Mitch Miller
Biography
For over 15 years, beginning in 1948 and lasting into the early '60s, Mitch Miller was a major force in the recording industry. He was not only one of the most powerful men in the music business for much of that time, as the head of A&R (artists and repertory) for the pop division at Columbia Records, but he was also one of that label's most popular recording artists in his own right, responsible for dozens of chart singles and a string of top-selling LPs, and also hosted his own top-rated prime-time network television music show. And that pop music career followed a decade and a half as a successful working classical musician.. Mitchell William Miller was born in Rochester, NY, on the Fourth of July, in 1911. He showed his interest in music very early in life — at six he began learning the piano and at 12 he took up the oboe. He attended the prestigious Eastman School of Music, where he made the acquaintance of a fellow student, Goddard Lieberson, who was to become a major figure in the music business two decades later. Miller graduated in 1932, and joined the music department at the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio network that same year, as an oboist and English horn player. At that time, CBS had no record label, and Miller worked as a member and sometime soloist with the CBS Symphony. Among his many jobs with the orchestra, he was one of the musicians playing the musical accompaniment on the night of Orson Welles' infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast. He also did a fair amount of session work during those years, including a recording of Jean Sibelius' Swan of Tuonela with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski, on RCA Victor. When the network acquired the American Record Company in 1939 — which it renamed Columbia Records — Miller appeared as an oboist on recordings conducted by light classical/pop leader Andre Kostelanetz, and also worked with groups such as the Budapest String Quartet. He was featured on the earliest recordings of the music of composer Alec Wilder, who was a good friend of Miller's. And he was later the soloist on a Columbia Masterworks release of the Mozart Oboe Concerto.
Top Albums |
1. Footprints i..
| 2. Merry Christ..
| 3. Holiday Sing..
| 4. The Essentia..
| 5. The Ultimate..
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6. The Essentia..
| 7. Sings the Gr..
| 8. Johnny Mathi..
| 9. Super Hits
| 10. Sing Along W..
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11. Marty Robbin..
| 12. The Duke: Th..
| 13. The Christma..
| 14. Open Fire, T..
| 15. Jerry Vale: ..
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16. 17 Most Requ..
| 17. I Left My He..
| 18. Greatest Hit..
| 19. Love Songs
| 20. Jerry Vale -..
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Top Songs |
| Name | Album | Time | Price | |
1. | Sleigh Ride | Christmas Super Hits - All .. | 3:00 | $0.99 | |
2. | Must Be Santa | Footprints in the Snow - Ch.. | 2:43 | $0.99 | |
3. | It Came Upon a Midnight Clear | 20 Swingin' Christmas J.. | 4:00 | $0.99 | |
4. | Sleigh Ride | Dreaming of an Old Christma.. | 3:00 | $0.99 | |
5. | March from the River Kwai and Colone.. | Moochin' Abouts Statesi.. | 2:24 | $0.99 | |
6. | March from the River Kwai | What's That Song Called.. | 2:29 | $0.99 | |
7. | Whistler and His Dog | Essential | 2:36 | $1.29 | |
8. | Mitch Miller - The Yellow Rose of Te.. | Yellow Rose of Texas (Digit.. | 3:06 | $0.99 | |
9. | Twelve Days of Christmas | Rockin' Around the Chri.. | 4:16 | $0.99 | |
10. | Must Be Santa | Swinging Christmas, Vol. 3 | 2:43 | $0.99 | |
11. | I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus | Country Christmas | 2:29 | $0.99 | |
12. | Home on the Range | 100 Vintage Relaxing Music | 2:48 | $0.99 | |
13. | Ramona | 100 Best Dance Orchestras | 2:33 | $0.99 | |
14. | Winter Wonderland | Let It Snow! Let It Snow! L.. | 2:53 | $0.99 | |
15. | Children's Marching Song (Nick N.. | How Much is That Doggie in .. | 2:46 | $0.99 | |
16. | Yellow Rose of Texas | Hall of Fame Hits | 3:01 | $0.99 | |
17. | Autumn Leaves | First Us Top 100 November 1.. | 3:14 | $0.99 | |
18. | Bonnie Blue Gal | First Us Top 100 November 1.. | 2:55 | $0.99 | |
19. | March from the River Kwai | 1958 Hit Songs, Vol. 5 | 2:28 | $0.99 | |
20. | Little Brown Jug: After the Ball | Saturday Night Sing Along W.. | 2:55 | $0.99 | |
21. | Sing Along | Saturday Night Sing Along W.. | 2:44 | $0.99 | |
22. | Man on the Flying Trapeze: Ta-Ra-Ra-.. | Saturday Night Sing Along W.. | 2:38 | $0.99 | |
23. | I'm Looking over a Four Leaf Clo.. | Saturday Night Sing Along W.. | 1:56 | $0.99 | |
24. | I Wonder What's Become of Sally!.. | Saturday Night Sing Along W.. | 3:25 | $0.99 | |
25. | Baby Face | Saturday Night Sing Along W.. | 1:36 | $0.99 | |