He is a saxophonist, music director, composer and arranger born Edward Michael Karam in Ottawa, Canada who performed on the saxpohone in the 1950s in Phil Nimmons ‘N’ Nine, Moe Koffman’s jazz groups and CBC variety shows.
During the 1960s he studied with the composer, trumpeter and teacher Gordon Delamont from 1960 to 1964 and became the music director for CBC TV variety shows before moving to the United States to work as the music director for the singer Paul Anka.
He took up residence in Hollywood and started working as a composer and arranger for studio recordings and wrote several scores for films and TV.
The singers he has worked with on recordings are many as a composer, arranger and/or conductor and include The Essential Paul Anka by Paul Anka, The Songs of Bacharach & Costello by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, It’s the World Gone Crazy by Glen Campell, From Brazil with Love by Roberto Carlos, It Must Be Him/The Way of Today by Vikki Carr, Christmas Through Your Eyes by Gloria Estefan, Isn’t It Romantic by Michael Feinstein, Secret Life of Harpers Bizarre by Harpers Bizarre, Here’s to Life by Shirley Horn, Visions by Gladys Knight & The Pips, When I Look In Your Eyes by Diana Krall, The Christmas Album by The Manhattan Transfer, Manilow Sings Sinatra by Barry Manilow, Greatest Hits of Rod McKuen by Rod McKuen, Kisses on the Bottom by Paul McCartney, Merciless by Stephanie Mills, Timepiece by Kenny Rogers, One Night/One Day by Tom Scott, Duets by Frank Sinatra, Back to Broadway by Barbra Streisand, The Way We Were by Andy Williams and Night & Day by John Williams.
As a composer he wrote scores for the 1981 film Tulips, the 1998 TV Special To Life! America Celebrates Israel’s 50th and episodes of the TV series CBS Storybreak and FM. He has been an orchestrator for at least 60 films, TV movies and series between 1957 and 2018.
Glen Campbell recordings
I Don’t Want to Know Your Name (Micheal Smotherman)
Capitol Records- P-4959 (US Promo)
Sources:
- https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/frederick-karam-emc
- https://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2020/12/15/conversation-phil-nimmons
- https://archive.org/stream/cashbox18unse_45/cashbox18unse_45_djvu.txt
- https://ma180.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/eNewsHarpSept2014.pdf
- https://worldradiohistory.com/CANADA/CBC-Times/1961/CBC-Times-1961-04-23.pdf
- https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0438832/
- https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bb07cda29
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/3296968-Edward-Karam?type=Credits&subtype=Conducting-Leading&filter_anv=0
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/411350-Eddie-Karam?type=Credits&filter_anv=0&page=3
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/eddie-karam-mn0000729885/credits