We Remember Glenn Miller Part 1

When I was a senior in high school, the Glenn Miller Orchestra played at one of the nearby high schools.  It was a Sunday evening in the spring and I was kind of interested in the big bands. I didn't have anyone to go with me so I purchased a ticket and went by myself. I took my little cassette recorder with me and stood close to the bandstand. Leading the band that night was a man I had never heard of named Peanuts Hucko. I listened to my tape quite often after that and that was my first introduction to the music of Glenn Miller.

December 15th, 2014 marks the 70th anniversary of the disappearance of Glenn Miller over the English Channel.  During the month of October this is going to be Glenn Miller month. I purchased a record of Glenn Miller shortly after seeing them in concert called "Glenn Miller: A Legendary Performer." There were a lot of radio recordings on this two-record set. I have many Glenn Miller cds in my collection but not this one - so I recorded the record into my computer, took out the ticks, reduced the noise and ended up with what I think is a fairly good sounding digital copy. This is what I played on Part 1 of Big Band Bash.

It was several years later that I learned that Peanuts Hucko only fronted the band for about six months. I do remember him playing a great version of "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" that night. Several years later I got to see Peanuts again when he came through the town I live in with a Benny Goodman recreation band and played many of Benny's hits.

When I was about 21 I was lucky enough to purchase a copy of George T. Simon's biography of Glenn Miller. I have read it several times and always enjoy learning about the history of the Miller band. Glenn Miller only made two movies with his band while alive. I had never seen both of them s I did a search on Youtube and luckily both movies were there. I understand that Orchestra Wives is not available on DVD so I recommend watching them on Youtube.