Background
Maxwell was born in New York City.
Maxwell was born in New York City.
Maxwell was the father of modern dancer Carla Maxwell, artistic director of The Jose Limon Dance Company. Abe Rosen was known for his work playing in New York shows and Myor Rosen was the principal harpist for the New York Philharmonic for thirty years. He also gave solo performances in both New York and Los Los Angeles
Among the conductors he performed under were Arturo Toscanini and Serge Koussevitsky.
He eventually found himself in the United States Coast Guard in a unit commanded by Rudy Vallee, giving him the opportunity to play the harp in a popular music context. Vallee arranged tours where he performed for servicemen, and he developed a talent for playing in a more down-to-earth style.
He entered a contest on radio station KFI in Los Angeles, failing to make the finals but gaining second prize. This led to many appearances on radio, television, and the movies, including one summer as replacement for Frank Sinatra on the Columbia Broadcasting System (Columbia Broadcasting System) network.
Maxwell went on to devising his own arrangements, and composed three songs which he is remembered: "Little Dipper" (1959, recorded under the name The Mickey Mozart Quintet) peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Ebb Tide" (1953) was a perennial favorite, and "Shangri-Louisiana" was a hit in 1957 for The Four Coins and 1969 for The Lettermen.
Maxwell"s own instrumental version, featuring an organ solo rather than his harp, reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. Another of his songs, "Solfeggio", performed by Maxwell"s orchestra and the Ray Charles Singers, gained unexpected fame as the theme for Ernie Kovacs" regular comedy skit called The Nairobi Trio. The song was originally recorded in 1953 for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Records, which was the version Kovacs used.
Maxwell re-recorded it for Kapp Records in the early 1960s, as "Song of the Nairobi Trio," credited to "The Fortune Tellers." In the early "70s, he changed his first name to Bobby to avoid confusion with the British publisher of the same name and issued LPs as such for the Command/American Broadcasting Company label under "Bobby Maxwell".
Also wrote theme music for Australian National Broadcaster American Broadcasting Company-television"s "Four Corners" ("Four Corners" Theme ) issued on Columbia Records in Australia Columbia Doctor of Osteopathy 4380.
At age 17, he became the youngest member of the National Symphony Orchestra.