Tommy Dorsey
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP | Tommy Dorsey | |
|---|---|
 Tommy Dorsey in The Fabulous Dorseys | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. |
| Born | (1905-11-19)November 19, 1905 Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | November 26, 1956(1956-11-26) (aged 51) Greenwich, Connecticut |
| Genres | Big band, swing, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Bandleader, trombonist, conductor |
| Instruments | Trombone, trumpet, cornet |
| Years active | 1920s–1956 |
| Labels | RCA Victor, Brunswick Decca, OKeh, Columbia |
| Associated acts | The California Ramblers, Jimmy Dorsey, Jean Goldkette, Paul Whiteman, Frank Sinatra, The Pied Pipers, Buddy DeFranco, Buddy Rich, Jo Stafford, Connie Haines, Glenn Miller, The Boswell Sisters, Dick Haymes, Gene Krupa, Sy Oliver, Nelson Riddle |
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956)[1] was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", because of his smooth-toned trombone playing.[2] His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians.[3] He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey.[4] After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely popular and highly successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as "Opus One", "Song of India", "Marie", "On Treasure Island", and his biggest hit single, "I'll Never Smile Again".
Contents
1 Early life
2 His own band
3 Personal life
3.1 Death and aftermath
4 Number one hits
5 Songs written by Tommy Dorsey
6 Honors and posthumous recognition
7 Discography
8 V-Disc recordings
9 Filmography
10 Grammy Hall of Fame
11 Noted sidemen
12 Notes
13 References
14 External links
Early life
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr., was born in Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania, the second of four children born to Thomas Francis Dorsey Sr., a bandleader himself,[5] and Theresa (née Langton) Dorsey.[6] He and Jimmy, his older brother by slightly less than two years, would become famous as the "Dorsey Brothers". The two younger siblings were Mary and Edward, who died young.[7] Tommy Dorsey initially studied the trumpet with his father, only to later switch to the trombone.[3]
At age 15, Jimmy recommended Tommy as the replacement for Russ Morgan in the 1920s territory band "The Scranton Sirens". Tommy and Jimmy worked in several bands, including those of Tal Henry, Rudy Vallee, Vincent Lopez, Nathaniel Shilkret. In 1923, Dorsey followed his brother Jimmy to Detroit to play in Jean Goldkette's band and later returned to New York in 1925 to play with the California Ramblers.[8] In 1927 he joined Paul Whiteman. In 1929, the Dorsey Brothers had their first hit with "Coquette" for OKeh records.[9]
In 1934, the Dorsey Brothers band signed with Decca records, having a hit with "I Believe In Miracles".[10] Future bandleader Glenn Miller was a member of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934 and 1935, composing "Annie's Cousin Fanny",[11] "Tomorrow's Another Day", "Harlem Chapel Chimes", and "Dese Dem Dose", all recorded for Decca,[12] for the band. Ongoing acrimony between the brothers, however, led to Tommy Dorsey's walking out to form his own band in 1935, just as the orchestra was having a hit with "Every Little Moment".[13] Dorsey's orchestra was known primarily for its renderings of ballads at dance tempos, frequently with singers such as Jack Leonard and Frank Sinatra.[3]
His own band
Tommy Dorsey's first band was formed out of the remains of the Joe Haymes band, and so began Dorsey's long-running practice of raiding other bands for talent. If he admired a vocalist, musician or arranger, he would think nothing of taking over their contracts and careers.[citation needed] Dorsey had a reputation for being a perfectionist.[14] He was volatile and also known to hire and fire (and sometimes rehire) musicians based on his mood.[15][16] The new band was popular from almost the moment it signed with RCA Victor with "On Treasure Island," the first of four hits for the new band in 1935. After his 1935 recording, however, Dorsey's manager cut the "hot jazz" that Dorsey had mixed with his own lyrical style and instead had Dorsey play pop and vocal tunes. Dorsey would keep his Clambake Seven as a Dixieland group that played during performances, too.[8] The Dorsey band had a national radio presence in 1936, first from Dallas and then from Los Angeles. Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra took over comedian Jack Pearl's radio show in 1937.[17]
 | "Little Man with a Candy Cigar" An excerpt of Jo Stafford's first solo recording with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, released in 1941 |
Problems playing this file? See media help. | |
By 1939, Dorsey was aware of criticism that his band lacked a jazz feeling. He hired arranger Sy Oliver away from the Jimmie Lunceford band.[18][19] Sy Oliver's arrangements include "On The Sunny Side of the Street" and "T.D.'s Boogie Woogie"; Oliver also composed two of the new band's signature instrumentals, "Well, Git It" and "Opus One".[20] In 1940, Dorsey hired singer Frank Sinatra from bandleader Harry James.[21] Frank Sinatra made eighty recordings from 1940 to 1942 with the Dorsey band.[22] Two of those eighty songs are "In the Blue of Evening"[21] and "This Love of Mine".[23] Frank Sinatra achieved his first great success as a vocalist in the Dorsey band and claimed he learned breath control from watching Dorsey play trombone.[24][25] In turn, Dorsey said his trombone style was heavily influenced by that of Jack Teagarden.[26] Among Dorsey's staff of arrangers was Axel Stordahl[27] who arranged for Frank Sinatra in his Columbia and Capitol records years. Another member of the Dorsey band was trombonist Nelson Riddle, who later had a partnership as one of Sinatra's arrangers and conductors in the 1950s and afterwards.[28] Another noted Dorsey arranger, who, in the 1950s, married and was professionally associated with Dorsey veteran Jo Stafford, was Paul Weston.[29]Bill Finegan, an arranger who left Glenn Miller's civilian band, arranged for the Tommy Dorsey band from 1942 to 1950.[30]
The band featured a number of future famous instrumentalists, singers and arrangers in the 1930s and '40s, including trumpeters Zeke Zarchy,[31]Bunny Berigan,[32]Ziggy Elman,[33][34]Carl "Doc" Severinsen,[35] and Charlie Shavers,[36] pianists Milt Raskin, Jess Stacy,[37] clarinetists Buddy DeFranco,[38]Johnny Mince,[39] and Peanuts Hucko.[40] Others who played with Dorsey were drummers Buddy Rich,[41]Louie Bellson,[42]Dave Tough[39] saxophonist Tommy Reed, and singers Frank Sinatra, Jack Leonard,[43]Edythe Wright,[44]Jo Stafford with The Pied Pipers,[45]Dick Haymes,[46]
and Connie Haines.[47] In 1944, Dorsey hired the Sentimentalists who replaced the Pied Pipers.[48] Dorsey also performed with singer Connee Boswell[39] Dorsey hired ex-bandleader and drummer Gene Krupa after Krupa's arrest and scandal for marijuana possession in 1943.[49]
In 1942 Artie Shaw broke up his band and Dorsey hired the Shaw string section. As George Simon in Metronome magazine noted at the time, "They're used in the foreground and background (note some of the lovely obbligatos) for vocal effects and for Tommy's trombone."[50]
As Dorsey became successful, he made further business decisions in the music industry. He loaned Glenn Miller money to launch Miller's successful band of 1938,[51] but Dorsey saw the loan as an investment, entitling him to a percentage of Miller's income. When Miller balked at this, the angry Dorsey got even by sponsoring a new band led by Bob Chester, and hiring arrangers who deliberately copied Miller's style and sound. Dorsey branched out in the mid-1940s and owned two music publishing companies, Sun and Embassy.[52] After opening at the Los Angeles ballroom, the Hollywood Palladium on the Palladium's first night, Dorsey's relations with the ballroom soured and he opened a competing ballroom, the Casino Gardens circa 1944.[52] Dorsey also owned for a short time a trade magazine called The Bandstand.[52]
Tommy Dorsey disbanded his own orchestra at the end of 1946. Dorsey might have broken up his own band permanently following World War II, as many big bands did due to the shift in music economics following the war, but Tommy Dorsey's album for RCA Victor, "All Time Hits" placed in the top ten records in February 1947. In addition, "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?", a single recorded by Dorsey, became a top-ten hit in March 1947. Both of these successes made it possible for Dorsey to re-organize a big band in early 1947.[53] The Dorsey brothers were also reconciling. The biographical film of 1947, The Fabulous Dorseys, describes sketchy details of how the brothers got their start from-the-bottom-up into the jazz era of one-nighters, the early days of radio in its infancy stages, and the onward march when both brothers ended up with Paul Whiteman before 1935 when The Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra split into two.[54] In the early 1950s, Tommy Dorsey moved from RCA Victor back to the Decca record label.[55]
Jimmy Dorsey broke up his own big band in 1953. Tommy invited him to join up as a feature attraction.[56] and, a short while later, Tommy renamed the band the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra featuring Jimmy Dorsey. In 1953, the Dorseys focused their attention on television.[57] On December 26, 1953, the brothers appeared with their orchestra on Jackie Gleason's CBS television show, which was preserved on kinescope and later released on home video by Gleason. The brothers took the unit on tour and onto their own television show, Stage Show, from 1954 to 1956. In January 1956 The Dorseys made rock music history introducing Elvis Presley on his national television debut. Presley, then a regional country singer, made six guest appearances on Stage Show promoting his first releases for RCA Records several months prior to his more familiar visits to the Milton Berle, Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan variety programs.[58]
Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra, RCA Victor Studios, 1941
Personal life
Dorsey's married life was varied and, at times, lurid.[59] His first wife was 16-year-old Mildred "Toots" Kraft, with whom he eloped in 1922, when he was 17. They had two children, Patricia and Thomas F. Dorsey III (nicknamed "Skipper"). In 1935, they moved to "Tall Oaks," a 21-acre (8.5 ha) estate in Bernardsville, New Jersey.[60] They divorced in 1943 after Dorsey's affair with his former singer Edythe Wright.[61]
He then wed movie actress Pat Dane in 1943, and they were divorced in 1947,[62] but not before he gained headlines for striking actor Jon Hall when Hall embraced her. Finally, Dorsey married Jane Carl New [63] on March 27, 1948, in Atlanta, Georgia. She had been a dancer at the Copacabana nightclub in New York City. Tommy and Jane Dorsey had two children, Catherine Susan and Steve.
Death and aftermath
On November 26, 1956, Dorsey died a week after his 51st birthday in his Greenwich, Connecticut home. He had begun taking sleeping pills regularly at this time, from which he was so sedated that he died in his sleep from choking after eating a heavy meal.[64]Jimmy Dorsey led his brother's band until his own death from lung cancer the following year. At that point, trombonist Warren Covington became leader of the band with Jane Dorsey's blessing[65] as she owned the rights to her late husband's band and name. Billed as the "Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Starring Warren Covington", they topped the charts in 1958 with "Tea for Two Cha-Cha".[66]
After Covington led the band, tenor saxophonist Sam Donahue led it from 1961, continuing until 1966.[67]Frank Sinatra Jr. made his professional singing debut with the band at Dallas Memorial Theater in Texas in 1963. Later, trombonist and bandleader Buddy Morrow led the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra from 1977 until his death on September 27, 2010. Jane Dorsey died of natural causes at the age of 79, in Miami, Florida in 2003. Tommy and Jane Dorsey are interred together in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.[68]
The grave of Tommy and Jane Dorsey in Kensico Cemetery
Number one hits
Tommy Dorsey had a run of 286 Billboard chart hits.[69]
The Dorsey band had seventeen number one hits with his orchestra in the 1930s and 1940s including: "On Treasure Island", "The Music Goes 'Round and Around", "You", "Marie" (written by Irving Berlin), "Satan Takes a Holiday", "The Big Apple", "Once in a While", "The Dipsy Doodle", "Our Love", "All the Things You Are", "Indian Summer" and "Dolores". He had two more number one hits in 1935 when he was a member of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra: "Lullaby of Broadway" (written by Harry Warren), number one for two weeks, and "Chasing Shadows", number one for three weeks. His biggest hit was I'll Never Smile Again, featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals, which was number one for twelve weeks on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1940. "In the Blue of Evening"[70] was number 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1943.[71]
Songs written by Tommy Dorsey
- 1929: "You Can't Cheat a Cheater" with Phil Napoleon and Frank Signorelli[72]
- 1932: "Three Moods"[73]
- 1937: "The Morning After"
- 1938: "Chris and His Gang" with Fletcher and Horace Henderson;[74][75][76]
- 1938: Tommy Dorsey wrote the song "Peckin' With Penguins" for a 1938 Frank Tashlin-directed Porky Pig cartoon, "Porky's Spring Planting" for the studio Warner Bros.[77]
- 1939: "To You,"[78][79]
- 1939: "This Is No Dream"
- 1939: "You Taught Me to Love Again"[80][81]
- 1939: "In the Middle of a Dream"
- 1939: "Night in Sudan"[82][83]
- 1939: "Dark Laughter" with Juan Tizol[84]
- 1945: "Fluid Jive"
- 1945: "Fried Chicken"[85]
- 1946: "Nip and Tuck"
- 1947: "Trombonology"[86]
- Co-written with Fred Norman
- "Bunch of Beats"
- "Mid Riff"
- "Candied Yams"[85]
Honors and posthumous recognition
In 1982, the 1940 Victor recording "I'll Never Smile Again" was the first of a trio of Tommy Dorsey recordings to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[87] His theme song, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" was inducted in 1998, along with his recording of "Marie" written by Irving Berlin in 1928.[88] In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey commemorative postage stamp.
Discography
- 1961: The One And Only Tommy Dorsey (RCA Camden)
- 1966: Tommy Dorsey's Dance Party (Vocalion)
- 1971: This is Tommy Dorsey (RCA Victor)
- 1976: Tommy Dorsey (1937 – 1941) (AMIGA) [89]
- 1988: All-Time Greatest Dorsey/Sinatra Hits, Vol. 1-4 (RCA)
- 1982: The Dorsey/Sinatra Sessions (RCA)
- 1990: Yes, Indeed! (Bluebird/RCA)
- 1991: Music Goes Round and Round (Bluebird/RCA)
- 1994: Stop, Look and Listen (1994) (ASV/Living Era)
- 1999: The V-Disc Recordings (Collectors' Choice)
- 1999: 1937, Vol. 3
- 2001: This Is Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Vol. 1 (Collectables)
- 2004: 1939, Vol. 3
- 2004: Tommy Dorsey: The Early Jazz Sides: 1932 – 1937 (Jazz Legends)
- 2004: It's D'Lovely 1947–1950 (Hep) [90][91]
V-Disc recordings
- Blue Skies, No. 1B, October, 1943, with Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers
- Well Get It, No. 86A, December, 1943
- April in Paris, No. 134, 1944
- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, No. 150B, March, 1944
- Hawaiian War Chant and March of the Toys, No. 195B, May, 1944
- Paramount on Parade, No. 206, 1944
- Minor Goes A'Muggin' and Losers Weepers, No. 220A, 1944
- Not So Quiet Please, No. 220B, 1944, with Gene Krupa
- Wagon Wheels, No. 222A, 1944
- T.D. Chant, No. 222B, with Gene Krupa and Buddy DeFranco
- Tess's Torch Song and Milkman Keep Those Bottles Quiet, No. 227A, 1944, with Georgia Gibbs
- Irresistible You and I Never Knew, No. 227B, with Bob Allen and The Sentimentalists
- Small Fry, No. 269A, 1944, with Bing Crosby
- Milenberg Joys, No. 273B, 1944
- Sweet and Lovely and The Lamp is Low, No. 320A (Army), November, 1944
- Melody in A and Chicago, No. 322A, 1944
- Over the Rainbow and I May Be Wrong But I Think You're Wonderful, No. 335A, December, 1944, with Judy Garland
- For All We Know and The Lady in Red, No. 347A (Army), January, 1945
- Nobody's Baby and Three Little Words, No. 362A, 1945
- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, No. 391A, March, 1945
- More Than You Know, No. 451A (Army); No. 231A (Navy), June, 1945, with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
- Brotherly Jump, No. 451B, June, 1945, with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
- I'll Never Smile Again, No. 582A (Army), February, 1946, with Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipe
- Boogie Woogie, No. 877A, January, 1949
- Marie, No. 890A, Tommy Dorsey and Band, March, 1949
Filmography
Segar Ellis and His Embassy Club Orchestra (1929)needs citation
Alice Bolden and Her Orchestra (1929)[92]
Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra appear in the following films for the studios Paramount, MGM, Samuel Goldwyn, Allied Artists and United Artists:[93]
Las Vegas Nights (1941)[77]
Ship Ahoy (1942)[55]
Presenting Lily Mars(1943)[94]
Girl Crazy (1943)[55]
Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)[55]- Broadway Rhythm (1944)
Thrill of a Romance (1945)[55]
The Great Morgan (1946)[95]
The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)[96]
A Song Is Born (1948)[55]
Disc Jockey (1951)[55]
The Dorsey Brothers appear in the 1953 sixteen-minute Universal-International film called The Dorsey Brothers Encore.[97]
Grammy Hall of Fame
Tommy Dorsey was posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance."
Tommy Dorsey: Grammy Hall of Fame Awards[98] | |||||
| Year Recorded | Title | Genre | Label | Year Inducted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | "I'll Never Smile Again" | Jazz (single) | Victor | 1982 | |
| 1936 | "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" | Jazz (single) | Victor | 1998 | |
| 1937 | "Marie" | Jazz (single) | Victor | 1998 | |
Noted sidemen
Noni Bernardi (1911–2006), big-band musician and member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council, 1961–93
Buddy Rich in the 1940s
Notes
^ Tommy Dorsey at Find a Grave
^ "Dorsey, Thomas Francis Jr. ("Tommy," "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing")". Pennsylvania Center For The Book/Lisa A. Moore. n.d. [date published unknown].
^ abc "Jazz: A Film By Ken Burns: Selected Artist Biography - Tommy Dorsey". PBS. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
^ "Dorsey, James Francis 'Jimmy'". Pennsylvania Center For The Book/Nicole DeCicco. n.d. [date published unknown].
^ Billboard, July 25, 1942 died July 13, 1942
^ Dorsey, Thomas Francis Jr. ('Tommy,' 'The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing'). The family moved to Lansford shortly after his birth.
^ Levinson, Peter (2005). Livin' In A Great Big Way. New York: DaCapo. p. 354. ISBN 978-0-306-81111-1.
^ ab "Dorsey, Tommy (Thomas Francis Jr.) – Jazz.com | Jazz Music – Jazz Artists – Jazz News". Jazz.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-09. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
^ "Tommy Dorsey". VH1/William Ruhlmann/All Music Guide. n.d. [date published unknown].
^ "Tommy Dorsey". Billboard.
^ "Tuxedo Junction Tommy Dorsey". George Spink. 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-03-18.
^ "Dorsey Brothers Orchestra". Scott Alexander. n.d. [date published unknown].
^ "Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians, Dorsey, Tommy". Archived from the original on 2013-04-09.
^ Marc Myers (July 9, 2009). "Jazz Wax: Interview Buddy DeFranco Opus 1". JazzWax.
^ Peter Levinson quotes Tommy Dorsey as saying, "Nobody leaves this band. I only fire people." Drummer Louis Bellson sees a more a benign Dorsey, as the same website quotes him, "[H]e wanted you to play your best every night." see http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/mainHTML.cfm?page=levinson-dorsey.html
^ On George Spink's website, saxophonist Bud Freeman says that he quit twice and was fired three times during his employment with Dorsey. Also the same website says that singers Jo Stafford and the Pied Pipers quit the Dorsey band in 1942 because of an argument with Dorsey. see "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-18. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
^ All radio references from "Dorsey, Thomas Francis Jr."
^ "Jazz Wax"
^ "When I moved from the Lunceford band to Tommy Dorsey, I didn't change my writing approach. He made the transition. The band that Dorsey had when I joined him was Dixieland-orientated [sic], and my sort of attack was foreign to most of the fellows he had. We both knew that to be the case, but he wanted a Swing band—so he changed personnel until he got the guys that could do it." Sy Oliver. see "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
^ "The Sy Oliver Story, Part 1". Les Tomkins. 1974. Archived from the original on 2009-03-09.
^ ab Gilliland, John (1994). Pop Chronicles the 40s: The Lively Story of Pop Music in the 40s (audiobook). ISBN 978-1-55935-147-8. OCLC 31611854. Tape 1, side A.
^ "The Kennedy Center Biography of Frank Sinatra". The Kennedy Center. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06.
^ "Sinatra The Complete Guide". Brett Wheadon. 1986.
^ "Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians"
^ Later Sy Oliver and Frank Sinatra would do a posthumous tribute album to Tommy Dorsey on Sinatra's Reprise records. "I Remember Tommy" appeared in 1961. See http://www.billboard.com/album/frank-sinatra/i-remember-tommy/143607/review#/album/frank-sinatra/i-remember-tommy/143607/review
^ "Teagarden's technique had an enormous influence on trombonists after him. Tommy Dorsey, who was to become one of the most popular trombonists of the swing era, so respected Teagarden's playing that he refused to play a solo while Teagarden was in the same room." see "Online Trombone Journal" by David Wilken, http://www.trombone.org/articles/library/evojazz2.asp
^ Simon Says p.297 also see "Jerry Jazz Musician: Interview With Peter Levinson" http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/mainHTML.cfm?page=levinson.html
^ "Yes, the musical discipline of Tommy Dorsey, that was such an ingredient of everything he did, was something that Nelson grabbed on to. As an arranger, Dorsey knew what he wanted and Nelson had to deliver a high standard of arranging. As Bill Finegan pointed out to me, playing all of those Sy Oliver charts gave Riddle the sense of how to write very dynamic arrangements, which he did about ten years later for Sinatra." see "Jerry Jazz Musician: Interview with Peter Levinson"
^ "Jo Stafford Biography". The University of Arizona College of Fine Art School of Music. Archived from the original on 2010-04-06. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
^ "Tommy Dorsey: Lonesome Road". Jazz.com. c. 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-02-11.
^ Thurber, Jon (April 17, 2009). "Ruben 'Zeke' Zarchy: Big Band Trumpeter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
^ "Box Sets: Gift Guide by Harvey Pekar Tommy Dorsey The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing". Austin Chronicle Corp. December 9, 2005.
^ "Jazzed In Cleveland Part 117 Tommy Dorsey's Dance Caravan". Joe Mosbrook. 2007.
^ "Elman played a month with violinist Joe Venuti's band, then joined Tommy Dorsey's orchestra in August [1940], at a salary of $500 a week; other players might have been getting, say, $100. But he also had some extra responsibility, and became Tommy's right-hand man, acting as "straw-boss," conducting rehearsals, filling in as director when Dorsey was momentarily off the bandstand during the course of a night, or, just for fun, when Tommy would play trumpet and Elman would play trombone." see: "Ziggy Elman: Fralich In Swing" by Chris Popa [1]
^ "Space Age Pop Doc Severinson". Spaceagepop. 2008.
^ "Legends of Big Band History". Swingmusic.net. 2004–2007.
^ "Obituaries: Jess Stacy". London: Independent News and Media, Limited. January 4, 1995. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
^ "Buddy's Bio". CYber Sytes Inc. n.d.
^ abc Harvey Pekar
^ "Peanuts Hucko". London: Independent News and Media Limited. June 21, 2003. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
^ "Buddy Rich". Drummerworld. n.d.
^ "Louie Bellson 1924-2009". Jazzwax. 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-07-09.
^ "Solid! Jack Leonard". Parabrisas. 1996–2005. Archived from the original on 2009-12-22.
^ "Legends of Big Band Music History Tommy Dorsey". Swingmusic.net. 2004–2007.
^ "Songwriters Friends Jo Stafford". Songwriters Hall of Fame. [permanent dead link]
^ "Solid! Dick Haymes". Parabrisas. 1996–2005. Archived from the original on 2009-02-03.
^ "Connie Haines: Performer who sang with Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey Band". Independent News and Media, ltd. October 5, 2008.
^ Levinson 174-175
^ "Biography [Gene Krupa]". Shawn C. Martin. 1997–2001.
^ Simon, George (1971). Simons Says: The Sights and Sounds of the Big Band Era. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-88365-001-1.
^ Simon, George (1980). Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. New York: DaCapo. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-306-80129-7.
^ abc Dorsey, Thomas Francis Jr.
^ VH1/William Rulmann/All Music Guide
^ "The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)". IMDB. n.d. [date published unknown].
^ abcdefg "Tommy Dorsey" Billboard
^ Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey reunited on March 15, 1945, to record a V-Disc at Liederkranz Hall in New York City. Released in June 1945, V-Disc 451 featured "More Than You Know" backed with "Brotherly Jump." The songs featured the combined orchestras of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.<citation needed>
^ see "Tommy Dorsey" IMDB https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0234186/
^ "CBS Studio 50 The Ed Sullivan Theater". James V. Roy for Scotty Moore. n.d. [date published unknown].
^ Levinson 171-172
^ Baratta, Amy. "Big band leader among owners of historic home in Bernardsville; Dorsey hosted Frank Sinatra, other celebrities", The Bernardsville News, April 20, 2012. Accessed June 6, 2016. "Known as 'the sentimental gentleman of swing,' the musician purchased the 21-acre estate for $32,000 in 1935 and lived there with his first wife, Mildred 'Toots' Kraft, and their two children, Patricia and Tommy, for nearly a decade."
^ Levinson 148
^ Levinson 211
^ b. 20 October 1923 in Dublin, Laurens County, Georgia; d. 24 August 2003 in Bay Harbor Island, Miami-Dade County, Florida see Jane Carl New Dorsey at Find a grave
^ Levinson 299
^ "Tommy died with no will and reportedly left only about $15,000[...]. Since [Dorsey's widow] Janie New continued to need money to support her family and because she legally owned the rights to Tommy's library of arrangements, she was naturally very interested when [Willard] Alexander approached her about creating a Tommy Dorsey band". Levinson 308-309
^ Levinson 309
^ Levinson 309-310
^ Jane Dorsey date of death and interment facts from Levinson 320
^ Levinson 308.
^ "RCA Victor [...] scored with 'There Are Such Things', which had a Sinatra vocal; it hit number one in January 1943, as did 'In the Blue of the Evening', another Dorsey record featuring Sinatra, in August, while a third Dorsey/Sinatra release, 'It's Always You,' hit the Top Five later in the year, and a fourth, 'I'll Be Seeing You', reached the Top Ten in 1944. see "Frank Sinatra Biography" at https://www.billboard.com/artist/302382/frank+sinatra/biography[dead link]
^ The website "Tommy Dorsey A Songwriter's Friend" says: "the orchestra had over 200 top twenty recordings including the No. 1 hits ‘The Music Goes Round and Round’ (1935), ‘Alone’ (1936) ‘You’ (1936), ‘Marie’ (1937), ‘Satan Takes a Holiday’ (1937), ‘The Big Apple’ (1937), ‘Once in a While’ (1937), ‘The Dipsy Doodle’ (1937), ‘Music, Maestro, Please’ (1938), ‘Our Love’ (1939), ‘Indian Summer’ (1939), ‘All the Things You Are’ (1939), ‘I’ll Never Smile Again’ (1940), ‘Dolores’ (1941), ‘There are Such Things’ (1942), ‘In the Blue of the Evening’ (1943)." see http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/artists/C4006 Archived 2016-04-02 at the Wayback Machine.
^ Tommy Dorsey at Red Hot Jazz
^ Tommy Dorsey recorded two takes of this song for OKeh Records, August 6, 1932 in New York City. See http://www.redhotjazz.com/tommy.html which also lists Tommy Dorsey as composer.
^ "Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions". Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via Google Books.
^ "Chris and his gang". 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via Open WorldCat.
^ "A Selection of Big Band Stock Arrangements (Performing Arts Reading Room, Music Division, Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
^ ab "Tommy Dorsey" IMDB
^ "To You" appears as part of a medley by Glenn Miller, paired with "Stairway to the Stars" both sung by Ray Eberle for the Glenn Miller Orchestra's performance at Carnegie Hall on October 6, 1939. See "Solid! – The Glenn Miller Carnegie Hall Concert" at "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
^ Glenn Miller recorded "To You" for Bluebird Records on May 9, 1939 released as Bluebird 10276-B, with the "A" side, "Stairway to the Stars" both sung by Ray Eberle. See Moonlight Serenade: A Bio-discography, John Flower, Arlington House, New Rochelle, 1972, p. 63 ISBN 978-0-87000-161-1
^ "The Sarah Vaughan Discography". michaelminn.com. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
^ Brown, Denis (1991). Sarah Vaughan A Discography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-313-28005-4.
^ "Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions". Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via Google Books.
^ According to the Tsort.info database- 1939: "This Is No Dream" reached No. 9 on the Billboard singles chart in 1939, while "To You" reached No. 10 on the same chart, both staying on the chart for seven weeks. "In the Middle of a Dream" reached No. 7 on the Billboard chart in 1939, staying on the charts for ten weeks.
^ "Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions". Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via Google Books.
^ ab ASCAP database.[permanent dead link]
^ Levinson 214 Levinson refers to the 1947 recording of Dorsey's composition as the band's "one important recording of that year." "Trombonology" was recorded July 1, 1947 and was released on an RCA Victor 78 rpm record, catalogue number Vic 20-2419. Information taken from the liner notes to the 1993 compact disc The Post-War Era, Bluebird/RCA 66156, written by Loren Schoenberg.
^ "I'll Never Smile Again" was recorded February 17, 1941 with vocals by Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers. see the liner notes to the compact disc The Best of Tommy Dorsey by Mort Goode, 1991. Bluebird/RCA 51087-2. According to Peter Levinson in Livin In A Great Big Way, "I'll Never Smile Again" was recorded May 23, 1940. "I'll Never Smile Again" had the catalogue number for its initial 78rpm release as Victor 26628. Tommy Dorsey and/or RCA Victor also released the song as a V-Disc, V-Disc 582. See the website "Songs By Sinatra" at http://www.songsbysinatra.com/records/v-discs.html for discographical information about that V-Disc.
^ "Grammy Hall of Fame Award". The Recording Academy. 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-01-22.
^ see http://www.discogs.com/artist/Tommy+Dorsey for these album listings
^ see https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p71826 which lists Tommy Dorsey's albums
^ see https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p198447 which lists Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra's albums for reference
^ In the "Filmography" portion of the website "Thomas (Tommy) Dorsey 1905-1956"[2], two movies are listed for 1929 that suggest that Tommy Dorsey appears in them. They are Segar Ellis and His Embassy Club Orchestra and Alice Boulden and Her Orchestra. Dorsey biographer Peter Levinson confirms that Tommy Dorsey appears in Alice Bolden and Her Orchestra and considers it to be mediocre. See Levinson 34
^ see individual films and their references for the studio that produced which movie
^ "Presenting Lily Mars". Scott Brogan. 1999.
^ "Tommy Dorsey IMDB" uncredited role according to source.
^ "The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)". Turner Classic Movies. n.d. [date published unknown].
^ "The Dorsey Brothers Encore (1953)". IMDB. n.d. [date published unknown].
^ Grammy Hall of Fame Database Archived 2011-01-22 at the Wayback Machine.
References
- Peter J. Levinson, Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way: a Biography (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2005) ISBN 978-0-306-81111-1
- Robert L. Stockdale, Tommy Dorsey: On The Side (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1995) ISBN 978-0-8108-2951-0
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tommy Dorsey. |
Website showing details of tour organized by RCA Victor for the Tommy Dorsey and Shep Fields orchestras in 1941.- Website shows details of the CBS Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey television show in 1956.
Tommy Dorsey on IMDb
Tommy Dorsey at AllMusic- Tommy Dorsey visits Bernards High School in 1943
- The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
- Tommy Dorsey: "The Man Who Made Stars"
Tommy Dorsey at Find a Grave
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