Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Tracks to the 3 CD collection of Miller -- gang

Speranza


 
I.

1. I've got a longing way down in my heart
for that old gang that has drifted apart
they were the best pals that I ever had
I never thought that I'd want them so bad
Gee but I'd give the world to see
THAT OLD GANG OF MINE
I can't forget that old quartette that sang "Sweet Adeline"
Goodbye forever, old fellows and gals
Goodbye forever, old sweethearts and pals
God bless them
Gee but I'd give the world to see
That old gang of mine
Gee but I'd give the world to see
That old gang of mine
I can't forget that old quartette that sang "Sweet Adeline"Goodbye forever, old fellows and galsGoodbye forever, old sweethearts and pals(God bless them)
Gee but I'd give the world to seeThat old gang of mine
Last night I strolled to that old neighborhoodThere on that corner I silently stoodI felt so blue as the crowds hurried byNobody knew how I wanted to cryGee but I'd give the world to seeThat old gang of mineI can't forget that old quartette that sang "Sweet Adeline"Goodbye forever, old fellows and galsGoodbye forever, old sweethearts and pals(God bless them)Gee but I'd give the world to seeThat old gang of mine
Last night 'neath a street lamp I silently stood
On the same corner back in that old neighborhoodA
s I gazed at the houses, unchanged by the yearsIn my throat came a lump and my eyes filled with tearsI looked at the lamppost, the pump and the stoopAnd again I could picture us kids in a groupThere was Shorty, and Yeller and Skinny and MikeAnd the rich kid who had ball bearing skates and a bikeAnd down near the school I could see the brick wallWhere we used to go for a game of handballAnd the crabby old janitor who chased us awaySay, what I wouldn't give to just see him today!
And then came the parties and dances-- that's whyWe didn't notice the years going byAnd the first thing we knew we were all twenty-oneBut the Gang stuck together in a fight or in fun-And then came the War- the crowds in the street-The blast of the Bugle- the tramp of the feetAnd the gang, that old gang of mineWas the first gang that hit the Von Hindenburg line.
But the war is all over and last night as I stood
On the same corner back in that old neighborhoodI couldn't help brushing a tear from my eyeFor I knew not a face in the crowds that went byGone forever are the pals that I loveThere isn't a trace or a signOf that regular honest to goodness old bunchThat I call that old gang of mine
2.  But I'm

BIDIN’ MY TIME

‘Cause that's the kind of guy I'm,

While other folks grow dizzy,

I keep busy,

Bidin' my time.

Next year, next year,

Somethin's bound to happen,

This year, this year,

I'll just keep on mappin',

And bidin' my time,

"Cause that's the kind of guy I'm,

There's no regrettin',

When I'm settin',

Bidin' my time.

I'm bidin' my time,

"Cause that's the kind of guy I'm,

Beginnin' on a Monday,

Right through Sunday,

Bidin' my time.

Give me, give me,

Glass that's bright and twinkles,

Let me, let me,

Dream like Rip Van Winkle.

He's bided his time,

Like that Winkle guy,

I'm chasin' 'way flies,

How the day flies,

Bidin' my time.

 

Some fellows love to tiptoe through the tulips

Some fellows go on singing in the rain

Some fellows keep on painting skies with sunshine

Some fellows must go swinin’ down the lane


 
3. Harbour Lights

4. I wonder who's kissing her now,

Wonder who's teaching her how?

Wonder who's looking in to her eyes?

Breathing sighs!

Telling lies!

I wonder if she's got a boy?

The girl who once filled me with joy,

Wonder if she ever tells him of me?

I wonder who's kissing her now?
5. Roll out the barrel
 
6. Back In Your Own Back Yard
7. Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)
8.a

Moonlight Bay

8 b

Your lips tell me no, no
But there's yes, yes
in your eyes
I've been missin' your kissin'
Just because I wasn't wise
I'll stop my scheming
and dreaming
'Cos I realize
Your lips tell me no, no
But there's yes, yes
in your eyes
I never knew just what to do You had me fooled somehow You made me guess, but I confess I know your secret now Your lips tell me no, no But there's yes, yes in your eyes I've been missin' your kissin' Just because I wasn't wise I'll stop my scheming and dreaming 'Cos I realize Your lips tell me no, no But there's yes, yes in your eyes
You fooled me, dear, now for a year My heart you tantalize But without a doubt, I have found out The secret in your eyes
 
9. On top of Old Smoky,
All covered with snow,
I lost my true lover,
For courting too slow.
For courting’s a pleasure,
But parting is grief,
And a false-hearted lover,
Is worse than a thief.
A thief will just rob you,
And take what you have,
But a false-hearted lover,
Will lead you to your grave.
The grave will decay you,
And turn you to dust,
Not one boy in a hundred
A poor girl can trust.
They’ll hug you and kiss you,
And tell you more lies
Than cross ties on a railroad,
Or stars in the sky.
So come ye young maidens,
And listen to me,
Never place your affection
In a green willow tree.
For the leaves they will wither,
The roots they will die,
And you’ll be forsaken,
And never know why.
 
10. Ev'ry morning, ev'ry evening
AIN'T WE GOT FUN
Not much money
Oh, but honey
Ain't we got fun
The rent's unpaid
dear
We haven't a bus
But smiles were made
dear
For people like us
In the winter in the Summer Don't we have fun Times are bum and getting bummer Still we have fun There's nothing surer The rich get rich and the poor get children In the meantime, in between time Ain't we got fun?
-- Bill collectors gather 'round and rather Haunt the cottage next door Men the grocer and butcher sent Men who call for the rent But within a happy chappy And his bride of only a year Seem to be so cheerful, here's an earful Of the chatter you hear
-- Just to make their trouble nearly double Something happened last night To their chimney a gray bird came Mister Stork is his name And I'll bet two pins, a pair of twins Just happened in with the bird Still they're very gay and merry Just at dawning I heard Ev'ry morning, ev'ry evening Don't we have fun Twins and cares, dear, come in pairs, dear Don't we have fun We've only started As mommer and pop Are we downhearted I'll say that we're not Landlords mad and getting madder Ain't we got fun? Times are so bad and getting badder Still we have fun There's nothing surer The rich get rich and the poor get laid off In the meantime, in between time Ain't we got fun? When the man who sold 'em carpets told 'em He would take them away They said, "Wonderful, here's our chance Take them up and we'll dance" And when burglars came and robbed them Taking all their silver, they say Hubby yelled, "We're famous, for they'll name us In the pepers today Night or daytime, it's all playtime Ain't we got fun? Hot or cold days, any old days Ain't we got fun If Wifey wishes To go to a play Don't wash the dishes Just throw them away Streetcar seats are awful narrow Ain't we got fun? They won't smash up our Pierce Arrow We ain't got none They've cut my wages But my income tax will be so much smaller When I'm laid off, I'll be paid off Ain't we got fun?

11. I wandered today to the hill
Maggie
to watch the scene below
the creek and the rusty old mill

Maggie

where we sat in the long, long ago

the green grove is gone from the hill

Maggie

where first the daisies sprung

the old rusty mill is still

Maggie

since you and I were young.
A city so silent and lone

Maggie

where the young and the gay and the best

in polished white mansion of stone

Maggie

have each found a place of rest

is built where the birds used to play

Maggie

& join in the songs that were sung

for we sang just as gay as they

Maggie

when you and I were young.

They say I am feeble with age

Maggie

my steps are less sprightly than then

my face is a well written page

Maggie

but time alone was the pen

they say we are aged and grey

Maggie

as spray by the white breakers flung

but to me you're as fair as you were

MaggieWhen you and I were young.

And now we are aged and grey

Maggie

The trials of life nearly done

Let us sing of the days that are gone

Maggie

When you and I were young.


 
12.

K-K-K-Katy
 
II.

1. Carolina In The Morning 
2.

Jeannine, I dream of lilac time
Your eyes, they beam in the lilac time
Your winning smile
and cheeks blushing like the rose
Yet all the while, you sigh when nobody knows
Jeannine, my queen of lilac times
When I return, I'll make you mine
For you and I, our love dream will never die
 
3. My Darling Clementine
4. Mairzy Doats
5. Anniversary Song
 
6. Down By The Old Mill Stream

7. Come & sit by my side if you love me;
Do not hasten to bid me adieu,
But remember the RED RIVER VALLEY
And the girl that has loved you so true.

From this valley they say you are going,
We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile,
For they say you are taking the sunshine
Which has brightened our pathways a while.      
I've been thinking a long time, my darling,
Of the sweet words you never would say,
Now, alas, must my fond hopes all vanish?
For they say you are going away.
Won't you think of the valley you're leaving,
Oh, how lonely and sad it will be,
Just think of the fond heart you're breaking,
And the grief you are causing to me.
From this valley they say you are going,
When you go, may your darling go too?
Would you leave her behind unprotected,
When she loves no one other than you.
As you go to your home by the ocean,
May you never forget those sweet hours,
That we spent in the Red River Valley,
And the love we exchanged 'mid the flowers.
I have promised you, darling, that never
Will a word from my lips cause you pain,
And my life, it will be yours forever,
If you only will love me again.
They will bury me where you have wandered,
Near the hills where the daffodils grow,
When you're gone from the Red River valley,
For I can't live without you I know.

 
8. Beautiful Ohio 
9. The Gang That Sang "Heart Of My Heart" 
10. I'm Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover 
11. You Are My Sunshine
12.

I LOVE YOU TRULY truly dear

life with its sorrow life with its tears

fades into dreams when I feel you are near

for I LOVE YOU TRULY truly dear.
 
III.

1. BABY FACE
you've got the cutest little
BABY FACE
there's not another one could take your place
BABY FACE
my poor heart is jumpin’
you sure have started somethin’
BABY FACE
I'm up in heaven when I'm in your fond embrace
I didn't need a shove ’cos I just fell in love
with your pretty
BABY FACE

 
2. WHEN THE RED RED ROBIN COMES BOB BOB BOBBIN’ ALONG along

there'll be no more sobbin'

when he starts throbbin' his old sweet song

wake up wake up you sleepy head

get up get up get out of bed

cheer up cheer up the sun is red

live love laugh & be happy

what if I were blue now I'm walking thru fields of flowers

rain may glisten but still I listen  for hours & hours

I'm just a kid again doing what I did again singing a song

WHEN  THE RED RED ROBIN COMES BOB BOB BOBBIN’ ALONG.

 
3. Jeepers Creepers
4. I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen
5. Don't Bring Lulu
6. Nights are long since you went away

I think about you all through the day

MY BUDDY, MY BUDDY,

no body
 
quite so true

Miss your voice, the touch of your hand

Just long to know that you understand

MY BUDDY, my buddy

Your buddy misses you

 
7. You Oughta Be In Pictures
8. Now Is The Hour
9. Side By Side
10. Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair
11. It's Only A Paper Moon
12. Goodnight Sweetheart
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Monday, July 29, 2013

MRS MILLS MUSIC FOR ANYTIME -- youtube Part I -- From "Among my souvenirs" -- including Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

Speranza

1.

there's nothing left for me
of days that used to be
they're just a memory
AMONG MY SOUVENIRS
some letters sad and blue
a photograph or two
I see a rose from you
AMONG MY SOUVENIRS
a few more tokens rest
within my treasure chest
& tho' they do their best
to give me consolation,
I count them all apart
& as the teardrops start,
I find a broken heart
AMONG MY SOUVENIRS



2.

PEG O'MY HEART
I'll love you
don't let us part
I love you
I always knew
it would be you
since I heard your lilting laughter
it's your Irish heart I'm after
peg o' my heart
your glances make my heart say
how's chances
come be my own
come make your home in my heart

3.

WHERE THE BLUE OF THE NIGHT
 meets the gold of the day
someone waits for me
And the gold of her hair
crowns the blue of her eyes
like a halo tenderly
If only I could see her
oh how happy I would be
Where the blue of the night
meets the gold of the day
someone waits for me                                  

4. I'll be with you in apple blossom time

5. beautiful dreamer
easy throng
beautiful dreamer awaken to me
beautiful dreamer queen of my song
list while I play this sweet melody
gone are the cares of life's busy throng
beautiful dreamer awaken to me
beautiful dreamer awaken to me.

-----

NEXT:

6.

love is the sweetest thing
the oldest yet the nicest thing
I only hope that fate may bring
love's old story
love is the sweetest
the strangets
upon the wing
whatever fate
whatevder fate may bring
this is the story without an
this is the song without end
love is the strangest thing
the oddest yet the sweetest
I only hope that life can bring
love's story to you.

---

7.

but now I gett the call
 I'm getting sentimental over you
things you said or do
just thrill me thru and thru
I'm getting sentimental over you
I could live without love
but I must confess love is all I'm thinking of
don't you please be kind
and open your mind
that you'll be sweet and gentle
be gentle with me
because I'm sentimental
over you.

---

I may be wrong
willing to swear
that when you turned and smiled at me
a nightingale sang in bErkeleye square
the moon that lingered over London town
puzzled moon
how could she know
the whole damn world seemed upside
the streets of town
were paved with stars
romantic affair
and ans we kissed
a nightingale sang in berkeley square

----




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tracks for youtube MRS MILLS -- Music for anytime -- Part II -- from Sleepy Gal

Speranza

1. Sleepy gal

2. I don't know why I love you like I do
you never seem to be my romancing
I don't know why I love you like I do

3. one day when we were young

4. someone like you maria

5. elena

6. tangerine, she is all they claim
with her eyes of
and
she got them in the run
but her heart belogns to just one
her heart belongs to Tangerine.


7. the gypsy.
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10 tracks to CD "Sing along with Mitch Miller", starting with "The yellow rose of Texas" and ending with "Ain't we got fun"

Speranza

1. The Yellow Rose Of Texas
2. Tzena,Tzena,Tzena
3. Heart Of My Heart
4. Singin' In The Rain
5. Bidin My Time
6. March From The River Kwai
7. I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover
8. Bye Bye Blackkbird
9. Five Foot Two, Eyes Of Blue
10. Ain't We Got Fun
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Tracks to one CD "Sing along with Mitch (Miller)"

Speranza

1.
That Old Gang of Mine
2.
Down by the Old Mill Stream
3.
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
4.
You Are My Sunshine
5.
Till We Meet Again
6.
Let the Rest of the World Go By
7.
Sweet Violets
8. I've Got Sixpence
I've Been Working on the Railroad
That's Where My Mon
9.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
10. Don't Fence Me In
11. There Is a Tavern in the Town
Show Me the Way to Go Home
12. Bell Bottom Trousers
Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends
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TRACKS to the 3 CDS of Mitch Miller -- "Sing Along With Mitch Miller" ----

Speranza

36 Sing Along Favorites: Mitch Miller And The Gang
 
 
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36 Sing Along Favorites: Mitch Miller And The Gang

Mitch Miller | Format: Audio CD

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Track Listings

Disc:

1
1. That Old Gang Of Mine
2. Bidin' My Time
3. Harbour Lights
4. I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
5. Roll out the barrel
6. Back In Your Own Back Yard
7. Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me
8. We were sailing along on Moonlight Bay/There's Yes! Yes! In Your Eyes
9. On Top Of Old Smoky
10. Ain't We Got Fun
11. When You And I Were Young, Maggie
12. K-K-K-Katy
Disc: 2
1. Carolina In The Morning 
2. Jeannine (I Dream Of Lilac Time)
3. My Darling Clementine 
4. Mairzy Doats 
5. Anniversary Song
6. Down By The Old Mill Stream
7. Red River Valley 
8. Beautiful Ohio
9. The Gang That Sang "Heart Of My Heart" 
10. I'm Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover 
11. You Are My Sunshine 
12. I Love You Truly -
Disc: 3
1. Baby Face
2. When The Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along
3. Jeepers Creepers
4. I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen
5. Don't Bring Lulu
6. My Buddy
7. You Oughta Be In Pictures
8. Now Is The Hour
9. Side By Side
10. Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair
11. It's Only A Paper Moon
12. Goodnight Sweetheart
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Mitch Miller's Singalong --- "Sing Along With Mitch Miller" -- NBC TV -- Mitch's show format remained popular in England, where Max Bygraves hosted his own, "Sing along with Max".

Speranza
 

        
Mitch Miller
Mitch Miller.jpg
Birth nameMitchell William Miller
Also known as6.0
Born(1911-07-04)July 4, 1911
Rochester, New York, United States
DiedJuly 31, 2010(2010-07-31)
New York City, United States
GenresChoral, traditional pop
OccupationsMusician, singer, conductor, record producer, record company executive
InstrumentsEnglish horn, oboe, vocals
Years active1940s–1960s
Associated actsMitch Miller and The Gang
Sing Along with Mitch


Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was a prominent figure in the American music industry.

Miller was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, working as a musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R (artists and repertoire) man and record company executive.

Miller was one of the most influential figures in American popular music during the 1950s and early 1960s, both as the head of A&R at Columbia Records and as a best-selling recording artist with an NBC television series, Sing Along with Mitch.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in the early 1930s, Miller began his musical career as an accomplished player of the oboe and English horn, and recorded several highly regarded classical albums featuring his instrumental work, but he is best remembered as a conductor, choral director, television performer and recording executive.

 

 

Mitch Miller was born in Rochester, New York, on July 4, 1911, to a Jewish family.

 His mother was Hinda Rosenblum Miller, a former seamstress, and his father, Abram Calmen Miller, a Russian-Jewish immigrant wrought-iron worker.

He had four siblings, two of whom, Leon and Joseph, survived him.

He was married for sixty-five years to the former Frances Alexander, who died in 2000.[2] They had two daughters; Andrea Miller, and Margaret Miller Reuther; and a son, Mitchell "Mike" Miller; and two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Mitch lived in New York City for many years and died there on July 31, 2010, after a short illness.

 

Miller took up the oboe at first as a teenager, because it was the only instrument available when he went to audition for his junior high school orchestra.[2] A talented oboist, at age fifteen he played with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and after graduating from high school he attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. He graduated in 1932 with honors.[2]
After graduating from Eastman, Miller played with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and then moved to New York City where he was a member of the Alec Wilder Octet (1938–40 and possibly longer), as well as performing with David Mannes, Andre Kostelanetz, Percy Faith, George Gershwin, Charlie Parker, and under Frank Sinatra's baton for the 1946 recording of "The Music of Alec Wilder."[2]
Miller played the prominent English horn part in the largo movement of Dvořák's New World Symphony in a famous 1947 recording conducted by Leopold Stokowski.[3]
As part of the CBS Symphony, Miller participated in the musical accompaniment in the infamous radio broadcast of Orson Welles's The War of the Worlds.[4]

 

Miller joined Mercury Records as a classical music producer and served as the head of Artists and Repertoire (A&R) at Mercury in the late 1940s, and then joined Columbia Records in the same capacity in 1950. This was a pivotal position in a recording company, because the A&R executive decided which musicians and songs would be recorded and promoted by that particular record label.
He defined the Columbia style through the early 1960s, signing and producing many important pop standards artists for Columbia, including Johnnie Ray, Percy Faith, Ray Conniff, Jimmy Boyd, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Guy Mitchell (whose pseudonym was based on Miller's first name), and in a fortuitous business move for all, enticed both Patti Page and Frankie Laine to join him at Columbia after their early successes at Mercury.
After arriving at Columbia, he helped direct the careers of artists who were already signed to the label, such as Doris Day, Dinah Shore and Jo Stafford, just to name a few. Miller also discovered Aretha Franklin and signed her to the first major recording contract of her career. When Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records promised her artistic freedom to create records outside the pop mainstream in a more rhythm-and-blues-driven direction, she left Columbia after a few years.
In addition, Miller was also just as responsible for not pursuing certain artists and tunes. He disapproved of rock 'n' roll, and passed not only on Elvis and Buddy Holly, who became stars on RCA and Decca respectively, but also passed on The Beatles as well, creating a fortune in revenue for rival Capitol. Previously, Miller had offered Presley a contract, but balked at the amount Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was asking.
In defense of his anti-rock stance, he once told NME in January 1958: "Rock 'n' roll is musical baby food: it is the worship of mediocrity, brought about by a passion for conformity."[5] The one time that Miller was vetoed over his dislike for rock 'n' roll was when Bill Paley ordered him to sign the inter-racial Mexican rock group "Los Nómadas" since they could record rock records in both English and Spanish. Producer Bob Stanley had found the group during a series of early 1954 'Mexican civil rights concerts" in East Los Angeles. Their lead guitarist Bill Aken (adopted son of Mexican actress Lupe Mayorga, who was a friend of Paley's) was the only Caucasian in the Latino band. Although Mitch had once referred to the group as just "four arrogant little bastards," Miller softened his position regarding them when Paley's estimate of their record sales in Mexico proved to be highly accurate. In all fairness to Miller, it should be noted that it was due to his recommendation and a letter of reference to William Shuman that Aken's parents sent the young musician to the Juilliard School of Music.
Despite his distaste for rock 'n' roll, Miller often produced records for Columbia artists that were rockish in nature. Songs like "A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation)" by Marty Robbins, and "Rock-a-Billy" by Guy Mitchell are just two examples.

 

As a record producer, Miller gained a reputation for both innovation and gimmickry. Although he oversaw dozens of chart hits, his relentlessly cheery arrangements and his penchant for novelty material – for example, "Come on-a My House" (Rosemary Clooney), "Mama Will Bark" (Frank Sinatra) – has drawn criticism from some admirers of traditional pop music. Music historian Will Friedwald wrote in his book Jazz Singing (Da Capo Press, 1996) that "Miller exemplified the worst in American pop. He first aroused the ire of intelligent listeners by trying to turn — and darn near succeeding in turning – great artists like Sinatra, Clooney, and Tony Bennett into hacks. Miller chose the worst songs and put together the worst backings imaginable – not with the hit-or-miss attitude that bad musicians traditionally used, but with insight, forethought, careful planning, and perverted brilliance."[6]
At the same time, Friedwald acknowledges Miller's great influence on later popular music production:
Miller established the primacy of the producer, proving that even more than the artist, the accompaniment, or the material, it was the responsibility of the man in the recording booth whether a record flew or flopped. Miller also conceived the idea of the pop record "sound" per se: not so much an arrangement or a tune, but an aural texture (usually replete with extramusical gimmicks) that could be created in the studio and then replicated in live performance, instead of the other way around. Miller was hardly a rock 'n' roller, yet without these ideas there could never have been rock 'n' roll. "Mule Train", Miller's first major hit (for Frankie Laine) and the foundation of his career, set the pattern for virtually the entire first decade of rock. The similarities between it and, say, "Leader of the Pack", need hardly be outlined here.[7]
While Miller's methods were resented by some of Columbia's performers, including Frank Sinatra and Rosemary Clooney,[8] the label maintained a high hit-to-release ratio during the 1950s. Sinatra, in particular, would speak harshly of Miller and blamed him for his (Sinatra's) temporary fall from popularity while at Columbia, having been forced to record material like "Mama Will Bark" and "The Hucklebuck." Miller countered that Sinatra's contract gave him the right to refuse any song.

Recording artist[edit]

Mitch Miller's single for his 1957 recording of The River Kwai March and the Colonel Bogey March
In the early 1950s Miller recorded with Columbia's house band as "Mitchell Miller and His Orchestra". He also recorded a string of successful albums and singles, featuring a male chorale and his own distinctive arrangements, under the name "Mitch Miller and the Gang" starting in 1950. The ensemble's hits included "The Children's Marching Song" (more commonly known as "This Old Man"), "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", and "The Yellow Rose of Texas", which topped the US Billboard chart, sold over one million copies in the US alone, and reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart.[9] Miller's medley of the two marches from The Bridge on the River Kwai, "The River Kwai March" and "Colonel Bogey March", lasted 29 weeks on the Billboard pop charts in 1958, longer than any other record completely within that year.
In 1957 Miller's orchestra and chorus recorded U.S. Air Force Blue, a U.S. Air Force recruiting song, in a format that today would be called music video. He and his orchestra also recorded children's music for the Golden Records label. A choral group called The Sandpiper Singers provided the vocals for these recordings, including an album of Mother Goose nursery rhymes.
In 1961, Miller also provided two choral tracks set to Dimitri Tiomkin's title music on the soundtrack to The Guns of Navarone. In 1962 they sang the theme of The Longest Day over the end credits. In 1965 they sang the "Major Dundee March", the theme song to Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee. Though the film was a box-office bomb, paradoxically the song remained popular for years. In 1987, Miller conducted the London Symphony Orchestra with pianist David Golub in a well-received[10] recording of Gershwin's "An American in Paris," "Rhapsody in Blue," and "Concerto in F."

 

Promotional photo for the show for New Year's Eve, 1961.

--------

In the early 1960s, Miller became a household name with his NBC television show Sing Along with Mitch, a "community-sing" program featuring him and a male chorale (an extension of his highly successful series of Columbia record albums of the same name).

In keeping with the show's title, viewers were presented with lyrics at the bottom of the television screen, and while many insist there was a bouncing ball to keep time, Miller said this was something they remember from movie theater "sing-alongs" and cartoons.

During the second season of Sing Along with Mitch, Miller himself coined the catchphrase "all smiles."

Singer Leslie Uggams, pianist Dick Hyman, and the singing Quinto Sisters were featured on Sing Along with Mitch.

 One of the singers in Miller's chorale, Bob McGrath, later went on to a successful career on the PBS children's show Sesame Street.

Sing Along with Mitch ran on television from 1961 until it was canceled in 1964, a victim of changing musical tastes.

Selected repeats aired briefly on NBC during the spring of 1966.

However, the show's primary audience was over the age of 40 and it did not gain the favour of advertisers targeting the youth market.

The show's format remained popular in England, where comedian Max Bygraves hosted his own version, Sing Along with Max.


Miller left Columbia Records in 1965 and joined MCA Inc. as a consultant signing the same year with MCA's Decca Records subsidiary.

In later years, Miller would carry on the "sing-along" tradition, leading crowds in song in personal appearances.

For several years, Miller was featured in a popular series of Christmas festivities in New Bedford, Massachusetts, leading large crowds singing carols.

Miller hosted a 1981 TV reunion of

"The Sing Along Gang"

for NBC (featuring veterans from the original gang, including Bob McGrath, Andy Love, Paul Friesen, Victor Griffin, and Dominic Cortese).

Miller also appeared as host of two PBS television specials, "Keep America Singing" (1994) and "Voices In Harmony" (1996), featuring champion quartets and choruses of SPEBSQSA and Sweet Adelines International.

He also appeared conducting regional orchestras and filled in many times as guest conductor of The Boston Pops Orchestra.

 

Steve Allen once performed a pointed satire of Sing Along with Mitch, with the comedian made up as Miller and robotically bending his arms a la Miller while conducting.

The sketch spoofed the show's production values, including cameras panning among the vocalists, going out of control and knocking them over, then chasing Allen out of the studio and onto the roof. Ross Bagdasarian produced an animated spoof in a segment of "The Alvin Show," with the David Seville character conducting the Chipmunks in Miller's herky-jerky style, singing "Down In The Valley" while scrambled lyrics appeared on-screen. Stan Freberg, who had previously recorded "Wunnerful! Wunnerful!", a scathing satire of The Lawrence Welk Show, presented an equally brutal satire of the show, "Sing Along With Freeb", on his February 1962 ABC special, The Chun King Chow Mein Hour. Jonathan and Darlene Edwards (Paul Weston and Jo Stafford) produced an entire album of off-key sing-along in the Miller style, which supposedly greatly angered him. On the cartoon series The Flintstones, Fred and Barney appeared on the "Hum Along with Herman" show (for people who do not know the words), another satire of Miller's show.[13]


In 1999, Amazon.com referenced Sing Along with Mitch in Christmas commercials, featuring a male choral group nicknamed the "Sweatermen" singing subtitled songs about the company.

The advertisements carefully copied Miller's 1961 Christmas special, complete with identical choral arrangements, choreography, and set design.

Awards and honors[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Famed Conductor, Mitch Miller, Dies at 99 in Manhattan". NBC New York. Associated Press. August 2, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Severo, Richard (2 August 2010). "Mitch Miller, Maestro of the Singalong, Dies at 99". New York Times. Retrieved 2 August 2010. 
  3. ^ Lemco, Gary (May 1, 2009). "Stokowski Conducts = DVORAK: Symphony No. 9". Audio Audition. Retrieved 2010-08-03. 
  4. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Mitch Miller > Biography". allmusic. Retrieved August 3, 2010. 
  5. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 48. CN 5585. 
  6. ^ Friedwald, Will. Jazz Singing (Da Capo Press, 1996) p. 221
  7. ^ Friedwald, Will. Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art (New York:Da Capo Press, 1997), 174.
  8. ^ Staff, Slate. "Slate Magazine - Politics, Business, Technology, and the Arts - Slate Magazine". Slate.com. Retrieved 2012-04-16. 
  9. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 367. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  10. ^ Schneider, Edward (December 6, 1987). "Gershwin: His Music Is In Vogue—Still". N.Y.Times. Retrieved 2008-02-15. 
  11. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128957153
  12. ^ "Mitch Miller & Decca Sing a 'Pact-a-Long'". Billboard. December 11, 1965. p. 3. Retrieved October 23, 2011. 
  13. ^ "Sing Along With Mitch | A Television Heaven Review". Televisionheaven.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-12-18. 
  14. ^ "Honorary Members". Barbershop.org. Retrieved 2012-12-18. 
  15. ^ "Rochester Music Hall of Fame honors its 2013 inductees". whec.com. Retrieved 2013-04-30. 

External links[edit]

Authority control
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