Glenn Miller Anecdote

[Ricardo]

I read a book about Glenn Miller and there was an interesting anecdote that was probably more funny looking back at it.

On one trip, his band was flying to a destination for a performance, and the drums and upright bass were stored in the bomb hatch, if that's the right term.

The drummer and the bassist decided to ride with their instruments on that particular flight. After they landed, they learned that the doors to the hatch were actually open and the only thing supporting them was a sheet of plywood.

[Dave]

LOl, reminds me of the Londonderry Aire for some reason...

[Jim]

What would have the Berliners thought if the Allies had started dropping musical instruments on them ..

[Spitfire XIV-E]

Heh . Probably made up an Umpah Band and started playing

[Ricardo]

I really want to find a recording of that particular band Miller had overseas.

The book said that being enlisted, the musicians rehearsed much more than they would have as civilians, I think because the union rates would have been very expensive for that much rehearsal time.

I think if any band member's going to get into trouble, it will be the drummer.

[Dave]

Ha ha yes we have drummer jokes here in the UK too, the land that brought the world Keith Moon...

Anyway this is interesting, these recordings seem to be available. See this from Wikipedia:

In mid-1944 he had the group transferred to London, where they were renamed the "American Band of the Allied Expeditionary Force". While in the United Kingdom, the band gave more than 800 performances to an estimated one million Allied servicemen. After one of the band's performances, General "Jimmy" Doolittle told a then Captain Miller, "Next to a letter from home, Captain Miller, your organization is the greatest morale builder in the ETO (European Theater of Operations)."
By February 1944, the band consisted of thirty musicians. The dance band boasted several members of his civilian orchestra, including chief arranger Jerry Gray, alongside stars from other bands such as: Ray McKinley, Peanuts Hucko, and Mel Powell. Johnny Desmond and The Crew Chiefs were the singers, although recordings were also made with guest stars such as Bing Crosby, Irene Manning , and Dinah Shore. The Dinah Shore recording sessions took place on September 16, 1944, at the EMI studios on Abbey Road (renamed the Abbey Road Studios), and include Shore's version of Stardust. These recordings are of special musical interest as they were some of the final recordings of Miller's career

EDIT: Just to add this on the disappearance, was news to me, also from Wikipedia:

It is now thought that Glenn Miller's plane was accidentally bombed by RAF aircraft over the English Channel after an abortive air raid on Germany. 138 Lancaster bombers, short on fuel, were jettisoning approximately 100,000 incendiaries in a designated area prior to landing, as per standing orders. The logbooks of Royal Air Force navigator Fred Shaw record that a small single-engined monoplane was seen spiraling out of control, and crashed into the water. If this was indeed the case, then the RAF crews jettisoning ordinance to facilitate safe landing conditions could not have been to blame for Miller's plane straying into their designated drop zone.

[Ricardo]

That is very interesting about his disappearance.

The book is actually called "Next To A Letter From Home" and there's mention of Victor Feldman jamming with the Miller band on drums. I think he was 15 at the time.

This was the same Victor Feldman who played on the Steely Dan album "Aja." I was surprised to learn someone who played with Miller also played with Steely Dan, although they definitely have jazz influences, too.

[writerip]

I love listening to Glen Miller and have exposed my kids to as much music from that time period as possible. It's so much nicer than what they listen to today!