Editing Glenn Miller (section)

==Early life and career==
The son of Mattie Lou (née Cavender) Miller and Lewis Elmer Miller, Alton Glen Miller was born in [[Clarinda, Iowa]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name="millerhistory" /> He added a second n to "Glen" during high school.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |title=Memories: 1919–1920; Memories: 1920–1921 |publisher=Fort Morgan High School |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Glen / Glenn |location=Fort Morgan High School Library and Fort Morgan City Museum, Colorado}}</ref> Like his father (Lewis Elmer) and his siblings (Elmer Deane, John Herbert and Emma Irene), Miller went by his middle name.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Memories: 1919–1920, and Memories: 1920–1921 |publisher=Fort Morgan High School |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Alton Glen (Glenn) |publication-place=Fort Morgan, Colorado}}</ref> As Dennis Spragg of the Glenn Miller Archives confirms, "Miller's use of his first name, Alton, was necessary for legal and military purposes, which is logically why it shows up in formal documents such as his military documents, driver’s licenses, tax returns, etc."<ref name=":6">Dennis M. Spragg, Glenn Miller Archives, ''Glenn Miller Collections'', American Music Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, designated guardian in perpetuity for the property of the Glenn Miller Estate; Historian and Life Member, Glenn Miller Birthplace Society, Clarinda, Iowa. Retrieved October 19, 2022. https://www.colorado.edu/amrc/glenn-miller-collections {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925055810/https://www.colorado.edu/amrc/glenn-miller-collections |date=September 25, 2022 }}</ref> He is listed as Alton G. Miller in the Army Air Forces section of the Tablets of the Missing in Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridge, England. His name is engraved as Major Alton Glenn Miller, US Army (Air Corps) on his Government-issued (G.I.) memorial headstone in Memorial Section H at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] in Arlington, Virginia. His last military unit has a memorial tree in section 13 on Wilson Drive. The American Holly was dedicated on December 15, 1994, the 50th anniversary of Miller's death, for the veterans of the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra.<ref>Shenkle, Kathy, Historian, US Air Force, US Army, Arlington National Cemetery. ANC Memorials record and 1994 Historians Log Books stored at ANC in Arlington, Virginia, and at the Center of Military History, US Army, Washington, D.C. Retrieved October 19, 2022.</ref>

[[File:GlennMillerStoneGrantCity.jpg|thumb|Glenn Miller Memorial Stone in Grant City, Missouri]]
He attended grade school in North Platte in western Nebraska. In 1915, his family moved to [[Grant City, Missouri]]. Around this time, he had made enough money from milking cows to buy his first trombone and played in the town orchestra. He played cornet and mandolin, but he switched to trombone by 1916.<ref name="YanowClassic">{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |url=https://archive.org/details/classicjazz00yano |title=Classic Jazz |date=2001 |publisher=Backbeat |isbn=978-0879306595 |location=San Francisco |url-access=registration}}</ref>

In 1918, Miller and his family moved to [[Fort Morgan, Colorado|Fort Morgan]], Colorado, where he went to [[Fort Morgan High School]]. In the fall of 1919, he joined the F.M.H.S. Maroons, the high school football team that won the Northern Colorado American Football Conference in 1920. He was named Best Left End in Colorado in 1921.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Best">{{cite web |title=Glenn Miller |url=https://www.cityoffortmorgan.com/242/Glenn-Miller |access-date=July 19, 2018 |website=www.cityoffortmorgan.com |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107112919/https://www.cityoffortmorgan.com/242/Glenn-Miller |url-status=live }}</ref> For two years, Miller was one of the editors of his own high school yearbook, "Memories".<ref name=":4" /> In each of the yearbooks he edited, his name was spelled both Glen with one n, and Glenn with a double n.<ref name=":2" />

During his senior year, he became so interested in dance band music that he formed a band with some classmates.<ref name="arlington" /> The high school orchestra was an after school activity, but he played there too.<ref name="arlington" /><ref name=":4" /> For a time, classes in harmony, piano, violin, and music appreciation were full, but classes were discontinued.<ref name=":4" /> However, by the time he graduated from high school in 1921, he had decided to become a professional musician.<ref name="millerhistory">{{cite web|url= http://www.glennmiller.org/history.html|title= Glenn Miller History|publisher= Glenn Miller Birthplace Society|access-date= March 8, 2011|archive-date= May 13, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110513114207/http://www.glennmiller.org/history.html|url-status= dead}}</ref> He missed his own graduation because he was performing out of town. His mother gladly received his diploma for him.<ref name="arlington" />

In 1923, Miller entered the [[University of Colorado Boulder|University of Colorado]] at [[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder]], where he joined [[Sigma Nu]] fraternity.<ref>[http://oregonstate.edu/groups/sigmanu/about/famous-sigma-nu/ "Famous Sigma Nu's"] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060916215154/http://oregonstate.edu/groups/sigmanu/about/famous-sigma-nu/ |date= September 16, 2006 }}, ''Oregonstate.edu''. Retrieved on July 29, 2011.</ref> He spent most of his time away from school, attending auditions and playing any gigs he could get, including with Boyd Senter's band in Denver. After failing three out of five classes, he dropped out of school to pursue a career in music. He failed Harmony.<ref name="arlington" />

In New York City, he studied the [[Schillinger system]] with [[Joseph Schillinger]], under whose tutelage he composed "Miller's Tune". Miller arranged that tune for big band and renamed it. It became his signature theme, "Moonlight Serenade".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://schillingersystem.com/whois.htm|title= Who Is Joseph Schillinger?|work= The Schillinger System|access-date= February 19, 2009 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090219020019/http://schillingersystem.com/whois.htm |archive-date= February 19, 2009 }}</ref>

In 1926, Miller toured with several groups, landing a good spot in [[Ben Pollack]]'s group in Los Angeles. He also played for [[Victor Young]], which allowed him to be mentored by other professional musicians.<ref name="music1">{{cite web |url= http://www.music.us/biography/artist/491/glenn_miller.html |title= Glenn Miller Biography |publisher= Music.us|access-date= December 18, 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130512134159/http://www.music.us/biography/artist/491/glenn_miller.html |archive-date= May 12, 2013 }}</ref> In the beginning, he was the main trombone soloist of the band, but when [[Jack Teagarden]] joined Pollack's band in 1928, Miller found that his solos were cut drastically. He realized that his future was in arranging and composing.<ref name="YanowClassic" />

He had a songbook published in Chicago in 1928 entitled ''[[125 Jazz Breaks for Trombone]]'' by the Melrose Brothers.<ref>''Metronome'', 1928, Vol. 44, p. 42.</ref> During his time with Pollack, he wrote several arrangements. He wrote his first composition, "[[Room 1411]]", with [[Benny Goodman]], and [[Brunswick Records]] released it as a 78 rpm record under the name "Benny Goodman's Boys".<ref name="BGBoys">{{cite web |title= Benny Goodman's Boys |url= http://www.redhotjazz.com/bgb.html |website= www.redhotjazz.com |access-date= July 19, 2018 |archive-date= January 15, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160115014642/http://www.redhotjazz.com/bgb.html |url-status= live }}</ref>

In 1928, when the band arrived in New York City, he sent for and married his college sweetheart, Helen Burger. He was a member of [[Red Nichols]]' orchestra (Red Nichols and his Five Pennies)<ref name="arlington" /> in 1930, and because of Nichols, he played in the pit bands of two Broadway shows, [[Strike Up the Band (musical)|''Strike Up the Band'']] and ''[[Girl Crazy]]''. That band included Benny Goodman and [[Gene Krupa]].<ref name="History">{{cite web |title= History |url= http://www.glennmillerorchestra.se/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=6&lang=en |website= www.glennmillerorchestra.se |access-date= July 19, 2018 |archive-date= July 19, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180719054616/http://www.glennmillerorchestra.se/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=6&lang=en |url-status= live }}</ref>

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Miller worked as a freelance trombonist in several bands. On a March 21, 1928, [[Victor Records]] session, he played alongside [[Tommy Dorsey]], Benny Goodman, and [[Joe Venuti]] in the All-Star Orchestra directed by [[Nat Shilkret]].<ref name="connorhicks">{{cite book |last1= Connor |first1= D. Russell |last2= Hicks |first2= Warren W. |title= BG on the Record: A Bio-discography of Benny Goodman|url= https://archive.org/details/bgonrecordbiodis00conno |url-access= registration |date= 1969|publisher= Arlington House|location= New Rochelle, N.Y. |isbn= 0-87000-059-4 |edition= 5}}</ref><ref name="shilkret">{{cite book |editor1-last= Shell |editor1-first= Niel |editor2-last= Shilkret |editor2-first= Barbara |title= Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business |date= 2004 |publisher= Scarecrow |location= Lanham, Maryland |isbn= 0-8108-5128-8}}</ref><ref name="stockdale">{{cite journal |last1= Stockdale |first1= Robert L. |title= Tommy Dorsey on the Side |journal= Studies in Jazz |volume= 19 |publisher= Scarecrow |location= Metuchen, New Jersey}}</ref> He arranged and played trombone on several significant Dorsey brothers sessions for [[OKeh Records]], including "The Spell of the Blues", "Let's Do It", and "My Kinda Love", all with [[Bing Crosby]] on vocals. On November 14, 1929,<ref name="Red">{{cite web|title= Red Mckenzie and his Mound City Blue Blowers|url= http://www.redhotjazz.com/mound.html|website= Red Hot Jazz|access-date= September 21, 2016|archive-date= August 5, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110805054653/http://www.redhotjazz.com/mound.html|url-status= dead}}</ref> vocalist [[Red McKenzie]] hired Miller to play on two records: "Hello, Lola" and "If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight".<ref name="Simon42">{{cite book |last1=Simon |first1=George T. |title=Glenn Miller and His Orchestra |date=1980 |publisher= Da Capo |location= New York |isbn= 0-306-80129-9 |page= 42 |edition= 1st paperback}}</ref><ref>Simon (1980) says in ''Glenn Miller and His Orchestra'', on p. 42, when he asked Miller years later what recordings he made were his favorites, he specifically singled out the Mound City Blue Blowers sessions.</ref> Beside Miller were saxophonist [[Coleman Hawkins]], clarinetist [[Pee Wee Russell]], guitarist [[Eddie Condon]], and drummer Gene Krupa.<ref name="Twomey">{{cite web|url= http://www.jazzsight.com/jazzsightprofiles.html|last1= Twomey|first1= John|title= Who Was Glenn Miller?|publisher= Jazzsight.com|access-date= May 31, 2009|archive-date= October 26, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141026003915/http://www.jazzsight.com/jazzsightprofiles.html|url-status= live}}</ref>

In the early to mid-1930s, Miller worked as a trombonist, arranger, and composer for [[the Dorsey Brothers]], first, when they were a Brunswick studio group and later, when they formed an ill-fated orchestra.<ref name="GMH6">Simon (1980), pp. 65–66.</ref> Miller composed the songs "[[Annie's Cousin Fanny]]",<ref>Simon (1980), p. 9.</ref><ref>"Annie's Cousin Fanny" was recorded for Decca and Brunswick three times.</ref><ref name="redhotjazz1">{{cite web |url=http://www.redhotjazz.com/dorseybros.html |title=Dorsey Brothers Orchestra |website=Redhotjazz.com |access-date=July 27, 2017 |archive-date=January 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126082412/http://www.redhotjazz.com/dorseybros.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> "[[Dese Dem Dose]]",<ref name=GMH6/><ref name="redhotjazz1"/> "[[Harlem Chapel Chimes]]", and "[[Tomorrow's Another Day (1935 song)|Tomorrow's Another Day]]" for the Dorsey Brothers Band in 1934 and 1935.

In 1935, he assembled an American orchestra for British bandleader [[Ray Noble (musician)|Ray Noble]],<ref name="GMH6" /> developing the arrangement of lead clarinet over four saxophones that became a characteristic of his big band. Members of the Noble band included [[Claude Thornhill]], [[Bud Freeman]], and [[Charlie Spivak]].

Miller made his first movie appearance in ''[[The Big Broadcast of 1936]]'' as a member of the Ray Noble Orchestra performing "Why Stars Come Out at Night". The film included performances by [[Dorothy Dandridge]] and [[the Nicholas Brothers]], who would appear with Miller again in two movies for [[Twentieth Century Fox]] in 1941 and 1942.

In 1937, Miller compiled several arrangements and formed his first band. After failing to distinguish itself from the many bands of the time, it broke up after its last show at the [[Ritz Ballroom, Bridgeport#Glenn Miller|Ritz Ballroom]] in Bridgeport, Connecticut on January 2, 1938.<ref name="GlenM">{{cite book|last=Simon|first=George T.|title=Glenn Miller & His Orchestra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DvLC5_RJS0MC&pg=PA105|access-date=July 18, 2018|date=1980|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-80129-7|pages=105–}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Benny Goodman said in 1976:
{{Blockquote|In late 1937, before his band became popular, we were both playing in Dallas. Glenn was pretty dejected and came to see me. He asked, "What do you do? How do you make it?" I said, "I don't know, Glenn. You just stay with it."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tuxjunction.net/glennmiller.htm |title=Music in the Miller Mood |author=Spink, George|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211140502/http://www.tuxjunction.net/glennmiller.htm|archive-date=February 11, 2010 }}</ref>}}