Gary Dorian, Songwriter/Arranger/Producer

Gary Dorian, Songwriter/Arranger/Producer

Howard Reeves, Songwriter/Arranger/Producer

Howard Reeves, Songwriter/Arranger/Producer

Who we are.

Songwriters Gary Dorian and Howard Reeves draw from their collective life experiences, relationships, and human connections in the songs they write. Whether it’s love of family, wisdom of the ages, folks who struggle to find their way, or everyday heroes, the message is about hope… and the music, memorable.

In the beginning

The musical roots of both Dorian and Reeves were planted in the folk era. As college fraternity brothers, they borrowed a guitar and a banjo to form The Roamin’ Three, a folk-singing trio that entertained at fraternity parties, campus events, and Rotary Club meetings. They spent the summer performing on a showboat, up and down the Ohio River, using their spare time to write songs.

 

Later, Dorian and Reeves added a fourth member to the group and became The Windsong Boys. Their songwriting efforts began to pay off when they walked through the brass doors of the Brill Building, in New York City, and were introduced to Paul Case, who was the head of Hill & Range Music, publisher of Elvis Presley’s early hit songs. The Windsong Boys were signed to a songwriting contract and cut their first record for ABC Paramount, produced by Peter DeAngelis.

 

As their songs evolved into pop music, they traded acoustic guitar and banjo for an electric bass and keyboards, and re-formed the band as The Arrangement. The band spent several winters playing gigs at ski lodges in Hunter Mountain, New York, and in a club in the Hamptons during the summer. They recorded their original song “You” produced and arranged by Harold Wheeler. The record was released on Scepter Records and became their first to hit the charts.

 

Dorian and Reeves also produced their own as well as other artists’ records for the Scepter and Buddah labels. Reeves arranged the music for many of the sessions, including horn and string arrangements for the hit record “Timothy,” a somewhat controversial song written by Rupert Holmes. As part of their record contract with Scepter, The Arrangement was also managed by Scepter’s in-house management office which handled all of their artists, including Dionne Warwick and B.J. Thomas.

 

On the road

 

It was at this time that B.J. Thomas needed a band for a growing number of new concert dates that had been booked since his record “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” reached Number One on the charts. So, The Arrangement became B.J.’s backup band, and toured across the USA from South Carolina to Hawaii, as well as Canada, Mexico and Venezuela.

 

B.J. and the band racked up 250 one-nighters in just the first year. In addition they appeared at New York’s famous Copacabana, played at two Grammy Awards shows, made television appearances on the Tonight Show, Merv Griffin, Ed Sullivan, and Johnny Cash Show, and performed at Atlantic City’s Steel Pier opposite Kenny Rogers.

 

When the New York ad agency BBD&O wanted to feature B.J. on a national Pepsi jingle, they called on Reeves to write the arrangement and conduct the session. This opened the door for both Dorian and Reeves to pursue another music endeavor using their songwriting skills—writing and producing jingles.

Jingle production

Hoping to find an entry into the highly competitive New York jingle market, Dorian and Reeves began working with jazz flugelhorn player Don Elliot, who wrote and produced many memorable jingles, including one for Windsong perfume.

 

After honing their jingle-writing chops with Elliot, they went out on their own and began writing and producing jingles for ad agency J. Walter Thompson, including Planters Nuts, Ford Truck, Subaru, a national jingle for Red Cross featuring Glen Campbell on vocals, and the recruiting themes “A Great New Life” and “A Better Way To Live” for the Marine Corps, which received national Marine Recruiting Awards. They also wrote and produced the first jingle for Razzles Candy, for Charles Spranklin & Associates. Dorian wrote the song “Someone In Me” and Reeves scored the music for “Liftoff to Silence,” a documentary about a hot air balloon race, sponsored by Liggett & Myers.

 

As the jingle business began to expand to other major U.S. cities, they opened an office in Miami, churning out jingles for developers of new communities, major retail outlets, restaurant chains, airlines and cruise lines. Dorian won Addy awards for writing and producing jingles for Sarasota’s centennial celebration, the 25th Sarasota Addy Awards Ceremony, and the Publix grocery chain for their jazzy jingle, “Oh, You Beautiful Fruit,” arranged by Scott Reeves, Howard’s brother.