Jimmy Dorsey

Early life

Jimmy Dorsey came into the world on February 29, 1904, in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, as the eldest child of Theresa Langton Dorsey and Thomas Francis Dorsey. His father started out mining coal but eventually taught music and directed marching bands. Jimmy and his younger brother Tommy grew up surrounded by music, and at seven Jimmy was already performing in his father’s band. His first public gig came at age nine, when he played trumpet in New York with J. Carson McGee’s King Trumpeters in 1913.

He picked up alto saxophone in 1915 and later learned clarinet, favoring the Albert system over the Boehm system used by Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Together with Tommy on trombone, they created Dorsey’s Novelty Six, later renamed Dorsey’s Wild Canaries, among the earliest jazz bands to go on the air. In 1924, he played with the California Ramblers. He married Jane Porter in 1928, and they had one daughter, Julia.

Career

During his early days as a musician, Jimmy Dorsey performed with ensembles including the Scranton Sirens, the California Ramblers, Red Nichols, Jean Goldkette, Frankie Trumbauer, Ben Pollack, and Paul Whiteman. He played the clarinet solo on the 1927 jazz standard "Singin' the Blues" with the Frankie Trumbauer Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke. After returning from a European tour with Ted Lewis's band, he worked briefly with Rudy Vallée and with his brother Tommy, including starting their eponymous band.

He appeared on at least seventy-five radio broadcasts. In 1927 the brothers created the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra and signed with OKeh Records. Glenn Miller arranged and played trombone on several early sessions.

Their first song to chart was "Coquette" in June 1928. After an onstage disagreement in May 1935, Tommy stormed off; Jimmy continued the band, keeping the Dorsey Brothers name, and in September 1935 the band became "Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra", signing with Decca Records. From December 1935 to July 1937, the orchestra provided accompaniment for Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall radio show and backed Crosby on commercial recordings.

Compositions

Jimmy Dorsey composed numerous songs, including "So Many Times", which reached Billboard no. 20 in 1939; "John Silver" with Ray Krise, which reached no. 13 on Billboard in 1938; and "Tailspin" with Frankie Trumbauer.

His theme song was "Contrasts". He co-wrote the jazz and pop standard "(In This World of Ordinary People) I'm Glad There Is You" with Paul Madeira (also known as Paul Mertz) in 1941, sung by Dorsey vocalist Bob Eberly and released on Decca in 1942. Other compositions include "Dixieland Band from Santa Claus Land", "Mood Hollywood", "Shim Sham Shimmy", "Beebe", "Oodles of Noodles", "Parade of the Milk Bottle Caps", "Dusk in Upper Sandusky" with Larry Clinton, "Shoot the Meatballs to Me Dominick Boy" with Toots Camarata, "A Man and his Drums", "Mutiny in the Brass Section", "Praying the Blues", "Major and Minor Stomp", "Hep-Tee Hootie (Juke Box Jive)" with Fud Livingston and Jack Palmer, "I Bought A Wooden Whistle", "Clarinet Polka", "I Love You in Technicolor", "All The Things You Ain't" with Babe Russin, "Hollywood Pastime", "Waddlin' at the Waldorf", "JD's Boogie Woogie", "Jumpin' Jehosaphat", "I'll Do Anything For You", "Any Time at All", "Two Again", "It's Anybody's Moon", "Dixieland Detour", "Shades of Twilight", "Dorsey Stomp", "Grand Central Getaway" with Dizzy Gillespie, "Sunset Strip" and "The Champ" with Sonny Burke, "Town Hall Tonight", "Outer Drive" with Herb Ellis, and the jazz standard "It's the Dreamer in Me" with Jimmy Van Heusen.

Number-one hits

Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra scored eleven number-one hits during the 1930s and 1940s, including "Amapola," "Green Eyes," and "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby. His most successful single was "Amapola," which held the top spot on the Billboard pop chart for ten weeks in 1941.

Did You Know?

• In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey commemorative postage stamp.
• The 1942 recording of "Brazil (Aquarela do Brasil)" by Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009.
• Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra appeared in the 1947 film The Fabulous Dorseys.