Some argue that Tony Mottola was more legendary than famous. In a career spanning 50 years, the guitarist logged thousands of studio dates and made hundreds of concert and television appearances. A first call for dozens of artists including Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Rosemary Clooney, Billie Holiday, Connie Francis, and others, he was also revered as a pioneer for his compositions in the early days of live television.
Case in point are his atmospheric creations for the groundbreaking CBS live-suspense drama “Danger”; the music he created for the show from 1951 to ’56 is studied by serious players and avid students, and its long-out-of-print folio showcasing his licks, tricks, and worksheets is highly sought-after.
Thanks to his association with the audiophile label Command Records, Mottola emerged as a popular artist in his own right in the ’50s and ’60s. His 50-plus albums were perhaps second in popularity only to those of Chet Atkins; his debut, Mr. Big, is a venerated classic of ensemble jazz guitar and his best-selling Roman Guitar received Silver certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Mottola received an Emmy for his score for Two Childhoods, a TV documentary that chronicled the early lives of U.S. Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey and writer and activist James Baldwin.
Curiously, young Mottola wanted to become a saxophone player, but circumstances conspired. Too young to take the bus to a sax teacher’s house in Newark, his father instead tutored him on guitar; the repertoire being limited, he also taught himself by slowing the family’s Victrola while listening to records by Eddie Lang, Nick Lucas, and Django Reinhardt. As his playing improved, a school teacher recognized the boy’s talent and would showcase him at school board meetings, PTA assemblies, and any other occasion where he could demonstrate his gift.
At 12, Mottola won first prize in a talent competition at a local movie theater. It included a one-week engagement at the Brandford Theater and a check for $125. That money got his father’s attention, and he took his son to the Epiphone showroom in Manhattan, where Tony was rewarded with an Epiphone Broadway.
Mottola continued to play throughout high school, after which he and fellow guitarist Al Caiola formed a group modeled after Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli’s Hot Club Quintet.
His professional career began in earnest at age 18; a few years later, friend and saxophonist George Paxton arranged an audition with George Hall’s society orchestra in New York City. Soon after, the young guitarist was touring ballrooms around the country. His recording debut came in ’39, with singer Dolly Dawn on her hit single, “Shine.” After two years, playing in Hall’s band had taken a toll and the young guitarist returned to New Jersey, where in ’41 he landed a job as a staff musician for the CBS Radio Network. It was there that Mottola was mentored by the two busiest studio guitarists of the era, Carl Kress and Dick McDonough. In addition to their popularity as a guitar duet, Kress and McDonough worked virtually around the clock for Burns and Allen, Kate Smith, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Groucho Marx, Betty Grable, and the cadre of CBS’ radio and recording stars.
Mottola began by sitting in on rehearsals for Kress and McDonough and preparing their charts for various broadcasts. But soon, he was not just taking up the slack, but making a name for himself by handling the shows’ guitar chores with real aplomb. In addition, he soon became a charter member of bandleader Raymond Scott’s CBS Orchestra. Shortly after, Mottola was tasked with creating the guitar soundtrack for “Danger,” a show frequently directed by talents such as Yul Brynner and Sidney Lumet. The show also featured future stars James Dean, Lee Grant, Rod Steiger, Sal Mineo, and Eva Marie Saint. In addition, scripts for “Danger” were often created by extraordinary writers like Paddy Chayefsky, Rod Serling, Sal Mineo, and Eva Marie Saint.
At CBS, Mottola established a long-lasting association with Frank Sinatra, who requested Mottola fill the guitarist spot on his first radio show. The two maintained a friendship, and from 1980 until his retirement in ’88, Mottola toured with Sinatra and was regularly spotlighted by accompanying the singer in solo spots. The two performed at Carnegie Hall, the White House, and at a Command Performance for the Queen of England at Royal Albert Hall.
Theirs was a full-circle friendship, having first met as teenagers at radio station WAAT in Jersey City.
“I was 14 and Frank was 17,” Mottola recalled in a 1997 interview for the Television Academy Foundation. “I was a regular on a Sunday morning show that featured young musical artists. No one got paid more than carfare, but it led to club dates with Frank. My career revolved around knowing him. Later, when I wound up my career, I spent my last six years traveling with him.”
It was also on that show that Tony met his future wife, Mitzi.
From ’58 until ’72, Mottola was the guitarist for the original “Tonight Show” on NBC, where he was a lso on hand for other prime time programs including the “The Perry Como Show.”
Curiously, the first time Mottola saw television was when he was on it. In the late ’40s, he was advised by a contractor at CBS that the company was going to start an hour of experimental programming; Mottola inquired and was made leader of a trio (with singers Johnny Desmond and Shea Cogan) for a 15-minute show called “Face the Music.” Mottola’s on-air demeanor was likable enough for execs to feature him as a de facto host and give him scripts written by songwriter Bob Merrill, who penned “People” for Barbra Streisand, “Honeycomb” for Jimmie Rodgers, “My Truly, Truly Fair” for Guy Mitchell, and “How Much is that Doggie in the Window?” for Patti Page, then created the Broadway shows Carnival, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Funny Girl.
Mottola went on to work on the CBS offerings “Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows,” “Howdy Doody Time,” the game show “Beat The Clock,” and even the bizarre ’60s classic “Sing Along With Mitch.” In 1954, he emceed “Melody Street,” a lip-sync show that required the guitarist to play intros to popular songs of a given era. He’d say a few words about the tune then play an intro that led to singers acting out a vignette of the song. Mottola may well have been the most-heard on-air instrumentalist at the time.
Among his peers, Mottola commanded tremendous respect. His longtime friend and colleague, Bucky Pizzarelli, admired him as someone who could read any piece of music.
“He’d interpret something and make it very ‘Mottola’ – put his stamp on it,” Pizzarelli recalled. “His sound was very warm, tender, and expressive. And he never hit a bad note in his life.”
In fact, his playing was so good that it once stopped a taping on Como’s “Kraft Music Hall.” One scene required Como, wearing a prop guitar, to pretend to serenade Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida while Mottola played a fiery romantic passage. The playing was so extraordinary that Como, instead of delivering his line, looked over his shoulder at Mottola and said, “Don’t you ever make a mistake?”
Of course that was a tremendous compliment, but Mottola said, “I’d worked on that piece and had never played anything better in my life. Then I had to play it all over again.”
His famous moody composition for “Danger” was the first guitar-driven television soundtrack, long before Mottola’s friend (and West Coast counterpart) Bob Bain played the “Peter Gunn Theme” with Henry Mancini.
The “Danger” chord was an E minor Major 7th, and Mottola composed an eight-/16-bar theme for the central character and the show’s heavy. He retained the motifs and expanded on them, saying, “I’d use a theme and its variations; bridges from one scene to another, and curtains to end a scene.”
The opening chord complemented the noir visual, with a knife thrown into a fence; it became known as the “Danger chord.”
Mottola also recalled a circus-themed show “The Killer Scarf,” which was performed at Madison Square Garden while he remained in the studio. To approximate a hurdy gurdy effect, he used a pocket comb dragged across the strings instead of a pick for his composition “Carnival Time.”
“I don’t know why we just didn’t hire a calliope player,” he laughed.
However, his “Danger” folio is brimming with his creative soundtrack ideas. In fact, a few of his compositions were recorded later for his MGM albums. Actors including James Dean, Paul Newman, JoAnne Woodward, Basil Rathbone, Grace Kelly, and Anthony Quinn appeared on the show.
“Everybody was learning, and nobody was a star with the exception of Rathbone,” Mottola recalled.
Friend Sidney Lumet, another director who frequently worked the show, recalled how Mottola also appeared on it, and remembers the interesting double duty. “He was so simpatico with the music, and so very intense,” he said.
Mottola was amazed that Lumet remembered a motif he’d written on “Danger” and asked him to use it again to score his 1988 film, Running on Empty, starring River Phoenix and Judd Hirsch.
Mottola eventually recorded his Danger album on MGM and later worked as a sideman for producer Enoch Light’s Grand Award label, which later became Command Records. That led to his recording Tony Mottola and his Orchestra, which also featured heavyweights Dick Hyman, Doc Severinsen, and Urbie Green.
“Because of that, I’d built a reputation on the easy-listening stations because, in those days, there were a lot of deejays playing that kind of music,” he recalled. “This was long before the Beatles. Enoch Light sold that company to ABC Records and later formed Project Three Records, where I also served as an A&R man. So, if I had any reputation in the recording industry, Enoch Light was responsible for it. He was a true pioneer of stereo recording.”
Mottola passed away August 9, 2004, leaving a palpable influence and impact on many of the music industry’s finest players.
“My guitar teacher suggested I listen to Tony’s Roman Guitar album. His sound, phrasing, in-tune bends, and general technique and arrangements were exquisite,” said studio legend Mitch Holder. “My own phrasing and melodic treatments were very influenced by him. He was a busy studio musician, and one of his close guitar-playing cohorts, Bucky Pizzarelli, told me, ‘I never heard Tony hit a wrong note.’ And, Tony didn’t play it safe. He went for it, and his clarity and perfection in execution was a testament to Bucky’s statement. Pure sonic and technical perfection. Look into what he left us. You won’t be sorry.”
“All creative types will tell you they host a variety of deceased heroes who sit on their shoulders and approve or disapprove of whatever’s being attempted at the moment,” added session veteran and Nashville producer Richard Bennett. “Tony is one of those for me, and he’s forever shaking his head in disappointment. No surprise, how does anyone live up to that talent, his bell-like tone, all the years of demanding radio and television work, the thousands of record dates? What about his albums as a leader, particularly those on Command and, later, Enoch Light? They’re quintessential examples of brilliantly recorded sound. In the middle of it all is Tony’s exquisite guitar playing, arranging and tone. Never a glib note, always so listenable. Whatever you do, don’t miss his 1955 MGM recording of the ‘Danger’ theme; guitar noir if ever there was. Yep, there’s Tony Mottola, always on my shoulder, saying, ‘You’re doing it all wrong kid,’ and me smiling back saying, ‘Thank you, Tony.’”
Mottola was 86 years old when he passed away after battling double pneumonia and suffering a stroke.
Special thanks to Tony Mottola, Jr.
This article originally appeared in VG’s October 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
