Irving Mills
Encyclopedia
Irving Mills was a jazz
music publisher, also known by the name of "Joe Primrose."
Mills was born to Jewish parents in the Lower East Side
of Manhattan in New York City
. He founded Mills Music with his brother Jack in 1919. Between 1919 and 1965, when they sold Mills Music, Inc., they built and became the largest independent music publisher in the world. He died in 1985 in Palm Springs
, California
. His interment was at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
.
s, among them Sammy Fain
, Harry Barris
, Gene Austin
, Hoagy Carmichael
, Jimmy McHugh
, and Dorothy Fields
. He either discovered or greatly advanced the careers of Cab Calloway
, Duke Ellington
, Ben Pollack
, Jack Teagarden
, Benny Goodman
, Will Hudson, Raymond Scott
and many others.
Although not a musician himself (he did sing, however), Irving decided to put together his own studio recording group. In Irving Mills and his Hotsy Totsy Gang he had for sidemen: Tommy Dorsey
, Jimmy Dorsey
, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang
, Arnold Brillhardt, Arthur Schutt
, and Manny Klein
. Other variations of his bands featured Glenn Miller
, Benny Goodman
, and Red Nichols
(Irving gave Red Nichols the tag "and his Five Pennies.")
and Broadway
called the Kentucky Club. The owner had brought in a little band from Washington, D.C.
and wanted to know what Irving thought of them. Instead of going out and making the rounds he found himself sitting there all night listening to the orchestra. That was Duke Ellington
and his Kentucky Club Orchestra, whom he signed the very next day. They made a lot of records together, not only under the name of Duke Ellington, but built groups around Duke's side men who were great instrumentalists in their own right.
Mills was not a composer, but his contract with Ellington was a very favorable one; he owned 50% in Duke Ellington Inc. and thus got his name tag on quite a number of tunes that became popular standards: "Mood Indigo
," "(In My) Solitude
," "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
," "Sophisticated Lady
," "Black and Tan Fantasy," and many others now listed on the ASCAP website. In spite of a limited vocabulary, Irving had a poetic sense of beauty and knew how to create a lyric, sometimes using a ghost writer to complete his idea and sometimes building on the idea of the ghost writer. He was instrumental in getting Duke Ellington hired by the Cotton Club
.
Mills was one of the first to record black and white musicians together, using twelve white musicians and the Duke Ellington Orchestra on a 12" 78 rpm disc
performing "St. Louis Blues" on one side and a medley of songs called "Gems from Blackbirds of 1928" on the other side, himself singing with the Ellington Orchestra. Victor Records -- soon to become RCA Victor—first hedged on releasing the record, but when Mills threatened to take his artists off the roster, he won out.
He also discovered and signed Blanche Calloway
and her brother Cab Calloway
.
Irving thought that he should ensure that the Ellington Orchestra always had top musicians and protected himself by forming the Mills Blue Rhythm Band
, using them as a sort of relief band at the Cotton Club. Calloway and the band went into the Cotton Club with a new song Irving co-wrote with Calloway and Clarence Gaskill called "Minnie the Moocher
."
's band to record hot small group sides for the various dime store labels, (while Pollack had an exclusive contract with Victor) out of the main orchestra and printing "small orchestrations" transcribed off the record, so that non-professional musicians could see how great solos were constructed. This was later done by Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and many other bands.
Irving also formed Mills Artists Booking Company. It was in 1934 that he formed an all-girl orchestra, headed by Ina Ray
. He added the name Hutton and it became the popular Ina Ray Hutton and her Orchestra. In 1934 as well, Mills Music began a publishing subsidiary, Exclusive Publications, specializing in orchestrations by the likes of Will Hudson (1908-1981) who co-wrote the song "Mr. Ghost Goes to Town" with him and Mitchell Parish
in 1936.
In late 1936, with involvement by Herbert Yates of the American Record Corporation
, Irving started the Master and Variety labels, which for their short life span were distributed by ARC through their Brunswick
and Vocalion label sales staff. (Mills had previously A&R'ed for Columbia
in 1934-'36, after ARC purchased the failing label.) Irving signed Helen Oakley Dance
to supervise the small group records for the Variety label (35 cents or 3 for $1.00). The Master label sold for 75 cents. From December, 1936, through about September, 1937, an amazing amount of records were issued on these labels (40 were issued on Master and 170 on Variety). Master's best selling artists were Duke Ellington
, Raymond Scott
, as well as Hudson-De Lange Orchestra, Casper Reardon
and Adrian Rollini
. Variety's roster included Cab Calloway
, Red Nichols
, the small groups from Ellington's band led by Barney Bigard
, Cootie Williams
, Rex Stewart
, and Johnny Hodges
, as well as Noble Sissle
, Frankie Newton, The Three Peppers, Chu Berry, Billy Kyle
, and other major and minor jazz and pop performers around New York. In such a short time, an amazing amount of fine music was recorded for these labels.
By late 1937 a number of problems caused the collapse of these labels. The Brunswick and Vocalion sales staff had problems of their own, with competition from Victor and Decca
, and it wasn't easy to get this new venture off the ground. Mills tried to arrange for distribution overseas to get his music issued in Europe, but was unsuccessful. Also, it's quite likely that these records simply weren't selling as well as hoped for.
After the collapse of the labels, those titles that were still selling on Master were reissued on Brunswick and those still selling on Variety were reissued on Vocalion. Mills continued his M-100 recording series after the labels were taken over by ARC, and after cutting back recording to just the better selling artists, new recordings made from about January 1938 by Master were issued on Brunswick (and later Columbia
) and Vocalion (later the revived Okeh) until May 7, 1940. The last recording was number WM-1150--1055 recordings in total.
Irving was recording all the time and became the head of the American Recording Company, which is now Columbia Records. Once radio blossomed Irving was singing at six radio stations seven days a week plugging Mills tunes. Jimmy McHugh
, Sammy Fain
, and Gene Austin
took turns being his pianist.
, for Twentieth Century Fox in 1943, which starred jazz greats Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Zutty Singleton, and Fats Waller
and the legendary dancers the Nicholas Brothers
and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. He had a contract to do other movies but found it "too slow" so he continued finding, recording and plugging music.
Irving lived to be over 91 years old. In spite of his limited formal education Irving Mills was comfortable in any company. His place in the history of jazz is founded primarily on his business skills rather than his singing and songwriting abilities, but it was his management skills and publishing empire that were central to the history and financial success of jazz. Because of his promotion of black entertainers a leading black newspaper referred to him as the Abraham Lincoln of music.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music publisher, also known by the name of "Joe Primrose."
Mills was born to Jewish parents in the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of Manhattan in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He founded Mills Music with his brother Jack in 1919. Between 1919 and 1965, when they sold Mills Music, Inc., they built and became the largest independent music publisher in the world. He died in 1985 in Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. His interment was at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries refers to two Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. The original cemetery is located at 5950 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. The cemetery was originally established in 1953 by the neighboring Forest...
.
Discoveries
Irving and Jack discovered a number of great songwriterSongwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
s, among them Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...
, Harry Barris
Harry Barris
Harry Barris was an American popular singer and songwriter.Born in New York City, he was a member of the Rhythm Boys, a late 1920s singing trio which included Al Rinker and Bing Crosby, and was Crosby's entry into show business...
, Gene Austin
Gene Austin
Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
, Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael
Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
, Jimmy McHugh
Jimmy McHugh
James Francis McHugh was a U.S. composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he composed over 270 songs...
, and Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...
. He either discovered or greatly advanced the careers of Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Ben Pollack
Ben Pollack
Ben Pollack was a drummer and bandleader from the mid 1920s through the swing era. His eye for talent led him to either discover or employ, at one time or another, musicians such as Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Miller, Jimmy McPartland and Harry James...
, Jack Teagarden
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Will Hudson, Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....
and many others.
Although not a musician himself (he did sing, however), Irving decided to put together his own studio recording group. In Irving Mills and his Hotsy Totsy Gang he had for sidemen: Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the Father of Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.-Biography:...
, Arnold Brillhardt, Arthur Schutt
Arthur Schutt
Arthur Schutt was an American jazz pianist and arranger.Schutt learned piano from his father, and accompanied silent films as a teenager in the 1910s...
, and Manny Klein
Manny Klein
Manny Klein was a jazz trumpeter most associated with swing.He began with Paul Whiteman in 1928 and was active throughout the 1930s playing with several major bands of the era including the Dorseys and Benny Goodman. In 1937, he moved to California and worked with Frank Trumbauer's orchestra...
. Other variations of his bands featured Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, and Red Nichols
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
(Irving gave Red Nichols the tag "and his Five Pennies.")
Duke Ellington
One night Mills went down to a little club on West 49th Street between 7th AvenueSeventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Seventh Avenue, known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park, is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below Central Park and a two-way street north of the park....
and Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
called the Kentucky Club. The owner had brought in a little band from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and wanted to know what Irving thought of them. Instead of going out and making the rounds he found himself sitting there all night listening to the orchestra. That was Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and his Kentucky Club Orchestra, whom he signed the very next day. They made a lot of records together, not only under the name of Duke Ellington, but built groups around Duke's side men who were great instrumentalists in their own right.
Mills was not a composer, but his contract with Ellington was a very favorable one; he owned 50% in Duke Ellington Inc. and thus got his name tag on quite a number of tunes that became popular standards: "Mood Indigo
Mood Indigo
"Mood Indigo" is a jazz composition and song, with music by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard with lyrics by Irving Mills.-Disputed authorship:In a 1987 interview, Mitchell Parish claimed to have written the lyrics:...
," "(In My) Solitude
(In My) Solitude
" Solitude" is a 1934 jazz standard, composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Eddie DeLange and Irving Mills.- Notable recordings :* Paul Robeson, bass with orchestra. Recorded in London on October 18, 1937...
," "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
"It Don't Mean a Thing " is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Irving Mills, now accepted as a jazz standard. The music was written and arranged by Ellington in August 1931 during intermissions at Chicago's Lincoln Tavern and was first recorded by Ellington and his orchestra for...
," "Sophisticated Lady
Sophisticated Lady
"Sophisticated Lady" is a jazz standard, composed as an instrumental in 1932 by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills, to which words were added by Mitchell Parish. The words met with approval from Ellington, who described them as "wonderful—but not entirely fitted to my original conception".That...
," "Black and Tan Fantasy," and many others now listed on the ASCAP website. In spite of a limited vocabulary, Irving had a poetic sense of beauty and knew how to create a lyric, sometimes using a ghost writer to complete his idea and sometimes building on the idea of the ghost writer. He was instrumental in getting Duke Ellington hired by the Cotton Club
Cotton Club
The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem, New York City that operated during Prohibition that included jazz music. While the club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, such as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, Count Basie, Bessie Smith,...
.
Mills was one of the first to record black and white musicians together, using twelve white musicians and the Duke Ellington Orchestra on a 12" 78 rpm disc
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
performing "St. Louis Blues" on one side and a medley of songs called "Gems from Blackbirds of 1928" on the other side, himself singing with the Ellington Orchestra. Victor Records -- soon to become RCA Victor—first hedged on releasing the record, but when Mills threatened to take his artists off the roster, he won out.
He also discovered and signed Blanche Calloway
Blanche Calloway
Blanche Calloway was a Jazz singer, bandleader, and composer from Baltimore, Maryland. She is not as well known as her younger brother Cab Calloway, but she may have been the first woman to lead an all male orchestra. Cab Calloway often credited her with being the reason he got into show business...
and her brother Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
.
Irving thought that he should ensure that the Ellington Orchestra always had top musicians and protected himself by forming the Mills Blue Rhythm Band
Mills Blue Rhythm Band
The Mills Blue Rhythm Band was an American big band of the 1930s.The band was formed in Harlem in 1930, with reedman Bingie Madison the first of its many leaders. It started life as the Coconut Grove Orchestra, changing to Mills Blue Rhythm Band when Irving Mills became its manager in 1931...
, using them as a sort of relief band at the Cotton Club. Calloway and the band went into the Cotton Club with a new song Irving co-wrote with Calloway and Clarence Gaskill called "Minnie the Moocher
Minnie the Moocher
"Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over 1 million copies. "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed lyrics . In performances, Calloway would have the audience participate by repeating each scat phrase in a...
."
Innovations
One of his innovations was the "band within a band," recording small groups (he started this in 1928 by arranging for members of Ben PollackBen Pollack
Ben Pollack was a drummer and bandleader from the mid 1920s through the swing era. His eye for talent led him to either discover or employ, at one time or another, musicians such as Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Miller, Jimmy McPartland and Harry James...
's band to record hot small group sides for the various dime store labels, (while Pollack had an exclusive contract with Victor) out of the main orchestra and printing "small orchestrations" transcribed off the record, so that non-professional musicians could see how great solos were constructed. This was later done by Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and many other bands.
Irving also formed Mills Artists Booking Company. It was in 1934 that he formed an all-girl orchestra, headed by Ina Ray
Ina Ray Hutton
Ina Ray Hutton was an American female leader during the Big band era, and sister to June Hutton.Hutton was born as Odessa Cowan in Chicago, Illinois of African American descent. She began dancing and singing in stage revues at the age of eight. Cowan's mother Marvel Ray was a local pianist and...
. He added the name Hutton and it became the popular Ina Ray Hutton and her Orchestra. In 1934 as well, Mills Music began a publishing subsidiary, Exclusive Publications, specializing in orchestrations by the likes of Will Hudson (1908-1981) who co-wrote the song "Mr. Ghost Goes to Town" with him and Mitchell Parish
Mitchell Parish
Mitchell Parish was an American lyricist.-Early life:Parish was born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky to a Jewish family in Lithuania. His family emigrated to the United States, arriving on February 3, 1901 on the SS Dresden when he was less than a year old...
in 1936.
In late 1936, with involvement by Herbert Yates of the American Record Corporation
American Record Corporation
ARC, the American Record Company, also referred to as American Record Corporation, or as ARC Records, was a United States based record company...
, Irving started the Master and Variety labels, which for their short life span were distributed by ARC through their Brunswick
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
and Vocalion label sales staff. (Mills had previously A&R'ed for Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1934-'36, after ARC purchased the failing label.) Irving signed Helen Oakley Dance
Helen Oakley Dance
Helen Margaret Oakley Dance, née Oakley was a jazz journalist, producer, historian, and musician. She is perhaps best known for production and for her biography of T-Bone Walker...
to supervise the small group records for the Variety label (35 cents or 3 for $1.00). The Master label sold for 75 cents. From December, 1936, through about September, 1937, an amazing amount of records were issued on these labels (40 were issued on Master and 170 on Variety). Master's best selling artists were Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....
, as well as Hudson-De Lange Orchestra, Casper Reardon
Casper Reardon
Casper Reardon was a classical and later jazz harpist. He studied classical harp at the Curtis Institute of Music going on to play for the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra...
and Adrian Rollini
Adrian Rollini
Adrian Francis Rollini was a multi-instrumentalist best known for his jazz music. He played the bass saxophone, piano, xylophone, and many other instruments. Rollini is also known for introducing the goofus in jazz music...
. Variety's roster included Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Red Nichols
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
, the small groups from Ellington's band led by Barney Bigard
Barney Bigard
Albany Leon Bigard, aka Barney Bigard, was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, though primarily known for the clarinet....
, Cootie Williams
Cootie Williams
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...
, Rex Stewart
Rex Stewart
Rex Stewart was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra....
, and Johnny Hodges
Johnny Hodges
John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges was an American alto saxophonist, best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years, except the period between 1932–1946 when Otto Hardwick generally played first chair...
, as well as Noble Sissle
Noble Sissle
Noble Sissle was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer and playwright.-Early life:...
, Frankie Newton, The Three Peppers, Chu Berry, Billy Kyle
Billy Kyle
William Osborne "Billy" Kyle was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Kyle was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began playing the piano in school and by the early 1930s worked with Lucky Millinder, and later the Mills Blue Rhythm Band. In 1938, he joined John Kirby's band, but was drafted in...
, and other major and minor jazz and pop performers around New York. In such a short time, an amazing amount of fine music was recorded for these labels.
By late 1937 a number of problems caused the collapse of these labels. The Brunswick and Vocalion sales staff had problems of their own, with competition from Victor and Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, and it wasn't easy to get this new venture off the ground. Mills tried to arrange for distribution overseas to get his music issued in Europe, but was unsuccessful. Also, it's quite likely that these records simply weren't selling as well as hoped for.
After the collapse of the labels, those titles that were still selling on Master were reissued on Brunswick and those still selling on Variety were reissued on Vocalion. Mills continued his M-100 recording series after the labels were taken over by ARC, and after cutting back recording to just the better selling artists, new recordings made from about January 1938 by Master were issued on Brunswick (and later Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
) and Vocalion (later the revived Okeh) until May 7, 1940. The last recording was number WM-1150--1055 recordings in total.
Irving was recording all the time and became the head of the American Recording Company, which is now Columbia Records. Once radio blossomed Irving was singing at six radio stations seven days a week plugging Mills tunes. Jimmy McHugh
Jimmy McHugh
James Francis McHugh was a U.S. composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he composed over 270 songs...
, Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...
, and Gene Austin
Gene Austin
Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
took turns being his pianist.
Film
He produced one picture, Stormy WeatherStormy Weather (1943 film)
Stormy Weather is a 1943 American musical film produced and released by 20th Century Fox. The film is one of two major Hollywood musicals produced in 1943 with primarily African-American casts, the other being MGM's Cabin in the Sky, and is considered a time capsule showcasing some of the top...
, for Twentieth Century Fox in 1943, which starred jazz greats Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Zutty Singleton, and Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
and the legendary dancers the Nicholas Brothers
Nicholas Brothers
The Nicholas Brothers were a famous African American team of dancing brothers, Fayard and Harold . With their highly acrobatic technique , high level of artistry and daring innovations, they were considered by many the greatest tap dancers of their day...
and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. He had a contract to do other movies but found it "too slow" so he continued finding, recording and plugging music.
Impact
Much has been made about Mills' co-writing credit on a number of key Ellington compositions. The fact remains that those acts managed by Irving Mills got the best gigs and had the greatest opportunities in the recording studio. There were dozens of excellent bands of the era not handled by Mills whose recorded legacy is a fraction of those he managed.Irving lived to be over 91 years old. In spite of his limited formal education Irving Mills was comfortable in any company. His place in the history of jazz is founded primarily on his business skills rather than his singing and songwriting abilities, but it was his management skills and publishing empire that were central to the history and financial success of jazz. Because of his promotion of black entertainers a leading black newspaper referred to him as the Abraham Lincoln of music.
Artists
Among the artists Mills personally recorded were- Irving AaronsonIrving AaronsonIrving A. Aaronson was an American jazz pianist and big band leader.Born in New York, USA, Irving Aaronson learned piano from Alfred Sendry at the David Mannes School for music...
and his Commanders - Vic BertonVic BertonVic Berton , was an American jazz drummer.Berton was born, Victor Cohen, in Chicago. His father was a violinist and began his son on string instruments around age five. He was hired as a percussionist at the Alhambra Theater in Milwaukee in 1903 when he was only seven years old...
's Orchestra - Billy BanksBilly BanksBanks recorded in 1932 with an all-star, multi-racial jazz lineup made up of Red Allen on trumpet, Pee Wee Russell on clarinet, Tommy Dorsey on trombone, Joe Sullivan on piano, Zutty Singleton on drums, and Fats Waller, also on piano; most of the black musicians were from Luis Russell's retinue,...
Orchestra - Cab CallowayCab CallowayCabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
Orchestra - Chocolate Dandies
- Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and his Orchestra - Frank FroebaFrank FroebaFrank Froeba or Froba was an American jazz pianist and bandleader.Froeba held jobs in the bands of Johnny Wiggs and John Tobin while still in his teens...
Orchestra - Sonny GreerSonny GreerSonny Greer was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with Duke Ellington.Greer was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and played with Elmer Snowden's band and the Howard Theatre's orchestra in Washington, D.C. before joining Duke Ellington, who he met in 1919...
and his Memphis Men - Ina Ray HuttonIna Ray HuttonIna Ray Hutton was an American female leader during the Big band era, and sister to June Hutton.Hutton was born as Odessa Cowan in Chicago, Illinois of African American descent. She began dancing and singing in stage revues at the age of eight. Cowan's mother Marvel Ray was a local pianist and...
and Her Melodears - Baron Lee and the Mills Blue Rhythm BandMills Blue Rhythm BandThe Mills Blue Rhythm Band was an American big band of the 1930s.The band was formed in Harlem in 1930, with reedman Bingie Madison the first of its many leaders. It started life as the Coconut Grove Orchestra, changing to Mills Blue Rhythm Band when Irving Mills became its manager in 1931...
- Jimmie LuncefordJimmie LuncefordJames Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.-Biography:...
- Wingy ManoneWingy ManoneWingy Manone was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His major recordings included "Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a Time ", and "Tailgate Ramble".- Biography :Manone was born Joseph Matthews Mannone in New Orleans,...
Orchestra - Red McKenzieRed McKenzieRed McKenzie was an American jazz musician. He was the best-known, and one of the only, comb players in jazz history....
- Benny Meroff Orchestra
- Mills Cavalcade Orchestra
- Irving Mills and his Hotsy Totsy Gang
- Mills Music Masters
- Red NicholsRed NicholsErnest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
& His Five Pennies - Louis PrimaLouis PrimaLouis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
Orchestra - Jay Randell Orchestra
- Chuck RichardsChuck RichardsChuck Richards was a popular African American radio DJ, on WBAL in Baltimore. He was earlier on WITH, the first white-owned radio station with black personalities....
- Clark Randall Orchestra
- The Raymond ScottRaymond ScottRaymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....
Quintette - Tommy "Red" Tomkins Orchestra
- Joe Venuti
- The Whoopee Makers
- Will Hudson–Eddie DeLangeEddie DeLangeEddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...
Orchestra - The Swingsters
- The Modernists (Benny GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
) - Lud GluskinLud GluskinLudwig Elias Gluskin was a jazz bandleader.Gluskin drummed for bands in France in the 1920s, including at the Casino de Paris...
Orchestra - Red NorvoRed NorvoRed Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...
& His Swing Septet - Rex StewartRex StewartRex Stewart was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra....
Orchestra - Benny CarterBenny CarterBennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
Orchestra - Buster BaileyBuster BaileyWilliam C. "Buster" Bailey was a jazz musician specializing in the clarinet, but also well versed on saxophone...
Orchestra - Joe HaymesJoe HaymesJoseph Lawrence Haymes was an American jazz bandleader and arranger.Born in Marshfield, Missouri, Haymes relocated with his family to Springfield, Missouri, after his railroader father was killed in an accident. Joe attended Greenwood Laboratory School in Springfield and was a drummer in the local...
Orchestra - Manny KleinManny KleinManny Klein was a jazz trumpeter most associated with swing.He began with Paul Whiteman in 1928 and was active throughout the 1930s playing with several major bands of the era including the Dorseys and Benny Goodman. In 1937, he moved to California and worked with Frank Trumbauer's orchestra...
Orchestra
External links
- Bob Mills: Irving Mills 1894-1985 (Retrieved February 22, 2010)
- Irving Mills (Internet Broadway database; retrieved February 22, 2010)