Glenn Miller

Growing up in the 1950s, my exposure to music consisted mostly of listening to long-playing records of Broadway musicals my parents attended on their frequent trips to New York City.  Some of these were Pajama Game, Can Can, Carousel, Wish You Were Here, South Pacific, Oklahoma and The Sound of Music.  I still love this kind of music.

My brother Ted had his own record player that played 45 rpm vinyl records.  And, he became enamored with the music of Glenn Miller, probably because of the 1954 movie, The Glenn Miller Story, starring James Stewart.  For a time, all Ted played were Glenn Miller records.  

The songs Ted played over and over and over again included Moonlight Serenade, In The Mood, Little Brown Jug, Indian Summer, Tuxedo Junction, Pennsylvania 6-5 Thousand and Chattanooga Choo Choo.  After hating these records at first (because Ted played them incessantly), I grew to appreciate the music.  Thanks, Ted.  

Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa on March 1, 1904.  During his senior year in high school, he became interested in "dance band music."  Upon graduation, Miller decided to become a professional musician.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Glenn Miller played the trombone for several different bands.  In the mid-1930s, he performed as a trombonist, arranger and composer for the Dorsey Brothers, a famous jazz band of that era.  

In 1938, Glenn Miller moved to New York with the intention of starting his own band and creating his own unique sound.  He succeeded.  

In a 1939 interview, Miller stated, "We're fortunate in that our style doesn't limit us to stereotyped intros, modulations, first choruses, endings or even trick rhythms.  The fifth sax, playing clarinet most of the time, lets you know whose band you're listening to."  When you hear his music, you know it's Glenn Miller.

For the rest of his life, Glenn Miller enjoyed professional success and great popularity.  In 1942 (during World War II), he joined the US military to "be placed in charge of a modernized army band."  

On December 15, 1944 (75 years ago today), Glenn Miller flew from an airfield in England bound for Paris to make final arrangements to move his band there.  His plane disappeared while over the English Channel and was never found.

Glenn Miller was 40 years-old, the same age as another great musician/composer, John Lennon (see blog post of the same name), who also died a violent and untimely death.  It is interesting to note that Glenn Miller was an American who died flying from England, while John Lennon was an Englishman who died in the United States.