Tommy Dorsey
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- This article is about trombonist and band leader Tommy Dorsey. For the pianist and jazz and gospel composer, see Thomas A. Dorsey.
Tommy Dorsey (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was a jazz trombonist and bandleader in the Big Band era. He was the younger brother of Jimmy Dorsey.
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[edit] Early life
Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr. was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania and started out only 16 years later in western Pennsylvania with big band alum Russ Morgan in the famous pick-up band of the 1920's "The Scranton Sirens".
Tommy and his brother Jimmy worked in several bands (including those of Rudy Vallee, Vincent Lopez, and especially Paul Whiteman) before forming the original Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934. Ongoing acrimony between the brothers, however, led to Tommy Dorsey's walking out to form his own band in 1935, just as the Orchestra was having a hit with "Every Little Movement."
[edit] His own band
Tommy Dorsey's first band formed out of the remnant of the Joe Haymes band, and his smooth, lyrical trombone style---whether on ballads or on no-holds-barred swingers---became one of the signature sounds of both his band and the Swing Era. The new band hit from almost the moment it signed with RCA Victor with "On Treasure Island," the first of four hits for the new band that year. That led to a run of 137 Billboard chart hits, including his theme song, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" (which showcases his phenomenal range and masterful mute use, reaching up to the high C #), "Marie", "The Big Apple", "Music, Maestro, Please", "I'll Never Smile Again", "This Love of Mine", "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "T.D.'s Boogie Woogie", "Well, Git 'It", "Opus One", "Manhattan Serenade", and "There Are Such Things"---among many others.
The band featured a number of the best instrumentalists in jazz at the time, including trumpeters Bunny Berigan, Ziggy Elman, George Seaberg and Charlie Shavers, trumpeter/arranger/composer Sy Oliver (who wrote "Well, Git 'It" and "Opus One"), drummer Jeremy, and singers Jo Stafford, Dick Haymes and Frank Sinatra. Sinatra achieved his first great success as a vocalist in the Dorsey band and claimed he learned breath control from watching Dorsey play trombone. Dorsey said his trombone style was heavily influenced by that of Jack Teagarden. Another member of the Dorsey band probably spent considerable time observing and listening to Sy Oliver's striking arrangements: trombonist Nelson Riddle, whose later partnership as Sinatra's major arranger and conductor is considered to have revolutionised post-World War II popular music.
Dorsey might have broken up his own band permanently following World War II, as many big bands did thanks to the shift in music economics following the war, and he did disband the orchestra at the end of 1946. But a top-ten selling album (All-Time Hits) made it possible for Dorsey to re-organise a big band in early 1947.
The biographical film of 1947, "The Fabulous Dorseys" describes sketchy details of how the brothers got their start from-the-bottom-up into the jazz era of one-nighters, the early days of radio in its infancy stages, and the onward march when both brothers ended up with Paul Whiteman before 1935 when The Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra split into two.
The Dorsey brothers themselves later reconciled---Jimmy Dorsey had had to break up his own highly successful big band in 1953, and brother Tommy invited him to join up as a feature attraction---but before long Tommy renamed the band the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. The brothers took the unit on tour and onto their own television show, Stage Show, from 1954-1956---on which they introduced Elvis Presley to national television audiences, among others.
[edit] Death and aftermath
In 1956, Tommy Dorsey died at age 51 in his Greenwich, Connecticut home, in 1956, choking in his sleep after a heavy meal following which he'd been sedated with sleeping pills. Jimmy Dorsey (out of whose band Tommy had walked two decades earlier) led his brother's band until his own death of throat cancer the following year. At that point, trombonist Warren Covington assumed leadership of the band with, presumably, Jane Dorsey's blessing (she owned the rights to her late husband's band and name) and it produced, ironically enough, the biggest selling hit record ever released under the Dorsey name. Billed as the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Starring Warren Covington, they topped the charts in 1958 with Tea For Two Cha-Cha. Covington led the Dorsey band through 1970 (he also led and recorded with his own organisation), after which Jane Dorsey renamed it, simply, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, which is conducted today by Buddy Morrow. Jane Dorsey died of natural causes around the age of 79 in 2003.
[edit] Married life
Dorsey's married life was varied and at times headline making. His first wife was 16 year old Mildred Kraft with whom he eloped while he was 17 in 1922. They had two children but divorced in 1943. He then wed movie actress Pat Dane in 1943 and they were divorced in 1947, but not before he gained headlines for striking actor Jon Hall when Hall embraced his wife Pat. Finally Dorsey married Jane New (b. circa 1924 - August 24, 2003) in 1948 and she remained his wife until his death. She had been a dancer at the world-renowned Copacabana.
Tommy and Jane Dorsey are interred together in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. Sinatra released a tribute album to Dorsey in 1961 entitled I Remember Tommy with arrangements by another Dorsey alumnus, Sy Oliver.
[edit] Discography
Recent CDs with recordings of the Tommy Dorsey band arrangements include the following (in order of popularity). His original songs were recorded as singles. His biggest selling record was his orchestrated version of the Pinetop Smith classic, "Boogie-Woogie", reputed to have sold four million copies.
- Yes, Indeed!, including: 1. Lonesome Road, Pt. 1, 2. Lonesome Road, Pt. 2, 3. Well All Right (Tonight's the Night), 4. Night in Sudan, 5. Stomp It Off, 6. Easy Does It, 7. Quiet Please (It's the Drummer in Me), 8. So What, 9. Swing High, 10. Swanee River, 11. Deep River, 12. Yes, Indeed!, 13. Loose Lid Special, 14. Swingin' on Nothin', 15. Hallelujah!, 16. Moonlight on the Ganges, 17. Well, Git It!, 18. Mandy, 19. Opus One, 20. Chloe, 21. At the Fat Man's, 22. The Minor Goes Muggin'
- Tommy Dorsey, including: 1. Tiger Rag, 2. Three Moods, 3. I'm Getting Sentimental over You, 4. The Music Goes 'Round and Around, 5. At the Codfish Ball, 6. Song of India, 7. Liebestraum, 8. Satan Takes a Holiday, 9. Stop, Look and Listen, 10. Night and Day, 11. Once in a While, 12. Who?, 13. Panama, 14. The Sheik of Araby, 15. Copenhagen, 16. Symphony in Riffs, 17. Hawaiian War Chant, 18. Milenberg Joys, Pts. 1 & 2, 19. Swing High, 20. Swanee River, 21. Deep River, 22. By the Sleepy Lagoon
- 1939, including: 1. In the Middle of a Dream, 2. Milenberg Joys, Pt. 1, 3. Milenberg Joys, Pt. 2, 4. This Night, 5. Hold Tight, 6. A New Moon and an Old Serenade, 7. Honolulu, 8. Blue Moon, 9. Peckin' with the Penguins, 10. Only When You're in My Arms, 11. Got No Time, 12. Little Skipper, 13. Our Love, 14. Tea for Two, 15. By the River Sainte Marie, 16. Asleep or Awake, 17. You Grow Sweeter as the Years Go By, 18. If You Ever Change Your Mind, 19. To You, 20. This Is No Dream, 21. Marcheta, 22. The Lamp Is Low, 23. Dawn on the Desert
- 1938
- Stop, Look and Listen
Stop, Look and Listen album cover - 1939, Vol No. 3
- Homefront: 1941-1945
- The Early Jazz Sides: 1931-1937
- All-Time Greates Dorsey/Sinatra Hits, Vol 1-4
- The V-Disc Recordings
- It's D'Lovely 1947-1950
- The Complete Tommy Dorsey, Vol. 2 (1936)
- Stardust
- Greatest Hits
- Sentimental
- Opus One
- 1937-1938
- The Fabulous Dorsey
- Greatest Hits (RCA)
- Tommy Dorsey, Vol. 1
- 1938, Vol. 2
- At the Fat Man's
- All-Time Greatest Dorsey/Sinatra Hits, Vol. 3
- All-Time Greatest Dorsey/Sinatra Hits, Vol. 2
- The Complete Standard Transciptions
- Having a Wonderful Time
- The Complete Tommy Dorsey, Vol 1 (1935)
[edit] Filmography
Tommy Dorsey appeared in several films. While not known for his acting skills, his band leader talents stood him well in films. Dorsey and members of his band appeared in the following films:
1940s
- Las Vegas Nights (1941)
- Ship Ahoy (1942)
- Presenting Lily Mars (1943)
- Girl Crazy (1943)
- Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
- Thrill of a Romance (1945)
- The Great Morgan (1946)
- The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)
- A Song Is Born (1948) (Musical remake of Ball of Fire).
1950s
- Disc Jockey (1951)
[edit] References
- Peter J. Levinson, Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way: a Biography, Cambridge, MA, Da Capo Press, c2005 (ISBN 978-0-306-81111-1)
- Robert L. Stockdale, "Tommy Dorsey: On The Side", Metuchen, NJ, The Scarecrow Press, c1995 (ISBN 0-8108-2951-7)
