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Glenn Miller - Harry James - Gal In Kalamazoo from Radio - 1943
Artist:Glenn Miller Orch.
Album:Grimriper2u@yahoo.com
Duration:5m 11s
Frequency:24000 KHz
Audio Bitrate56 kbps
Audio Layer3
Channel ModeSingle Channel
CommentGrimriper2u@yahoo.com Glenn Miller Orch...Theme Song: "Moonlight Serenade" ..During ASCAP Ban: "Slumber Song" ..born: Alton Glenn Miller ..b. March 1, 1904 in Clarinda, IA, USA. d. Dec. 15, 1944, on Flight over English Channel. ..Vocs: Ray Eberle; Tex Beneke; The Modernaires, and Marion Hutton (Betty's sister). .. ..Brief Chronology: ..Studied Music at U. Colo. and with Boyd Senter. ..His career started when he played with 1926/7 ..Ben Pollack 1928 ..Paul Ash 1929/30 ..Red Nichols 1930's ..Studio musician in New York City 1934 ..Dorsey Bros. Band, t'bone and arranging 1935 ..Assembled Ray Noble's 1st American Band (This is where Glenn discovered the reed voicing of clarinet over saxes, that became his trademark later on.) ..1937 Formed his first band. Unsuccessful, recorded for Brunswick Records 1938 Formed his next and very successful band. recorded for Bluebird. ..Sidemen: Tex Beneke (sax); Hal McIntyre (sax); Al Klink (sax); Chummy MacGregor (piano). Vocalist Marion Hutton and disbanded to enter U.S. Army 1944 ..Assembled a big band for the US AAF ..Died 12-16-1944. Took off in a small plane for a flight from UK to France and was never seen again. ..Glenn's very early childhood was spent in Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri, and in 1918, his family moved to Fort Morgan, Colorado. Where, in 1921, Glenn graduated from Fort Morgan High School, and began his professional career with the Boyd Senter band.. From 1923 to 1924, Miller attended the University of Colorado and played in a band known as Holly Moyer's Jazz Band made up of Colorado Univ. students. While attending CU he also played in the Tommy Watkins, and La Corona Club bands. After leaving the University of Colorado in 1924, Glenn continued his professional career playing and arranging in the bands of Ben Pollack, Benny Goodman, Red Nichols, Paul Ash, Smith Ballew, the Dorsey Brothers, and Ray Noble. ..In his early years, Glenn played a fair jazz trombone, but after he achieved fame, he rarely soloed. Along with a great many other big band leaders, Glenn was greatly influenced by Jimmy Lunceford's musicianship style. Glenn was a disciplinarian who drilled the orchestra to perfection. ..Early on, he had worked a variety of musical jobs. He was a sideman in traveling "road bands" as well as a member of New York theatrical "pit bands"; he played jazz and of course, he did author a significant quantity of arrangements and original tunes including his theme song "Moonlight Serenade". ..Miller always felt that he was not a very good trombonist, certainly not on par with the likes of Tommy Dorsey or Jack Teagarden. In reality, he played a reasonably "hot" slide trombone, and can be heard in the Pollack orchestra, and the original Dorsey Brothers band of the early 1930s. In the mid to late 1930s, Miller also was the backbone - and often, the behind the scenes leader and arranger - of bands that were fronted by John Scott Trotter and cowboy actor/singer Smith Ballew. ..Miller formed his own outfit in 1937. Although the orchestra had a few hotel bookings, radio dates and some recordings for Brunswick, their "sound" was like many other bands of the time. After an engagement at the Raymor Ballroom in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Miller returned to New York and disbanded the group in January, 1938. Various personnel in these bands included trumpeters Pee Wee Erwin and Charlie Spivak, saxophonists Hal MacIntyre and Jerry Jerome, clarinetist Irving Fazola, and of course, Glenn's close friend, pianist Chummy MacGregor. ..By March/April, 1938, Miller had formed a new orchestra, and this congregation became the nucleus of the Miller band and that we all remember. MacGregor was piano; Hal MacIntyre was back on alto; Tex Beneke arrived to fill a tenor sax chair; Ray Eberle was the male singer; and Willie Schwartz and clarinet arrived to provide the lead on the new Miller "sound". (The Miller "sound" was a clarinet lead, with a tenor sax - or saxes - playing the same melody one octave lower than the clarinet.) ..In June, 1938, Miller was performing at the Paradise Restaurant in New York City, and his music was piped to the nation via NBC radio broadcasts. ..After trying several female "songbirds", Miller hired Marion Hutton, the sister of Hollywood star Betty Hutton, around September, 1938. By early 1939, the band was under recording contract to Bluebird (RCA), and they also had inked a deal for a long stay at the Meadowbrook Ballroom in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. By mid-1939, they were performing at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York ... and their music continued to be broadcast over NBC, adding more to their popularity. ..On October 6, the Miller band, along with other orchestras, performed at Carnegie Hall. Their popularity growing, the band began their Chesterfield Show broadcasts in December, 1939, and began a long stay at the Cafe Rouge of the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City in January, 1940. ..The Modernaires vocal group came on board in early 1941. By March, 1941, the orchestra was in Hollywood doing the filming and soundtrack work for SUN VALLEY SERENADE, a film from 20th Century Fox starring Miller, the band, skater Sonja Henie and John Payne. A year later, they were back at 20th Century Fox for their second film, ORCHESTRA WIVES, which featured George Montgomery, Ann Rutherford and Carole Landis. Billy May and Ray Anthony, who would lead their own orchestras at a later time, were in the Miller trumpet section. During this period, May was doing a lot of arrangements for the band, and an example is his beautiful orchestration for the opening of "Serenade in Blue". ..One of the songs from the movies, "Chattanooga Choo Choo", became the first million seller in years, and RCA Victor presented Miller with a gold-plated version of the record to commemorate the event. The use of a "gold record" to recognize million sellers continued from then on. ..When World War II erupted, Miller decided to began a series of Saturday afternoon performances at various military camps across the country. These were broadcast as the SUNSET SERENADE show, and the program debuted on August 30, 1941. ..By 1942, the band was at the pinnacle of their success and popularity, and Miller was definitely making substantial profits from recordings, broadcasts, personal appearances, etc. But Miller felt a deep loyalty to the United States, and opted to assist in the war effort by joining the military. Glenn's work with his military orchestra is another story. ..The last engagement of Miller's civilian group was on September 26, 1942 at the Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey. They did some of their most popular songs, including "In the Mood", "Moonlight Cocktail", and "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo". And when they played their "Moonlight Serenade" theme for the last time, Glenn Miller's civilian orchestra disappeared into musical history. Miller had finally become a musical success, yet his orchestra had lasted a scant four and a half years. ..After Major Glenn Miller died in an airplane crash during WW2, Tex Benecke, his first chair sax-man and vocalist took over the band. The band toured widely and was active for many more years. (Tex is still with us in 1999.) ..
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