Title:
’S
Wonderful
Artist:
Tex
Beneke
&
His
Orchestra
&
Some
Vocals
Catalogue
No:
SEPIA
1081
Barcode:
5055122110811
Release
Date:
6
November
2006
After
Glenn
Miller
disappeared
over
the
English
Channel
in
1944
his
Army
Air
Force
orchestra
continued
on
with
their
tour
of
duty
in
Europe
before
returning
to
America
and
disbanding.
The
Miller
estate
decided
that
the
orchestra
should
continue
and
invited
tenor
sax
stylist
and
vocalist
Tex
Beneke,
who
had
been
a
featured
attraction
and
key
member
of
Miller’s
pre-war
civilian
band,
as
leader.
The
newly
formed
orchestra
was
a
success
with
a
radio
series,
bookings
across
the
nation
and
a
lucrative
recording
contract
but
as
the
decade
progressed
Beneke
was
keen
to
move
on
from
the
Miller
sound
and
get
established
under
his
own
name
so
in
1950
Beneke
and
the
Miller
estate
parted
company.
Our
collection
here
starts
off
with
a
rare
version
of
Stardust
-
The
LP
issue
of
this
title
wrongly
included
a
recording
from
an
earlier
date
and
subsequent
CD
issues
have
featured
a
transcription
version
of
the
Hoagy
Carmichael
standard,
which
means
our
Stardust
is
making
its
debut
on
CD.
Early
in
1951
Beneke
signed
with
MGM
and
the
sides
recorded
for
the
label
demonstrated
what
a
well
disciplined
personnel
Beneke
was
fronting
at
the
time.
The
cheerful
vocals
by
Beneke
in
Down
In
Nashville,
Tennessee
and
titles
with
train
associations
such
as
Tennessee
Central
were
part
of
the
band’s
popular
repertoire
but
it
is
the
instrumentals
Palladium
Patrol,
’S
Wonderful,
Blue
Moon
(never
issued
in
America
on
a
78
single)
and
Diga
Diga
Doo
which
show
the
band
nearer
to
Herman
or
Kenton
than
Miller.
When
“The
Glenn
Miller
Story”
was
filmed
in
1953,
Beneke
was
unjustly
forgotten.
However
he
made
some
commercial
recordings
of
music
featured
in
the
film,
one
title
being
the
old
favourite
Chattanooga
Choo
Choo.
By
the
mid
1950s
Beneke
was
touring
less
with
a
regular
band,
using
local
musicians
wherever
he
appeared
and
for
the
final
three
selections
he
is
joined
by
some
of
New
York’s
top
session
players
covering
commercial
pops
of
the
period.
Along
with
Stardust
and
the
tracks
recorded
for
Coral
we
have
gathered
here
for
the
first
time
on
one
CD,
all
the
issued
MGM
titles,
thus
filling
a
void
in
the
recorded
legacy
of
Tex
Beneke
and
his
Orchestra.
ORDER
NOW»
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