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The Glenn Miller Big Band
Alton Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa on March 1, 1904. But it was in North Platte, Nebraska, several years later that Glenn actually got his musical start when, one day, his father brought home a mandolin.
Glenn promptly traded it for an old battered horn, which he practiced every chance he got. In fact his mother worried, "It got to where Pop and I used to wonder if he'd ever amount to anything."
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In 1923, Miller entered the University of Colorado, although he spent more time traveling to auditions and playing where and whenever he could. After flunking three of his five courses one semester, Glenn dropped out to concentrate on his career as a professional musician.
He toured with several orchestras and ended up in Los Angeles where he landed a spot in Ben Pollack's group, a band that included a guy named Benny Goodman. Here, Miller also got the chance to write some arrangements.
Arriving in New York City, he soon sent for, and married his college sweetheart,
Helen Burger in 1928, and for the next three years, earned his living as a free-
Miller played and recorded with the likes of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey (who on several
of their records, featured an up-
In 1934, Miller became the musical director of the Dorsey Band, and later went on to organize The Ray Noble Orchestra, which included such players as Charlie Spivak, Peewee Erwin, Bud Freeman, Johnny Mince, George Van Eps and Delmar Kaplan, among others.
In April 1935, Glenn Miller recorded, for the first time, under his own name. Using six horns, a rhythm section and a string quartet, he recorded "Moonlight on the Ganges" and "A Blues Serenade" for Columbia. But selling only a few hundred records, he continued his position with the Noble Orchestra.
In 1937, Glenn Miller stepped out to form his own band. There were a few recordings
-
Glenn gave his men their final notice on New Year's Eve at the Valencia Ballroom in York, Pennsylvania. Broke, depressed and having no idea what he was going to do, he returned to New York City.
It is said that Miller could never remember precisely the moment he decided to emphasize
his new reed section sound. But it was during this disheartening interim, that he
realized the unique sound -
Formed in March 1938, the second Glenn Miller Orchestra -
At the New York State Fair in Syracuse it attracted the largest dancing crowd in
the city's history. The next night it topped Guy Lombardo's all-
There were record-
In early 1940, Down Beat Magazine announced that Miller had topped all other bands in its Sweet Band Poll, and capping off this seemingly sudden rise to the top, there was, of course, Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" radio series for Chesterfield cigarettes which aired three times a week over CBS.
In 1941, it was off to Hollywood where the band worked on its first movie, "Sun Valley
Serenade", which introduced the song -
On October 7, 1942, Alton Glenn Miller reported for induction into the Army and was
immediately assigned to the Army Specialist Corps. His appointment as a Captain came
after many months of convincing the military higher-
His training complete, he was transferred into the Army Air Corps, where he ultimately organized the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band. Miller's goal of entertaining the fighting troops took another year to be realized, but in late 1943 he and the band were shipped out to England.
There, in less than one year, the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band engaged in over 800 performances. Of these, 500 were broadcasts heard by millions. There were more than 300 personal appearances including concerts and dances, with a gross attendance of over 600,000. But Glenn was not to participate in the final six months of these activities.
In the Fall of 1944, the band was scheduled to be sent on a six-
In his book "Glenn Miller & His Orchestra", George Simon wrote this about the man. "His favorite author was Damon Runyon. His favorite book was the Bible. Spencer Tracy and Olivia de Havilland were his favorite movie actor and actress. His big loves were trout fishing, playing baseball, listening to good music, sleep and money.
His pet hates were bad swing, early-
His favorite quotation, one he stated, was not from the Bible, nor from Runyon, but
from Duke Ellington: 'It Don't Mean a Thing If it Ain't Got that Swing!'
Many thanks
to The Glenn Miller Orchestra website
