Mancini was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the steel town of West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. His parents emigrated from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Mancini's father, Quinto, was a steelworker, who made his only child begin flute lessons at the age of eight. When Mancini was 12 years old, he began piano lessons. Quinto and Henry played flute together in the Aliquippa Italian immigrant band, "Sons of Italy". After high school, Mancini attended the renowned Juilliard School of Music in New York. In 1943, after roughly one year at Juilliard, his studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the army. In 1945, he participated in the liberation of a South German concentration camp.
Mancini recorded over 90 albums, in styles ranging from big band to classical to pop. Eight of these albums were certified gold by The Recording Industry Association of America. He had a 20 year contract with RCA Records, resulting in 60 commercial record albums that made him a household name composer of easy listening music.
Mancini's range also extended to orchestral and ethnic scores (Lifeforce, The Great Mouse Detective, Sunflower, "Tom and Jerry: The Movie", Molly Maguires, The Hawaiians), and darker themes ("Experiment In Terror," "The White Dawn," "Wait Until Dark," "The Night Visitor").
Mancini was also a concert performer, conducting over fifty engagements per year, resulting in over 600 symphony performances during his lifetime. Among the symphony orchestras he conducted are the London Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He appeared in 1966, 1980 and 1984 in command performances for the British Royal Family. He also toured several times with Johnny Mathis and with Andy Williams, who had sung many of Mancini's songs.[citation needed]
Mancini had experience with acting and voice roles. In 1994 he made a one-off cameo appearance in the first season of the sitcom series Frasier, as a call-in patient to Dr. Frasier Crane's radio show. Mancini voiced the character Al, who speaks with a melancholy drawl and hates the sound of his own voice, in the episode "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast?" Mancini also had an uncredited performance as a pianist in the 1967 movie Gunn, the movie version of the series Peter Gunn, the score of which was originally composed by Mancini himself.
Mancini was nominated for an unprecedented 72 Grammys, winning 20 Additionally he was nominated for 18 Academy Awards, winning four. He also won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for two Emmys.
Mancini won a total of four Oscars for his music in the course of his career.
Mancini died at the age of 70 in Beverly Hills/Los Angeles, California of pancreatic cancer. He was working at the time on the Broadway stage version of Victor/Victoria. At the time of his death, Mancini was married to singer Virginia "Ginny" O´Connor, with whom he had three children. Ginny Mancini went on to found the Society of Singers a non profit organization which benefits the health and welfare of professional singers worldwide. Additionally the Society awards scholarships to students pursuing an education in the vocal arts and holds the annual Ella Awards.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers(ASCAP) Foundation "Henry Mancini Music Scholarship" has been awarded annually since 2001.
I'll Give You Three Guesses
Henry Mancini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you make the claim
That no puzzle ever puzzles you
Here is one that needs evolving
Here's a guessing game
That should be a snap for you to do
I'll give you three guesses who loves you
Not your mother who likes to baby you so
And not the girl at home you used to know
Oh no, there's somebody special who needs you
Together or apart
Bet you don't need three guesses and not even two
To know that I'm the one sweetheart
There's somebody special who needs you
Together or apart
Bet you don't need three guesses and not even two
To know that I'm the one sweetheart
The first verse of "I'll Give You Three Guesses" by Henry Mancini and Julie Andrews talks about a guessing game for someone who is extremely good at solving riddles or puzzles. The singer presents a riddle about someone who loves the listener, and the goal is for the listener to guess who that person is. It's a game that the listener should easily be able to win, and the singer is confident that the listener will not need all three guesses.
The chorus reveals that the person who loves the listener is none other than the singer herself. It's not their mother or any other girl from their past. The singer professes her love for the listener and says that they are special to her. She needs them, whether they are together or apart. The song is a declaration of love and a fun way to reveal the singer's true feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
If you're good at riddle-solving
If you have a talent for solving tricky questions
If you make the claim
If you assert
That no puzzle ever puzzles you
That you're never stumped by any problem
Here is one that needs evolving
Here's a puzzle that requires further development
Here's a guessing game
Here's a game of deduction
That should be a snap for you to do
That you should find easy to complete
I'll give you three guesses who loves you
I'll give you three opportunities to guess who loves you
Who's loved you right from the start
Who's been in love with you from the very beginning
Not your mother who likes to baby you so
Not your mother who treats you like a baby
And not the girl at home you used to know
And not the girlfriend you had previously
Oh no, there's somebody special who needs you
Oh no, there's someone extraordinary who wants you
Together or apart
Whether we're together or not
Bet you don't need three guesses and not even two
I'm confident that you won't require three guesses, not even two
To know that I'm the one sweetheart
To recognize that I'm the person you love
There's somebody special who needs you
There's someone extraordinary who wants you
Together or apart
Whether we're together or not
Bet you don't need three guesses and not even two
I'm confident that you won't require three guesses, not even two
To know that I'm the one sweetheart
To recognize that I'm the person you love
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind