Today in Music (1942): Glenn Miller hit #1 with “String of Pearls”

A String of Pearls Glenn Miller

Writer(s): Jerry Gray (music), Eddie DeLange (words) (see lyrics here) Recorded: November 3, 1941 First Charted: January 3, 1942 Peak: 12 US, 6 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 5.2 video, 13.45 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This was “onie of the most successful results of the historic collaboration between Glenn Miller and Jerry Gray [the song’s composer] that produced more top 10 records during the fastest time period of any musical team in history.” CU Gray became the chief arranger and musical collaborator for clarinetist and bandleader Artie Shaw by 1939. However, that November, Gray was offered a job by Miller within hours CU of Shaw ditching his band and heading to Mexico. SS As Miller’s arranger, Gray contributed #1 hits “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo,” “Moonlight Cocktail,” “Elmer’s Tune,” and, of course, “A String of Pearls.” CU It was this song which got Gray promoted from arranger to composer by Miller. TY2 The song, introduced on Miller’s Chesterfield radio programs in August 1941, featured “booming sax solos and familiar battle between Miller stars Tex Beneke and Ernie Caceres followed by the challenge between Al Klink and renown veteran jazz saxist Babe Russin.” CU In Smithsonian’s boxsed set of Big Band Jazz, it is described as sustaining “one of the most unusual blue moods in all recorded jazz. The piece has a main melody that is virtually no melody, barely even a riff, and is for most people absolutely memorable once it is heard.” SS The song was officially recorded for RCA Bluebird on November 3, 1941. It featured “a beautiful, graceful cornet solo by Bobby Hackett,” TY2 who was usually Miller’s guitarist, turning what “might have been just another Glenn Miller instrumental into a hit.” TY2 It landed at #1 on the Billboard chart of national best-selling records on February 7, 1942 – knocking off Miller and Gray’s “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” It would be knocked from the top by “Moonlight Cocktail,” giving Miller the #1 spot for all but one week during a six month frame from November 1941 to April 1942. CU The song became “a big band and jazz standard” WK recorded by Enoch Light and the Light Brigade, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Harry James, Stan Kenton, and Lawrence Welk. Benny Goodman had a #15 hit with it 1942. In 1944, Miller charted again with a reissue of the song. Resources: CU University of Colorado – Boulder (Dec. 2017). “A Number One Hit and Glenn Miller Chestnut” SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 457-8. TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 313, 586. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/19/2021; last updated 1/31/2024.

On This Day (1941): Glenn Miller hit #1 with “Chattanooga Choo Choo”

Chattanooga Choo Choo Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke & the Four Modernaires

Writer(s): Mack Gordon, Harry Warren (see lyrics here) Recorded: May 7, 1941 First Charted: September 13, 1941 Peak: 19 US, 12 HP, 12 GA (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.2 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 21.05 video, 13.69 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The team of Mack Gordon and Harry Warren wrote the song while travelling on the Southern Railway. “Chattanooga Choo Choo” didn’t refer to a particular train, but Chattanooga, Tennessee, had been on the route for most trains passing through the American South since 1880. WK The song was used in the film Sun Valley Serenade, a story about a train travelling south from New York. SS Tex Beneke and Paul Kelly from Glenn Miller’s band sang the song in the film with the Modernaires – but actress Dorothy Dandridge lent her pipes to the song in the film as well. SS It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song from a movie in 1941. A week after finishing work on the movie, the band went into the studio to record “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” SS It became Miller’s biggest hit after “In the Mood.” In Recorded Music in American Life, William Howland Kenney notes how the song resonated with GI’s coming home. It reminded them “of the excitement of entering Penn Station, ticket in hand for a trip home, getting a shine, hopping board and…eat[ing] and drink[ing] while watching the Carolina countryside flash by.” SS “Chattanooga” achieved the distinction of being the first record to be formally certified as a million seller. PM although Gene Austin’s “My Blue Heaven” had accomplished the feat a dozen years earlier. SS To celebrate the event, RCA Victor presented a gold-laquered facsimile disc to Miller on February 10, 1942. TY Years later the Recording Industry Association of America picked up on the idea and awarded gold records to million-sellers. SS In addition to Miller’s #1 version of the song in 1941, it found success in 1962 with Floyd Cramer’s #36 version and again in 1978 when the female disco quartet Tuxedo Junction took the song to #32. JA Others who rcorded the song include the Andrews Sisters, George Benson, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Harry Connick Jr., Ray Conniff, John Denver, Bill Haley & the Coments, the Muppets, Oscar Peterson, Elvis Presley, and Hank Snow. WK “It remains a vocal-group standard.” JA Resources: DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 35. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 603. TY1 Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. Quill: New York, NY. Page 105. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 311. WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 9/5/2023.