Russ Morgan
Encyclopedia
- Russ Morgan may also refer to a member of dance musicDance musicDance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
group K-KlassK-KlassK-Klass are a house music group from Wrexham, North Wales. The members are Andy Williams, Carl Thomas, Russ Morgan, and Paul Roberts. K-Klass signed with Deconstruction Records, and later to Parlophone.-Career:...
.
Russ Morgan (April 29, 1904 – August 7, 1969) was a big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
orchestra leader and musical arranger in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the 1930s and 1940s.
Early life
Born into a Welsh family in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Morgan was encouraged to express himself musically from the age of seven. His father, a coal-mine foreman, was a former musician who played drumsDrum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
in a local band in his spare time. Morgan's mother had been a pianist in a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
act. Morgan began to study piano and also went to work in the mines to earn money to help support his family and pay for his lessons.
At fourteen, Morgan earned extra money as a pianist in a theater in Scranton. He also purchased a trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
and learned to play it. In 1921, he played trombone with a local band, the Scranton Sirens, which became popular in Pennsylvania during the 1920s. Several of its members later became famous, including 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"...
on sax and clarinet, Billy Lustig on violin and 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...
on trombone (who took Morgan's place when he left the organization).
Early career
In 1922, Morgan decided to go to New York. Three years later, at the age of twenty-one, he did arrangements for both John Philip SousaJohn Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
and Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
. He then joined Paul Specht
Paul Specht
Paul Specht was an American dance bandleader popular in the 1920s.Born in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, Specht was a violinist, having been taught by his father Charles G. Specht, a violinist, organist, and bandleader in his own right...
's orchestra and toured throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with the orchestra. Colleagues of Morgan in Specht's orchestra included 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...
, Don Lindley, Chauncey Morehouse
Chauncey Morehouse
Chauncey Morehouse was an American jazz drummer.-Biography:Chauncey Morehouse was born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1902 and was raised in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where he played drums from a very early age. He also played piano and banjo too. As a high schooler, he led a group called the...
, Orville Knapp, Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
, Charlie Spivak
Charlie Spivak
Charlie Spivak was an American trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his big band in the 1940s.-Biography:...
and Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
.
On his return from Europe, Jean Goldkette
Jean Goldkette
John Jean Goldkette was a jazz pianist and bandleader born in Patras, Greece. Goldkette spent his childhood in Greece and Russia, and emigrated to the United States in 1911....
invited Morgan to Detroit to organize, lead and arrange for his new band. Some members of the all-star Goldkette orchestra were his old associates. The band included Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Chauncey Morehouse
Chauncey Morehouse
Chauncey Morehouse was an American jazz drummer.-Biography:Chauncey Morehouse was born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1902 and was raised in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where he played drums from a very early age. He also played piano and banjo too. As a high schooler, he led a group called the...
, 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:...
, Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
and Fuzzy Farrar.
Morgan first records were made for OKeh
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
in mid 1930 exclusively for their short lived Parlophone PNY and Odeon ONY series, usually under the name Russell Brown and his Orchestra. During the early 1930's, Morgan joined the group of annoymous studio groups recording pop tunes for the dime store labels (including Banner, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, Romeo, Conqueror, Vocalion, and (probably) the rare gold Domino labels.
For a short time in 1934, Morgan arranged for Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
's Orchestra. In 1935, he played trombone with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band when they recorded four sides for Vocalion. On September 12, 1935, Morgan playing piano and Joe Venuti on violin cut two sides for 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...
, “Red Velvet
Red Velvet
Red Velvet is a 2009 American independent horror film directed by Bruce Dickson and written by Anthony Burns and Joe Moe. The film stars Henry Thomas and Kelli Garner and is the final film of Forrest J Ackerman.-Synopsis:...
” and “Black Satin
Black Satin
Black Satin is a 1956 studio album by the George Shearing quintet and orchestra, arranged by Billy May. - Track listing :# "The Folks Who Live On the Hill" – 7:19...
.” Most of the songs were written by Morgan and Venuti.
Radio work
Morgan's biggest success came when he was offered the position of Musical Director for Detroit Radio Station WXYZ. His show, "Music in the Morgan Manner", became one of the most popular radio shows. At one time, during his radio run, he was directing nine commercial programs. While in Detroit, he arranged for the Detroit 102 piece Symphony Orchestra demonstrating his varied musical experience and ability.In the early 1930s, Morgan was in an automobile accident that almost ended his career. After several months in the hospital he started again in New York City as arranger for bands like the George White Scandals, The Cotton Club Revue and the Capitol Theatre. When not arranging for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows, Morgan worked with leading orchestras in New York, such as Phil Spitalny
Phil Spitalny
Phil Spitalny was a musician, music critic, composer and bandleader heard often on radio during the 1930s and 1940s...
, Eddie Gilligan, Ted Fio Rito and Freddy Martin
Freddy Martin
Frederick Alfred Martin was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist.-Early life:Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one...
, as pianist and/or trombonist.
He joined the Freddy Martin Orchestra in 1934 as a piano player, but worked chiefly as trombonist and arranger with the band. While with Martin's orchestra, he also was a musical director at Brunswick Records
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...
in New York, where he met Shirley Gray, whom he married in 1939.
Mid-career
While at Brunswick, Morgan met Rudy ValleeRudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
, who was impressed with Morgan's musical ability. He insisted he form an orchestra of his own. He then invited Russ to appear as a guest on his popular Fleishman Yeast radio show. Vallee was also instrumental in getting Morgan in his first engagement in New York City, along with his own orchestra at the Biltmore Hotel
Biltmore Hotel
Bowman-Biltmore Hotels was a chain created by hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman.The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attractions in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. The name has...
. This first engagement was indicative of the audiences' reaction to Morgan's appearances. He started with a four-week contract. But the contract extended and Morgan remained at the hotel for two years. In the next few years, he was able to add musical directorship to the Rinso-Lifebuoy Show on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
for thirty-nine weeks and the Philip Morris radio series on NBC and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
for two years to his growing list of achievements.
Some of his other triumphs were his record-breaking runs in famed hotels, ballrooms and theatres across the country. A few of these engagements were at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles; Claremont Hotel
Claremont Resort
The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa is a historic hotel at the foot of Claremont Canyon in the Berkeley Hills, providing the resort with scenic views of San Francisco Bay. The hotel building is entirely in Oakland, bordering Berkeley....
, Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
; Edgewater Beach Hotel
Edgewater Beach Hotel
The Edgewater Beach Hotel was a hotel in the far-north neighborhood community of Edgewater in Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1916 and owned by John Tobin Connery and James Patrick Connery, it was located between Sheridan Road and Lake Michigan at Berwyn Avenue. The complex had a private beach and...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
; Aragon and Trianon, Chicago; Strand, Chicago; the Statler Hotel
Statler Hotel
The Statler Hotel company was one of the United States' early chains of hotels catering to traveling businessmen and tourists. It was founded by Ellsworth Milton Statler in Buffalo, New York.- Early ventures :...
, New York; Orpheum, Los Angeles; Palladium
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...
, Hollywood; to name a few.
Chart success
In 1949, four songs he recorded made it big on the charts. They were "So Tired", "Cruising Down the RiverCruising Down the River
Cruising Down the River is a 1946 popular recording song.Words and music were by Eily Beadell and Nell Tollerton, two middle-aged women who wrote the song in 1945. It became the winner of a public songwriting competition held in the UK...
", "Sunflower" and "Forever and Ever
Forever and Ever (song)
"Forever and Ever" is a popular song.The English lyrics were written by Malia Rosa in 1948 to the music of a German song, "Fliege mit mir in die Heimat" written by the Austrian songwriter Franz Winkler.It was originally recorded by Gracie Fields....
." On the latter he used a vocal quartet that was just starting out and would later become famous as the Ames Brothers
Ames Brothers
The Ames Brothers were a singing quartet from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits.-Biography:The Ames Brothers got their beginning in Malden, where all four were born...
.
Late career and death
During the 1950s, his orchestra continued to be a popular one for dancing and listening music. He continued to set house records with his appearances in California and New York as well as his many tours across the entire nation. During this decade, it was mostly the long-established veteran "sweet bands" that were supplying the music for dancers, and Russ Morgan was one of them. The veterans included Jan GarberJan Garber
Jan Garber was an American jazz bandleader.-Biography:Garber was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He had his own band by the time he was 21 . He became known as "The Idol of the Airwaves" in his heyday of the 1920s and 1930s, playing jazz in the vein of contemporaries such as Paul Whiteman and Guy...
, Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye , born Samuel Zarnocay, Jr., was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era.-Biography:...
, Wayne King
Wayne King
Wayne King was an American musician, songwriter, singer and orchestral leader. He was sometimes referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved waltzes; "The Waltz You Saved For Me" was his standard set closing song in live performance and on numerous radio...
, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, Freddy Martin
Freddy Martin
Frederick Alfred Martin was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist.-Early life:Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one...
and Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
.
In 1958, Morgan's nineteen-piece band had been reduced to eleven men, with his sons Jack Morgan on trombone and David Morgan
David Morgan
David Morgan may refer to:*David Morgan , professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison*David Morgan , British sociologist*David Morgan , American frontiersman...
on guitar. In 1965, he was then booked for an eight-week engagement at the Top O' The Strip at the Dunes Hotel
Dunes (hotel and casino)
The Dunes Hotel was a Paradise, Nevada, hotel and casino that operated from May 23, 1955 to January 26, 1993, and was the tenth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip. The Bellagio now stands on the former grounds.-History:...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. However, it ended up lasting until 1977, a total of twelve years.
In 1969, Morgan died at the age of sixty-five in Las Vegas. Morgan’s son, Jack, took over the leadership and has led the band ever since. Morgan has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
for his contributions to recording.