June 19, 2014 by djwein

My Glen Island Of Golden Dreams

RCA Victor Studios, New York – August 18, 1939, 1:30-4:00 PM

041586-1 Who’s Sorry Now? (RE vcl) Bluebird 10486

038143-1 My Isle of Golden Dreams (BF arr) Bluebird 10399

041587-1 My Prayer (RE vcl) Bluebird 10404

041588-1 Blue Moonlight (RE vcl) Bluebird 10404

041588-2 Blue Moonlight (RE vcl) first issued on LP

041589-1 Basket Weaver Man (RE vcl) Victor 20-1585

gm Who's-Sorry-Now-1923

This last Summer 1939 record session puts the spotlight firmly on Ray Eberle, who waxes three songs that became Miller favorites and one that was totally forgotten.

WHO’S SORRY NOW? was already an oldie, having been a hit back in 1923. Composer Ted Snyder (THE SHEIK OF ARABY) and lyricists Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (THREE LITTLE WORDS) would create many pop standards, but none as long-lasting as WHO’S SORRY NOW? In 1958, Connie Francis recorded it at the urging of her father and ibecame a smash Top Ten single. It’s still being recorded today by the likes of Harry Connick, Jr. and even Clay Aiken.

Miller takes it at a lively tempo, quite unlike the weepy Connie Francis 45. Eberle sounds quite cheerful, somewhat at odds with the downbeat lyrics. There are several felicitous touches in the arrangement’s intro, coda and transitions.

MY PRAYER underwent a strangely similar history, through a more circuitous route. Romanian café violinist Georges Boulanger wrote it as a salon piece in 1926 and Irish lyricist Jimmy Kennedy added lyrics in 1939. It became a big hit in England and was quickly imported to America, where Glenn and the Ink Spots each had chart-topping success.

Oops – Japanese title!

In 1958, the Platters revived it and scored a Number One record that is still heard today and triggered an enormous number of cover versions. Once again, Harry Connick, Jr. has waxed it.

Glenn plays the song in similar fashion to WHO’S SORRY NOW? Ray delivers a pleasant vocal, for once utilizing the lower end of his range. The saxes come to the fore in the last chorus.

BLUE MOONLIGHT gets a more carefully crafted treatment, with lovely solo touches by Beneke, clarinetist Willie Schwartz and even Al Klink on bass clarinet. Originally written as a concert piece for Paul Whiteman in 1934, composer Dana Suesse here adapted it into a popular song, as she had done earlier with her MY SILENT LOVE.

Continuing his foray into the oldies, Miller then went for the oldest – Gus Kahn’s moody 1919 waltz, MY ISLE OF GOLDEN DREAMS. This Bill Finegan instrumental arrangement had first been attempted on the July 26^th session, but a satisfactory take was not achieved. Finegan treats the song as a slow fox trot, moving the melody line from the sax section to Beneke, then the trumpets and muted trombones. There is a delightfully sudden doubling of tempo for a half-minute before MacGregor’s piano signals a return to the original dreamy beat.

Interestingly, the melody has been taken up in later years by country singers Marty Robbins and Hank Snow, country guitarists Chet Atkins and most successfully, Hawaiian singer Alfred Apaka.

For the last number of the day, Glenn picked a new song, though it sounds as vintage as the others. BASKET WEAVER MAN was the first waltz the band recorded and is a downright oddity. Veteran composer Walter Donaldson was better known for his snappy ditties like MAKIN’ WHOOPEE, YOU’RE DRIVING ME CRAZY and MY BLUE HEAVEN, though he also wrote such lovely ballads as MY BUDDY and LITTLE WHITE LIES.

Ray Eberle seems ill-at-ease with the convoluted lyrics and the original 78 sounds like it was recorded off-center. This is the likely reason why the tune was never released on a Bluebird 78. Later LP and CD issues have somewhat corrected the speed fluctuations, but the record still has a creepy, mildewed air about it.

Desperate for new material to issue during the 1942-44 recording ban, Victor finally pulled BASKET WEAVER MAN from the vaults in early 1944, backed by a reissue of ON A LITTLE STREET IN SINGAPORE. Several other Miller recordings first saw the light of day at this time, which we’ll get to down the road. Some copies of the disc were simply titled BASKET WEAVER, one of the few examples of Miller label variations for collectors.

Five days after this session, Glenn and the band completed their smashingly successful summer season at the Glen Island Casino and hit the road for the first time since popularity had smiled on them. It would be nearly a month before they returned to the Victor recording studios.

June 19, 2014 by djwein

In the Mood!

Same personnel, except Marion Hutton (vcl) returns, replacing Kay Starr.

RCA Victor Studios, New York – August 1, 1939, 1:30-4:30 PM

038170-1 In The Mood Bluebird 10416

038171-1 Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam) (MH & the Band vcl, ED arr) Bluebird 10399

038172-1 An Angel in a Furnished Room (RE vcl) Bluebird 10383

038173-1 Twilight Interlude (RE vcl) Bluebird 10388

038174-1 I Want To Be Happy (ED arr) Bluebird 10416

038175-1 Farewell Blues (likely GM arr) Bluebird 10495

What more can be said 75 years later about IN THE MOOD? It’s still amazing to contemplate that a rather tattered little riff that had been kicking around for a decade should become THE classic anthem of The Swing Era.

That riff passed from Wingy Manone (TAR PAPER STOMP) to Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman (both titled HOT AND ANXIOUS) to Mills Blue Rhythm Band (THERE’S RHYTHM IN HARLEM), Edgar Hayes, Artie Shaw (both now titled IN THE MOOD), back to Wingy Manone (JUMPY NERVES) and then finally to Glenn.

It’s still familiar today, having been repeatedly repackaged as a popular song (with a lamentable lyric by Andy Razaf), a rock-n-roll number, a disco disc, a movie soundtrack standard and a favorite of the Millennial Swing movement.

Arranger Joe Garland created the charts for the Mills band in 1935 and Edgar Hayes in 1938. The Hayes rendition is the first to offer the call-to-arms opening phrase that draws the listener’s attention. The first two choruses and backing band riffs of the familiar Miller 78 are nearly in place, but there are numerous extra themes and riffs cluttering up the second half. The famous 12-bar sax riff never reappears and the coda is unmemorable.

Garland sold the Hayes chart to Artie Shaw, who set the tempo so slowly that it took six minutes to perform. Artie played it this way on several location broadcasts in December 1938 and later claimed that the composition was too long to record. However, on his commercial radio show for Old Gold Cigarettes, he reverted to the original fast tempo, clocking in at two minutes and forty-five seconds, so his excuse sounds like latter-day sour grapes for having missed out on a big hit.

With Shaw uninterested in further exploitation, Garland then sold the chart again to Glenn. What did Miller bring to it? He solved the problem that had bedeviled every version since Manone’s 1930 TAR PAPER STOMP. With his arranger’s savvy, Miller chopped out all the additional themes, and then converted the first solo spot into a tenor sax chase between Tex Beneke and Al Klink, followed by a Clyde Hurley trumpet chorus.

Recognizing that the tune’s hook was that catchy sax riff, Glenn returned to it, repeated three times increasingly diminuendo and concluded with a lip-busting rising figure for the trumpet section, capped with a coda incorporating a final sax riff restatement. By making these alterations, Glenn struck pay dirt.

Interestingly, there is an aircheck from Glen Island of IN THE MOOD performed several days before the record session. With a running time of 4 minutes and forty seconds, Glenn still had some whittling to do to get it down to the familiar length of 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

For the flip side of the original 78, Eddie Durham was tapped again for a jivey chart of I WANT TO BE HAPPY, the 1924 Vincent Youmans-Irving Caesar standard from the hit musical, No, No, Nanette. Glenn had written a martial-tempo jazz arrangement of the tune for Red Nichols back in 1930 and Benny Goodman and Chick Webb had done it more recently. It now became one of the best killer-dillers in the Miller discography. Hurley and Beneke solo in fine form followed by two choruses of increasingly agitated band riffs and a final shout out from Glenn and Moe Purtill before a neatly tied-up ending.

The hot stuff continues on WHAM (RE-BOP-BOOM-BAM), with Marion happily back in the songbird chair. It’s another Eddie Durham original, both composition and arrangement. Taken at a slower, groovier tempo, the vocal is followed by a chorus of pleasant riffing, then Tex, Glenn and Clyde solo. Hurley is especially inspired here.

Glenn & Marion rehearse

Since Eddie Durham’s regular gig was with the great Jimmie Lunceford band, it’s not surprising that some of the Lunceford bounce seeps into the Miller rendition. Lunceford himself did not get around to recording WHAM until December and as one would expect, his version is looser and swingier than Glenn’s. It would take awhile longer for the Miller band to relax sufficiently to capture a taste of that uptown feel.

Ray Eberle comes up to bat twice, with one good tune and one that’s so-so. Bandleader Ted Fio Rito wrote the awkwardly titled AN ANGEL IN A FURNISHED ROOM, with lyrics by Al Dubin. Fio Rito had composed quality songs like I NEVER KNEW (I COULD LOVE ANYBODY) and THEN YOU’VE NEVER BEEN BLUE, but ANGEL is pretty uninspired, with a clichéd lyric.

Ray and Glenn do what they can with it, but make a better case for TWILIGHT INTERLUDE. Peter Tinturin was a fine, second-tier songwriter whose name never became well known, but he was the creator of FOOLIN’ MYSELF, BIG BOY BLUE and other songs recorded by Billie Holiday. Ella Fitzgerald and Mildred Bailey. Later, he crafted a batch of Western numbers for the post-war Tex Beneke band. Co-writer Al Jacobs would contribute I’VE GOT A HEARTFUL OF LOVE to the repertoire of Glenn’s AAF Band and Doris Day’s big hit, IF I GIVE MY HEART TO YOU.

Miller starts TWILIGHT INTERLUDE with some smooth muted trombone and Ray plaintively delivers the vocal. The whole performance clicks nicely; for comparison, there is a Glen Island aircheck from the same evening, where Ray sounds quite strained and the band hits some clams.

Glenn managed to squeeze in six completed masters on this three-hour session, concluding with another flagwaver, FAREWELL BLUES. Though no arranger is credited on this ancient 1922 jazz standard, written by the members of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, it sounds like Glenn’s work, with his distinctive boo-wah brass figures. He also takes a rangy solo, along with usual suspects Beneke and Hurley. The last chorus has some wonderful arranged riffing, which likely sent the dancers into paroxysms of joy!

It was not quite farewell yet to Westchester – there was one more record session to come while the band was comfortably situated at the Glen Island Casino and it would be a good one.

June 8, 2014 by djwein

Glen Island Special

Kay Starr (vcl) replaces Marion Hutton

RCA Victor Studios, New York – July 26, 1939, 12:00-4:00 PM

038138-1 Starlit Hour (RE vcl, GM arr) Bluebird 10553

038139-1 Blue Orchids (RE vcl) Bluebird 10372

038140-1 Glen Island Special (ED arr) Bluebird 10388

038141-1 Love With a Capital “You” (KS vcl) Bluebird 10383

038142-1 Baby Me (KS vcl, ED arr) Bluebird 10372

038143-? My Isle of Golden Dreams (BF arr) first issued on LP

By this time, the Glenn Miller band was operating like a glistening, well-oiled machine, so when it slipped a cog it was a big deal. On July 22nd, Marion Hutton collapsed in mid-performance on the bandstand of Glen Island Casino. Hospitalized and diagnosed with exhaustion, she spent a week recovering. With a record date coming up, Glenn raced to find a substitute. He found her in tiny, 16-year-old Kay Starr, who had recently arrived in NY from Memphis and was already singing with Joe Venuti’s big band and guesting on the Bob Crosby Camel Caravan radio show. Young Kay brought her own form of ebullience to the Miller band and was lucky enough to get two good songs to sing on her one record date.

Eddie Durham contributed the hot chart of BABY ME, slotting Kay in for a self-assured vocal on her first appearance before a recording mike. Clyde Hurley delivers one of his by now-patented fiery trumpet solos and the band swings to a neat coda. Kay was already familiar with the song, having sung it on a July 24th Glen Island broadcast. LOVE WITH A CAPITAL “YOU” is taken at a less hectic tempo, affording Kay a chance to emote a bit. This catchy Leo Robin-Ralph Rainger song was introduced by a blonde Martha Raye in the Paramount Joe E. Brown star vehicle, $1,000 a Touchdown.

On the ballad side, Ray Eberle also gets two fine songs – STARLIT HOUR, written by our old friend Mitchell Parish with Peter DeRose, comes encased in a simple, uncluttered Glenn Miller arrangement. Earlier in the year, Ray had sung the team’s DEEP PURPLE on the air from the Meadowbrook. This is one of the first Miller ballad discs that really takes its time and gives Ray breathing space to deliver the lyric in a relaxed manner.

Hoagy Carmichael’s BLUE ORCHIDS is performed slightly slower than the previous number. The lyric, apparently also by Hoagy, sits rather awkwardly on the rangy melody and though Eberle sounds OK, this attempt to create another STAR DUST comes off slightly wanting.

Eddie Durham scores with the swing original, GLEN ISLAND SPECIAL, a minor-key riff romp in his best Basie style. There was a long history of swing instrumentals paying tribute to famous band venues, from Duke Ellington’s COTTON CLUB STOMP, to Count Basie’s ROSELAND SHUFFLE, Fats Waller’s PANTIN’ AT THE PANTHER ROOM and Glenn’s own PENNSYLVANIA 6-5000. As usual, Hurley and Beneke get the main solos, with Al Klink confined to an eight-bar release. The topical title may have limited the SPECIAL’s life in the band’s book, as it was not played after January 1940, when Glenn had gone on to new places.

The final number on the session, MY ISLE OF GOLDEN DREAMS, was abandoned after an unsuccessful take, likely because the session had already run four hours. It was re-recorded successfully on August 18th. The rejected version surfaced decades later on LP and is similar to the issued 78, but the band hits a few clinkers and has trouble negotiating the tricky chart’s tempo changes.

No matter – the band and Marion Hutton would return to Victor in six days with a new instrumental that Glenn had high hopes for.

June 8, 2014 by djwein

Over the Rainbow

RCA Victor Studios, New York – July 12, 1939, 1:30-4:30 PM

038261-1 Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (MH vcl) Bluebird 10366

038262-1 Over The Rainbow (RE vcl) Bluebird 10366

038263-1 The Little Man Who Wasn’t There (GM & TB vcl) Bluebird 10358

038264-1 The Man With The Mandolin (MH vcl) Bluebird 10358

New pop songs continued to appear on the band’s recording schedule. The first two on this date would eventually become among the most familiar melodies of the century, but on July 12th, they didn’t stand out as being anything special. The film they were written for, THE WIZARD OF OZ, would not be released for another month and no one could have predicted that one of these songs would win an Academy Award.

That song was, of course, OVER THE RAINBOW, immortalized by young Judy Garland. In this case, Glenn was not infallible in smelling hits. Sometimes a great song would get a mediocre treatment, and that was, unfortunately, the case here. The arrangement is routine and played too fast in a slapdash manner. Also, the key is too high for Ray’s comfort, as he struggles to get through the wordy bridge without mishap. He’s not out of the Haunted Forest of Oz yet! Eberle mixes up the closing lyrics, singing, “Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, birds fly over the rainbow, why then oh why can’t I.” It’s hard to listen to this non-rhyme without wincing, but obviously nobody in the studio caught the error.

Lose one, win one – DING-DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD sparkles from beginning to end. The witty, low-key (and uncredited) arrangement is likely by Miller, as it has a similar sound and flavor to Glenn’s Ray Noble chart of BUGLE CALL RAG. Marion Hutton effervesces, Tex gets a nice little solo and the band winds down to an unusual diminuendo ending. The record’s only drawback is its brevity – an additional chorus could easily have been accommodated.

The next disc has a similar quiet ending and an odd genesis. THE LITTLE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE began life in 1899 as Antigonish, a poem by college professor Hughes Mearns, based on a ghostly legend from Nova Scotia. Songwriters Harold Adamson and Bernie Hanighan lifted the poem’s text nearly verbatim and got themselves a big hit and a title phrase that became a part of the American vernacular (see below).

Moe Purtill makes with the tom-toms, Glenn & Tex deliver some cross-talk patter and Tex then launches into the strange story of the Little Man.

Marion returns with another swinging “Man” – THE MAN WITH THE MANDOLIN. It was written by Frank Weldon, James Cavanaugh and John Redmond, journeyman songwriters who had created I LIKE MOUNTAIN MUSIC, THE UMBRELLA MAN and other hits. The band hits the perfect tempo for this jivey arrangement, which holds the distinction of offering the only solo appearance by guitarist Richard Fisher.

Coming up on the next record date – a surprising and short-lived major personnel change!

June 1, 2014 by djwein

“Ain’t Cha Comin’ Out?”

Legh Knowles, Clyde Hurley, Mickey McMickle (tp); Glenn Miller, Paul Tanner, Al Mastren (tb); Hal McIntyre, Wilbur Schwartz (cl,as); Hal Tennyson (as,bar); Tex Beneke, Al Klink (ts); Chummy MacGregor (p); Dick Fisher (g); Rollie Bundock (b); Maurice Purtill (d); Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton (vcl).

RCA Victor Studios, New York – June 22, 1939, 12:15-2:15 PM

037675-1 Oh! You Crazy Moon (RE vcl) Bluebird 10329

037676-1 Ain’t Cha Comin’ Out? (MH, TB vcl) Bluebird 10329

RCA Victor Studios, New York – June 27, 1939, 1:30-4:00 PM

037699-1 The Day We Meet Again (RE vcl) Bluebird 10344

038200-1 Wanna Hat with Cherries (MH vcl) Bluebird 10344

038200-3 Wanna Hat with Cherries (MH vcl) first issued on LP

038201-1 Sold American (GM arr) Bluebird 10352

038202-1 Pagan Love Song (GM arr) Bluebird 10352

038202-2 Pagan Love Song first issued on LP

038202-3 Pagan Love Song first issued on CD

Six more Miller tunes to gladden the fans and jukeboxes! Eberle ballads, Hutton rhythm tunes, hot instrumentals – all bases covered on these two sessions. Ray leads off with a big Miller favorite, OH, YOU CRAZY MOON, by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen. The team wrote many hit songs for Bing Crosby films, but this was a stand-alone effort which Bing did not record at the time. Taken at a brisk “businessmen’s bounce” tempo, the band and Ray sound relaxed, with some nice Miller trombone in the last chorus.

AIN’T CHA COMIN’ OUT? is an odd swing ditty, by Marx Brothers’ composers Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. The tempo takes two dramatic pauses during the vocals, which likely threw dancers off. As Marion and Tex do their thing, the rhythm section percolates nicely, with Purtill flashing front and center.

June 27th leads off with a stinker – THE DAY WE MEET AGAIN is a lesser effort from Will Grosz, a Viennese avant-garde classical composer, who settled in Britain after the Nazi takeover. He turned to pop songwriting and produced hits like HARBOR LIGHTS, RED SAILS IN THE SUNSET and ISLE OF CAPRI. Grosz died at the end of 1939, so this must have been one of his last compositions. Too bad it wasn’t a better song . Ray sounds rather leaden and the performance is pretty listless.

As a song, WANNA HAT WITH CHERRIES is no better, but the whole performance sparkles and swings. Marion Hutton is saddled with the dopey lyrics, but tosses them off in her usual effervescent manner. Written by bandleader Larry Clinton, who recorded the song four days before Glenn, it was enough of a hit for Mr. Miller that he was still playing it on broadcasts more than a year later.

One of the very few tunes Glenn remade on record, SOLD AMERICAN comes off much better than the Brunswick version from 1938. The improvement in the rhythm section is immediately noticeable. Tex’s solo is markedly less corny than the first time around, Glenn sounds nearly the same and Clyde Hurley on hot trumpet is pretty much an equal swap for Johnny “Zulu” Austin on the first version.

We wind up with PAGAN LOVE SONG, a huge hit back in 1929 from composers Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown, the SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN guys. Originally a dramatic waltz song performed by MGM hunk Ramon Novarro in the part-talkie, THE PAGAN, it had been swung in more recent years by Bob Crosby and Glen Gray. Glenn had been playing his hot version since 1937 and finally waxed it here. It’s one of his best swing arrangements, full of good solos.

Glenn leads off in a brash manner and Al Klink makes his first solo appearance with a typically fleet-fingered effort. An excellent tightly-muted Hurley chorus follows, then Tex who is somewhat less effective than usual at this killer tempo. Purtill winds it up with blaring brass in the foreground. In a rare occurrence, all three preserved takes of the PAGAN LOVE SONG have been issued, with different solo improvisations between them and a clinker here and there on the later takes.

Songs from a more recent MGM musical film would figure in Glenn’s next session, two weeks later!

May 27, 2014 by djwein

Slip Horn Jive

Dick Fisher (g) replaces Arthur Ens. Bill Challis, E.G. Eberhard & Eddie Durham (arrangers) added.

RCA Victor Studios, New York – June 2, 1939, 1:30-4:30 PM

037179-1 Guess I’ll Go Back Home (TB vcl, BCh arr) Bluebird 10317

037180-1 I’m Sorry for Myself (MH, TB & GM vcl, CD arr) Bluebird 10299

037181-1 Back to Back (MH vcl, EE arr) Bluebird 10299

037182-1 Slip Horn Jive (ED arr) Bluebird 10317

This next session packs a bit more heat – three out of the four selections are swingers and no Ray Eberle vocals. While at Glen Island, Glenn continued adding new arrangers to his staff. Here we have the first contributions of three scribes. E.G. Eberhard I know nothing about, but the other guys were quite celebrated in their musical spheres. Bill Challis was already a veteran by 1939, having spent the late 1920s writing some of the most innovative, forward-looking jazz-tinged arrangements for Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman. Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang and Bing Crosby were all featured on recordings of Challis’s charts. He later freelanced with Fletcher Henderson, Casa Loma and others through the 1930s, also leading his own big radio orchestra.

GUESS I’LL GO BACK HOME THIS SUMMER was Challis’ contribution here. A lovely, elegiac composition by Willard Robison, who specialized in lovely, elegiac songs with a Midwestern feel, like OLD FOLKS, A COTTAGE FOR SALE and ‘ROUND MY OLD DESERTED FARM. Mildred Bailey was the definitive interpreter of Robison’s oeuvre, but this Miller record ain’t bad. A sweet opening chorus by Tex and the singing reeds modulates to the first Beneke solo vocal on disc and his Texas-style delivery suits the wistful lyrics.

Eddie Durham had shown his chops as trombonist, guitarist and arranger with Bennie Moten, Willie Bryant, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie. Glenn revered the Basie band and so went to the source to try to capture some of the Basie brand of swing for his own organization. SLIP HORN JIVE was the first original Durham chart to be recorded by Glenn, but it wasn’t exactly as original as it seemed.

In August 1938, the Count performed Durham’s arrangement of the old jazz standard, NAGASAKI on a broadcast from the Famous Door nightclub on 52nd Street. An aircheck reveals all of SLIP HORN JIVE nestled within NAGASAKI, once the melody chorus is completed. Trombonist Benny Morton played the swinging riff figures that are transferred to the whole Miller trombone section, thus suggesting the tune’s title. Beneke, Hurley and Glenn contribute fine solos and the trombones get a workout, which was likely choreographed to a “T” in live performance. I wonder if Glenn was aware that Durham was recycling himself when he bought this flagwaver?

Nagasaki (Slip Horn Jive) – Count Basie

The other two songs came from a new Fox B-musical, starring Tyrone Power and ice-skating darling Sonja Henie. Since neither of the stars could sing, Rudy Vallee and Mary Healy were trucked in to handle the vocal chores. Stellar composer Irving Berlin, who had had a mega-hit the previous year with Fox’s ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND, contributed a full song score. Though none of them became hits, they were all pleasantly tuneful. Artie Shaw recorded I POURED MY HEART INTO A SONG and WHEN WINTER COMES for Bluebird and Glenn got two others. I’M SORRY FOR MYSELF captures the first cross-talk-whistle vocal by Marion Hutton and Tex Beneke (plus Glenn), which would soon become a delightful regular feature. It’s also a wild swinger from the first note, with a great Charlie Dixon arrangement.

For years, I only knew BACK TO BACK from a sensational aircheck version issued on the Miller ON THE AIR 3-LP set. When I finally heard the studio recording, I found it to be slightly less exciting, but quite a winner on it’s own terms. Marion Hutton takes a swell vocal and there are groovy solos by Hurley and Beneke. Whoever the unknown E.G. Eberhard was, he certainly could pen a swinging chart.

With audiences dancing BACK TO BACK at Glen Island Casino, Glenn and the band remained on location for the next three weeks, returning to RCA for two sessions in quick succession toward the end of the month.

May 12, 2014 by djwein

A Hard Day’s Afternoon at RCA

Legh Knowles, Clyde Hurley, Mickey McMickle (tp); Glenn Miller (tb,arr); Paul Tanner, Al Mastren (tb); Hal McIntyre, Wilbur Schwartz (cl,as); Gabe Galinas (as,bar); Tex Beneke, Al Klink (ts); Chummy MacGregor (p); Arthur Ens (g); Rollie Bundock (b); Maurice Purtill (d). Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton (vcl); Joe Lippman, Charlie Dixon (arr).

RCA Victor Studios, New York – May 25, 1939, 12:30-4:30 PM

037152-1 Blue Evening (RE vcl, JL arr) Bluebird 10290

037153-1 The Lamp Is Low (RE vcl) Bluebird 10290

037154-1 Rendezvous Time in Paree (RE vcl) Bluebird 10309

037155-1 We Can Live on Love (MH vcl, CD arr) Bluebird 10309

037156-1 Cinderella [Stay in My Arms] (RE vcl) Bluebird 10303

037157-1 Moon Love (RE vcl) Bluebird 10303

On May 17, Glenn and the band opened at the prestigious Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, NY for the summer season. Miller friend and chronicler George T. Simon had this to say about the booking: ””The personnel of the band became set just before it went into Glen Island, (which) was the prestige place for people who listened to bands on radio. The band’s first semi-hit, ‘Little Brown Jug,’ came out just when it opened at Glen Island. That helped. And the clarinet lead in Glenn’s arrangements was such a romantic sound! It caught the public fancy during this exposure.”

With the increased radio time and more frequent record sessions, Glenn needed more arrangers on the payroll than just himself and Bill Finegan. On the May 25^th date, Joe Lippman and Charlie Dixon contributed their first charts and more writing help was on the way.

Lippman had arranged for Benny Goodman since the first Let’s Dance broadcast in 1934, and he went on to play piano and arrange for Artie Shaw, Bunny Berigan and Jimmy Dorsey. Charlie Dixon was Glenn’s first black arranger, having worked for Fletcher Henderson and Chick Webb.

Also new to the band was trumpeter Clyde Hurley, who moved into the hot solo chair, replacing Bob Price. Hurley had been featured in Ben Pollack’s band, where he was spotted by George Simon, who recommended him to Glenn. Glenn and Hurley never got on especially well, but Hurley stayed for a year, contributing some fine jazz to the ensemble.

This marathon six-song session focused heavily on Ray Eberle ballads, with one swing number for Marion Hutton. First up was BLUE EVENING by Isham Jones’ alumni Gordon Jenkins and Joe Bishop, who had earlier collaborated on the popular BLUE PRELUDE. It’s a sad little song, effectively introduced by Mickey McMickle’s mournfully muted trumpet. Joe Lippman’s arrangement effectively frames the song and Ray’s vocal.

Next up is another winner, THE LAMP IS LOW, the first of two classical adaptations recorded at this session. This one is a Peter DeRose setting of a lush melody from Ravel’s PAVANE FOR A DEAD PRINCESS. Old friend Mitchell Parish crafted the lyrics. Sweetly singing reed passages cushion Ray Eberle in a more upbeat mode and more reed sounds take it out at a brisk dance tempo.

Two songs follow from the soon-to-open (on June 19) Broadway revue, Streets of Paris. With a score by Al Dubin and Jimmy McHugh, the show starred veteran comedian Bobby Clark and newcomers Bud Abbott & Lou Costello, who had begun their climb to fame through a series of guest spots on the popular Kate Smith radio show. Future Broadway and film choreographer Gower Champion was also featured, but the rest of the cast was overshadowed by the sensational debut of Brazilian import Carmen Miranda.

The big song hit of the show was Carmen’s SOUTH AMERICAN WAY; Glenn got two of the non-Carmen songs. RENDEZVOUS TIME IN PAREE is a rather awkwardly-constructed melody and lyric, at one point painfully rhyming the River “Seine” with “rain.” Much better is WE CAN LIVE ON LOVE, Marion Hutton’s sole contribution to the date. Clyde Hurley takes his first recorded solo, Glenn and Tex are heard briefly and Moe Purtill keeps the rhythm moving with his ride cymbals, nicely recorded here.

CINDERELLA (STAY IN MY ARMS) is a rare dud of a song from top British composers Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr, who penned such hits as ISLE OF CAPRI, RED SAILS IN THE SUNSET and MY PRAYER, which Glenn would soon wax. The lovely arrangement with Glenn featured on muted trombone gives the song more class than it deserves!

The date concludes with another hit, MOON LOVE, Andre Kostelanetz’s reworking of a memorable theme from the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, with lyrics by Mack David. Glenn’s reed section was made for such melodies and they really deliver. Ray is at his most relaxed, contributing his best recorded vocal so far.

Having completed this four-hour session at 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon, Glenn and the band would head back to Glen Island for an evening of music. They would be back at RCA in a week.

May 1, 2014 by djwein

A Stairway to Stardom

Legh Knowles, Bob Price, Mickey McMickle (tp); Glenn Miller (tb,arr), Paul Tanner, Al Mastren (tb)’ Hal McIntyre, Wilbur Schwartz (cl,as), Gabe Galinas (as,bar), Tex Beneke, Al Klink (ts); Chummy MacGregor (p); Arthur Ens (g); Rollie Bundock (b); Maurice Purtill (d). Ray Eberle (vcl).

RCA Victor Studios, New York – May 9, 1939, 9:15 PM-12:15 AM

036877-1 To You (RE vcl, GM arr) Bluebird 10276

036878-1 Stairway to the Stars (RE vcl) Bluebird 10276

After closing at the Meadowbrook on April 20, the band went on the road for the next month, attracting new audiences who had caught them on the air. During this period, Glenn swung by the Victor Studios in Manhattan for one quick session to cut two promising ballads, both of which became hits.

TO YOU was written by old-timers Benny Davis (author of BABY FACE and MARGIE) and Ted Shapiro (writer of IF I HAD YOU, and long-time accompanist to Sophie Tucker). Tommy Dorsey’s name is on the song too, likely because he was the first to promote it. TD waxed it for Victor on April 17 and then the Miller band cut it for the Bluebird budget label three weeks later.

Glenn’s arrangement is another first-chorus showcase for the Miller Sound, then a simple modulation to a smooth Ray Eberle vocal and a bit of back-and-forth between the reeds and brass for the final chorus. That’s all that was needed for another Miller winner.

After Glenn made it a hit, Harry James (with Frank Sinatra), Bob Crosby, Jan Savitt, Ella Fitzgerald and Teddy Powell all programmed the song on broadcasts through the summer of 1939.

STAIRWAY TO THE STARS began life as PARK AVENUE FANTASY, a multi-themed instrumental piece by Matty Malneck and Frank Signorelli, which they wrote for the Paul Whiteman band in 1934.

Whiteman recorded it as a 12-inch Victor record; eventually the main theme was extracted and had lyrics added by Mitchell Parish (again!). It’s a lovely, meandering melody and kudos to Parish for fitting an attractive set of words to it.

Though not credited, it’s likely a Miller arrangement, with brief solos by Tex and Glenn and an eager-sounding Eberle vocal. Brother Bob Eberly also recorded STAIRWAY with Jimmy Dorsey, as did Ella Fitzgerald with her band. Glenn’s photo was featured on the sheet music, another sign that the band was becoming popular.

The song had a later popularity as the love theme for Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy classic, SOME LIKE IT HOT. Matty Malneck was involved with the film’s scoring, and cannily chose one of his own compositions to feature throughout the movie. Every time Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe get passionate, STAIRWAY TO THE STARS is heard in a lush arrangement.

The session out of the way, Glenn and the guys hit the road again for more one-nighters and Spring proms, leading to the Glen Island Casino opening on May 17.

April 18, 2014 by djwein

“Runnin’ Wild” at the Meadowbrook

Same personnel, except Arthur Ens (g) replaces Allen Reuss.

RCA Victor Studios, New York – April 18, 1939, 1:30-4:30 PM

035764-1 My Last Goodbye (RE vcl) Bluebird 10229

035765-1 But it Didn’t Mean a Thing (MH vcl) Bluebird 10269

035766-1 Pavanne (BF arr) Bluebird 10286

035767-1 Runnin’ Wild (BF arr) Bluebird 10269

035767-2 Runnin’ Wild (BF arr) first issued on CD

Three recording sessions in two weeks, cutting a dozen discs. That was more than Glenn Miller had recorded in the entire year of 1938! Crowds continued to build at the Meadowbrook Ballroom and the band’s engagement was extended to seven weeks.Constant live broadcasts also did their share to spread Glenn’s music to a newly rapt audience. Things were improving to the point that Glenn added a permanent guitarist to the band, Arthur Ens, who debuts here. Though Glenn never featured him, he does help to stitch the rhythm section together.

The record date was routined in a similar fashion to the last one. Two popular songs were followed by two instrumentals. MY LAST GOODBYE was written and recorded by singer Eddy Howard of Dick Jurgens’ orchestra, the first of numerous hits for Eddy that stretched into the 1950s. Glenn’s disc actually predated Howard’s by a month, but the composer’s emotional ballad version was the top seller. The Miller recording is less effective, chugging along at a “businessman’s bounce” tempo and with Ray Eberle delivering the lyrics in a rather blasé manner.

BUT IT DIDN’T MEAN A THING was an early effort by songwriter Mack David, who would eventually chalk up eight Academy Award Best Song nominations, including melodies from Walt Disney’s CINDERELLA and ALICE IN WONDERLAND. This youthful composition was nothing special and is given a rather colorless treatment by Glenn and by Marion, who sounds very tentative.

Much more memorable are the two instrumentals. PAVANNE was a light-classical piece by popular composer-conductor Morton Gould, who wrote many similar dainty Andre Kostelanetz-type trifles and later, heavier works like FALL RIVER LEGEND (based on the Lizzie Borden case) and Broadway musicals, including ARMS AND THE GIRL and BILLION DOLLAR BABY.

Gould’s recording of PAVANNE is full of strings and woodwinds, featuring a prominent oboe solo. Bill Finegan’s arrangement maintains its flavor, adding a light swing to the catchy melody. Glenn solos briefly, as does Tex. Moe Purtill dances lightly on the percussion, nice and loose.

RUNNIN’ WILD is a real killer-diller and was often used by Glenn as the wind-up tune to broadcasts and also the opening number at the band’s Carnegie Hall Concert later in the year. Finegan’s chart pulls out all the stops, with great interplay between the saxes and brass. There are brash solos by Tex, Mickey McMickle and Moe, plus a succession of catchy riffs toward the finish. It’s likely that Glenn also worked on the chart, as the riffs bear his trademark style.

Two days after completing this session, Glenn and the band closed at the Meadowbrook and went on the road – but this time they had a big, big date awaiting them – a May 17th opening at the Glen Island Casino!

April 9, 2014 by djwein

“And we’re off with the LITTLE BROWN JUG!”

RCA Victor Studios, New York – April 10, 1939, 1:30-5:00 PM

Bob Price, Legh Knowles, Mickey McMickle (tp); Glenn Miller, Paul Tanner, Al Mastren (tb); Hal McIntyre, Wilbur Schwartz (cl,as); Stan Aronson (ts,cl); Tex Beneke, Al Klink (ts); Chummy MacGregor (p); Allen Reuss (g); Rollie Bundock (b); Moe Purtill (d). Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton (vcl); Bill Finegan (arr).

035729-1 Wishing (Will Make It So) (RE vcl) Bluebird 10219-B

035730-1 Three Little Fishes (Itty Bitty Poo) (MH, TB & Band vcl) Bluebird 10219-A

035731-1 Sunrise Serenade Bluebird 10214-A

035732-1 Little Brown Jug (BF arr) Bluebird 10286-A

Two of Glenn’s greatest hits would emerge from this next recording date, which also marked the debut of another Miller stalwart, drummer Maurice “Moe” Purtill. Purtill was known as a fine, subtly swinging musician from his two-year stay with Red Norvo’s innovative band and a year with Tommy Dorsey, replacing the brilliant, though unreliable, Davey Tough. During the year with Tommy, Moe drummed on several of his most popular records, including BOOGIE-WOOGIE and HAWAIIAN WAR CHANT. He also shone on some small group sides by Dorsey’s Clambake Seven.

Glenn had wanted to hire Moe since 1937, but Dorsey held onto him until Tough returned from a stint with Benny Goodman at the very end of 1938. Purtill excelled at delivering a relaxed beat and was not the kind of flashy, driving drummer that Glenn seemed to want. Glenn pushed Moe to be more extroverted and that approach kept the band from becoming as loosely swinging as it might have been. Still, Purtill was a revelation and brought a buoyant feel to the band’s output, especially on live broadcasts.

This session came less that a week after the MOONLIGHT SERENADE date, and, as mentioned before, SUNRISE SERENADE provided the theme song’s flip side. Written by pianist Frankie Carle, the melody became one of the big hits of the year, recorded by Casa Loma, Hal Kemp and Bobby Hackett and featured by nearly every other band. At the ASCAP 25^th Anniversary big band concert in October, three of the four orchestras featured that evening – Miller, Benny Goodman and Paul Whiteman – included it in their program!

It’s a simple, hummable theme and was likely arranged here by Glenn, showcasing the reeds, trombone “boo-wahs” and a mellow Beneke solo. It remained in the band’s book until the end, as did the next tune waxed, LITTLE BROWN JUG, one of Miller’s biggest hits. This happy ode to drinking dated way back to 1869. Bill Finegan’s swinging 1939 arrangement and catchy coda proved to be irresistible to dancers and record buyers alike.. Beneke, McMickle and Miller get solo spots, with Glenn playing an especially imaginative chorus, which he repeated on all subsequent versions! Newcomer Purtill gets his first workout on record, finally kicking the rhythm section to life.

LITTLE BROWN JUG featured heavily in the plot of THE GLENN MILLER STORY, framed as the last arrangement Glenn wrote as a surprise Christmas gift for wife Helen before he embarked on his fatal flight in 1944. In the film, Helen hated the song since college days and always pooh-poohed Glenn’s threat to swing it with his band. Since the movie was riddled with inaccuracies, this was just one more sappy plot contrivance which likely displeased Bill Finegan, who also lost the arranger credit to Glenn on the original 78!

These two hits were preceded by two current pop tunes. WISHING (WILL MAKE IT SO) is a standard Miller ballad performance, with Ray Eberle working hard to sound relaxed at the fast tempo. The song was featured in the extremely popular film LOVE AFFAIR, which starred Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. It was successfully remade 20 years later as AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, which itself was then referenced in the 1993 blockbuster, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE.

The song was written by veteran songwriter Buddy DeSylva, who had been one-third of the legendary composing team of DeSylva, (Lew) Brown and (Ray) Henderson earlier in the decade. By 1939, DeSylva had become a film producer and would soon be one of the founders of Capitol Records. WISHING was one of his few solo efforts and would be nominated for an Academy Best Song Award. It lost to OVER THE RAINBOW.

Marion and Tex work even harder than Ray to deliver the wordy lyrics to THREE LITTLE FISHES, the inexplicably huge hit for the Hal Kemp and Kay Kyser bands. Another in the seemingly endless parade of nursery rhyme pop tune adaptations, this one was likely the biggest. Written by Kemp’s saxophonist/vocalist Saxie Dowell, the song was a Number #1 hit for weeks. Glenn’s record did little to add to its popularity, as it minimized the corny aspects by dispensing with the dopey lyrics as fast as possible and throwing the melody to the wind for the final nicely swinging choruses.

The next record date would follow in only eight days. Events were moving for Glenn and the band, but no one had any inkling how far and how fast they would be going.

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