[Dixielandjazz] Glen Miller's death

[Hal Vickery]

Interestingly enough a radio show here in the Chicago 'burbs addressed just
that question last week (and unfortunately it's now off the show's web
site).  They had a "big band expert" on who talked about why the bands died.
The subject came up because they were playing remotes by big bands from
1946.

He cited three or four basic reasons.  One is obvious.  Singers became huge
(think Sinatra, but a lot of others), bigger than the bands they sang with.
He didn't mention the recording ban, but I'm sure that had a lot to do with
it since the only new music being released by the major record labels was
vocal.

The other has to do with the changing lifestyles of the fans of the big
bands.  The people who danced in the late '30s went to war in the early
'40s.  by the mid '40s, they were back and doing things like buying houses,
starting families, etc.  Result:  attendance at the dance halls dropped.

Finally there was the direction that the big bands were going.  Ellington
was composing suites that weren't all that danceable.  Then there were the
bands like the Herds, Kenton, and Boyd Raeburn.  Again, not very danceable.

The cost of maintaining (and from the other end booking) big bands also
apparently became prohibitive in the postwar years.  So a lot of them ended
up disbanding because they couldn't get gigs.

So there's one theory.

WWMD?  (What would Miller do?)  Good question.  I know he was playing around
with a different sax sound before he went into the AAF with more emphasis on
the lower register ones.  I've heard it in a few recordings from about that
time.  We also know that he had strings in the AAF band (something that Tex
Beneke continued at least for awhile when the Miller estate gave leadership
of the band to him).  But since he died a decade before the birth of rock
'n' roll, it's pretty hard to say what he would have done by the mid '50s.

Listen to early rock 'n' roll records.  Yeah, you've got the electric
guitar, but you often have string bases, at least one sax, etc.  The lead
guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, drums, and maybe a keyboard groups really
straight out of Chicago blues bands that a lot of the British Invasion
rockers listened to.  So blame Muddy Waters!  :-)  Early rock owed a lot to
guys like Louis Jordan.

Oh, and here's a twist to something you said.  In the '60s there was a
do-wop group called the Duprees.  They were discovered by a big band leader
who had started a small record company.  He coupled their do-wop with
Milleresque reeds.  I like the sound.  Here's a link to some links
(RealAudio required):  http://www.duprees.com/home.html .  Scroll down to
the list of hits.  There are four links to their original recordings.

Hal Vickery  

-----Original Message-----
From: dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com
[mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com] On Behalf Of Larry Walton
Entertainment - St. Louis
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 7:49 PM
To: patcooke77 at yahoo.com; 1-DIXIELAND JAZZ POST
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Glen Miller's death

Pat brings up some interesting questions or at least further thoughts.

The only band leader that I know of who did an early retirement was Artie
Shaw.  So I don't think he would have retired.  If he didn't quit what do
you think he would have done Adapt or die?  The other possibility would have
been a new sound or a mix (Swing Rock with a lead clarinet? or  Do wop with
5 saxes)

I agree that swing like anything else wouldn't have lasted forever but it
didn't last very long as compared to other styles such as rock which is
still with us although modified greatly.  Swing, or more accurately what we
call the big band era, as Miller knew it almost died with him outlasting him
only a short time.

Was the big band era killed by economic times, changing tastes or
electronics?  The economy didn't tank and if anything did fairly well in the
50's.  

Sinatra and Armstrong adapted with new tunes and style enhancements and
continued to give their fans great shows all the way up till their deaths.
Would Miller have done the same?  Personally I think so.  He had an immense
following but with no one to follow they just went away and other leaders,
while there were many greats, didn't have the charisma of Glenn Miller.  I'm
sure that many of you might disagree but I would be interested in hearing
your thoughts.

By the time I got old enough and good enough to be in a big band they had
all pretty much died in my area.  I had a fairly large collection of Glen
Miller and other big bands records and I think I was in the last generation
to dance to their music. My mother actually made me take dancing lessons so
I could swing dance and do all the ballroom dances.

Maybe if he had lived, things in music would have taken a different turn but
I guess we'll never know.  A more interesting question is what would have
happened if the Guitar hadn't been electrified?  If you accept the premise
that Rock and Roll came about just at the time that modern electronics was
born then was R & R a natural outgrowth of the electronics age? (most likely
yes)   If that is true then is the demise of non electronic music on the
horizon.  Will someday the people look at a Trumpet or Sax in the same way
we view a Greek Lyre and wondered what they sounded like?  For those of you
who have Band In The Box tell it to compose a tune.  Once and a while it
actually comes up with something fairly good.  Is this the direction of
music?  Thankfully not yet but times they are a changin'.
Larry Walton
St. Louis