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Glenn Miller Orchestra

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band that was formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and commercially successful dance orchestra of the swing era and one of the greatest singles charting acts of the 20th century. As of 2024, Ray Anthony is the last surviving member of the orchestra.

This article is about the band that Glenn Miller fronted. For the band that performed after his disappearance, see Glenn Miller Orchestra (1956–present).

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra

April 1938 – September 1942

Miller began professionally recording in New York City as a sideman in the hot jazz era of the late 1920s. With the arrival of virtuoso trombonists Jack Teagarden and Tommy Dorsey, Miller focused more on developing his arrangement skills. Writing for contemporaries and future stars such as Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman, Miller gained prowess as an arranger by working in a variety of settings. Later, Miller largely improved his arranging and writing skills by studying under music theorist Joseph Schillinger.[1]


In February 1937, Miller started an orchestra that briefly made records for Decca. With this group, Miller used an arrangement he wrote for British bandleader Ray Noble's American band in an attempt to form a clarinet-reed sound. This style developed over time, and eventually became known as the Glenn Miller sound. Frustrated with his agency over playing inconsistent bookings and lacking broad radio exposure, Miller gave the band notice in December 1937. Less than three months later, he was looking for members and forming a new band.[1]


Miller began a partnership with Eli Oberstein, which led directly to a contract with Victor subsidiary Bluebird Records. Gaining notoriety at such engagements as the Paradise Restaurant and Frank Dailey–owned Meadowbrook and their corresponding nationwide broadcasts, Miller struck enormous popularity playing the Glen Island Casino in the summer of 1939. From late 1939 to mid-1942, Miller was the number-one band in the country, with few true rivals.[2] Only Harry James' band began to equal Miller's in popularity as he wound down his career in the wake of the Second World War.[1] The AFM strike prevented Miller from making any new recordings in the last two months of his band's existence, and they formally disbanded at the end of September 1942.


Miller's short-term chart successes have seldom been duplicated and his group's unprecedented dominance of early Your Hit Parade and Billboard singles charts resulted in 16 number-one singles and 69 Top Ten hits.

Musical success[edit]

Beginnings[edit]

By March 1938, Glenn was planning to form a new group. The newly reformed band featured several longtime associates of Miller. From his first orchestra, Miller invited back Hal McIntyre, and hired Paul Tanner, Wilbur Schwartz, Ray Eberle (who was the younger brother of Jimmy Dorsey's vocalist Bob Eberly), and his old friend Chummy MacGregor. Miller's perseverance, business expertise, combined with a penchant for showmanship and musical taste, provided the faith for financiers Mike Nidorf and Cy Shribman. Miller used the 'clarinet-lead' sound as the foundation for his new band, and this caught the attention of students at Northeastern campuses. They opened on April 16, 1938, at Raymor Ballroom in Boston. When the band reached New York, they were billed below Freddie Fisher and His Schnickelfritzers, a dance band comedy routine.[3] From Vincent Lopez's group came Marion Hutton, who added enthusiasm and energy in her performances. On September 7, 1938, the band made their first recordings, "My Reverie", "King Porter Stomp" and "By the Waters of Minnetonka", in two parts.[4] Keeping up radio dates, Miller was only booked for one more session the rest of the year.[5]

Glen Island Casino and Meadowbrook Ballroom appearances[edit]

In March 1939, the Glenn Miller Orchestra was given its big break, when they were chosen to play the summer season at the prestigious Glen Island Casino located on the north shore of Long Island Sound in New Rochelle, New York. Frank Dailey, manager of The Meadowbrook Ballroom in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, immediately booked the band for a four-week stay in March and April, before Glen Island. The band was well-received and within days Dailey picked up a three-week extension offer. During this time, Bluebird recording dates became more common, and Glenn added drummer Maurice Purtill and trumpeter Dale "Mickey" McMickle to stabilize personnel. Opening at Glen Island on May 17, 1939, the casino's radio broadcast antenna ensured the Miller band was heard around the country. By late August, the end of their summer season, they had nationwide attention.[6][7][8]


George T. Simon, music writer and one-time drummer for Miller, spoke of the Glen Island broadcasts:

Radio success[edit]

Radio played a pivotal role in the success of Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. Featured heavily on the format during their existence, many of their earlier programs from such venues as the Paradise Restaurant, Glen Island and the Meadowbrook Ballroom used remote connections to the National Broadcasting Company, on both NBC–Red and NBC–Blue.[18]


The makers of Chesterfield Cigarettes hosted a half-hour radio show on CBS that featured King of Jazz Paul Whiteman. Whiteman decided to retire and recommended Glenn as a replacement. On December 27, 1939, Miller took over the program as Chesterfield Moonlight Serenade. During the first 13 weeks, The Andrews Sisters were featured as Chesterfield were worried over whether Miller could sustain his popularity. Their fear subsided, and the program, reformatted for 15 minutes, aired Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at 10:15 pm. Miller and his band held the slot until their disbandment in 1942.[18]


In 1940, the band broadcast from the first time from the Café Rouge at the Hotel Pennsylvania, soon to become a regular booking and a host of long-term engagements. By then, the Miller band had several NBC sustaining broadcasts in addition to three CBS programs, reaching American homes 6–7 days a week. In August, Miller's orchestra had an hour-long program on NBC–Blue, Glenn Miller's Sunset Serenade featuring prizes Miller paid for out-of-pocket. A review in Billboard commented, "Unusual length of the program allows Miller to display all the top items in his library."[19]

Chart success[edit]

According to Paul Albone, of the 121 singles by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra that made the charts, 69 were Top Ten hits, and 16 reached number-one.[20][21] In just a 4-year career, Miller and His Orchestra's songs spent a cumulative total of 664 weeks, nearly thirteen years, on the charts, 79 of which were at the number-one position.[20][21] Miller also has the distinction of three posthumous albums reaching number-one on Billboard charts: Glenn Miller in 1945, its follow-up in 1947, and his original recordings repackaged for the release of The Glenn Miller Story in 1954.[21]

1939: ""

Little Brown Jug

1939: ""

Moonlight Serenade

1939: ""

In the Mood

1940: ""

Tuxedo Junction

1940: ""

Pennsylvania 6-5000

1941: ""

Chattanooga Choo Choo

1941: ""

A String of Pearls

1941: ""

Moonlight Cocktail

1942: ""

American Patrol

1942: ""

(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo

Glenn Miller

Swing music

Bandleader

Big band

Archived 2013-05-28 at the Wayback Machine

Website of past vocalist Eileen Burns

Archived 2016-04-29 at the Wayback Machine

YouTube Videos from 1983 GMO US and Japan Tour