The Dorsey Brothers | |
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 Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, 1934. Bottom (L-R): George Thow, Roc Hillman, Don "Matty" Matteson, Skeets Herfurt, Ray McKinley; Standing (L-R): Bobby Van Epps, Delmar Kaplan, Tommy Dorsey, Kay Weber, Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Jack Stacey | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Years active | 1928–1935 |
| Labels | |
The Dorsey Brothers were an American studio dance band, led by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. They started recording in 1928 for OKeh Records.
The Dorsey Brothers recorded songs for the dime store labels (Banner, Cameo, Domino, Jewel, Oriole, Perfect). A handful of sides during their Brunswick period were issued by Vocalion.
They signed to Decca in 1934, formed a touring band, with Tommy as front man, and a rather unusual lineup of one trumpet, three trombones, three saxes and four rhythm. The band performed live mainly in the New England area, with acrimony between the brothers steadily building up, until a definitive falling out between Tommy and Jimmy over the tempo of "I'll Never Say Never Again Again" in May 1935, after which Tommy walked off the stage. Glenn Miller composed four songs for the Dorsey Brothers when he was a member in 1934 and 1935, "Annie's Cousin Fannie", on which both Tommy and Glenn share the rather racy vocal, "Dese Dem Dose", "Harlem Chapel Chimes", and "Tomorrow's Another Day". [1] Miller left in late 1934 to take up the job as Ray Noble's musical director and arranger.
In 1935, the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra had two No. 1 recordings on Decca, including "Lullaby of Broadway" with Bob Crosby on vocals, topping the charts for two weeks and No. 1 for three weeks. [2]
Tommy Dorsey permanently left the orchestra in 1935 to take over the Joe Haymes band, turning it into Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, with the nucleus of the Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra carrying on under Jimmy's leadership. Tommy's chair was filled by the 16-year-old Bobby Byrne. The Dorseys reunited on March 15, 1945, to record a V-Disc at Liederkranz Hall in New York City. Released in June 1945, the disc contained "More Than You Know" and "Brotherly Jump". The songs were performed by the combined orchestras of Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. They reunited again in 1947 for the film The Fabulous Dorseys . In 1950, Jimmy disbanded his orchestra and joined Tommy's band on a permanent basis. On May 23, 1953, the combined orchestra made its television debut on the Jackie Gleason Show. Starting in 1954, they had a network TV series, Stage Show produced by Jackie Gleason. Elvis Presley made his national television debut on their show in 1956. Charlie Parker, who as a fledgling alto sax player expressed an admiration for Jimmy, died in front of the TV while watching a Dorsey Brothers' show. When in November 1956 Tommy died in his sleep from choking on his own vomit, Jimmy, already desperately ill, carried on for some months with Tommy's silent trombone displayed on stage, until in June 1957 he succumbed to lung cancer.
Jimmy and Tommy appeared as the Mystery Guests on the October 16, 1955 airing of What's My Line? . They were guessed by Dorothy Kilgallen.
In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp in honor of Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey.
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. His theme song was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as "Opus One", "Song of India", "Marie", "On Treasure Island", and his biggest hit single, "I'll Never Smile Again".
James Francis Dorsey was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You " and "It's The Dreamer In Me". His other major recordings were "Tailspin", "John Silver", "So Many Times", "Amapola", "Brazil ", "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and Frances Langford, "Grand Central Getaway", and "So Rare". He played clarinet on the seminal jazz standards "Singin' the Blues" in 1927 and the original 1930 recording of "Georgia on My Mind", which were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the age of 33 from cirrhosis. Although he composed some jazz instrumentals such as "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues", Berigan was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording "I Can't Get Started" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975.
The swing era was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been around since the late 1920s and early 1930s, being played by black bands led by such artists as Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Bennie Moten, Cab Calloway, Earl Hines, and Fletcher Henderson, and white bands from the 1920s led by the likes of Jean Goldkette, Russ Morgan and Isham Jones. An early milestone in the era was from "the King of Swing" Benny Goodman's performance at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles on August 21, 1935, bringing the music to the rest of the country. The 1930s also became the era of other great soloists: the tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Lester Young; the alto saxophonists Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges; the drummers Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, Jo Jones and Sid Catlett; the pianists Fats Waller and Teddy Wilson; the trumpeters Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Bunny Berigan, and Rex Stewart.
"I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" is a song recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. The words were written by Ned Washington and the music was written by George Bassman. It was first performed in 1932. The original copyright is dated 1933 and issued to Lawrence Music Publishers, Inc. The copyright was assigned to Mills Music, Inc. in 1934. Noni Bernardi, a saxophonist with the Dorsey orchestra arranged this song.
One Shot Deal is an album by Frank Zappa, posthumously released in June 2008.
"Whispering" is a popular song published in 1920 by Sherman, Clay & Co. of San Francisco. The 1920 copyright attributes the lyrics to Malvin Schonberger and the music to John Schonberger.
"Indian Summer" is an American standard originally written as a piano piece by the prolific composer Victor Herbert. Al Dubin wrote lyrics for the tune in 1939, twenty years after Herbert wrote the tune.
Cootie Williams and His Orchestra 1941–1944 is a compilation album of recordings by jazz trumpeter Cootie Williams from 1941, 1942, and 1944. It was released by Classics in 1995.
Annie's Cousin Fannie, which is sometimes listed as "Annie's Cousin Fanny", is a 1934 song composed by Glenn Miller and recorded by The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra for Brunswick and Decca Records. The Dorsey Brothers released two versions of the song in 1934 and 1935.
Dese Dem Dose is a 1935 instrumental composed by Glenn Miller and recorded by The Dorsey Brothers orchestra.
Community Swing is a swing jazz instrumental composed and recorded by Glenn Miller and released as a Brunswick 78 single in 1937 by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra.
"When Icky Morgan Plays the Organ" is a 1935 big band and jazz song written by Glenn Miller. The song was released as a 78 single by Clark Randall and his Orchestra on Brunswick.
"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.
"Tomorrow's Another Day" is a 1935 song composed by Glenn Miller for the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. The song was released as a 78 single by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra on Decca Records.
"Harlem Chapel Chimes" is a 1935 jazz instrumental composed by Glenn Miller. The song was released as an A-side 78 single by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.
'Bing and the Dixieland Bands is a Decca Records album by Bing Crosby featuring songs with a Dixieland flavour which was issued as a 10” LP with catalog No. DL5323 and as a 4-disc 78rpm box set (A-852) and as a 4-disc 45rpm set (9–232).
The Complete Commodore & Decca Masters is a 3CD box set of recordings by Billie Holiday, released by Hip-O Records in 2009, compiling all the master takes released as 78rpm singles by Commodore and Decca Records. It includes an essay by Ashley Kahn.
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.
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