Music has
its Blue Grass and Bop, Country and Western and Classical, Jazz
and Jumpin’ Jive. But as we seniors, born in the early twenties,
like to do, focus on this genre: Big Band. Then focus some more
on one of the greats of that era: Glenn Miller.
Ah, put “Glenn
Miller Orchestra” and “Moonlight Serenade” together and you have
the most wonderful combination in the history of modern music.Other
musical organizations and their theme songs were popular in the
big band era—roughly 1935-1946—and these included Tommy Dorsey
and “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You;” Benny Goodman and “Let’s
Dance;” and Count Basie and “One O’Clock Jump.”
Not only did
Glenn Miller, in his brief career before his World War II disappearance,
have a big hit with “Moonlight Serenade,” his signature song,
but he’s also in the musical history books with “In The Mood,”
“Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “A String of Pearls,” Pennsylvania 6-5000,”
“Tuxedo Junction,” and many other tunes.
One writer
said, “Back in the days of the big band era of the forties, any
dance band ‘worth its salt’ had a distinctive theme song. It was
the musical signature with which they signed on and signed off
at their engagements and radio broadcasts.
The Miller
theme, of course, was ‘Moonlight Serenade.’” The writer goes on
to point out that Miller originally wrote the music of the song
himself as an exercise in arranging. “He composed it long before
he organized his band, when he was a trombonist and arranger with
the Ray Noble Orchestra.”
Another writer
said, “Of all the outstanding dance bands, the one that evokes
the most memories and how wonderfully romantic it all was, the
one whose music people want to hear over and over again, is the
band of the late Glenn Miller.”
Finally, this
tribute: “Today, the ‘Miller sound’ is considered a standard in
the field of popular music, with its popularity continuing undiminished
through the years.”Alton Glen (later changed to “Glenn”) Miller
was born in 1904 in Clarinda, Iowa. Before starting his own band
in the late thirties, he played with and arranged for Ben Pollack,
Red Nichols, the Dorsey brothers, and others, including Noble.
In 1942, at
the age of 38, he entered the Army Air Corps, forming a band composed
of top big band instrumentalists, who, like Glenn had “joined
up.” They played in many European areas, entertaining the troops
with the music soldiers were familiar with before the war.
Major Glenn
Miller set out from England in a small plane on December 15, 1944,
flying over the English Channel to set up arrangements for the
band’s arrival in Paris a few days later.The plane took off on
a foggy afternoon, and neither it nor any of its three occupants
were ever heard from again.
Glenn Miller’s
music lives today. It’s heard on the airways, in live concerts,
and in the dance halls—the few that still remain. ANY band “worth
its salt” plays Glenn Miller’s music. It’s romantic and forever
memorable.
Jack Fortes
DeLand, Florida
Email Me
Moderator's
Note: Jack Fortes has been visiting my web sites and blogs
for some time. Now some 80 years young, Jack emailed me recently
about what he is doing to share his love of big band music with
his friends and neighbors in DeLand, Florida. I think you will
like Jack's article about Glenn Miller, which originally appeared
in the June 2005 issue of Pete King's Big Band Buddies Magazine.
Visit Pete's Big Band
Buddies web site to learn how you can subscribe to it.
George Spink
Los Angeles
Webmaster - Tuxedo Junction
Email
Me
