The Evolution and Origin of 'In the Mood' Jazz Composition, Study notes of Piano

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“IN THE MOOD”

Dennis M. Spragg September 2013

“The Anthem of the Big Band Era” The origin of “In the Mood” appears to include several earlier works from which the tune was, in part, inspired. Once the tune was then composed, it remained a “work in progress” leading up to and following the recording by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra. The first indication of anything with elements resembling what would become “In the Mood” was a tune titled “Clarinet Getaway” recorded by the Jimmy O’Bryant Washboard Wonders in 1925 for Paramount records. This is matrix number P-2148 and was issued as Paramount 12287. It was paired with a tune titled “Back Alley Rub”. Jimmy O’Bryant was an Arkansas bandleader. This recording is actually made by a four-piece band including O’Bryant playing clarinet and accompanied by a piano, cornet and washboard player. Following O’Bryant, similar themes were evident in the Wingy Manone recording of “Tar Paper Stomp”. Manone’s recording is considered the genesis of “In the Mood” by many jazz historians. The recording is by Barbeque Joe and his Hot Dogs, the name under which Manone recorded at the time. The group was otherwise known as Wingy Manone and his Orchestra. “Tar Paper Stomp” was recorded August 28, 1930 for the Champion label (which was acquired by Decca in 1935). Reissues credit the record to Wingy Manone and his Orchestra. It is matrix number G16951 and was issued as Champion 16153. The tune was paired with “Tin Roof Blues” recorded September 19, 1930. Fletcher Henderson recorded elements of the “riff” heard in “Tar Paper Stomp” as “Hot and Anxious” for Columbia on March 19, 1931. This is matrix W 151443-1 and was issued as Columbia 2449D. Fletcher Henderson led the most popular African-American orchestra of the 1920s and early 1930s. “Hot and Anxious” was composed and arranged by Fletcher Henderson’s brother Horace Henderson. Don Redman and his Orchestra would also record “Hot and Anxious” for Brunswick on June 28, 1932. This is matrix B 12006-A, and was issued as Brunswick 6368. (Redman had played saxophone for Fletcher Henderson). There is “scat” singing to be heard on the Redman piece, but no lyrics per-se. Saxophone player Joe Garland wrote arrangements and played in the saxophone section for the Mills Blue Rhythm Band. This organization was led by Lucky Millinder and financed by Irving Mills. Garland composed and arranged a tune that he titled “There’s Rhythm In Harlem” for this band, which also included J. C. Higginbotham, trombone; Henry “Red” Allen, trumpet and Edgar Hayes, piano. The Garland chart was recorded July 9, 1935 for Columbia. It is matrix number CO 17797-1 and was issued as Columbia 3071D. The flip side of the record is “Harlem Heat” recorded July 2, 1935.

Neither Shaw nor Miller used the Andy Razaf lyrics. Eddie Durham Miller first broadcast “In the Mood” on a July 26, 1939 sustaining remote broadcast over NBC’s Blue Network from the Glen Island Casino. This was the complete four and a half minute treatment of the tune. Miller performed it at a faster dancing pace for jitterbugs in keeping with the original tempo of the 1938 Hayes treatment. With added flourishes in the opening and false endings at the close, the tune became an immediate favorite of dancers at the Glen Island Casino and listeners of the radio broadcasts. Miller recorded “In the Mood” for the RCA Bluebird label August 1, 1939 at RCA Victor Studio #2, New York. It is matrix number BS- 038170 - 1 and was issued as Bluebird B- 10416, and paired with “I Want to be Happy” recorded at the same session.

Glenn Miller and Billy May, "In The Mood", Cafe Rouge, Hotel Pennsylvania, New York, 1941 “In the Mood” became score 248 in the Miller Library and the Miller Orchestration was published. The tune would eventually be broadcast on 62 occasions by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra on their CBS commercial program “Chesterfield Moonlight Serenade”, “Coca Cola Spotlight Bands” (Mutual and the Blue Network) and on remote broadcasts for NBC and Mutual between 1939 and when Miller disbanded to join the Army in September 1942. Miller would take “In the Mood” with him and he would regularly performed it at live concerts with his Army Air Force Orchestra between 1943 and 1945 in the United States, the United Kingdom and on the continent. The AAF Orchestra broadcast or recorded “In the Mood” for broadcast on 21 occasions.

“In the Mood” was Miller’s biggest instrumental hit and most-requested number. Per his original RCA recording contract, Miller received $175.00 for recording “In the Mood”. His contract was renegotiated and he received retroactive royalties. In its original release and subsequent re-releases by RCA Victor, “In the Mood” would surpass one million copies of single record sales. RCA Bluebird recorded a vocal version of “In the Mood” November 13, 1939. The release was from The Four King Sisters, backed by a small group from Alvino Rey and his Orchestra, which was called the “Rhythm Reys”. The tune was recorded at RCA Victor Studio, Hollywood, California. It is matrix number PBS- 042247 - 3 and it was issued as Bluebird B-10545 paired with “Irish Washerwoman” recorded at the same session. Perhaps because two versions were issued by Bluebird, the RCA Victor label did not issue a cover version of “In the Mood” by another artist. Nor did the other, competing labels release strong competitive versions of the tune. In addition to the two 1939 RCA Bluebird releases featuring Miller and Rey, and the then-circulating 1938 Decca recording by Edgar Hayes, “In the Mood” was recorded for Vocalion (Columbia) in New York, NY on November 8, 1939 by Al Donahue and his Orchestra with vocal by Paula Kelly. This is matrix number 25533 - 1, which was released as Vocalion 5238. It was paired with “Can I Help It” recorded at the same session. Decca issued a competing vocal version performed by the Merry Macs and recorded November 9, 1939. It is matrix number 66497-A, and was issued on Decca

2842. It was paired with “Shoot the Sherbet to Me Herbert”, which was recorded at the same session. Columbia also released an instrumental treatment of “In the Mood” by Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra that was recorded January 18, 1940. This is matrix number WCO 26436-A, released as Columbia 35372. It was paired with “I’m Crying My Soul Out For You” recorded at the same session. Therefore, in 1940, there were six versions of “In the Mood” in circulation; two each with RCA, Columbia and Decca. “In the Mood” was also performed on live radio broadcasts by several other name bands, including Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa. CBS and NBC broadcasts of these performances are held at the University of Colorado Glenn Miller Archive, along with almost all of the broadcast performances that survive by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra and the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Orchestra. A well-known vocal performance of “In the Mood” by the Andrews Sisters was not recorded and released until 1952. Oddly, reissues of this later recording are often mistakenly considered contemporaneous to the Miller recording or the time period of the Second World War. Prepared with information from the GMA Collections.