One of the mainstays of the big band circuit, the Glenn Miller Orchestra actually spent a mere half a decade with its namesake at the helm. Miller built his his legendary band, with its unique clarinet-centric signature sound in 1938. But by 1942, he was making music for the United States Armed Forces, struggling to add jazz touches to traditional military marching band music. Two years later, while still in the service, Glenn disappeared somewhere over the English Channel. Two years after that, Glenn’s estate drafted sax player/vocalist Tex Beneke to lead the first Miller “ghost” orchestra.
Under Beneke, the new band achieved a success that rivaled the original, even during a period that saw an overall decline in big band popularity. But Tex’s attempts to expand and modernize the Miller sound (and to push himself to the forefront) led to conflicts with management, and finally to a parting of the ways. Successive leaders-for-hire cleaved much more faithfully to the hit Miller sound.
1966, however, saw the ascent of celebrated jazz clarinetist Buddy DeFranco to the group’s lead spot. I don’t know if it was a sign of the times, or if the death of Glenn Miller’s spouse that same year had anything to do with it, but the estate loosened the reigns of DeFranco enough to allow him to take some liberties with the franchise. But rather than enfusing the Miller sound with, say, bebop, DeFranco steered the band in the direction of contemporary pop. Embracing the electric discotheque scene of the period, DeFranco turned in such albums as “Something New” for Epic, and “Do You Wanna Dance?” for Command, the landmark label started by Enoch Light.
Wedding the Miller big band style and DeFranco’s top-notch soloing to go-go dance rhythms, lush easy-listening atmospherics and Command’s trademark high-tech aural experience, the album is no mere nostalgia trip for aging jitterbuggers. Rock fans will delight as this august organization tackles such teenage hits as “Cinnamon,” “Sunny,” “For Once In My Life” and “Love Child.” Naturally, the ubiquitous McCartney-Lennon catalog is represented, not once but twice, with “Hey Jude” and “A Little Help From My Friends.” In fact, there’s not a MOR track anywhere to be found on this album — it’s all strictly Top Forty. Do YOU wanna dance?
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12 Responses to “Glenn Miller Orchestra - “Do You Wanna Dance?””
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Hey there-
I have been a GM fan for years and I remember when this album came out. I think I bought it, but I didn’t keep it. It just wasn’t very good and it hasn’t gotten any better over the decades.
The musicianship is good, but much of the material is way sub-standard. This style of music has always seemed at odds with big bands. It comes across here as very…well…silly.
I am going to listen to the sides again.
If you’d like to hear another fairly bad BDF/GM album of the era, try “In the Mod” on RCA. They do a discotheque/rock version of “In the Mood”. Quite bad.
The 60s were very hard times for the old big bands and nearly everyone sold out trying to connect with a younger audience that just didn’t care.
I found the TJB cover LP by the BDF/GM band to be far more appealing.
The link is gunk now. Is there a new one?
Seems fine now. Maybe the host was down for a while today.
This is so great! I was craving some Miller just yesterday; I used to listen to it with my dad. Thanks so much.
Well, if you’re itching for some of the classics, you can also go here:
http://forum.downarchive.com/forum/83484-best-glenn-miller-3cd-boxset.html
Thanks!
I echo the first post in every way….I would add this though….
Having come of age as a trombonist in the early 80’s, I really can’t remember not ever knowing about Glenn and his band. The first gig I ever did where I was paid was with a local Big Band in ‘82 and you guessed it, all the old Miller gems were in the sets. The next youngest cat on the band was 57. In any case a few of these charts were in the book and I clearly remember asking about the Hey Jude chart (thinking it was the Maynard Ferguson one). Anyway, how cool to finally hear these tunes!
I would also muse that to me, there’s something a little quaint and a little endearing to hear the care and professionalism of the musicians and the arrangers on this record. Obviously the suits were trying to make money but the musicians on this band at the time (some of whom were certainly around in the GMO heyday, maybe even knew Glenn) were likely just being paid scale for the sessions (except for Buddy of course!), and yet they are clean, balanced, in tune and putting their all into it.
Can you imagine getting the call for this recording date? You hope the arrangers did a good job, you hope the record sells a little bit but maybe in the back of your mind, you imagine a tune or two taking off and all the sudden it’s 1942 again and you’re being feted all over the country.
It’s often very difficult for me to imagine a time when thousands of musicians were employed and looked up to and were busy, busy, busy playing swing, the pop music of the day, even though I know it happened. Who can blame them for trying to stay current?
Keep swingin’ and thanks SO much for the great little piece of writing accompanying this…
Cheers!
Mike —
You’ve put your finger on it!
There have been some over at Boing Boing who are dissing this disk because it sound like “Lawrence Welk” to their ears — and this is meant to be a criticism.
Personally, I love that brief period when large groups of highly skilled and experienced musicians were put to the task of performing the hits of the day.
For different reasons, I also miss the days when this was something that could be economically viable for so many.
Good to see comments on this release.
I remember seeing it in the store when it was released - E.J. Korvettes in Huntington, L.I., NY.
As I commented - good musicianship, but kind of pointless.
Poor lil 60s big bands - they tried sooooooo hard. Didn’t work.
Benny Goodman did his 60s ‘groovy’ LP - Not good.
Basie did a Beatles LP - not very good.
James did a C/W LP. Never heard it.
Ellington did a Beatles medley on the Ed Sullivan show - awful.
OTOH - the GM ork under drummer Ray McKinley did a “Great Songs of the 60s” LP and it was quite musical, but he didn’t do rock songs.
Oh, well…..