In the Mood

"In the Mood" is a jazz standard from the big band era, most famously performed by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra. The tune originated from "Tar Paper Stomp," a composition by trumpeter Wingy Manone. The first recording to bear the title "In the Mood" was cut by Edgar Hayes and his Orchestra in 1938. Glenn Miller's 1939 recording later became the best-selling swing instrumental of all time, with "I Want to Be Happy" on the flip side.

The 1939 recording has received several major honors. It was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1983, and in 2004 it was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, a collection of recordings deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 1999, National Public Radio placed it on its list of "The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century."

Arrangement

The arrangement opens with a saxophone section playing a theme built on repeated, rhythmically displaced arpeggios, while trumpets and trombones contribute accent riffs. Two solo sections appear: a "tenor fight" or chase solo—on one recording featuring Tex Beneke and Al Klink—and a 16-bar trumpet solo by Clyde Hurley. The song ends with a triumphant climbing coda that lands on a sustained unison tonic pitch, punctuated by a rim shot.

History

Joe Garland arranged the piece from an existing melody, and Andy Razaf later added lyrics. The main theme—those repeated, rhythmically displaced arpeggios—first appeared as "Tar Paper Stomp," credited to Wingy Manone. Manone recorded it on August 28, 1930, in Richmond, Indiana, releasing it as a 78 single for Champion Records under the name Barbecue Joe and his Hot Dogs.

It was reissued in 1935 by Wingy Manone's Orchestra. The same riff turned up in Horace Henderson's "Hot and Anxious," recorded by his brother Fletcher Henderson on March 19, 1931, for Columbia under the name the Baltimore Bell Hops. Don Redman also recorded "Hot and Anxious" for Brunswick in 1932.

Under copyright law at the time, any tune that had not been written down and registered could be taken by any musician with a good ear. Manone raised the similarity between "Tar Paper Stomp" and "In the Mood" with Joe Garland and the publisher Shapiro, Bernstein, and Company of New York, and he also discussed the issue in DownBeat magazine.