Curiosity got me so I decided to look up whomever wrote the theme music for ‘The Mentalist’ which sounded (to me) like a portion of some music used in ‘Beverly Hills Cop’. Turns out it was a guy named Blake Neely. Here’s Mr. Neely’s bio from Wikipedia. Who knew!!!
Blake Neely (born April 28, 1969) is an American composer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, and author. His father was a rancher and his brother Tom Neely is an artist in Los Angeles.
Neely has contributed to and been credited on dozens of film and TV projects over the years such as: Everwood (which earned him a 2003 Emmy Award nomination for the theme), on the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, King Kong, The Last Samurai, The Great Buck Howard and many more. Other film projects in which he is the sole composer are Elvis and Anabelle, Starter for 10, and The Wedding Date.
In addition, Neely has composed the music for over twenty television series, including CBS’s The Mentalist. He has frequently collaborated with writer/director/producer Greg Berlanti, including Everwood, Jack & Bobby, Brothers & Sisters, Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, Political Animals and currently Arrow and its spin-off series, The Flash. He has also been credited alongside several well known composers such as Michael Kamen, James Newton Howard, Vangelis (worked on the Mythodea project as arranger and conductor), and Hans Zimmer.
As an author, he has written over 25 instrumental method books such as the best-selling piano method Piano For Dummies.
He recorded his score for a new HBO documentary on David McCullough at the Conway Studios in Hollywood on February 23, 2008.
Really interesting bio on Mr. Neely’s website. Take a look! Here’s a portion:
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I was born in Paris, Texas, in 1969 and began playing around on the family piano at the age of four. My parents quickly got me lessons, and I soon began making my own little songs. The first piece was a little ditty called “Ghost Dance.” It was awful, but it gave me an idea of what I wanted to do in life. At age eight, when I saw STAR WARS, I knew for sure.
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Attending the University of Texas in Austin, I failed to impress the music panel with my piano playing, so I received a nice letter informing me that I was not accepted into the School of Music and “should consider another career path.” In hindsight, probably the best letter I ever received.
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