finetune artist: Mitch Miller

b. Mitchell William Miller, 4 July 1911, Rochester, New York, USA. An oboist, record producer, arranger and one of the most commercially successful recording artists of the 50s and early 60s. Miller learned to play the piano at the age of six, and began studying the oboe when he was 12, and later attended Rochester's Eastman School of Music. After graduating in 1932, Miller played oboe with symphony orchestras in the area, before joining CBS Radio in 1932. For the next 11 years he was a soloist with the CBS Symphony, and played with Andr Kostelanetz, Percy Faith, the Saidenburg Little Symphony and the Budapest String Quartet. In the late 40s he became director of Mercury Records' "pop" division, and then in 1950, was appointed head of A&R at Columbia Records. While at Mercury, Miller was responsible for producing several big hits, including Frankie Laine's "That Lucky Old Sun", "Mule Train" and "The Cry Of The Wild Goose". Miller also conducted the orchestra on Laine's "Jezebel" and "Rose, Rose, I Love You". Shortly after he left the label, Patti Page released "The Tennessee Waltz", which became one of the biggest-selling singles ever. The original was by R&B singer Erskine Hawkins, and the Page disc is sometimes credited as being the first really successful example of "crossover" from country to pop, although Miller had already fashioned Hank Williams' "Hey, Good Lookin'" into a minor hit for Frankie Laine and Jo Stafford. Miller developed this policy when he moved to Columbia, and recorded Guy Mitchell ("Singing The Blues" and "Knee Deep In The Blues"), Tony Bennett ("Cold, Cold Heart"), Rosemary Clooney ("Half As Much"), Jo Stafford ("Jambalaya") and the little-known Joan Weber ("Let Me Go Lover"). Miller's roster at Columbia also included Johnnie Ray ("Cry", "The Little White Cloud That Cried", "Just Crying In The Rain") and Frank Sinatra.

Listen to Mitch Miller at Finetune.

The Yellow Rose of Texas
March From The River Kwai
You Are My Sunshine
I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover
The Children's Marching Song (Nick Nack Paddy Whack)