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, 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, Massachusetts. 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 )

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,

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.

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