The Big Band Era

Song Number ONE: Charlie did not experience the band leading success one might expect given his background and the support provided by his good friend Glenn Miller. Oddly, the Miller influence may have been the cause. It was Glenn who convinced Charlie to mute his trumpet. Harry James using the open tone which had been the Spivak style, was to score the success which escaped Spivak. This Spivak solo, on a recording of a song written by Charlie and Dave Mann demonstrates the purity of tone which characterized Charlie's playing. "Elegy."

Song Number TWO: Spivak's band was designed for dancing. To that end, he played and recorded many ballads. Accordingly, he featured many talented vocalists including Garry Stevens, June Hutton, Tommy Mercer, Jimmy Saunders, and Irene Daye. This 1941 song, with words by Buddy Kaye and music by Al Frisch, features Garry Stevens and The Stardusters. The Spivak version topped both Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey on the charts, rising to number seven. "This Is No Laughing Matter."

Song Number THREE: The Spivak band was not known for uptempo Instrumentals, but this 1941 rouser was one of their most successful records. The band did not lack for outstanding instrumentalists. Drummer Davey Tough and saxist Les Elgart played with Spivak and in 1942 he adopted the entire Glenn Miller trombone section. In a Sonny Burke arrangement, we hear bassist Jimmy Middleton and on trombone future band leader and arranger, Nelson Riddle. Topping out its chart run at number eight is the Spivak hit, "Let's Go Home."

Song Number FOUR: This 1943 recording features the talented Irene Day who earlier starred with Gene Krupa and was Charlie's wife from 1960 until her death in 1971. The song is a standard, composed in 1929 by Roy Turk (words) and Fred Ahlert (music), which was made famous by Ruth Etting. I was also a vehicle for such stars as Helen Morgan, also in 1929, Billie Holiday in 1937, and Doris Day, in the 1955 Etting film bio Love Me or Leave Me. "Mean To Me."

Song Number FIVE: Here Charlie and The Stardusters perform a number which was composed and performed by Louis Armstrong. Spivak's however was the charted record at number 20 in 1942. Spivak continued with a very successful if quite commercial big band, surviving the end of the era and continuing until the late 1950s. Sometimes in ill-health, he continued to play with a succession of smaller outfits in venues from Las Vegas and Miami to Greenville, SC until his death in 1982. "Brother Bill."

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