Elmer's Tune

Last updated
"Elmer's Tune"
Elmer's Tune Glenn Miller 11274.jpg
Single by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra with Ray Eberle and The Modernaires
B-side "Delilah"
ReleasedAugust 29, 1941
RecordedAugust 11, 1941
Genre
Length3:06
Label Bluebird B-11274-A
Songwriter(s) Elmer Albrecht, Dick Jurgens and Sammy Gallop
Glenn Miller and his Orchestra with Ray Eberle and The Modernaires singles chronology
"The Cowboy Serenade (While I'm Rollin' My Last Cigarette)"
(1941)		"Elmer's Tune"
(1941)		"From One Love to Another"
(1941)

"Elmer's Tune" is a 1941 big band and jazz standard written by Elmer Albrecht, Dick Jurgens and Sammy Gallop. Glenn Miller and his Orchestra and Dick Jurgens and his Orchestra both charted with recordings of the composition.

Contents

The Glenn Miller recording on RCA Bluebird Records featuring the lyrics by Sammy Gallop reached no. 1 on Billboard in 1941.

Background

Elmer Albrecht originally composed the tune in the early 1920s. At the time, he was a student at the Worsham College of Embalming in Chicago and worked at Louis Cohen’s funeral parlor on Clark Street. According to Albrecht, he originally worked out the tune on a piano in a back room of the funeral parlor which at the time held the corpses of twelve men killed in Chicago’s Tong Wars. [1]

Over the years, Albrecht, who continued to work as an embalmer, played the tune in honky-tonks and small night clubs around Chicago. He offered it to Ted Weems, who turned it down. Then, in February 1941, he approached Dick Jurgens, whose band had a residency at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom. Albrecht worked nearby and had an arrangement to use one of the pianos at the venue during his lunch break. Albrecht made a nuisance of himself, and Jurgens, who was inundated with requests from song promoters, finally agreed to arrange Albrecht’s tune for his orchestra. [1] [2] [3]

A short time later, Jurgens and his band were preparing to perform the tune (still nameless) on the radio. After a frantic effort by the radio announcer and two lyricists to come up with a title, Jurgens casually suggested “Elmer’s Tune” and the name stuck. [1] [3] Jurgens recorded it as an instrumental for Okeh Records (6209) on April 10, 1941. This version reached No. 8 on the Billboard Best Selling Retail Records chart in October 1941.

Glenn Miller recording

The popularity of the tune prompted Glenn Miller to ask Jurgens if he could record a vocal version of the song. Robbins Music Company, the song’s publisher, hired Sammy Gallop to write the lyrics. Miller recorded his version of the song for RCA Bluebird (B-11274-A) on August 11, 1941 in New York with Ray Eberle on lead vocals and the Modernaires on backing vocals. This version was an even bigger success than Jurgens’ recording, peaking at No. 1 for one week on the Billboard Best Selling Retail Records chart for the week ending December 13, 1941, in a 20-week chart run. [4]

The personnel on the recording were Ray Eberle, the Modernaires (vocals), [5] Billy May, John Best, Alec Fila, R.D. McMickle (trumpet), Glenn Miller, Jim Priddy, Paul Tanner, Frank D'Annolfo (trombone), Hal McIntyre, Wilbur Schwartz (clarinet, alto saxophone), Tex Beneke, Al Klink (tenor saxophone), Ernie Caceres (baritone saxophone), Chummy MacGregor (piano), Bobby Hackett (guitar), Edward "Doc" Goldberg (string bass), and Maurice Purtill (drums).

Other recordings

Other recordings of the song that were popular at the time were performed by the Andrews Sisters (Decca 4008, recorded August 4, 1941) [6] and Benny Goodman with Peggy Lee on vocals (Columbia 36359, recorded August 15, 1941). [7]

The song was also recorded by Bob Crosby and His Orchestra (Decca 3959, recorded June 30, 1941), The Charioteers (Okeh 6390, recorded August 25, 1941), Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra (Decca 4096, recorded November 14, 1941), Kollege of Musical Knowledge (performed on radio and recorded December 11, 1941), Blue Barron and His Orchestra (Elite 5001, 1941), Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans (Columbia (UK) FB 2764, 1941–42), Ambrose and His Orchestra (Decca (UK) F8065, recorded 5 January 1942), Geraldo and His Orchestra (Parlophone (UK) F1888, recorded 19 January 1942), Dartmouth Barbary Coast Orchestra (Dartmouth, December 7, 1942), Jimmy Blade's Music (Rondo 104, 1946), Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys (Tiffany, recorded August 18, 1947), Del Wood (Republic, 1953), Geordie Hormel (Coral 61052, 1953), Jackie Lee, His Piano & Orchestra (Coral 94 283 (DE), 1957), Mark Murphy (Decca, 1957), Kathy Linden (Felsted, 1959), Billy Vaughn (Dot, 1959), Grady Martin and the Slew Foot Five (Decca 9-31013, 1959), Flip Black and the Boys Upstairs (Ace 581, 1960), Shay Torrent (Heartbeat 32, 1963), Horst Jankowski (Mercury, 1966), Al Hirt (RCA Victor, 1967) and Herb Remington (Stoneway, 1973).

Use in commercials

A 1983 Canon photocopier commercial used Elmer's Tune to show various users of the advertised copier who "all sing Canon's tune".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chattanooga Choo Choo</span> 1941 song by Mack Gordon

"Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a 1941 song that was written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade. It was the first song to receive a gold record, presented by RCA Victor in 1942, for sales of 1.2 million copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Miller Orchestra</span> American swing dance band

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band that was formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and commercially successful dance orchestra of the swing era and one of the greatest singles charting acts of the 20th century. As of 2025, Ray Anthony is the last surviving member of the orchestra.

"Blues in the Night" is a popular blues song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun with the working title Hot Nocturne, but finally released as Blues in the Night. The song is sung in the film by William Gillespie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">That Old Black Magic</span> 1943 single by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra with Skip Nelson and The Modernaires

"That Old Black Magic" is a 1942 popular song written by Harold Arlen (music), with the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. They wrote it for the 1942 film Star Spangled Rhythm, when it was first sung by Johnny Johnston and danced by Vera Zorina. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1943 but lost out to "You'll Never Know".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tex Beneke</span> American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader

Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gormé, Henry Mancini, and Ronnie Deauville. Beneke also solos on the recording the Glenn Miller Orchestra made of their popular song "In the Mood" and sings on another popular Glenn Miller recording, "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Jazz critic Will Friedwald considers Beneke to be one of the major blues singers who sang with the big bands of the early 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Modernaires</span> American vocal group (active 1934–1970s)

The Modernaires were an American vocal group, best known for performing in the 1940s with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Nearness of You</span> 1940 single by Glenn Miller

"The Nearness of You" is a popular song written in 1937 by Hoagy Carmichael (1899-1981), with lyrics by Ned Washington (1901-1976). Intended for an unproduced Paramount Pictures film titled Romance In The Rough, the studio's publishing division Famous Music reregistered and published the song three years later in 1940. It was first recorded by Chick Bullock (1898-1981) and his Orchestra on Vocalion. Despite numerous accounts to the contrary, the song was never scheduled for and does not appear in the production of the 1938 Paramount film Romance in the Dark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm Always Chasing Rainbows</span> Vaudeville song composed by Harry Carroll

"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is a popular Vaudeville song. The music is credited to Harry Carroll, but the melody is adapted from Fantaisie-Impromptu by Frédéric Chopin. The lyrics were written by Joseph McCarthy, and the song was published in 1917. It was introduced in the Broadway show Oh, Look! which opened in March 1918. The song was sung in the show by the Dolly Sisters. Judy Garland sang it in the 1941 film Ziegfeld Girl. It was subsequently sung by Jack Oakie in the 1944 film The Merry Monahans and was again featured in the 1945 film The Dolly Sisters (1945), where it was sung by John Payne. It was also included for part of the run of the 1973 revival of Irene. Additionally, the pre-chorus would not have been included until later covers in the 1940s, where the song would gain its iconic libretti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serenade in Blue</span>

"Serenade in Blue" is a 1942 big band song composed by Harry Warren, with lyrics written by Mack Gordon. It was introduced in the 1942 film Orchestra Wives by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, sung by Lynn Bari in the film but dubbed by Pat Friday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Jurgens</span> American swing music bandleader and composer

Richard Henry Jurgens was an American swing music bandleader and composer who enjoyed great popularity in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo</span> 1942 popular song recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra

"(I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo" is a #1 popular song recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in 1942. It was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren and published in 1942. It was featured in the musical film Orchestra Wives and was recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, featuring Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton and The Modernaires, who released it as an A side 78 in 1942, 27934-A. The B side was "At Last".

For music from an individual year in the 1940s, go to 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49

John Marcus Lathrop was an American vocalist and guitarist with the Tune Twisters, Glenn Miller, and Hal McIntyre. Beginning around 1947, Lathrop was leader of the Drug Store Cowboys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean Clipper</span> 1943 song by the Glenn Miller Orchestra

"Caribbean Clipper" is a big band and jump song recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra in 1942. The song was composed by Jerry Gray with lyrics by Sammy Gallop. Recorded in 1942, the song was released as a Victor 78 single by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in 1943 as the B side to "Blue Rain".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Know Why (And So Do You)</span>

"I Know Why " is a 1941 song by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. The song appeared in the 20th Century Fox movie Sun Valley Serenade. The song was also released as an RCA Bluebird 78 single.

<i>Glenn Miller Masterpieces, Volume II</i> 1947 compilation album by Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller Masterpieces, Volume II is an album by bandleader Glenn Miller, released on RCA Victor in 1947, consisting of a collection of four 10" 78 RPM discs, released as RCA Victor P189 as part of the RCA Victor Musical Smart Set series. The album was number one for a total of 6 weeks on the Billboard album charts in 1947. The collection was a follow-up to the 1945 compilation album Glenn Miller.

"The Lamplighter's Serenade" is a song written by Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics). The construction of the song was unusual and did not conform to the normal AABA pattern. Instead, Carmichael used an ABA format that proved most effective.

<i>Pure Gold</i> (Glenn Miller album) 1975 compilation album by Glenn Miller

Pure Gold is a 1975 compilation album of 10 studio recordings by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra recorded between 1939 and 1942 by RCA Victor. The recordings were all originally issued as 78 RPM records on the RCA Bluebird and Victor labels and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The album was originally issued on LP and compact disc in reprocessed (fake) stereo sound; in 1988, RCA remastered the album in original monophonic sound for its second CD reissue.

<i>Up Swing</i> 1944 compilation album by Various

Up Swing is a compilation album of phonograph records released by bandleaders Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw in 1944 as a part of the Victor Musical Smart Set series. The set, a progenitor to greatest hits releases, features some of the most popular Dance Band Era recordings by the four bandleaders.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "12 Dead Chinamen 'Hear' Original 'Elmer's Tune'". Kent State University. The Kent Stater. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Johnson, Vincent (January 27, 1942). "Soap Once Again Gets in Ears of Daytime Soap Prodigal". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Elmer's Tune Written In Morgue". The Rambler. February 4, 1942. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Song artist 6 - Glenn Miller..
  5. ↑ "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #4". 1972.
  6. ↑ "Decca 4000 - 4600 Numerical Listing". The Online (78rpm) Discographical Project. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "COLUMBIA (Microphone label, USA) 36000 to 36500 Numerical Listing". The Online (78rpm) Discographical Project. Retrieved 7 February 2016.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.