The story behind puzzle No. 38
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra · Single · Bluebird · 1939
Few records say swing era faster than this one. The saxophone riff that opens In the Mood became the best-selling swing instrumental of its time, and it still fills dance floors.
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra recorded In the Mood on August 1, 1939, at RCA Victor's studios in New York. Bluebird released it on September 15, 1939, with I Want to Be Happy on the other side.
Joe Garland is credited with the arrangement, and Andy Razaf later added lyrics. Nobody knows for certain who wrote the final version the Miller band played. Eddie Durham, Chummy MacGregor, John Chalmers and Miller himself have all been suggested.
The famous riff was not new in 1939. It traces back to Wingy Manone's Tar Paper Stomp, recorded in 1930, and Edgar Hayes and His Orchestra made the first record called In the Mood in 1938.
Miller's version is the one that stuck. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1983 and added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2004.
In the middle, tenor saxophonists Tex Beneke and Al Klink trade two-bar phrases back and forth, like a conversation across the saxophone section.
Near the end, the band repeats the riff softer and softer, then comes roaring back for the finish.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Try Miller's Moonlight Serenade, the band's theme, to hear the smooth side of the same orchestra.
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