Harry James

Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he re-organized his band and was active again with his band from then until his death in 1983. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone, and was extremely influential on up and coming trumpet players from the late 1930s into the 1940s. He was also an actor in a number of motion pictures that usually featured his bands in some way.

Early life

Harry James was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of Myrtle Maybelle (Stewart), an acrobat and horseback rider, and Everett Robert James, a bandleader in a traveling circus, the Haag Circus. According to the Bill Sterns Sports Newsreelbroadcast on 9/12/1942, on which James appeared, he was saved from being trampled, at the age of 6, by his mother's horse after performing with the horse. By the age of 10 he was taking trumpet lessons from his father, who placed him on a strict daily practice schedule. Each day, James was given one page to learn from the Arban's book and was not allowed to pursue any other pastime until he had learned that particular page.

Career

In 1931, his family settled in Beaumont, Texas. It was here, at 15 years of age, that James began playing in local dance bands. James played regularly with Herman Waldman's band, and at one performance was noticed by nationally popularBen Pollack. In 1935 he joined Pollack's band, but at the start of 1937 left to join Benny Goodman's orchestra, where he stayed through 1938. He was nicknamed "The Hawk" early in his career for his ability to sight-read. A common joke was that if a fly landed on his written music, Harry James would play it. His low range had a warmth associated with the cornetand even the flugelhorn, but this sound was underrecorded in favor of James' brilliant high register.

With financial backing from Goodman, in January 1939 James debuted his own big band in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but it didn't click until 1941 when he added a string section. This big band became known as Harry James and His Music Makers. His hit "You Made Me Love You" was in the Top 10 during the week of December 7, 1941. He was in two featured roles in two films, Private Buckaroo and Springtime in the Rockies. He toured with the band into the 1980s. He started recording with the minor label Varsity in 1940. To this day the Harry James Orchestra still exists, now led by Fred Radke.

Bandleader

His was the first "name band" to employ vocalist Frank Sinatra, in 1939. James signed Sinatra to a one year contract, of which Sinatra worked seven months before going to sing for Tommy Dorsey He wanted to change Sinatra's name to 'Frankie Satin' but Sinatra refused. His later band included drummer Buddy Rich. His featured vocalist was Helen Forrest. Johnny MacAfee was featured on the sax and vocals and Corky Corcoran was a youthful sax prodigy.

Radio

His orchestra succeeded Glenn Miller's on a program sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes in 1942, when Miller disbanded his orchestra to enter the Army. In 1945, James and his orchestra had a summer replacement program for Danny Kaye's program on CBS.

A major reason James disbanded his big band group in 1946 was lack of income, so James decided to call it quits. After disbanding his band, he continued his career in a smaller jazz group, Harry James and His Music Makers.

Film

He played trumpet in the 1950 film Young Man with a Horn, dubbing Kirk Douglas. In the album from that movie, he backed Doris Day and the album charted at #1. James's recording of "I'm Beginning to See the Light" appears in the motion picture My Dog Skip (2000). His music is also featured in the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters. James recorded many popular records and appeared in many Hollywood movies.

Personal life

James was married three times. He married singer Louise Tobin on May 4, 1935, and they had two children. They divorced in 1943. That same year, he married actress Betty Grable. They had two daughters, Victoria and Jessica, before divorcing in 1965. James married a third time on December 27, 1967 [14][15] to Las Vegas showgirl Joan Boyd, whom he would divorce in March 1970. Contrary to some assertions, he did not marry a fourth time. He had five children (two by Tobin, two by Grable, one by Boyd) and (as of his death) 16 grandchildren.

James owned several thoroughbred racehorses that won races such as the California Breeders' Champion Stakes (1951) and the San Vicente Stakes (1954). He was also a founding investor in the Atlantic City Race Course. His knowledge of horse racing was demonstrated during a 1958 appearance on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hourentitled "Lucy Wins A Racehorse".

Final years

In 1983, James was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, but he continued to work, playing his last professional job on June 26, 1983, in Los Angeles, California, just nine days before his death in Las Vegas, Nevada. The job had become his final performance with the Harry James Orchestra. He died exactly 40 years after his marriage to Betty Grable (July 5, 1943), who was buried exactly 30 years after that date (July 5, 1973). Frank Sinatra gave the eulogy at his funeral, held in Las Vegas.

Filmography

• Hollywood Hotel (1937) (as himself, in Benny Goodman's band)
• Springtime in the Rockies (1942) (as himself)
• Private Buckaroo (1942) (as himself)
• Swing Fever (1943) (as himself)
• Best Foot Forward (1943) (as himself)
• Bathing Beauty (1944) (as himself)
• Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) (as himself)
• Do You Love Me (1946)
• If I'm Lucky (1946)
• Carnegie Hall (1947) (as himself)
• I'll Get By (1950) (as himself)
• The Benny Goodman Story (1956) (as himself)
• The Opposite Sex (1956) (as himself)
• Outlaw Queen (1957)
• Riot in Rhythm (1957) (short subject; as himself)
• The ladies man (1961) (as himself)
• The Sting II (1983)

Singles

• "Ain't She Sweet"
• "All or Nothing at All" (1939)
• "Blues in the Night" (1941) (Columbia 36500)[18]
• "Boo-Woo"
• "Cheek to Cheek"
• "Ciribiribin" (1939) - another million selling disc[19]
• "Cry Me a River"
• "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad" (with the Skylarks)
• "Flight of the Bumblebee"
• "Hernando's Hideaway" (1955)
• "Honeysuckle Rose"
• "I Cried for You" (1942)
• "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (1942)
• "I'll Be Around"
• "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" (1940)
• "I Need You Now"
• "It All Depends on You"
• "It's Been a Long, Long Time" (1945)
• "I've Heard That Song Before" (1942) – another million selling record.[20]
• "Life Goes to a Party"
• "Manhattan"
• "The Mole"
• "My Buddy" (1939)
• "Oh My Pa-Pa (O Mein Papa)"
• "The Nearness of You"
• "One O'Clock Jump" (1938) - James' first million seller[21]
• "Sing, Sing, Sing" (1937)
• "Sleepy Lagoon" (1942)
• "Somebody Loves Me"
• "That Old Feeling"
• "Too Marvelous for Words" (1943)
• "Truly" (with Gilda Malken and The Skylarks)
• "Trumpet Blues and Cantabile"
• "(Up a) Lazy River"
• "Velvet Moon"
• "When Your Lover Has Gone" (1944)
• "Where or When"
• "Woo-Woo"
• "You Made Me Love You" (1941) - a million selling gold disc.[22]
• "You've Changed" (1941)

Albums

• Trumpet Rhapsody (Harmony/Columbia, collection of singles from the 1940s, released ca. 1958)
• Harry James and His New Swingin' Band (MGM, 1959)
• Harry James...Today! (MGM, 1960)
• Requests On-The-Road (MGM, 1961)
• The Spectacular Sound of Harry James (MGM, 1961)
• Harry James Plays Neal Hefti (MGM, 1961)