Glenn Miller Orchestra
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band that was formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and commercially successful dance orchestra of the swing era and one of the greatest singles-charting acts of the 20th century. As of 2025, Ray Anthony is the last surviving member of the orchestra. Miller began professionally recording in New York City as a sideman in the hot jazz era of the late 1920s. With the arrival of virtuoso trombonists Jack Teagarden and Tommy Dorsey, Miller focused more on developing his arrangement skills. Writing for contemporaries and future stars such as Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman, Miller gained prowess as an arranger by working in a variety of settings. Later, Miller largely improved his arranging and writing skills by studying under music theorist Joseph Schillinger. In February 1937, Miller started an orchestra that briefly made records for Decca. With this group, Miller used an arrangement he wrote for British bandleader Ray Noble's American band in an attempt to form a clarinet-reed sound. This style developed over time, and eventually became known as the Glenn Miller sound. Frustrated with his agency over playing inconsistent bookings and lacking broad radio exposure, Miller gave the band notice in December 1937. Less than three months later, he was looking for members and forming a new band. Miller began a partnership with Eli Oberstein, which led directly to a contract with Victor subsidiary Bluebird Records. Gaining fame at such engagements as the Paradise Restaurant and Frank Dailey–owned Meadowbrook and their corresponding nationwide broadcasts, Miller struck enormous popularity playing the Glen Island Casino in the summer of 1939. From late 1939 to mid-1942, Miller was the number-one band in the country, with few true rivals. Only Harry James' band began to equal Miller's in popularity as he wound down his career in the wake of the Second World War. The AFM strike prevented Miller from making any new recordings in the last two months of his band's existence, and they formally disbanded at the end of September 1942. Miller's short-term chart successes have seldom been duplicated and his group's unprecedented dominance of early Your Hit Parade and Billboard singles charts resulted in 16 number-one singles and 69 Top Ten hits. |
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1935 - 1947
Roles Represented in DAHR: Musical group
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 301-324 of 324 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brunswick | B21234 | 10-in. | 6/9/1937 | I got rhythm | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B21235 | 10-in. | 6/9/1937 | Sleepy time gal | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B21236 | 10-in. | 6/9/1937 | Community swing | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B21240 | 10-in. | 6/9/1937 | Time on my hands (You in my arms) | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22079 | 10-in. | 11/29/1937 | My fine feathered friend | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Kathleen Lane | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22080 | 10-in. | 11/29/1937 | Humoresque | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22081 | 10-in. | 11/29/1937 | Doin' the jive | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with vocal ensemble | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22082 | 10-in. | 11/29/1937 | Silhouetted in the Moonlight | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Kathleen Lane | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22135 | 10-in. | 12/13/1937 | Eevery day's a holiday | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Kathleen Lane | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22136 | 10-in. | 12/13/1937 | Sweet stranger | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Kathleen Lane | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22972 | 10-in. | 5/23/1938 | Don't wake up my heart | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22973 | 10-in. | 5/23/1938 | Why'd ya make me fall in love | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Gail Reese | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22974 | 10-in. | 5/23/1938 | Sold American | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with vocal chorus | Musical group | |
| Brunswick | B22975 | 10-in. | 5/23/1938 | Dipper mouth blues | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with vocal chorus | Musical group | |
| Decca | 62058 | 10-in. | 3/22/1937 | Peg o' my heart | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Musical group | ||
| Decca | 62059 | 10-in. | 3/22/1937 | Wistful and blue | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Musical group | ||
| Decca | 62060 | 10-in. | 3/22/1937 | How am I to know? | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Musical group | ||
| Decca | 62061 | 10-in. | 3/22/1937 | Anytime, anyday, anywhere | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Musical group | ||
| Decca | 62062 | 10-in. | 3/22/1937 | Moonlight Bay | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Musical group | ||
| Decca | 62063 | 10-in. | 3/22/1937 | I'm sittin' on top of the world | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Musical group | ||
| ARC | 17379 | 10-in. | 4/25/1935 | A blues serenade | Smith Ballew ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| ARC | 17380 | 10-in. | 4/25/1935 | Moonlight on the Ganges | Smith Ballew ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| ARC | 17381 | 10-in. | 4/25/1935 | In a little Spanish town | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| ARC | 17382 | 10-in. | 4/25/1935 | Solo hop | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Glenn Miller Orchestra," accessed January 6, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106747.
Glenn Miller Orchestra. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106747.
"Glenn Miller Orchestra." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 6 January 2026.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Glenn Miller Orchestra
Discogs: Glenn Miller Orchestra
Allmusic: Glenn Miller Orchestra
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Glenn Miller Orchestra - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n93005948
Wikidata: Glenn Miller Orchestra - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2446255
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/121317249
MusicBrainz: Glenn Miller and His Orchestra - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/9b87c1f6-23ae-469b-b710-ea5da2d3f848
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/683936 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/683936
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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