Arthur Greenslade (4 May 1923 – 27 November 2003) was a British conductor and arranger for films and television, as well as for a number of performers. He was most musically active in the 1960s and 1970s. [1]
Greenslade was born in Northfleet, Kent. In the 1950s, he was pianist and arranger with the Oscar Rabin Band. [1] He arranged for Jack Jones, Chris Farlowe, Serge Gainsbourg, Genesis, Cat Stevens, Diana Ross, Dusty Springfield, the Bachelors and Kinderjazz. [1] For Shirley Bassey, he arranged " Goldfinger" and " Send In the Clowns". He has conducted orchestras in the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall, and was Bassey's musical director. [1] [2] He was arranger and conductor on the Shirley Bassey albums And I Love You So [3] Never Never Never [4] Good, Bad but Beautiful [4] Love, Life and Feelings [5] and You Take My Heart Away [6] . He also played the piano on the Kinks' first hit, " You Really Got Me".
With Andrew Loog Oldham he wrote "Headlines", the B-side of "Ride on Baby" (IM 038), by Chris Farlowe, which was released in 1966. [7]
Greenslade also conducted some easy listening recordings. He conducted the orchestra for Rod McKuen's first television special, which aired on NBC in May 1969. [1] [8] He also arranged Ireland's 1973 Eurovision Song Contest entry, " Do I Dream", sung by Maxi. He arranged the 1969 hit single " Je T'Aime ... Moi Non Plus" by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. [9]
Greenslade died in 2003 at the age of 80, in Sydney, Australia. [1]