BERT KAEMPFERT (1923-1980)

Bert Kaempfert, born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert (Hamburg, October 16, 1923– June 21, 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for several well-known songs, including “Strangers in the Night” and “Moon Over Naples”.

Kaempfert’s own first hit with his orchestra had been “Wonderland by Night”. Recorded in July 1959, the song couldn’t get a hearing in Germany, so Kaempfert took the track to Decca Records in New York, who released it in America in the fall of 1960. With its haunting solo trumpet (by Charles Tabor), muted brass, and lush strings, the single topped the American pop charts and turned Bert Kaempfert and Orchestra into international stars.

Over the next few years, he revived such pop tunes as “Tenderly”, “Red Roses for a Blue Lady”, “Three O’Clock in the Morning”, and “Bye Bye Blues”, as well as composing pieces of his own, including “Spanish Eyes” (a.k.a. “Moon Over Naples”), “Danke Schoen”, and “Wooden Heart”, which were recorded by, respectively, Al Martino, Wayne Newton, and Elvis Presley. For Kaempfert, little may have brought him more personal satisfaction than Nat King Cole recording his “L-O-V-E”.

Recordings by Bert Kaempfert you can hear at Instrumentals Forever:

A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
A Song For Satch
A Tune For Tony
Ack Värmeland du sköna
Afrikaan Beat
Again
Airmail Special
All For You
All The Things You Are
Almost There
And There Was Love
Andorinha Preta (Brazilian Love Song)
Angelica
Answer Me My Love
April In Portugal
Are We Becoming Strangers
As I Love You
At The End Of Our Love
At The Rainbow’s End
Auld Lang Syne
Beddoes Shadows
Beddy-Bye (Strangers In The Night)
Bell Bottoms
Bert’s Bossa Nova
Bert’s Tune
Black Beauty
Blue Avenue
Blue Midnight
Blue Moon
Blueberry Hill
Body And Soul
Boo Hoo
But Not Today
But Not Today (A Theme From The Universal Picture ”A Man Could Get Killed”)
Bye Bye Blues
Cachaca Mecanica
Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love)
Caravan
Cerveza
Chanson d’amour
Cheers To The World
Cherokee (Indian Love Call)
Chicken Talk
Children Of Peace
Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie
Clues Dropper – A Tape Sandwich – Rude Awakening
Cotton Candy
Cracklin’ Rosie
Cry Baby Cry
Dance With Me Once More
Dancing In The Dark
Danke schön
Danke schön (Candlelight Cafe)
Daybreak Serenade
Didn’t We
Dino’s Melody
Don’t Go
Don’t Talk To Me
Dream
Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)
Dreaming The Blues
Dreams (Sueños)
Drifting And Dreaming (Sweet Paradise)
Ducky
Dutch Treat
Easy Going
Echo In The Night
Every Sunday Morning
Every Time I Dream Of You
Explosive Welcome – Bi-Naveled – Key Note
Fadistas do Bairro alto
Fado de Villa Franca
Falling Free
Fanfare Olympic Games ’72
Fats In The Fire
Finnish Folk Song (Suomen Laulu)
Flight To Mecca
Fluter’s Holiday
Fly Robin Fly
Footprints In The Sand (Huellas En La Arena)
For Bert
Fora de Portas
Forgive Me
Forgotten Melody
Free As A Bird
Friends
Frisco Disco
Fröhlicher Landmann (Jolly Peasant)
Funny Talk
Games People Play
Gemma
Gentleman Jim
Give And Take
Go My Way
Golden Memories
Goodnight Sweet Dreams
Grey Eyes Make Me Blue
Handy Brandy – Hail The Azalea
Hänschen klein
Happy Safari
Happyness Never Comes Too Late (Das Glück kommt nie zu spät)
Headin’ Home
Highland Dreams
Hit The Open Road
Ho Ho Ha Ha
Holiday For Bells
Honeymoon
Honeysuckle Rose
How Deep Is The Ocean (How High Is The Sky)
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
I Can’t Help Remembering You
I Close My Eyes (and dream of you)
I Cover The Waterfront
I Found My Love
I Love You So
I May Be Wrong
I Remember Loving You
I Should Care
I Will Never Stop Loving You
If I Had You
If There’s A Way
I’ll Get By (As Long As I Have You)
I’ll See You In My Dreams
I’m In Love
Imbote
In Our Time (A Musical Prayer For Peace)
In The Everglades
In The Mood
Island In The Sun
It Makes No Difference
It’s Only A Paper Moon
I’ve Gotta Be Me
Java
Jumpin’ Blue
Just A Dream
Just As Much As Ever
Just You Just Me
Keep On Dancing
Kiss Her Once With Feeling
La Cumparsita
La vie en rose
Lady
Laura
Let A Smile Be Your Umbrella
Let´s Go Home
Let’s Go Bowling
Limbo Lady
Little Brown Jug
Little Doll
Living Easy
Living It Up
Lonely Is The Name
Lonely Nightingale
Look Me Up In New York Town
Louisa
LOVE
L-O-V-E
Love After Midnight
Love Comes But Once
Love Letters
Love Me Tender
Love Theme From ”You Can’t Win ‘Em All”
Love Walked In
Lover
Lover’s Wonderland
Lullaby For Lovers
Lullaby Of Birdland
Magnolia Blossoms
Main Title (From The Motion Picture ”A Man Could Get Killed”)
Mambo Mania
Mambossa
Manhattan After Dark
Manhattan Merengue
Maria Elena
Market Day
Me And My Shadow
Me and You and a dog named Boo
Melancholy Serenade
Melina
Memories Of Mexico
Mexican Market Day – Gentleman Jim – Mexican Road – The Happy Trumpeter
Midnight In Moscow
Midsummer Night In Gotland
Milica (Sweet María)
Mister Sandman
Mitternachtsblues
Monte Carlo
Moon Over Miami
Moon Over Naples
Moonglow
Moonlight Serenade
My Blue Heaven
My Eyes Adored You
My Guy’s Come Back
My Love
My Melancholy Baby
My Prayer
My Way
My Way Of Life
Nem ás Paredes Confesso
Never My Love
Newspaper
Night Dreams
No A Go-Go (End Title)
Noted Arrival
Now And Forever
Nur du du du allein (To Know Him Is To Love Him)
Oh Woman Oh Why
Old Noah (Gubben Noach)
On A Little Street In Singapore
On The Alamo
On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Once In A While
One Lonely Night
One Morning In May
One O’Clock Jump
One Smile Away
Only Fool (Would Lose You)
Only Those In Love
Opus One
Orange Colored Sky
Our Street Of Love
Out Of Nowhere
Over The Rainbow
Petula
Petula’s Song
Plaisir d’amour
Poinciana (Song Of The Tree)
Pony Violins
Por Deus te Peco
Prisoner Of Love
Proud Mary
Pussy Footin’
Put Your Hand In The Hand
Rain
Rainbow Melody
Raining In My Heart
Rainy Sunday
Rebel Rouser
Red Roses For A Blue Lady
Red Sky At Morning
Reggae Romp
Remember When
Reminiscing
Ridin’ Rainbows
Rosalie
Samo Jednom Se Ljubi
San Francisco
Savoy Blues
Say Si Si (Para Vigo Me Voy)
Saying Goodbye Again
Saying Goodbye Again
Sempre Que Lisboa Canta
Sentimental Journey
September Night
Seven Up
She Lets Her Hair Down
Show Me The Way To Go Home
Si j’étais roi
Similau
Skokiaan
Sleepy Lagoon
Snowbird
So Young-So Alive
Sobre Las Olas (Über den Wellen – Over The Waves)
Soft Shoe Safari
Soft Shoulders
Solitude
Some Of These Days
Somebody Loves Me
Someday We’ll Be Together
Someone
Something
Somewhere In The Sky
Spanish Eyes
Stardust
Stay With Me
Stay With The Happy People
Steady Does It
Steppin’ Pretty
Stompin’ At The Savoy
Strangers In The Night
Strangers In The Night (A Theme From The Universal Picture ”A Man Could Get Killed”)
Sugar Bush
Sunday In Madrid
Sunset Melody
Susan
Sweet And Gentle (Me Lo Dijo Adela)
Sweet Caroline
Sweet Dreams
Sweet Maria
Swing And Sway
Swissy Missy
Symphony
Tahitian Sunset
Take Me
Take My Heart Away
Take The ”A” Train
Take Your Time
Tammy
Tea And Trumpets
Tell Me Why
Tell Me Why
Tenderly
That Happy Feeling
The Aim Of My Desires (Das Ziel meiner Wünsche)
The Bandit (O’ Cangaceiro)
The Entertainer
The Good Life
The Intercontinental
The Japanese Farewell Song
The Mexican Shuffle
The Moon Is Making Eyes
The More I See You
The Most Beautiful Girl
The Nightingale (Solovej – Die Nachtigall)
The Sunny Side Of Life
The Way I Love You
The Way It Used To Be
The Way We Were
The White Cliffs Of Dover
The World We Knew
Theme From ”The Godfather Part II”
There I’ve Said It Again
This Song Is Yours Alone (Dieses Lied gehört nur dir)
Three O’Clock In The Morning
Tijuana Taxi
Time
Time On My Hands (You In My Arms)
Time To Dream
Time To Leave
Time To Love
Tipsy Gypsy
Today’s My Day
Tom Hark
Tom’s Tune
Touch The Wind (Eres tu)
Traces
Treat For Trumpet
Tricky Trombone
Tropical Sunrise
Trumpet In The Night
Tudo isto é Fado
Twilight Time
Two Can Live On Love Alone
Two O’Clock Jump
Two On A Tune
Unchained Melody
Wake Up And Live
Walking With Fips
We Can Make It Girl
Welcome To My Heart
What A Difference A Day Makes
What Is This Thing Called Love
What Kind Of Fool Am I
What’s Up With You
When I Fall In Love
When You’re Smiling
Where And When
Where Flamingos Fly
Where Or When
While The Children Sleep
Who’s Sorry Now
Why Can’t You And I Add Up To Love
Without Your Love
Wonderland By Night (Wunderland bei Nacht)
Yellow Bird
You Are My Sunshine
You Are There
Your Move (Tu Movimiento)
You’re Mine
You’re Worth It All
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