Editing Doc Severinsen (section)

==Recording career==
During the early 1960s, Severinsen began recording big band albums, then moved toward instrumental pop music by the end of the decade. In the 1970s he recorded jazz funk, then disco, finding hits with "Night Journey" and "I Wanna Be With You". He released an album with the jazz fusion group Xebron in 1985. During the next year, he recorded ''[[The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen]]'' which won the [[Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance]]. After Carson retired in 1992, he toured with some of the band's members, including [[Conte Candoli]], [[Snooky Young]], [[Bill Perkins (saxophonist)|Bill Perkins]], [[Ernie Watts]], [[Ross Tompkins]], and [[Ed Shaughnessy]].<ref name="Huey" />

Severinsen performed with high school bands, in particular in the 1970s with [[Don Caneva]]'s [[John Hersey High School]] Bands, which recorded four albums.<ref>{{cite news|last=Daday|first=Eileen O.|date=August 11, 2008 |title=Ex-Hersey band director remembered|url=http://prev.dailyherald.com/story/?id=234215 |work=Daily Herald |location=Chicago, IL |access-date=September 25, 2015|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925201421/http://prev.dailyherald.com/story/?id=234215 |archive-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Obituaries, "Don Ernest Caneva"|work=U-T San Diego| date=September 8, 2008|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/utsandiego/obituary.aspx?n=donald-ernest-caneva&pid=116923834|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621094728/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/utsandiego/obituary.aspx?n=donald-ernest-caneva&pid=116923834|archive-date=June 21, 2015|url-status=live |access-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gonzalez|first=Blanca|date=September 16, 2008|title=Don Caneva; third-generation band director had music in his blood|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080916/news_1m16caneva.html|work=U-T San Diego|access-date=September 25, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110000820/http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080916/news_1m16caneva.html|archive-date=November 10, 2014}}</ref>

He performed the "[[Star-Spangled Banner]]" on at least three nationally telecast occasions; however, the first two renditions were marred by problems. When he accompanied actor [[Pat O'Brien (actor)|Pat O'Brien]], as O'Brien recited the National Anthem at [[Super Bowl IV]], the public address system at [[Tulane Stadium]] went dead for a minute, although viewers were unaware of it. Fifteen years later, when he performed the anthem again prior to the [[Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns]] fight, a giant US flag on the side of the Fantasy Tower at [[Caesar's Palace]] overlooking the outdoor ring was not unfurled properly due to problems with the roping. He performed the anthem again, as well as "[[O Canada]]", at the [[1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game]] in [[Anaheim, California]]. With the game being played in the Los Angeles television and radio market, he was accompanied by the ''Tonight Show'' band. As of 2020, Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra's performance remains the most recent non-vocal rendition of the national anthem at the Midsummer Classic.

Severinsen is credited for co-writing the hit song "[[Stop and Smell the Roses (Mac Davis song)|Stop and Smell the Roses]]" with [[Mac Davis]], although both parties agree that Severinsen only came up with the title.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hyatt, Wesley|year=1999|title=The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits|publisher=Billboard Publications|isbn=0823076938}}</ref>