big band newsbigbandlibrary.com/bbnjune2016pdf.pdf · 2016. 6. 17. · pete candoli, b.june 28,...
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BIG BAND NEWS
“They wore me out . . . I
couldn’t take that much
work. We hardly ever had
a night off. Oh boy! I got
so I couldn’t sleep in a
bed, I could only sleep on
a bus.”
- Ray McKinley on leading The
Glenn Miller Orchestra
A special issue devoted to Glenn Miller’s music in time for the 41st annual “Glenn Miller Birthplace Festival” being held June 9-12 in
Clarinda, Iowa.
Compiled by Music Librarian Christopher Popa June 2016
It was 60 years ago this month that an authorized Glenn Miller Orchestra began making public appearances again,
after having been restarted by drummer-vocalist Ray McKinley at the request of Miller’s widow, Helen, and band
booker Willard Alexander. In April, 1956, Miller Estate attorney David Mackay had organized Glenn Miller
Productions, Inc. as a New York corporation to, in part, organize and manage a new Glenn Miller Orchestra. In
the new setup, the Miller Estate and Mackay became partners, while McKinley and the sidemen were employees.
Alexander explained that the billing of the unit would be “The Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction of and
featuring Ray McKinley.” Auditions and rehearsals for the new band were held in April and May and Ray McKinley
told me that their first job was on Wednesday, June 6, 1956 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington,
Virginia. The band personnel that day was as follows - Ray McKinley (d/voc) directing: Don Ellis, John Glasel,
Paul Mathias, Bill Spano (tp), Leonard Barton, Dick Brady, Charles Loper, Tom Parker (tb), Lenny Hambro, Louis
Fratture (as), Ray Black, Phil Manning (ts), Jodie Lyons (bar), Bob Weiner (p), Dick Garcia (g/vo), Jim Thorpe (b),
Larry Callahan (d), and Marilyn Mitchell (vo). According to an article in Billboard magazine, the band quickly
“chalked up some healthy one-nighter grosses” on the road. For example, they did the “best business of the
season” on Saturday, June 9, 1956 at Hershey Park in Hershey, PA. They broke a box office record at Port
Stanley, Ontario, Canada on Friday, June 15, 1956 (and were booked back there that August). On Saturday,
June 23rd, 1956 they pulled 3,775 admissions at Lesourdesville Lake Park in Middletown, Ohio. The Summer
Gardens in Porter Dover, Ontario, Canada had its biggest advance sale of tickets in 36 years when the band
played there on Wednesday, June 27, 1956. And the following day, the band did tremendous business at Castle
Gardens in Allentown, PA, too.
GLENN MILLER ( 1904—1944 )
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Original Miller Music Recorded in the Month of June
June 9, 1937— I Got Rhythm, Sleepy Time Gal, Community Swing, Time On My
Hands (Brunswick)
June 2, 1939— Guess I’ll Go Back Home (This Summer), I’m Sorry for Myself,
Back to Back, Slip Horn Jive (Bluebird)
June 27, 1939— The Day We Meet Again, Wanna Hat with Cherries, Sold
American, Pagan Love Song (Bluebird)
June 13, 1940— When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano, A Million Dreams
Ago, Blueberry Hill, A Cabana in Havana, Be Happy, Angel Child (Bluebird)
June 25, 1941— Under Blue Canadian Skies, The Cowboy Serenade (While I’m
Rollin’ My Last Cigarette), You and I, Adios (Bluebird)
June 17, 1942— That’s Sabotage, Conchita, Marquita, Lolita, Pepita, Rosita,
Juanita Lopez, The Humming-Bird, Yesterday’s Gardenias (Victor)
Latest Glenn Miller Orchestra Releases
includes many big hits, as well as I Got Rhythm, Let’s All Sing Together,
and Yes, My Darling Daughter. Meanwhile, the fifth volume of the
“Complete” Beneke-Miller Orchestra has the instrumental Chango and a
vocal by Mary Mayo, It Was Lovely Knowing You, both previously-
unissued, among its selections.
“It’s Glenn Miller
Time: Live in
Concert,” recorded
in Europe by The
Glenn Miller
Orchestra directed
by Wil Salden,
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A Job Well Done!
To the average person,
the initials GMA likely mean
the ABC-TV show “Good
Morning America.” But for
big band fans, GMA could
only be the Glenn Miller
Archive at the University of
Colorado-Boulder.
With input from a
number of Miller collectors,
Dennis Spragg, Senior
Consultant with the
Archive, has created an
interesting 105-page,
single-sided report about
the first Miller movie, “Sun
Valley Serenade,” which
was filmed 75 years ago.
Historical text, vintage
images, memorabilia, and
much other documentation
about the film has been
included.
It’s the latest example of
the amazing care and
extreme thoroughness
being taken with Miller’s
legacy at the Archive, and
shows what can be
achieved when dedicated
and caring fans unite.
Jimmy Stewart
[ r. ] in a gag
photo reading
the book Glenn
Miller’s Method
for Orchestral
Arranging,
published in
1943 by Mutual
Music.
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Remembering Former Miller Sidemen Born in June
Zeke Zarchy, b.June 12, 1915. Trumpeter ‘40 / ‘43-’45 (AAF).
Ray McKinley, b.June 18, 1910. Drummer ‘43-’45 (AAF), leader of Miller Orch ‘56-’66.
Babe Russin, b.June 18, 1911. Tenor saxophonist ‘41.
Jerry Jerome, b. June 19, 1912. Tenor saxophonist ‘37.
Pete Candoli, b.June 28, 1923. Trumpeter Miller Orch-Beneke ‘47-’49.
THIS MONTH’S ITINERARY FOR
THE GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA DIRECTED BY NICK HILSCHER
June 3, Tibbets Opera House, Coldwater, MI
June 4, Lexington Village Theatre, Lexington, MI
June 6, Derby Dinner Playhouse, Clarksville, IN
June 7, Artcraft Theatre, Franklin, IN
June 9, Coralville Center, Coralville, IA
June 10-11, Clarinda High School Clarinda, IA
June 12, Wilder Park Main Pavilion, Allison, IA
June 13, El Riad Temple, Sioux Falls, SD
June 16, Lake County Playhouse, Mineola, TX
June 17, Arabia Shrine Center, Houston, TX
June 18, Strange Brew, Austin, TX
June 19, Levitt Pavilion for Performing Arts, Arlington, TX
June 21, Tobin Center, San Antonio, TX
June 23, Spellman Amphitheatre, Forney, TX
June 26, Lyric Theatre, Harrison, AR
June 29, Buttermilk Performance Center, Fond du Lac, WI
June 30, Calumet Theatre, Calumet, MI
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