Hi Everyone,
Sadly, it has been reported that Charles Randolph Grean passed away this past Saturday at the age of 90. For those of you who are not familiar with Mr. Grean's Dark Shadows connection, he produced and recorded several of the musical scores for some of the more popular songs associated with the show. Including: Quentin's Theme, Josette's Music Box, #1 at the Blue Whale and Back at the Blue Whale.
I had the pleasure and opportunity to get to know Mr. Grean a little bit personally, and would like to share some of those memories with you all here. Back in the mid 1990's I was on a quest to locate the 45 rpm version of Josette's Music Box. It is a very rare recording, and at that time if you could find someone willing to part with a copy, it sold for in upwards of $200.00-$250.00 in the collectable marketplace. I had no luck in locating this elusive 45 rpm record, so I decided to attempt to contact Mr. Grean himself to see if he could help me.
In the spring of 1996 I located a NYC phone number for him and called that number. I spoke with his wife at that number and she explained to me that she produced a soap opera in NYC and that they kept an apartment in Manhattan for that reason, and that "Charlie" was in Connecticut. I explained my dilemma to her and she in turn gave me the address and phone number to their home in Connecticut and told me to call him there. I called him and he was very gracious over the phone. We talked for quite a while and I asked him about the Josette's Music Box 45 rpm record. He said that he didn't think he had a copy, but would check. I asked him if I could send him some Quentin's Theme sheet music to autograph, and he said he was going on vacation, but to send it and he would sign it when he returned.
I sent the sheet music and a short letter to him, and a few weeks later I received it back from Mr. Grean autographed, along with a note that read: Bob- Happened to come in from vacation to pick up mail. Call me when you get here-I might be around. I had J.Music Box on an album I made-But no single as yet. Charlie
I had mentioned in my letter, that along with a few friends, I would be in NYC that August for a 30th ann. party for Dark Shadows at the LeBar Bat restaurant, and that afterwards several friends and I would be driving up to the Norwalk for a few days.(Mr. Grean lives less then 10 minutes from Norwalk) I thought it was nice that he had told me to give him a call.
Well, a few months passed and I flew out east for the DS event at the LeBar Bat. I did bring Mr. Grean's phone number with me, but I really didn't think anything would come of it. I had talked to him on one other occassion after receiving the sheet music back and prior to flying out east. At that time we talked about possibily getting together for lunch at the Three Bears Restaurant. ( A D.S. related location. It was used for scenes in House of Dark Shadows) Mr. Grean lived a short distance from the restaurant, and said that if he was in town when we arrived, it would be a good place to get together.
I called him the day after the party fully expecting either no one to answer, or for him to say he couldn't get together. Instead I was totally surprised when he invited my friends and me to come to his house!!
When we arrived at his house he was outside to meet us. As we approached him I noticed his left hand was behind his back, and as I introduced myself and extended my hand to shake his right hand, he took his other hand out from behind his back and said "This is for you Bob" and handed me a short stack of records. It turns out this short stack of records was not one, not two but THREE 45 rpm recording of Josette's Music Box!! I was totally stunned. He had not mentioned to me over the phone that he had located the record, and to present me with three MINT copies was a total shock. He invited my friends and I into his home where he presented each one of them with their own copy of Josette's Music Box 45rpm record! Needless to say, we were all thrilled. Not only were we meeting a legendary music composer, who by the way had been invited to White House and photographed with Presidents; Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, & Nixon, but here he was giving us these very rare recordings! He explained to us that after talking with me, he went digging through his closets for old boxes of 45's and came across these, amongst others. We learned that Mr. Grean wrote music for several t.v. shows, including Star Trek. My friend Rick, who is an avid collector of t.v. themes, asked MR. Grean about a certain recording he had done for Star Trek. Rick said he had been searching for it for years with no luck. Mr. Grean went over to his closet and pulled out a box of 45's. He thumbed through them and found the record Rick was asking about. He took it out and GAVE it to him. Rick was of course stunned, as were the rest of us at Mr. Grean's generousity.
We sat and talked with him for quite a while as we looked through his scrapbooks of all the famous people he had worked with and met. He had worked and taken photos with; Diana Shore, The Dorsey Brothers, Glen Miller, and Bobby Darin to name a few.
He told us how he got involved in recording the Dark Shadows songs. It seems his daughter, Robin, was an avid fan of the show. One day while she was watching it, he overheard the playing of Quentin's Theme. He entered the room and asked her about the song and show, and Robin explained it was the music that was played whenever this character Quentin came on. Mr. Grean explained to us that he couldn't get the tune out of his mind and contacted the producers of the show because he wanted to make a recording of it. He initially spoke with George DiCenzo, who then set up a luncheon for Mr. Grean with Dan Curtis. Mr. Grean made us laugh we he recalled that first meeting with Dan Curtis. He told us that here he thought he was going to have lunch with this big NYC producer at some posh restaurant, and Dan Curtis ended up taking him to some hotdog stand. We all got a chuckle out of hearing that story.
Before we left I asked Mr. Grean if he would be interested in attending a Dark Shadows Halloween party at the Lockwood-Mathews m,ansion in nearby Norwalk that October. He said that if he was in Connecticut and available, he would. He did indeed attend that party and spoke to the gathering relating the some of the stories above, as well as other momories he had of working with Jonathan Frid and David Selby in the studio when they recorded DS related songs.
"Charlie" was a great person, and I'm very happy I had the chance to meet him and listen to the stories he had to tell. Below are a couple photos from his home and the Halloween party at the Lockwood-Mathews mansion.
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