Mitch Miller

Born on July 4, 1911,in Rochester, NY, USA. as Mitchell William Miller. By age 6, Mitch had already learned to play the piano. When he was just 12, he began to study the Oboe. After graduating from Rochester's famed Eastman School of Music, in 1912, he played oboe with symphony orchestras in the Rochester area.

In 1932, he joined CBS Radio, and for the next 11 years, was a soloist with the CBS Symphony. During this period, he played with Andre Kostelanetz; Percy Faith; the Saidenburg Little Symphony; and the Budapest String Quartet.

In late 40's, he became director of Mercury Record's Popular Division, where he was responsible for several big hits for vocalist Frankie Laine; THAT LUCKY OLD SUN; MULE TRAIN; and THE CRY OF THE WOLD GOOSE. (Miller also conducted the orchestra for Laine's JEZEBEL and ROSE, ROSE, I LOVE YOU.)

At this time, shortly after leaving Mercury, a 'crossover' of country to popular song was taking place. Patti Page's TENNESSEE WALTZ had become a smash hit (the first successful 'crossover'). Miller had already arranged Hank William's HEY GOOD LOOKIN' into a hit record for Laine and Jo Stafford, while still at Mercury. and he continued with this 'crossover' policy after he moved to Columbia Records. He recorded Tony Bennett's COLD COLD HEART; Guy Mitchell SINGING THE BLUES; and KNEE DEEP IN THE BLUES; Rosemary Clooney's HALF AS MUCH; Jo Staffords JAMBALAYA, and little known Jan Weber's LET ME GO LOVER. Here's an early photo of the Clooney Sisters, Rosemary is on the Right side. Betty on the Left.

Miller's roster at Columbia also included Johnnie Ray (CRY; JUST CRYING IN THE RAIN; and THE LITTLE WHITE CLOUD THAT CRIED), and also vocalist Frank Sinatra.

The relationship between Sinatra and Miller was taut, with Sinatra rejecting several songs that eventually became hits for singer Guy Mitchell. At that time, the U.S. Congress began an investigation into "Payola", - the practice of payments by record companies to radio stations to promote their records; and by composers to record companies to record their works, etc. After leaving Columbia, Frank Sinatra sent telegrams to the U.S. Senate hearings, and to various judiciary groups, accusing Miller of accepting 'Payola' from writers whose songs Miller had recorded. He also claimed that Miller had given him inferior quality songs. Some of the material that Miller supplied to Sinatra may have been not in keeping with Sinatra's natural style, but others turned out to be major hits, such as BIM BAM BABY and AMERICAN BEAUTY ROSE. But, MAMA WILL BARK was perhaps the most bizarre production. Frank Sinatra made barking and growling noises, and duetted with a new Miller find, a female with the stage name of Dagmar (nee: Jenny Lewis) - a big-breasted, buxom blond beauty then appearing on the Jack Paar Midnight TV Show, in a comedy role.

This popular conductor, arranger, and record producer was one of the most successful recording artists of the 1950's and 1960's. During his tenure as musical director for first Mercury and then Columbia records, he helped guide the careers of such artists as Frankie Laine, Guy Mitchell, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Johnnie Ray, and of such conductors as Ray Coniff; Frank DeVol, and Percy Faith.

During the 1950s record producer Mitch Miller, choosing not to go along with the popular rock and roll movement of the times, introduced a series of "Sing Along" recordings of old standard favorites and printed their lyrics on the album jackets so that the listener could read and sing along with the music. Mitch's success led him to television, first on a FORD STARTIME special in May 1960 and followed by the musical variety program SING ALONG WITH MITCH/NBC/1961-64. The program featured vocalists Carolyn Conway, Gloria Lambert, Barbara McNair, Louise O'Brien, Sandy Stewart, Diana Trask, and Leslie Uggams, as well as the Sing-Along Gang and the Sing-Along Kids. Throughout the program, the goateed Mitch Miller waved his musical baton and encouraged the viewers at home to "follow the bouncing ball" that jumped over the words of the songs superimposed on the bottom of the TV screens at home. A few years earlier the music show SING ALONG/CBS/1958 hosted by Jim Lowe used a similar Sing-Along formula.

In 1950, Mitch began a series of successful recordings with his own orchestra (Mitch Miller and his Gang) which was to make his own name widely known to the public. His first hit was the adaptation of the Israeli Folk song TZENA, TZENA, TZENA, followed by such hits as WITHOUT MY LOVER and UNDER PARIS SKIES. His early 1950's recording of YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS, one of the great marching songs of the American Civil War, remained number 1 on the charts for 6 weeks. Mitch followed that with three hit instrumentals; LISBON ANTIGUA; SONG FOR A SUMMER NIGHT; and MARCH FROM THE RIVER KWAI (also called THE COLONEL BOGEY MARCH). In 1958, he found still more fame with his very successful series of SING ALONG WITH MITCH recordings. These featured an all-male chorus singing turn of the century tunes.

There was a dichotomy in Columbia Records' feelings toward Mitch. Despite the financial gain to Columbia from his record sales, and handling of artists, he had to suffer criticism for his negative attitude towards Rock and Roll. During his tenure at Columbia, he turned down Buddy Holly and other such R&R artists, and was blamed for his company's small market share in that market. On the other hand, his promotion of artists like Doris Day (QUE SERA, SERA), and many others, brought substantial gain to Columbia.