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A sampling of some of the top tunes in Swing music. Glenn Miller had a relatively short csareer, but his music is far reaching, zand among the most memorable in the 20th century. Keith shares these tidbits of trivia as he salutes Glenn Miller.
Playlist:
- Everybody Loves My Baby – 1944 Radio To Germany.
Glenn Miller was admired and respected by his musical peers, if not always by his military superiors. In a studio production in 1944 … he should not have approached BBC personnel directly but should have proceeded through the correct routine channels! In a post-war radio documentary, Sir Adrian Boult said, “I was conducting the BBC Symphony and our headquarters were in Bedford, so I saw quite a lot of the Miller band. I often dropped in on their rehearsals – they used the Corn Exchange as we did. I found it fascinating to watch Glenn Miller at work. He was a thorough craftsman – he knew just what he wanted from his band and how to get it, and he didn’t mind how hard he worked himself or them.
- Glenn Miller Interview with Ray Ebrley 06-24-42.mp3
- I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo
The song was a #1 popular song recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in 1942. It was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren and published in 1942. It was featured in the musical film Orchestra Wives and was recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, featuring Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton and The Modernaires, who released it as an A side 78 in 1942, 27934-A.
The B side was “At Last”.
- Back To Back – Maran Huttomn – 06-30-39.
A take off of the hit song, Cheek to Cheek.
Lyrics to Back To Back start with…
Dancing back to back
Takes you off the beaten track
You don’t look at your partner at all
When you dance back to back - Cinderella – Ray Eberly – 06-30-39.
- Tex Benneky Interview.
- Beer Barrel Polka 06-30-39.
Also known as Roll Out the Barrel, is a song which became popular worldwide during World War II.
The music was composed by the Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda in 1927. Its first lyrics were written later (in 1934). It can be heard on countless films TV shows and sporting events.
- Chatanooga Choo Choo.
The world’s first gold record was presented to Glenn Miller on 10 February 1942 at the CBS Playhouse in New York City
- In The Mood.
Single by Glenn Miller
B-side “I Want to Be Happy”
Released 1939
Label RCA BluebirdIn 1983, the Glenn Miller recording from 1939 was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1999, National Public Radio (NPR) included the 1939 Glenn Miller recording on RCA Bluebird on the N P R 100, the list of “The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century”.
In 2004, the 1939 Glenn Miller recording on RCA Victor was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry which consists of recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
- Tuxedo Junction.
The song was introduced by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, a college dance band formerly known as the Bama State Collegians.
“Tuxedo Junction” rose to number 7 on the national hit parade in 1939.
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra had the most successful recording of the song in a best-selling (Billboard Number 1) record, RCA Bluebird.
Miller’s arrangement slowed down the tempo and added trumpet fanfares. The infamous trumpet lick in the original recording was played by band member Johnny Best. The main soloists on that recording were Best and Bobby Hackett. The Glenn Miller recording sold 115,000 copies in the first week alone.
- String Of Pearls.
In 1942 Glenn Miller had 11 Top 10 hits and in his 3rd year as the top recording artist which included:
- ‘American Patrol’,
- ‘A String of Pearls’,
- ‘Moonlight Cocktail’,
- ‘Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else but Me)’ and
- (I’ve Got a Gal) In Kalamazoo’
which came from Miller’s second film, ‘Orchestra Wives.
- Pennsylvania6-5000.
The Hotel Pennsylvania
PEnnsylvania 6-5000 is a telephone number in New York City, written in the 2L+5N (two letters, five numbers) format that was common in the largest US cities from approximately 1930 into the 1960s. The named Pennsylvania exchange served the area around Penn Station in New York. The two letters, PE, stand for the numbers 7 and 3, making the phone number 736-5000, not including the +1-212 area code for Manhattan.
The number is best known from the 1940 hit song “PEnnsylvania 6-5000”, a swing jazz and pop standard recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Its owner, the Hotel Pennsylvania, claims it to be the oldest continuing telephone number in New York City.
- George Simon Interview.
- Pointsienna.
“Poinciana” is a song to music by Nat Simon and lyrics by Buddy Bernier written in 1936. The tune is based on a Cuban folk tune “La canción del árbol” (“The song of the tree”). The poinciana tree itself, delonix regia, is a tree introduced to Cuba from Madagascar.
Glenn Miller performed it in the late 1930s with his civilian band and then again in 1943 using lush strings with his Army Air Force Band. Benny Carter and Bing Crosby both issued versions in 1944.[2]
- Great Day.
- I’ve Got A Heart Filled With Love 1944 – Johnny Desmond And The Crew Chiefs – Radio To Germany.
The name of the group is an allusion to a crew chief in the U.S. Army Air Force. A Crew Chief is responsible for the day to day condition of the military aircraft assigned to them. The group appeared on the I Sustain the Wings radio broadcasts with Captain Glenn Miller and the Army Air Forces Training Command Orchestra. They also appeared on the V Discs released by the U.S. War Department. After the war, they were part of the Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction of Tex Beneke.
- Cow Cow Boogie 1944 – Ray Mckinley – Radio To Germany.
One of the Glenn Miller & The Army Air Force Band – Top Tunes Of 1944
- Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar 1944 – Ray Mckinley – Radio To Germany.
Ray McKinley (June 18, 1910–May 7, 1995) was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader.
Single by Will Bradley and His Orchestra featuring Ray McKinley
B-side “Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar Part. 2”
Released 1940
Recorded May 21, 1940“Leading Music Box Records of 1941” at number ten.
The title adopts 1940s hipster slang coined by Raye’s friend, Ray McKinley, a drummer and lead singer in the Jimmy Dorsey band in the 1930s. McKinley kicked off certain uptempo songs by asking pianist Freddie Slack – nicknamed “Daddy” – to give him a boogie beat, or “eight to the bar”. For that reason Raye gave partial songwriting credit to McKinley. (The song was formally published under McKinley’s wife’s name, Eleanore Sheehy, because McKinley was under a songwriting contract with another publisher.) The nickname “Daddy Slack” was also used in the 1941 recording by “Pig Foot Pete” with Don Raye singing in Slack’s band.
Recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in 1940 on RCA Victor Bluebird.
- All The Things You Are 1944 – Johnny Desmond – Radio To Germany.
- Get Happy 1944 – Radio To Germany.
- Caribbean Clipper 1944 – Radio To Germany.
- In The Mood – With Introduction by Ilsa Wienberger, and Glenn Miller.
A live version, done to a faster tempo.
