I'M GLAD THERE IS YOU In This World of Ordinary People PAUL MADEIRA Jimmy Dorsey

HISTORICAL NOTE: "James "Jimmy" Dorsey (Feb. 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, & big band leader. He was known as "JD". He composed the jazz & pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" & "It's The Dreamer In Me". Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a music teacher & older brother of Tommy Dorsey who also became a prominent musician. He played trumpet in his youth, appearing on stage with J. Carson McGee's King Trumpeters in 1913. He switched to alto saxophone in 1915, & then learned to double on clarinet. Jimmy Dorsey played on a clarinet outfitted with the Albert system of fingering, as opposed to the more common Boehm system used by most of his contemporaries including Benny Goodman & Artie Shaw. With his brother Tommy playing trombone, he formed Dorsey’s Novelty Six, one of the 1st jazz bands to broadcast. In 1924 he joined the California Ramblers (who were based in New York City). He did much free lance radio & recording work throughout the 1920s. The brothers also appeared as session musicians on many jazz recordings. He joined Ted Lewis's band in 1930, with whom he toured Europe. After returning to the US, he worked briefly with Rudy Vallee & several other bandleaders, in addition to the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra with Tommy. He appeared on at least 75 radio broadcasts (many with his brother), as a member of Nathaniel Shilkret's orchestra on programs such as the 1932 program, "The Music That Satisfies," also known as the Chesterfield Quarter Hour. Tommy broke off to form his own band in 1935 after a musical dispute with Jimmy. The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra became the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, & included musicians such as Bobby Byrne, Ray McKinley, & Skeets Herfurt along with vocalists Bob Eberly & Kay Weber. In 1939 Jimmy hired Helen O'Connell as his female singer. She & Eberly possessed a "boy & girl next door" charm & their pairing produced several of the band's biggest hits. Many of the Eberly-O'Connell recordings were arranged in an unusual 3-section "a-b-c" format. The three-part format was reportedly developed at the insistence of a record producer who wanted to feature both singers & the full band in a single 3-minute 78 rpm recording. Eberly sang the 1st minute, usually as a slow romantic ballad, the next minute featured the full band backing Jimmy's saxophone, & the last minute was sung by O'Connell in a more up-tempo style, sometimes with lyrics in Spanish. Kitty Kallen sang with the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra following Helen O'Connell's departure in 1942. Jerry Lewis' 1st wife Patti Palmer (birth name Esther Calonico) was a singer with his orchestra for less than a year, starting about 1944. Jimmy continued leading his own band until the early 1950s. In 1953 he joined Tommy's Orchestra, renamed "Tommy Dorsey & his Orch. featuring Jimmy Dorsey". On Dec. 26, 1953, the brothers & their orchestra appeared on Jackie Gleason's CBS television program. The success of that television appearance led Gleason to produce a weekly variety program, Stage Show, hosted by the brothers on CBS from 1954 to 1956. Elvis Presley appeared on several of the telecasts. These were Presley's 1st appearances on national TV. Jimmy took over leadership of the orchestra after Tommy's death. Jimmy survived his brother by only a few months & died of throat cancer, aged 53, in New York City. Broadcasts of Jimmy Dorsey & The Fabulous Dorsey Orchestra on NBC Bandstand survive from Dec. 25, & December 31, 1956. At least two other extant broadcasts from the month of Dec. 1956 are available as well. Recordings of the band from their winter 1957 tour have not surfaced. These recordings would provide the last aural evidence of Jimmy Dorsey's work. It is thought that Dorsey's last appearance was in Joplin, Missouri, on March 12, 1957. Shortly before his death, he was awarded a gold record for "So Rare" which was recorded on Nov. 11, 1956. There is a controversy over who played the alto solo on the recording of "So Rare", Dick Stabile or Jimmy Dorsey. It reached the number-two spot on the Billboard charts, becoming the highest charting song by a big band during the 1st decade of the rock-and-roll era. Jimmy Dorsey is considered one of the most important & influential alto saxophone players of the Big Band & Swing era, & also after that era. Jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker mentioned him as a personal favorite. During his early days as a musician, Jimmy Dorsey performed with various other ensembles & artists including the Scranton Sirens, The California Ramblers, Red Nichols, Jean Goldkette, Ben Pollack, & Paul Whiteman. He and his younger brother Tommy formed several bands known as “The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra” during the late 1920s & early 1930s which suddenly ended in May, 1935, when Tommy stormed off the bandstand after an onstage argument. For several months, Jimmy continued leading the band, keeping the Dorsey Brothers name, hoping that his younger brother would return, but he did not. In Sept., 1935, the Dorsey Brothers band legally became the "Jim Dorsey Orchestra", after Jimmy found out that Tommy Dorsey now had his own band, & had signed a recording contract with RCA Victor. Jimmy Dorsey remained with Decca Records as the two brothers were now competing with each other musically. Jimmy Dorsey's 1st hit record was "You Let Me Down" in 1935. His early band was considered to be more jazz-oriented than his brother's, & recordings of some instrumental swing classics soon followed: Dorsey Stomp, Tap Dancer's Nightmare, Parade of the Milk Bottle Caps, John Silver, & Dusk in Upper Sandusky. The band was featured on Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall radio show, & did quite well commercially, although being overshadowed by Benny Goodman, (also a clarinetist), whose big band had grabbed center stage in the mid thirties. Dorsey's main vocalist was Bob Eberly, considered to be the best in the music business, & in 1939, Helen O'Connell joined the band, & the idea to have them do duets together proved to be highly successful. Almost every record released during 1939-1943 were hits, but especially records made with a Latin American flavor like “Amapola”, "Maria Elena", & “Green Eyes”, which topped the charts in 1941. Certainly vocalists Helen O’Connell & Bob Eberly, were two very important factors in Jimmy Dorsey’s rise in popularity. They continued singing with his band for future records & motion picture appearances. Despite personnel changes, Jimmy remained one of the top big band leaders after World War II & into the 1950s, always updating the sound of his band, but the big band business was beginning to decline. Jimmy & Tommy Dorsey reunited on March 15, 1945 to record a V-Disc at Liederkranz Hall in New York City. Released in June, 1945, V-Disc 451 featured "More Than You Know" backed with "Brotherly Jump". The songs featured the combined orchestras of Jimmy & Tommy Dorsey. In 1953, he & his brother reunited to form a (new) “Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.” Tommy was the leader of the group, making Jimmy the co-leader & featured soloist. In 1954, Jackie Gleason chose their band to star in a weekly television show that centered on their band. The show, called “Stage Show,” was a huge hit, & gave other big band leaders hope in a business that was steadily declining. Tommy’s death in 1956 & Jimmy’s own health problems resulted in the end of his television & musical career in 1957. Jimmy Dorsey appeared in a number of Hollywood motion pictures, including That Girl From Paris, Shall We Dance, The Fleet's In, Lost in a Harem with Abbot & Costello , I Dood It, & the bio-pic with his brother Tommy, The Fabulous Dorseys in 1947. In 1938, Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra also appeared in a movie short performing many of his hits including "It's the Dreamer in Me", "I Love You in Technicolor", & "Parade of the Milk Bottle Caps". Jimmy Dorsey composed "Mood Hollywood", "Shim Sham Shimmy", " So Many Times", which reached no. 20 in 1939 on Billboard, staying on the charts for one week, also recorded by Glenn Miller & his Orchestra & Jack Teagarden & his Orchestra, "Beebe", "Oodles of Noodles", "John Silver" with Ray Krise, which reached no. 13 on Billboard in 1938, staying on the charts for 2 weeks, "Parade of the Milk Bottle Caps", "Dusk in Upper Sandusky" with Larry Clinton, "Shoot the Meatballs to Me Dominick Boy" with Toots Camarata, "A Man and his Drums", "Mutiny in the Brass Section", "Praying the Blues", "Contrasts", his theme song, "Major & Minor Stomp", "Hep-Tee Hootie (Juke Box Jive)" with Fud Livingston & Jack Palmer, "I Bought A Wooden Whistle", "Tailspin" with Frankie Trumbauer, the classic jazz standard "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)", "Clarinet Polka", "I Love You in Technicolor", "All The Things You Ain't" with Babe Russin, "JD's Boogie Woogie", "Jumpin' Jehosaphat", "I'll Do Anything For You", "Dorsey Stomp", "Grand Central Getaway" with Dizzy Gillespie, "Sunset Strip" & "The Champ" with Sonny Burke, "Town Hall Tonight", "Outer Drive" with Herb Ellis, the jazz standard "It's the Dreamer in Me" with Jimmy Van Heusen, recorded by Duke Ellington & others. Jimmy Dorsey co-wrote the jazz & pop standard "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" with Paul Madeira, who is also known as Paul Madeira Mertz, in 1941. Jimmy Dorsey & Paul Madeira Mertz collaborated on the lyrics & the music. Mertz had been a pianist in the Bix Beiderbecke band in the 1920s & had worked in Hollywood on film music in the 1930s. Jimmy Dorsey originally released the song as a 78 on Decca as 4197B in 1942 with Bob Eberly on vocals. Jimmy Dorsey also released the song as Decca 18799A with Dee Parker on vocals in 1946. Jimmy Dorsey had eleven number one hits with his orchestra in the 1930s & the 1940s: "Is It True What They Say About Dixie?", "Change Partners", "The Breeze & I", "Amapola", "My Sister & I", "Maria Elena", "Green Eyes", "Blue Champagne", "Tangerine", "Besame Mucho", & "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby. In 1935, he had two more number ones as part of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra: "Lullaby of Broadway" and "Chasing Shadows". His biggest hit was "Amapola", which was number one for ten weeks in 1941 on the Billboard pop singles chart. On Aug. 17, 1936, Bing Crosby recorded "Pennies from Heaven" with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, a recording that went number one for ten weeks & became one of the top records of 1936. And finally, there was a late hit in 1957, "So Rare", which went to the #2 position, & was on the record charts for 26 weeks. In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Jimmy Dorsey & Tommy Dorsey commemorative postage stamp. In 2008, the Recording Academy added the 1942 recording of "Brazil (Aquarela do Brasil)", Decca 18460B, by Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra with Bob Eberle & Helen O'Connell on vocals to the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 1983, Jimmy Dorsey was inducted into the Big Band & Jazz Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the American Jazz Hall of Fame. Partial filmography:

• Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra (1938 short)
• The Fleet's In (1942)
• I Dood It (1943)
• Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)
• Lost in a Harem (1944)
• The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)

V-Disc Recordings:

• Julia, No. 117A, 1944
• Contrast, No. 117A, 1944
• John Silver, No. 117B, 1944
• That Wonderful, Worrisome Feeling, No. 157A, March, 1944
• Star Eyes, No. 174A, April, 1944
• The Champ, No. 195A, May, 1944
• I'll Do Anything For You, No. 195A, May, 1944
• The Breeze and I, No. 217B, June, 1944
• You, You Darlin', No. 217B, June, 1944
• The Great Lie, No. 283A, No. 63 (Navy), October, 1944
• Contrasts, No. 314A, November, 1944
• Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin', No. 314A, November, 1944
• Sunset Strip, No. 326A, December, 1944
• Grand Central Getaway, No. 391B, March, 1945
• All the Things You Ain't, No. 391B, March, 1945
• Long John Silver, No. 409B, April, 1945
• More Than You Know, No. 451A, June, 1945, with Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
• Brotherly Jump, No. 451B, June, 1945, with Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
• Jumpin' Jehosaphat, No. 470B, July, 1945; No. 250B (Marines), July, 1945
• Together, No. 514A, September, 1945
• King Porter Stomp, No. 514A, September, 1945
• Hello Forget It, Goodbye, No. 713, December, 1946.";