rendit compte du peu de morceaux populaires de moins de deux minutes, il décida d’en créer lui-même. En bon reflet de l’humour de ses pièces, il se servit de jeux de mots, reflétant ainsi son sens de l’humour.
Que Bob soit bien connu à travers le Canada comme chef d’orchestre pour nombre d’émissions de radio et de télévision en provenance de Winnipeg, il avoue que l’activité musicale qui lui plait le plus demeure la composition. Lorsque vous entendrez “McMullin’s Shorts”, vous réaliserez qu’il a eu beaucoup de plaisir à les écrire — et vous en aurez autant à les écouter.
TRADUCTION FRANÇAISE: CLAUDE LAVALLEE
TOUTES LES SELECTIONS SONT DE BOB McMULLIN, BMI (CANADA) LTEE.
Bob McMullin: leader
Lou Pollock: trumpet
Harry Ellsworth: trumpet
Paul Grosney: trumpet
Guy Cloutier: trombone
Dave Jandrisch: electric piano
Ron Halldorson: electric guitar
Dave Shaw: electric bass
Reg Kelln: drums
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