Harry James

Harry James lahir di sebuah hotel kumuh di sebelah penjara kota di Albany, Georgia. Ibu dan ayahnya adalah anggota sirkus - dia sebagai artis trapeze dan dia adalah pemimpin band - dengan Mighty Haag Circus. Pada usia tujuh tahun, mereka menetap di Beaumont, Texas di mana Harry belajar bermain drum. Pada usia dua belas tahun, dia bermain terompet di band sirkus Christy Brothers. Pada tahun 1936 James bergabung dengan band Ben Pollack, segera keluar untuk memimpin bagian brass di band Benny Goodman. Ia bahkan pernah melamar ke band Lawrence Welk namun ditolak karena menurut mereka dia bermain terlalu keras dan itu bukan gaya Welk. Setelah tiga tahun bersama Goodman, dia ingin keluar, dan dengan dukungan Goodman, dia membentuk Music Makers. Pada tahun 1943 ia menikah dengan ratu pinup Betty Grable, istri kedua dari empat istri. Dia sebelumnya menikah dan menceraikan Louise Tobin, seorang penyanyi. Grable terus tampil di film dan Harry terus bermain sambil memelihara kuda. Dia memulai debutnya di Philadelphia di Ben Franklin Hotel dan segera menjadi favorit nasional para pecinta tari dan pecandu jazz, mengguncang langit-langit di Hollywood Paladium, College Inn Chicago yang terkenal di Hotel Sherman, Meadowbrook milik Frank Dailey di Cedar Cove, NJ, dan kemudian ke New York City. Itu adalah Hotel Lincoln di NYC yang disebut sebagai rumah bagi para Pembuat Musik, tetapi James juga membintangi Teater Paramount pada musim semi tahun 1943, dengan ribuan remaja berbondong-bondong untuk melihatnya. Versi You Made Me Love You-nya menjadi hit besar dan menjadi favorit banyak orang selama tahun-tahun perang. James adalah seorang penemu bakat yang hebat, menemukan Frank Sinatra bekerja sebagai pelayan di sebuah restoran di New Jersey dan memberinya pekerjaan menyanyi di bandnya. Dick Haymes, Kitty Kallen, Connie Haines, dan Helen Forrest semuanya berterima kasih kepada James karena telah memberi mereka terobosan pertama. Pada tahun 1963 bandnya tampil di Disneyland, yang masih dikenal sebagai Music Makers. Dia memainkan pertunjukan terakhirnya di Century Plaza Hotel di Los Angeles pada tanggal 26 Juni 1983, hanya beberapa hari sebelum meninggal karena kanker limfatik.

Harry James was born in a rundown hotel next to the city jail in Albany, Georgia. His mother and father were members of a circus - she as a trapeze artist and he a band leader - with the Mighty Haag Circus. At seven, they settled in Beaumont, Texas where Harry learned yo play drums. By twelve, he was playing trumpet in the Christy Brothers circus band. In 1936 James joined Ben Pollack's band, soon leaving to lead the brass section of Benny Goodman's band. He even once applied to Lawrence Welk's band but was turned down because they said he played too loud and it was not Welk's style. After three years with Goodman, he wanted to leave, and with Goodman's backing, he formed the Music Makers. In 1943 he married pinup queen Betty Grable, his second of four wives. He had earlier married and divorced Louise Tobin, a singer. Grable kept appearing in movies and Harry kept playing while they raised horses. He made his debut in Philadelphia at the Ben Franklin Hotel and soon was a nationwide favorite of dance lovers and jazz addicts, rocking the rafters at the Hollywood Paladium, Chicago's famous College Inn at the Hotel Sherman, Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook in Cedar Cove, NJ, and then onto New York City. It was the Lincoln Hotel in NYC that the Music Makers called home, but James also starred at the Paramount Theater in the spring of 1943, with thousands of teenagers flocking to see him. His version of You Made Me Love You was a big hit and a favorite of many through the war years. James was a great discoverer of talent, finding Frank Sinatra working as a waiter in a New Jersey restaurant and giving him a job singing in his band. Dick Haymes, Kitty Kallen, Connie Haines and Helen Forrest can all thank James for giving them their first real break. In 1963 his band was featured at Disneyland, still known as the Music Makers. He played his last gig at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on June 26, 1983, just a few days before dying of lymphatic cancer.