78rpm: I'm Headin' For California - Glenn Miller Orchestra w/Tex Beneke, 1946 - RCA Victor 20-1834

This, apparently, is Glenn Miller's last composition - recorded by the earliest incarnation of Glenn's ghost band.

Left it simple here, as I wanted to post it ASAP. I've gotten several requests for this one over the last 6-7 months and I figured it'd be the best 1st new transfer post.

Tex Beneke and the Crew Chiefs with the voices.

Dig.....

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Glenn
• Miller
• Orchestra
• Tex
• Beneke
• ghost
• band
• last
• composition

[kingoma61]

This song is very rare and hard to find anywhere. I have not been able to determine if the two Amazon albums contain the same song or recording. One is a Glenn Miller album the other is a Tex Beneke album. It is possible that a recording of "I'm Headin' For California" exists with Glenn Miller leading the band on the Glenn's Travels album. It may be from a radio broadcast or a live recording. Miller performed extensively in concert and for radio in 1944 while in the UK.

[SwingMan1937]

@kingoma61 Just checked - the "Glenn's Travels" album sounds like an aircheck, while the Tex Tribute album is this very version.

So far, this looks like the first & only studio recording made of Glenn's last composition! Had this 78 since 1986 & just last year, with my posting of the flip "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", found out about the rarity of this one in GM lore.

[kingoma61]

@SwingMan1937 Are you familiar with "Room 1411", a Brunswick 78 by "Bennie Goodman's Boys" from 1928? That was Glenn Miller's first composition. "Room 1411" is on Youtube and is easy to find. There were two versions recorded in 1928 and they were both released, one being an alternate take. But that is another one that almost no one knew about. Everyone said and wrote that Glenn Miller's first composition was "Moonlight Serenade" in 1935. So that is quite a find.

[SwingMan1937]

@kingoma61 Not an original release, but I do indeed have "Room 1411" on 78 - a Brunswick re-issue from the mid-1940's. Whole album set (4-records) by "Bennie Goodman's Boys".

[kingoma61]

"i'm Headin' For California" was composed by Glenn Miller and Artie Malvin in 1944 and published by Mutual Music. The song was first performed by the U.S. Army Air Force dance band in 1944 when Glenn Miller was in England with the orchestra. The song was then sung by Ray McKinley, who was a drummer in the band.

[SwingMan1937]

@kingoma61 Was this the first time it was put to record, or was it recorded for V-Disc or studio transcription sometime prior?

[kingoma61]

The song is autobiographical in nature. Glenn Miller lived in California during the filming of Sun Valley Serenade in 1941. Glenn and his wife Helen bought a 55-acre ranch east of Los Angeles in Monrovia, Rancho Duarte, which had citrus groves. California was where Glenn Miller planned to live and raise his family after the war.

[TheSickestKid724]

Oh my gosh, I wish musicians these days still made music like that. This is gold.

[kingoma61]

"i'm Headin' For California" is a great find. This song is much superior to the A side "Swing Low Sweet Chariot". Another lost classic is "I'm Glad There Is You", a jazz standard composed by Jimmy Dorsey. That record is also nowehere to be found anywhere, not in the original recording. Jimmy Dorsey recorded it twice on Decca as a 78, in 1942 as a B side with Bob Eberle on vocals and in 1946 as an A side with Dee Parker on vocals. These are very rare and very difficult to find.

[kingoma61]

I am trying to piece the information for this song. It was published in September, 1944 when Glenn Miller was in England. There were no V Disc or studio releases of this song as far as I can determine. The Glenn Miller Archives website at the University of Colorado noted that Ray McKinley sang the song in 1944. It was performed most likely for radio broadcast or in concert in 1944. Amazon has two albums that contain the song: Glenn's Travels and A Tribute to Tex Beneke. The latter is the 78.