Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
Tommy Dorsey (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" and as "TD". He was the younger brother of Jimmy Dorsey. His lyrical trombone style became one of the signature sounds of his band and of the swing era.
Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr. was a native of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the second of four children born to Thomas Francis Dorsey, Sr. and Theresa (née Langton) Dorsey. The Dorsey brothers' two younger siblings were Mary and Edward (who died young).
At age 15, Jimmy recommended Tommy as the replacement for Russ Morgan in the seminal 1920s territory band "The Scranton Sirens." Tommy and Jimmy worked in several bands, including those of Tal Henry, Rudy Vallee, Vincent Lopez, and especially Paul Whiteman, before forming the original Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934. Glenn Miller was a member of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934 and 1935, composing "Annie's Cousin Fanny" and "Dese Dem Dose" for the band. 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 Moment."
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. On December 26, 1953, the brothers appeared with their orchestra on Jackie Gleason's CBS television show, which was preserved on kinescope and later released on home video by Gleason. The brothers took the unit on tour and onto their own television show, Stage Show, from 1954 to 1956, on which they introduced Elvis Presley to national television audiences, among others.
Tommy Dorsey had seventeen number one hits with his orchestra in the 1930s and 1940s: "On Treasure Island", "The Music Goes 'Round and Around", "Alone", "You", "Marie", "Satan Takes a Holiday", "The Big Apple", "Once in a While", "The Dipsy Doodle", "Music, Maestro, Please", "Our Love", "All the Things You Are", "Indian Summer", "I'll Never Smile Again", "There Are Such Things", "In the Blue of Evening", and "Dolores". He had two more number one hits in 1935 when he was a member of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra: "Lullaby of Broadway", number one for two weeks, and "Chasing Shadows", number one for three weeks. His biggest hit was "I'll Never Smile Again", featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals, which was number one for twelve weeks on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1940.
Tommy Dorsey composed several popular songs of the swing era, including "To You" and "This is No Dream", co-written with Benny Davis and Ted Shapiro in 1939; "You Taught Me To Love Again" in 1939, with music by Tommy Dorsey and Henri Woode and lyrics by Charles Carpenter, recorded by Gene Krupa and Sarah Vaughan; "In the Middle of a Dream" in 1939 with Al Stillman and Einar Aaron Swan, recorded by Glenn Miller and Red Norvo; "Three Moods"; "Night in Sudan" (1939); "The Morning After" in 1937 with Moe Jaffe and Clay Boland, also recorded by Red Norvo; "Peckin' with the Penguins", co-written with Deane Kincaide from the 1938 short movie feature Porky's Spring Planting; "You Can't Cheat a Cheater" with Frank Signorelli and Phil Napoleon; and, "Trombonology", which was recorded in 1947. Based on the collection of sheet music of the U.S. Library of Congress, Tommy Dorsey co-wrote "Chris and His Gang" in 1938 with Fletcher and Horace Henderson and "Nip and Tuck" with Fred Norman in 1946. "To You" was recorded in 1939 by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, and by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. "This is No Dream" was recorded by Harry James and his Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals and by Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra with vocals by Judy Ellington.
In 1956, Tommy Dorsey died at age 51 in his Greenwich, Connecticut home, choking in his sleep after a heavy meal following which he had taken 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, featuring vocalist Rob Zappulla. Jane Dorsey died of natural causes at the age of 80 in 2003.
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