Chattanooga Choo Choo
The Life and Times of the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra
By Kathryn Crosby
When Major Glenn Miller's plane disappeared between London and Paris on December 15, 1944, the world lost its premier band leader and arranger. Had he lived, he would certainly have exerted enormous influence on the development of post-war popular music.Bing Crosby ranked Glenn Miller's orchestra at the top of all the contemporary big bands. He had worked with Glenn in their early days, and was delighted to join him in England for what, as it sadly transpired, was a final definitive performance.
In this book, Richard Grudens, our nation's outstanding musical biographer, has vouchsafed us a brilliant account of the great musician's life and untimely death, more than that, he has composed a nostalgic memoir of the twenties and thirties, which evokes that era for anyone who lived through it, and recreates it for subsequent generations.
Once again "It's Make Believe Ballroom Time," and we are devouring our triple-decker ice cream cones and banana splits, as Miller's fabulous music transports us out of our grim war-torn reality into a fabled realm of the imagination. He made a desperate situation bearable, and even occasionally enjoyable, for millions of American service men and the girls they left behind, and he richly deserves the immortality which Richard Grudens' brilliant tribute now confers.
Treasure this book. You will refer to it repeatedly to refresh your recollections of a wonderful man who served his nation heroically in very trying times.
Back Cover Photos L-R: Wil Salden, Glenn Miller Orchestra - Europe
Larry O'Brien, Glenn Miller Orchestra - U.S. and Japan
Ray McVay - Glenn Miller Orchestra England
A must read for countless Glenn Miller Orchestra fans who still cherish his music.
Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Glenn Miller's life and the 60th anniversary of his disappearance over the English Channel in late 1944, we present the tribute book Glenn Miller fans all over the world have been waiting for, a compendium of authentic stories, interviews, over 150 photos and features illustrating the life and times of the most popular musical organization in American show business history, spread out under a shower of stars tracing the career of legendary bandleader, arranger and slide trombonist, Alton Glenn Miller, and placing to rest, once and for all, the truth about his mysterious loss during World War II. For the past five years, music biographer Richard Grudens, author of "The Spirit of Bob Hope," "Bing Crosby - Crooner of the Century," and "Jerry Vale - A Singer's Life," combed through countless files, books and newsletters, past chronicles, films, vintage record liners, radio program interviews, radio shows, photo files, and "V" discs, as well as his own personal interviews with Tex Beneke, Patty Andrews, Ray Anthony, Larry O'Brien, Kathryn Crosby, Artie Shaw, Beryl Davis, Willard Alexander, Buddy Morrow, Wynne Miller, George Simon, Johnny Mince, Zeke Zarchy, Billy May, Bobby Hackett, Connie Haines, Kay Starr, Harry James, Roy Belcher, Jack Ellsworth, Ben Grisafi, Chris Valenti, Al Monroe, Nick Hilscher, and includes Swiss disc jockey Max Wirz's interviews with bandleaders around the world: including Wil Salden, Ray McVay and John Miller, to bring forward true accounts of the world's most famous orchestra and its prolific leader, Glenn Miller.
As Kathryn Crosby suggests in her loving and gracious foreword: "Treasure Richard Grudens' biographical book. You will refer to it repeatedly to refresh your recollections of a wonderful man who served his nation heroically in very trying times."
Contact Information:
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