Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller

Army Air Force Band (Bluebird/BMG) Capt. Glenn Miller, U.S. Army Air Force, knew how he wanted to serve his country when World War II broke out. He wanted to make music that would inspire an "ear-splitting, almost hysterically happy reaction" in his fellow soldiers, music that would stoke their courage on the battlefield and in their fighter planes, and that would also remind them of what and who they were fighting for back home. So he disbanded his extremely popular civilian band in 1942 and assembled an outfit of America's finest musical servicemen nearly 50 strong. First they played on NBC's I Inspire the Wings radio program for nearly a year before Miller convinced the brass to let him and the boys head over to England to rouse the thousands of troops stationed there firsthand. They did so with a mixture of military marches, sentimental favorites, popular tunes of the day, and a whole regiment's worth of swing. The music Miller & Co. made was originally issued in 1956 on a five-LP RCA/Victor set; this 4-CD collection remasters all the originals and adds on more than 20 songs, plus Miller's spoken introductions to many. It pays special attention to the bandleader's fondness for medleys and the old wedding axiom of "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" -- as in a blending of "Londonderry Air," "Shoo-Shoo Baby," "The Way You Look Tonight," and "Beautiful Blue Danube." Though many of the songs have long since been forgotten by everyone except those khaki-clad servicemen to whom they meant so much, many others have not: "In the Mood," "Stormy Weather," "Song of the Volga Boatman," "St. Louis Blues," "Begin the Beguine," "Star Dust," "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'," and so forth. Under his dedicated direction, his band -- who would continue entertaining the troops even after Miller's States-bound plane disappeared in December 1944 -- took an obvious pride in doing their duty through every salty saxophone lick, soothing string serenade, and jaunty walking bassline. Miller's Army Air Force Band stands as a reminder that morale is just as important to any war effort as artillery and intelligence, and without able musicians and entertainers available to inspire it, the chances of victory are very slim indeed.