Friday Fun: The Bluebird Flight Begins

 

For today’s Friday Fun, we jump from Larry Clinton’s dreamworld into a very different kind of reverie - the one that launched a juggernaut.

The Opening Salvo: My Reverie (1938)

Glenn Miller’s version of My Reverie, the first song recorded at his very first session under his brand-new Bluebird contract, was literally the opening salvo of the Miller era. He wasn’t famous yet, but you can hear the ambition, the polish, and the early hints of the sound that would soon take over America.

One of the things that’s always struck me about this record is that cold-open trombone solo. I think it may be the only Miller side that begins this way - and it’s the first recording he ever made for Bluebird! It feels more like something Tommy Dorsey would do - and Glenn was no TD. Very soon afterward, he realized he didn't want to be seen as a road-company Dorsey, so he featured his own trombone far less.

Ray Eberle also sounds a bit tentative with his vocal here. He was only nineteen, so it’s understandable. Bea Wain was only twenty‑one when she recorded My Reverie with Larry Clinton, but she’s light‑years ahead of Ray in confidence and interpretive poise.

It’s also worth noting that Larry Clinton was five years younger than Glenn Miller, yet he beat him to the top of the charts!

What really “makes” Glenn’s version, though, is that fabulous Miller reed sound. The sax section already includes mainstays Wilbur Schwartz on lead clarinet, Hal McIntyre on alto, and Tex Beneke on tenor. Audiences must have been thinking, “Hey… what’s that?” when they first heard that blend.

The "King Porter" Connection

The flipside of this debut disc is also intriguing: Glenn’s take on King Porter Stomp. 

We traced Jelly Roll Morton’s old tune through Fletcher Henderson to Benny Goodman here, and by 1938 it was a big-band staple. Glenn plays some genuinely hot trombone on this side, showing that his new band could mix sweet and swing in a most pleasing way.

This record may be a humble beginning, but it shows that Glenn Miller’s new band could mix sweet and swing in a most pleasing way. With this disc, Glenn Miller arrives as a bandleader — no longer the trombone player who’s a pretty good arranger and always trying to start a band, but the man who’s about to define an era.

Which side of this debut do you think pointed the way forward: the "Reverie" or the "Stomp"?