{{short description|American recording artist, conductor, record producer, music arranger, jazz guitarist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Don Costa | image = Don Costa conducting his 15 hits, cover photo (cropped).jpg | caption = Costa in 1961 | birth_name = Dominick P. Costa | birth_date = {{birth date|1925|06|10}} | birth_place = [[Boston]], Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1983|01|19|1925|06|10}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | genre = {{hlist|[[Popular music|Pop]]|[[jazz]]}} | occupation = {{hlist|[[Conducting|Conductor]]|[[Arrangement|arranger]]|[[record producer]]|musician}} | instrument = Guitar }}
'''Dominick P.''' "'''Don'''" '''Costa''' (June 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983)<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor-first=Colin|editor-last=Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=1st|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=565}}</ref> was an American conductor and record producer.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-30|title=Paul Anka Interview: So Square That He's Hip (at 80)|url=https://bestclassicbands.com/paul-anka-interview-7-28-166/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-16|website=Best Classic Bands|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730183931/https://bestclassicbands.com/paul-anka-interview-7-28-166/ |archive-date=2021-07-30 }}</ref> He discovered singer [[Paul Anka]] and worked on several hit albums by [[Frank Sinatra]], including ''[[Sinatra and Strings]]'' and ''[[My Way (Frank Sinatra album)|My Way]]''.
==Career== Costa was born in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], United States,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> to an [[Italian American]] family.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs"/> As a child, he took a keen interest in learning the guitar, and he became a member of the [[CBS]] Radio Orchestra by the time he was in his teens. In the late 1940s, Costa moved to New York City to further his career by becoming a [[session musician]]. He played guitar with [[Bucky Pizzarelli]] on [[Vaughn Monroe]]'s hit record "[[(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend|Ghost Riders in the Sky]]". It was around this time that Costa started experimenting with combinations of instruments, producing musical arrangements, and selling them to [[big band]]s.
[[Steve Lawrence]] and [[Eydie Gormé]] invited Costa to write vocal backgrounds for their recordings. He agreed and thus began an association that led to their joining a [[record label]] headed by Sam Clark, [[ABC Records|ABC-Paramount Records]]. Costa accepted the position of head [[A&R]] man as well as chief arranger and producer.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs"/> Many hits were to follow, not only with Lawrence and Gormé, but with [[Lloyd Price]], [[George Hamilton IV]], and [[Paul Anka]].<ref name="UPI-obit"/> Apart from his arranging skills, Costa was a guitarist. Between 1956 and 1957, he released two 45s on ABC-Paramount using the alias Muvva "Guitar" Hubbard. He wrote the first, "Ponytail", as an R&B instrumental. The second was a cover version of "[[Raunchy (instrumental)|Raunchy]]" by [[Bill Justis]].
In 1957, he signed 15-year-old [[Carole King]] to her first recording contract on the strength of her performance after she talked her way into an audition at his office.<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=Carole |title=A Natural Woman: A Memoir |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4555-1261-4 |location=New York |pages=66–69}}</ref>
In 1959, Costa, Lawrence, and Gormé left ABC for [[United Artists Records]]. Costa became A&R director.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spaceagepop.com/costa.htm |title=Don Costa Biography |work=Space Age Musicmaker |access-date=February 2, 2015}}</ref> He arranged and produced albums for others and released his own instrumental albums. His hits included the theme songs from ''[[Never on Sunday]]'' and ''[[The Unforgiven (1960 film)|The Unforgiven]]''.<ref name="UPI-obit"/> "[[Never on Sunday (song)|Never on Sunday]]" sold over one million copies and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1978|title=The Book of Golden Discs|edition=2nd|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/123 123]|isbn=0-214-20512-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/123}}</ref> The song peaked at No. 27 in the United Kingdom in late 1960 and No. 13 in [[CHUM Chart|Canada]],<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book| first=David|last=Roberts| year=2006|title=British Hit Singles & Albums|edition=19th|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited|location=London, UK| isbn=1-904994-10-5|page=122}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/60-09-19-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - September 19, 1960}}</ref> while the theme from ''The Unforgiven'' ("The Need For Love") peaked at No. 27 on the U.S. [[Hot 100]] and No. 15 in [[CHUM Chart|Canada]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles: 1955–2012 |edition=14th |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2013 |publisher=Record Research |page=195}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/60-07-04-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - July 4, 1960}}</ref> In [[Cashbox (magazine)|''Cash Box'' magazine]], Costa was voted the best pop orchestra leader of 1960.<ref name="UPI-obit"/><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/60s/1960/CB-1960-12-03-OCR-Page-0008.pdf |title=Results of 1960 Operator Poll |magazine=The Cash Box |date=December 3, 1960 |access-date=August 28, 2024}}</ref>
During this time, [[Frank Sinatra]] formed [[Reprise Records]] and hired Costa to arrange the album ''[[Sinatra and Strings]]'', released in 1962.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> This set of standard ballads would remain one of the most critically acclaimed works of Sinatra's Reprise period. His{{Ambiguous|reason=Sinatra's work or Costa's work?|date=October 2022}} later work moved away from orchestra arrangement. Songs on the album include "[[All or Nothing at All]]", a verse-only version of "[[Stardust (1927 song)|Stardust]]", a ballad rendition of "[[Night and Day (song)|Night and Day]]" which provided a contrast to Sinatra's more-familiar big band version, and "[[Come Rain or Come Shine]]", which frequently is included in compilations from Sinatra's Reprise years.
During the next year, Costa was asked to arrange for the [[Sarah Vaughan]] album, ''[[Snowbound (Sarah Vaughan album)|Snowbound]]''. [[Barbra Streisand]] used the same arrangement of "Snowbound" for her second Christmas album for [[Sony Music Entertainment|Sony]] in 2001. Costa also arranged [[Tony Bennett]]'s 1965 album ''[[If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set]]''.<ref>{{cite book |title=All Music Guide to Jazz: The Definitive Guide to Jazz Music |first1=Vladimir |last1=Bogdanov |author-link1=Vladimir Bogdanov (editor) |first2=Chris |last2=Woodstra |first3=Stephen Thomas |last3=Erlewine |year=2002 |publisher=[[Backbeat Books]] |isbn=978-0879307172 |page=92}}</ref>
Between 1964 and 1968, Costa arranged four [[Columbia Records | Columbia]] releases for Eydie Gormé: ''Gorme Country Style'' (1964), ''Softly, As I Leave You'' (1966), ''Don't Go To Strangers'' (1966), and ''The Look of Love'' (1968).
In the mid-1960s, Costa moved from New York City to Hollywood and in 1964 formed DCP International through United Artists.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> His label revived the career of popular 1950s act [[Little Anthony and the Imperials]]. Working with producer [[Teddy Randazzo]], Little Anthony had a fresh string of hits, including "[[Goin' Out of My Head]]" and "[[Hurt So Bad]]". In 1963, Costa discovered [[Trini Lopez]] working at PJ's, a Hollywood nightclub. Later in the decade, Sinatra again called on Costa to become his arranger, and Costa's work with Lawrence and Gormé abated. During this period, Sinatra scored one of his biggest hits, the Paul Anka adaptation of "[[My Way]]" (from the French "[[Comme d'habitude]]").<ref name="LarkinGE"/> UA Records acquired DCP International in 1966 and renamed the label Veep Records.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bsnpubs.com/ua/DCP-Veep.pdf |title=DCP/Veep Discography |first=Mike |last=Callahan |publisher=Both Sides Now Publications |access-date=August 28, 2024}}</ref>
==Later years and death== Costa was conducting for Sinatra in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] as well as arranging his records when Costa suffered a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] and required [[Coronary artery bypass surgery|bypass surgery]]. After recovering, he started working with [[Mike Curb]] at [[MGM Records]], producing and arranging material for the [[Osmond Brothers]], as well as having a hand in [[Sammy Davis Jr.]]'s "[[The Candy Man]]" (1972), "[[We Can Make it Together]]" by [[Steve & Eydie]] featuring [[the Osmonds]] (1972), and [[Petula Clark]]'s cover of "[[My Guy]]" (1971).
In 1980, Costa received his fourth [[Grammy]] nomination for orchestrating what became another [[signature song]] for Sinatra, "[[Theme from New York, New York]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/don-costa/10969 |title=Don Costa |website=Grammy Awards |publisher=Recording Academy |access-date=August 28, 2024}}</ref> Costa then scored a hit in 1981 with his daughter [[Nikka Costa|Nikka]], titled "[[Out Here on My Own]]". The two were planning a follow-up when Costa died of a second heart attack on January 19, 1983, in New York City.<ref name="UPI-obit">{{Cite news |title=Bandleader Don Costa dead at 57 |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/01/20/Bandleader-Don-Costa-dead-at-57/4991411886800/ |date=January 20, 1983 |access-date=February 4, 2025 |website=UPI}}</ref>
==Selected discography== * ''Music to Break a Sub-Lease'' ([[ABC-Paramount]], 1958) * ''The Theme from "The Unforgiven"'' ([[United Artists Records|United Artists]], 1960) * ''Magnificent Motion Picture Music'' (United Artists, 1961) * ''Hollywood Premiere!'' ([[Columbia Records|Columbia]], 1962) * ''Days of Wine and Roses'' ([[Harmony Records|Harmony]], 1966) * ''Modern Delights'' ([[Verve Records|Verve]], 1967) * ''The Don Costa Concept'' ([[Mercury Records|Mercury]], 1969)
==See also== * [[List of jazz arrangers]] * [[List of music arrangers]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{AllMusic |class=artist |id=don-costa-mn0000796192}} *{{Discogs artist}} *{{IMDb name|0182134}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Don}} [[Category:Don Costa| ]] [[Category:1925 births]] [[Category:1983 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American guitarists]] [[Category:20th-century American composers]] [[Category:ABC Records artists]] [[Category:American male conductors (music)]] [[Category:American film score composers]] [[Category:American male guitarists]] [[Category:American male songwriters]] [[Category:American music arrangers]] [[Category:American people of Italian descent]] [[Category:American pop guitarists]] [[Category:American session musicians]] [[Category:Guitarists from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Jamie Records artists]] [[Category:Jazz arrangers]] [[Category:Jazz musicians from Boston]] [[Category:Record producers from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Songwriters from Massachusetts]] [[Category:United Artists Records artists]] [[Category:20th-century American conductors (music)]] [[Category:American male film score composers]] [[Category:American male jazz musicians]] [[Category:20th-century American male composers]] [[Category:Disease-related deaths in New York (state)]]