[78-L] Glen Miller was: Kay Starr - R.I.P personal remininces of a 1960 born child who loves swing

[Dave Burnham]

An excellent testimonial!  My favourite Miller 78 is "Make Believe Ballroom Time"; that was the theme song of a program of the same name broadcast in Toronto on CKEY in the 50s. (I was only a child at the time and I always thought it was "Maple Leaf Ballroom Time", a mistake more likely to be made in Canada than the US.)

Absolute must acquisitions for any Miller fan are the Air Force band on CD reissues and the two boxes, "The Secret Broadcasts" and "The Lost Recordings". The only indication that these recordings are not amongst the finest Big Band recordings of the '70s is that they are in mono. Glen Miller never sounded so good on recordings. 

db

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 10, 2016, at 4:54 PM, Inigo Cubillo <ice261263 at gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
> 
> 
> Me too... I was born in 1963, and got into 78s at 13yo or so, because my
> father brought home grandpa's records to be taped on reels. I still
> remember warmly those Sunday afternoons, when he did the transfers. It was
> only a small collection; in the scrapbook where dad carefully registered
> all details of the records transferred there are only some 65 x 78s. But
> tastes were eclectic: from Bing Crosby to Wilhelm Backhaus, and from
> Spanish zarzuela to The Andrews Sisters. A mixture of acoustics and
> electrics. Grandpa bought the gramophone in 1930, and bought lots of then
> cheap records (acoustics by then were sold in bargain lots). Later he kept
> buying records at a slow path (they were comparatively expensive for a
> family of twelve, living only on the wages of an army officier). Later
> during the thirties and forties, my elder uncles also added records to the
> collection.
> That collection put the seed for my hobby, and those records and gramophone
> went later to my cousins, far away from me. I used to listen to my father's
> tapes for hours, and fell in love with Bing's crooning, Smith Ballews'
> sweet voice, Chevalier's informal way of singing, or the tremendous sound
> of Jack Hylton's orchestra and original arrangements. The day I discovered
> 78s at a second-hand record store, I swapped all my LPs for 78s, and my
> hobby started. But with years, I've managed to get a pretty collection of
> some 5000 records and a dozen gramophones.
> I've only had one record with vocalist Kay Starr, and it was "Love With a
> Capital You", with Glenn Miller's orchestra, on HMV. Later I traded it for
> other records. But since the very beginning of my collecting, Glenn's
> records were present (as far as Rachmaninoff's, I'm eclectic too!). I find
> it difficult to point out a single favorite among Miller's recordings...
> there are several among the"top ones" for me, and in general, I find all
> his records at least delicious. It's easier for me to point out the few
> ones I don't like! The mastery of the arrangements and the high standard of
> playing, is something you notice as soon as the first notes of the music
> come out. Not to mention the mellow voices of Tex Beneke or Ray Eberle... I
> have near 40 of his 78s, and perhaps one which for me has all the elements
> of his sweet but powerful sound, is "Serenade in Blue", an old favorite.
> But I also like very much "Indian Summer" or so many others. On the swing
> side, I like "Sun Valley Serenade" or his Decca version of "I Got Rhythm",
> although perhaps more elegant are "Glenn Island Special" or "Little Brown
> Jug" (one 78 that I'm still looking for). Some of his renditions are too
> foreseeable and hide no surprises, but so many of them are also pretty
> original. You never get tired of Glenn; there's always a side for every
> chance, wether you feel sad, or happy. There is a world of art only in his
> records... and I say this only having 40 out of his production, perhaps
> over 200 78s...?
> 
> Saludos,
> Inigo
> From Madrid, Spain
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