Great American Songbook: Mitch Miller

 

Recently I read the biography of Tony Bennett called "Life is a Gift: The Zen Of Bennett." It was an interesting read but frustrating at times. Like many other singers of the 1950s, Tony didn't like working under Columbia Records A&R genius Mitch Miller. I use the word "genius" on purpose as Miller sure had the pulse of the public right as far as music in the 1950s is concerned. He shaped the careers of Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, Guy Mitchell and Rosemary Clooney to name a few. He picked a lot of the songs they recorded, including novelty tunes the public ate up as fast as he could release them.

 Even though this meant best selling records for many artists, many of the singers didn't like recording what they thought was drivel. Tony Bennett wanted to record jazz, not songs like "In the Middle of an Island".  It was one of 1957's top sellers. Tony made a lot of people happy with his recordings of that era, but after reading his book it seems like he forgot what Columbia and Mitch did for his career. Would he have been as popular without those songs?

Other Columbia artists like Rosemary Clooney also complained bitterly for years about having to record those songs. She wanted to do jazz as well and later did so very successfully. That's great, but why always put down the popular music they sang earlier?

Jo Stafford (my favorite singer) was teamed with Frankie Laine by Mitch Miller. They recorded a lot of fun songs and some stinkers like Chow Willy.  Well, it is catchy but as Jo herself once said "Chow Willy?!"

 

The Mitch Miller legend went on for years, reaching its height in the 1960s with his very TV show "Sing Along With Mitch."  On that show the music was mostly of the early Tin Pan Alley or folk song days.

 

Tony Bennett wants to sing "The Great American Songbook." But what exactly is that? Everyone seems to have their own opinion and the collective amnesia about what popular music was in the 1940s and 50s seems to be brushed aside. I sometimes think I'm fighting a losing battle about all of this. In my mind "The Great American Songbook" includes popular music of the 1920s through 1950s and includes songs the public loved during those years.  Despite what Tony thinks, the public never embraced jazz as popular music. "In The Middle Of An Island" isn't jazz and Tony might not want to sing it anymore, but it IS a part of that great musical heritage of American Popular Music and The Nostalgic Rambler's version of the Great American Songbook (hey if everyone else seems to define it, so can I!).....

I have the first Johnny Mathis album before he was molded by Mitch and the Columbia folks. It isn't noteworthy.  Under Mitch Johnny Mathis recorded some great albums for Columbia...his best in my opinion.  After those successes he decided to pick his own stuff.  His success never matched those iconic years.

Doris Day had that great sound of the the happy 1950s. Mitch Miller once again.  

The first Nostalgic Rambler blog several years back was on Mitch Miller. I'm revisiting him today as I induct him into the Nostalgic Rambler Great American Songbook Hall Of Fame, despite what Rosemary, Tony, Jo and Johnny might have said about him.  Congrats Mitch! And we forgive you for Chow Willy....

Sing Along With Mitch!

This week I want to share with you a recent discovery....A collector on ebay was selling a set of "Sing Along with Mitch" dvds. Of course I had to have this show. I'm probably the only one in the USA watching these shows tonight and it is a very enjoyable experience.

If you've been following my blog from day one, you know that I did an earlier posting on Columbia Records genius Mitch Miller who guided lots of stars through their 1950s hits. By the 1960s Mitch was on TV himself after having a string of best seller LPs featuring his "gang"...a men's chorus, singing popular songs dating back to the days of the 1920s and earlier!

"Sing Along With Mitch" is a television series that I had heard a lot about but other than a rare Christmas episode on VHS had never seen before. It ran from 1961 to 1964 on NBC and was brought back in reruns until 1966 (I think I read somewhere that reruns of Mitch replaced Sammy Davis Junior!) . Just like Lawrence Welk, nobody loved him but the public. With these dvds I was able to transform my living room back the the 1960s for some fun TV viewing. Not only did the shows start out with the famous NBC peacock proclaiming the show was in "living color" but most of these shows presented actually ARE in color!

It's amazing how corny these programs are...even cornier than my much loved and much maligned "Lawrence Welk Show." Mitch Miller is hilarious as he conducts the chorus in his stiff way. The chorus itself will not win any beauty contests -- the men look like anyone's neighbors....except of course that here they are often wearing those cool Perry Como type cardigan sweaters of the day and can sing! The myth is that there is a bouncing ball at the bottom of the screen. This is wrong. There is no bouncing ball. There are words that appear from time to time at the bottom of the screen for everyone to sing along with....no ball though.

Mitch had enough sense to include some lovely ladies in these shows. Diana Trask and Leslie Uggams were two of the beauties that were on regularly (and are still around! Check out their websites -- Diana's here and Leslie's here). They both got a Columbia record album based on their show stardom as you can see from the pics above.

Several of the shows have big named stars such as George Burns, Milton Berle, and a delightful grownup Shirley Temple as guests. Others have unbilled cameos during the sing a long segments with such TV legends as Johnny Carson!

Sometimes I think Mitch Miller was copying Welk's formula. He had Bob McGrath on as a tenor much like Joe Feeney. McGrath later went on to Sesame Street. Mitch also added the kiddy factor from time to time with the inclusion of the Quinto Sisters, who are not anywhere as cute as Welk's Lennon sisters but are charming in their own way. They have their own website today, too! Visit here.

The sing along songs were very nostalgic for the 1960s, reaching back to the grandparents of those years, so unfortunately these songs are often forgotten today. This is probably the true "Great American Songbook", a term used all too loosely today.

We will never see a program like this on in prime time again. One of the shows in the collection I bought (unfortunately in black and white) is the actual network airing. Great fun to see the ads of the day for the movie Mary Poppins, Scripto pens, Opel cars, Libby's orange juice, and to hear the booming NBC announcer says "This portion of Sing Along with Mitch brought to you by...." Also included are some network promos for Flipper, I Dream of Jeannie, and Get Smart. Those were the days!

I would love to see this entire series appear somewhere on PBS or at least on dvd, but as times have changed, there probably isn't too much demand for this. Too bad. "Sing Along With Mitch" is a corny but wonderful piece of Americana and I love it!

If you do a google search for Sing Along With Mitch DVD you will hopefully find these gems. You can also see some segments on Youtube here and here and here for instance. Enjoy and sing loud and clear so we can hear you!

Al Ham's The Music Of Your Life

Recently I've been rummaging through some old cassettes I recorded when I was an announcer at WLUS years ago. We played the radio format known as "The Music Of Your Life" which was the brainchild of Al Ham. The music for this radio station library was put together very thoughtfully and ingeniously using pop hits through the years. It featured old music, but on the radio no years or dates were mentioned and it all was very vibrant and up to date. Radio stations featured local announcers doing lots of remote events, listeners got their birthdays and anniversaries mentioned on the air, and were invited to send in the list of their three favorite songs. It was all very engaging and I think Al Ham was a genius to come up with this whole idea.

The music came on huge reel to reel tapes and each tape held about an hour's worth of music. Four segments, usually five songs each, would take the listener through the decades from the big band type sounds of the 1930s/1940s up until the "present" day. This music was a true slice of Americana and it captivated listeners for hours at a time, as this music was practically forgetten on the airwaves until Mr. Ham rescued it and molded the format in the late 1970s. Stars like Frank Sinatra or Jo Stafford recorded little messages saying "Thank you for making us all a part of 'The Music of Your Life." Al Ham was a jingle writer and wrote a catchy song played from time to time during the day........."the dreams we share, we'll always remember....remember with the music of your life..."

Unfortunately the target audience that remembered this music is about gone now....and although satellite radio providers Sirius/XM have stations that play some of the titles in the original "Music of Your Life" library, much of it is being ignored today. There is a new incarnation of the "Music of Your Life" which you can listen to on line here. Although songs now considered "adult standards" or "classic american songbook" are played there, it is not the same as when Al Ham blended the mix. In my opinion it's listenable, but a poor imitation as lots of songs and artists are eliminated.


pics above of Al Ham, who by the way worked as a bass player for Artie Shaw and Tex Beneke's Glenn Miller Orchestra. He later worked with the legendary Mitch Miller at Columbia Records and molded the recording sounds of such stars as Ray Conniff, Rosemary Clooney, Percy Faith, Jerry Vale, Johnny Mathis, Johnny Ray, The Four Lads, and Kirby Stone Four among others. These stars were all highly popular features of "The Music Of Your Life." I've also included an actual play list where you can see the actual songs and artists, ranging from Tommy Dorsey and Harry James to Steve Lawrence and Bobby Vinton.

When I graduated from college in 1986 I wanted to work for Al Ham. He sent me a letter wishing me his best, but apparently didn't need any help from a young newbie whippersnapper! I was sure glad to work at a radio station that featured his format and eventually I redid that station's libary when they wanted to update it. Now thanks to my prolific collection I am almost done with preserving one of the original "Music of Your Life" libraries from aircheck tapes to cd to eventually an ipod (whatever THAT is!). That way I can listen to this whenever I want. A still share the dream and will always remember....

Happy Birthday Mitch Miller

Happy Birthday Mitch Miller! I wish I knew how to get in touch with this musical icon. He was born July 4, 1911 and is apparently still alive. I would love to say "thanks".

His music is alive and well here at "The Nostalgic Rambler." Young whippersnappers of today may not realize that he had many albums that were in the top selling charts of the day. In fact, according to the book "100 Best Selling Albums of the 50s" by Charlotte Greig, six of Mitch's "sing along" LPs are listed as best sellers.

Millions of people enjoyed his music which focused on the popular American songbook. I recall marching around the front room as a young boy as his "Holiday Sing Along" LP played in the 1960s and of course now it gets its annual play in December.

Mitch also had a great television show called simply enough "Sing Along with Mitch". I wish PBS would rescue that one out of the archives. Miller says he has all of the master tapes. Mitch also played an important part at Columbia Records. Anyone who loves the pop music of that era as much as I do is forever in debt to this great man for his legacy, including the careers of Johnny Mathis, The Four Lads, Rosemary Clooney, and Guy Mitchell.

Why is this man not remembered more? For one, he did a lot of corny novelty songs which aren't in vogue anymore and easy to dismiss. Some of the singers of the day didn't like what he chose for them, but the public ate it up and it made them stars.

I am proud to say I enjoy his music and hope to continue to sing along with his albums for many years to come.

For a very interesting interview with Mitch, taped just a few years ago, click on the link from Youtube. It is rather lengthy but will give you great insight into this man and his legacy.

By the way, the pic on the left above is from "The Nostalgic Rambler" archives. It is a classic slide from/of my grandpa from his 50s/60s slide collection. His birthday gift? A radio and a Mitch Miller album! On the right is the musical genius himself, Mr. Mitch Miller. Happy Birthday Mr. Miller!