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: 1937 - 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 1-25 of 312 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | BS-027410 | 10-in. | 9/27/1938 | My reverie | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-027411 | 10-in. | 9/27/1938 | By the waters of Minnetonka (Indian love song) | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-027412 | 10-in. | 9/27/1938 | By the waters of Minnetonka (Indian love song) | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-027413 | 10-in. | 9/27/1938 | King Porter stomp | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-033607 | 10-in. | 2/6/1939 | (Gotta get some) Shut-eye | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Marion Hutton | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-033608 | 10-in. | 2/6/1939 | How I'd like to be with you in Bermuda | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-033609 | 10-in. | 2/6/1939 | Cuckoo in the clock | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Marion Hutton | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-033610 | 10-in. | 2/6/1939 | Romance runs in the family | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Marion Hutton | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035399 | 10-in. | 4/4/1939 | The chestnut tree ('Neath the spreading chestnut tree) | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Marion Hutton | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo and vocal ensemble | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035700 | 10-in. | 4/4/1939 | And the angels sing | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035701 | 10-in. | 4/4/1939 | Moonlight serenade | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035702 | 10-in. | 4/4/1939 | The lady's in love with you | Tex Beneke ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035729 | 10-in. | 4/10/1939 | Wishing (Will make it so) | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035730 | 10-in. | 4/10/1939 | Three little fishies (Itty bitty poo) | Tex Beneke ; Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Marion Hutton | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet and vocal ensemble | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035731 | 10-in. | 4/10/1939 | Sunrise serenade | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035732 | 10-in. | 4/10/1939 | Little brown jug | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035764 | 10-in. | 4/18/1939 | My last goodbye | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035765 | 10-in. | 4/18/1939 | But it didn't mean a thing | Glenn Miller Orchestra ; Marion Hutton | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035766 | 10-in. | 4/18/1939 | Pavanne | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-035767 | 10-in. | 4/18/1939 | Runnin' wild | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-036877 | 10-in. | 5/9/1939 | To you | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-036878 | 10-in. | 5/9/1939 | Stairway to the stars | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-037152 | 10-in. | 5/25/1939 | Blue evening | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-037153 | 10-in. | 5/25/1939 | The lamp is low | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group | |
| Victor | BS-037154 | 10-in. | 5/25/1939 | Rendezvous time in Paree | Ray Eberle ; Glenn Miller Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | Musical group |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Glenn Miller Orchestra," accessed December 23, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106747.
Glenn Miller Orchestra. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 23, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106747.
"Glenn Miller Orchestra." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 23 December 2025.
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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