The Year Is 1955 (Sue Was Four; Paul Was Twelve):
Wow! I guess it caught on!
First things first… Breakfast! Sue and Paul cooked up a treasure of delights for breakfast and everything was fresh! Afterwards, Paul took a quick walk for an hour and then returned home to rest before this afternoons visit the Cerritos Performing Arts Center to see the Tex Beneke Orchestra’s tribute to Glenn Miller.
This all-star tribute honors the best of the ’30s and ’40s Big Band era, when Glenn Miller became a sensation with the hits Tuxedo Junction and Little Brown Jug and the Tex Beneke Orchestra got the nation In the Mood with Pennsylvania 6-5000 and [I’ve Got a Gal in] Kalamazoo. The lineup includes The Four Freshmen (Graduation Day), which will perform hits from its album Four Freshmen & Five Trombones; the original Glenn Miller/Tex Beneke vocal group The Modernaires (Chatanooga Choo Choo); and vocalist Gina Eckstine, whose father is bandleader Billy Eckstine (I Apologize).
Glenn Miller disppeared over the Atlantic one day before Paul was born, December 15th 1944.
After Miller’s disappearance, The Modernaires recorded vocal versions of several of Miller’s instrumental hits, including “Moonlight Serenade”, “Sunrise Serenade”, “Little Brown Jug”, “Tuxedo Junction”, “Pennsylvania 6-5000”, and “A String of Pearls”. The Modernaires released a 45rpm single on Coral Records, 9-61110, A Salute to Glenn Miller, which included medleys in two parts from the movie soundtrack, A Salute to Glenn Miller, Parts 1 and 2: (I’ve Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo/Moonlight Cocktail/Elmer’s Tune/Moonlight Serenade/Chattanooga Choo-Choo/String Of Pearls/Serenade In Blue/At Last/Perfidia, that reached number 29 on the Billboard charts in 1954. Their style, harmonies and blend influenced later artists such as The Four Freshmen, who in turn were models for the Beach Boys, whom the Beatles later cited as a strong influence on their work. Thus, The Modernaires have affected generations of popular music, from swing to rock and roll. The Modernaires were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.
We stayed through the first half and then headed to Old Ranch as we were expecting guests around 5:00 PM. We had a load of people for this evening and we dined and danced until 9:00 PM! Great fun!
It was a beautiful afternoon!
Asd the evening progressed the visiuals were more interesting!
We did not dance, as Sue is still recovering, although Paul took a couple of our friends out for a spin! We headed home and continued to watch Grey’s Anatomy until about midnight!
