Tex Beneke

Tex Beneke
Shep Fields and Tex Beneke, Glen Island Casino, New York, N.Y., May 16, 1947. Photograph by William P. Gottlieb.
Background information
Birth name	Gordon Lee Beneke
Born	February 12, 1914(1914-02-12) Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Origin	Fort Worth, Texas
Died	May 30, 2000(2000-05-30) (aged 86) Costa Mesa, California, United States
Genres	Big band, swing, jazz, blues
Occupations	musician
Instruments	Saxophone, vocals
Associated acts	Glenn Miller Orchestra The Modernaires Eydie Gorme Ronnie Deauville Henry Mancini Norman Leyden

Gordon Lee Beneke (February 12, 1914 - May 30, 2000^[1][2]), professionally known as Tex Beneke, was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gorme and Ronnie Deauville. Beneke also solos on the recording the Glenn Miller Orchestra made of their popular song, "In The Mood" and sings on another popular Glenn Miller recording, "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Jazz critic Will Friedwald considers Beneke to be one of the major blues singers that sang with the big bands of the early 1940s.^[3][4]

Early life

Beneke was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He started playing saxophone when he was nine, going from soprano to alto to tenor saxophones and staying with the latter. His first professional work was with bandleader Ben Young in 1935, but it was when he joined Miller three years later that his career hit its stride. Beneke said: "It seems that Gene Krupa had left the Goodman band and was forming his own first band. He was flying all over the country looking for new talent and he stopped at our ballroom one night [to listen to the Ben Young band]. [...] Gene wound up taking two or three of our boys with him back to New York. [Krupa] wanted to take [Beneke] but his sax section was already filled." Krupa knew that Glenn Miller was forming a band and recommended Beneke to Miller.^[5]

On August 1, 1939, Tex Beneke solos on the recording the Glenn Miller band made of the Andy Razaf song, "In The Mood".^[6] Beneke appears with the Miller band in the films Sun Valley Serenade (1941) and Orchestra Wives (1942), both of which helped propel the singer/saxophonist to the top of the Metronome polls. Tex Beneke is listed in the personnel of the 1941 Metronome All-Star Band led by Benny Goodman.^[7][8] In 1942, Glenn Miller's orchestra won the first Gold Record for "Chattanooga Choo Choo", a song written by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon.^[9] The band first performed this song in the 1941 Twentieth Century Fox movie Sun Valley Serenade."^[10] Tex Beneke was the lead singer on this song with Paula Kelly and the Modernaires vocal group. "Chattanooga Choo Choo", catalogue number Bluebird 11230-B, was recorded by the Miller band at the Victor recording studios in Hollywood, California, May 7, 1941.^[11]

When Miller broke up the band in late 1942 to join the Army Air Force, Beneke played very briefly with Horace Heidt before joining the Navy himself, leading a Navy band in Oklahoma. While employed with Miller, Beneke was offered his own band, as Miller had done with colleagues and employees like Hal McIntyre, Claude Thornhill and Charlie Spivak. Beneke wanted to come back to Miller after the war and learn more about leading a band before being given his own band. Beneke lead two bands in the navy and kept in touch with Glenn Miller while they were both serving in the military. By 1945, Beneke felt ready to lead his own orchestra.^[12]

Working with the Miller estate

Glenn Miller went missing on December 15, 1944 while flying to France from England. After World War Two, the United States Army Air Force decommissioned the Glenn Miller-led Army Air Force band. The Miller estate authorized an official Glenn Miller "ghost band" in 1946. This band was led by Tex Beneke who as time went on had more prominence in the band's identity. It had a make up similar to Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band: it had a large string section.^[13] The orchestra's official public début was at the Capitol Theatre on Broadway where it opened for a three week engagement on January 24, 1946.^[14] Henry Mancini was the band's pianist and one of the arrangers.^[15] Another arranger was Norman Leyden, who also previously arranged for the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band.^[16] This ghost band played to very large audiences all across the United States, including a few dates at the Hollywood Palladium in 1947, where the original Miller band played in 1941.^[17] The movie short Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Band was released by RKO pictures in 1947 with Lillian Lane, Artie Malvin and The Crew Chiefs vocal group performing.^[18] In a slightly sarcastic article in Time magazine from June 2, 1947,^[19][20] the magazine notes that the Beneke led Miller orchestra was playing at the same venue the original Miller band played in 1939, the Glen Island Casino.^[20] Beneke's quote about the big band business at the time closes the article, "I don't know whether Glenn figured that times would be as tough".^[20] By 1949, economics dictated that the string section be dropped.^[21]

This band recorded for RCA Victor, just as the original Miller band did.^[21] Beneke felt that Glenn Miller promised him his own band in the early 1940s and this was his chance to have that promise fulfilled. Beneke wanted a band with Beneke's musical identity. Larry Bruff, an announcer for the earlier Glenn Miller radio shows says, "Beneke would even set wrong tempos so as not to sound too much like Glenn."^[22] The Miller estate wanted a band that was primarily associated with Glenn Miller, playing the Glenn Miller songs in the Glenn Miller style. By 1950, Beneke and the Miller estate parted ways.^[23][24]

After The Glenn Miller Association

Beneke continued to perform under his own name with no official connection to Miller. He enjoyed less success in the early 1950s, partly because he was limited to smaller recording labels such as Coral Records and partly because of competition from other Miller alumni and imitators such as Jerry Gray, Ray Anthony and Ralph Flanagan. Eydie Gorme sang with the Beneke band in 1950.^[25] Beneke appeared on Cavalcade of Bands, a television show in 1950 on the DuMont Television Network.^[26]

In the latter part of that decade there was some revived interest in music of the swing era. Beneke joined a number of other leaders such as Larry Clinton and Glen Gray in making new high fidelity recordings of their earlier hits, often featuring many of the original musicians. Beneke and former Miller singers Ray Eberle, Paula Kelly, and The Modernaires first recorded the LP Reunion in Hi-Fi, which contained recreations of original Miller material. This album was followed by others featuring newer songs, some performed in the Miller style and others done in a more contemporary mode. The singer/saxophonist continued working in the coming decades, appearing periodically at Disneyland.^[27] He also made the rounds of various talk shows that had musical connections, including those hosted by Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson. His appearances on The Tonight Show sometimes included duos with fellow Miller veteran Al Klink who was by then a key member of the Tonight Show Band. Ray Eberle recovered from his earlier illness and resumed performing with Beneke and the Modernaires for a period in the early 1970s. In 1972, Beneke agreed to re-record some of his Miller vocals for Time-Life Records' set of big band recreations, The Swing Era, produced and conducted by yet another Miller alumnus, Billy May.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Beneke had a new band playing a style that resembled the classic Miller sound but with as much newer material as older. At one point he also toured with former Jimmy Dorsey vocalists Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly. Beneke suffered a stroke in the mid-1990s and was forced to give up the saxophone but continued to conduct and sing. In 1992, Tex Beneke received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with funds collected by co-leader Gary Tole. He settled in Costa Mesa, California and remained active toward the end of that decade, mostly touring the U.S. West Coast and still playing in something resembling the Miller style. In 1998 he launched yet another tour paying tribute to The Army Air Force Band. In 2000 Beneke died from respiratory failure at Costa Mesa, California, aged 86 and was buried in Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth, Texas. His saxophone is currently used by the Arizona Opry.

References

1. ^ "Tex Beneke, 86, A Leader of Glenn Miller's Band". The New York Times. May 31, 2000. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/31/us/tex-beneke-86-a-leader-of-glenn-miller-s-band.html. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
2. ^ "Tex Beneke at IMDb". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0070878/. 
3. ^ Friedwald, Will (2010). A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers. New York: Pantheon. pp. 613. ISBN 0375421491. http://books.google.com/books?id=knox91-De9EC&dq=will+friedwald+tex+beneke&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 
4. ^ Will Friedwald singles out the cover of "What's Your Story, Morning Glory?" by Mary Lou Williams that Beneke did with the Miller band as one of Beneke's major artistic achievements. Friedwald 613
5. ^ Hall, Fred (1989). Dialogues In Swing. Ventura, California: Pathfinder Publishing. p. 190. ISBN 0934793190. http://books.google.com/books?id=mbO19W7pE-IC&dq=dialogues+in+swing&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 
6. ^ Flower, John (1972). Moonlight Serenade: a Bio-discography. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House. pp. 554. ISBN 0-87000-161-2. 
7. ^ Simon, George (1980). Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. New York: DaCapo. pp. 248–251. ISBN 0306801299. http://books.google.com/books?id=DvLC5_RJS0MC&dq=glenn+miller+and+his+orchestra&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 
8. ^ The songs Beneke and the ensemble played were "Bugle Call Rag" and "One O'Clock Jump". Beneke has a small solo on "Bugle Call Rag". Both songs from recording session at RCA Studio 2, New York City, January 16, 1941. All information taken from annotation to the 1988 Bluebird/RCA compact disc, The Metronome All-Star Bands, 7636-2-RB, liner notes by Peter Keepnews.
9. ^ Simon. - p.289.
10. ^ "And The Grammy Goes To...CU Boulder's Glenn Miller". Colorado University. 2003. http://www.colorado.edu/news/tributes/glennmiller/. 
11. ^ Moonlight Serenade. p.303.
12. ^ Hall. - p.191.
13. ^ Simon. - pp.437-439.
14. ^ Butcher, Geoffrey (1994). Next To A Letter From Home. New York: Warner. p. 262. ISBN 978-0751510782. http://books.google.com/books?id=DdJbHAAACAAJ&dq=next+to+a+letter+from+home&ei=eKn5SvXqNZu0zASZ4LSjDw. 
15. ^ Henry Mancini at All About Jazz
16. ^ Friedwald, Will (1997). Sinatra! The Song Is You. New York: DaCapo. p. 179. ISBN 0306807424. http://books.google.com/books?id=MDX1V3cap-MC&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 
17. ^ Simon. - p.258.
18. ^ "Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Band". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1192600/. 
19. ^ "Old Miller fans remembered Tex Beneke best as the whiny-voiced singer of 'Chattanooga Choo Choo' and 'My Melancholy Baby' [...]" and "[The band's theatrics are] corny, but Glenn was one for commercial corn. If you don't have it you flop."
20. ^ ^{a b c} "Music: Sweet Corn at Glen Island". TIME. June 2, 1947. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,934572,00.html. 
21. ^ ^{a b} Butcher. p.263.
22. ^ Simon. - p.438.
23. ^ Simon. - p.439.
24. ^ George Simon in Glenn Miller and His Orchestra says it happened in Connecticut in December of 1950. Simon. - p.439.
    —Beneke says it happened after an engagement at the Hollywood Palladium. - Hall. - p.191.
25. ^ Friedwald, Will (1995). Sinatra! The Song Is You. New York: Scribner. p. 462. ISBN 0751510785, 9780751510782. http://books.google.com/books?id=MDX1V3cap-MC&dq=sinatra+the+song+is+you&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 
26. ^ "Cavalcade of Bands 1950". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042089/fullcredits#cast. 
27. ^ Beneke appeared with singers associated with Glenn Miller, Paula Kelly, Ray Eberle and the Modernaires, at Disneyland in Anaheim, California in 1963 and 1965. Popa, Chris. "Big Bands At Disneyland".

External links

• Tex Beneke. - at Big Band Buddies.
• [1].- Tex Beneke recorded with the Miller ghost band in July 1946.

Persondata
Name	Beneke, Tex
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 12, 1914
Place of birth
Date of death	May 30, 2000
Place of death