Singin' And Swingin' - The Mills Brothers

 

Smack Dab In The Middle

Singin' And Swingin'

The Mills Brothers

Decca Records DL 8209

1956

From the back cover: Although they are perhaps most famous for their particular style of singing, the Mills Brothers are also famous for the wide variety of their numbers. They excel in music which is hot, and they are unsurpassable in songs that are sweet. Whether the rhythms have a jumping pulse or a quiet beat, whether they soothe or excite, they are as captivating as they are unique. All these moods are displayed in this album, a collection which covers an unusual scope of songs and singing.

The Mills Brothers – John, Herbert, Harry and Donald – came from Piqua, Ohio. Their father, John Mills, Sr., was a barber who had been a concert singer, the boys naturally became a quartet. They were originally known as "Four Boys and a Kazoo," and it was the kazoo – or rather the lack of it on the eve of their stage debut – that was responsible for the development of of the unique "orchestral" style for which they were to become world-famous. Nervous enough when they marched out on the stage for the first audience conquest, they immediately became paralyzed with fear when they discovered that John had forgotten the all-important kazoo! The critical seat-holders began to get restless. Three of the boys looked anxiously at the forgetful and equally nervous fourth, John. Something had to be done – and fast – to save the situation. Desperate, John cupped his hands over his mouth and, to the surprise of himself, his brothers and the audience, produced sounds amazingly similar to that of the absent instrument. The kazoo imitation went over solidly, and soon all the brothers were imitating musical instruments to perfection, until their repertoire included trumpet, trombone, tuba, saxophone, clarinet, bassoon and oboe. With a guitar for rhythm, the quartet was able to sound like a whole orchestra.

At the peak of their career, the Mills Brothers suffered a tragic loss in the death of John Mills, Sr. in 1935, rather than see the quartet broken up, he stepped in to fill the place of his late son. Although the quartet then actually became the Mills family (father and sons) they elected not to change the name which had won international acclaim, and continued to be known today as the Mills Brothers.

Opus One with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

You Didn't Want Me When You Had Me (So Why Do You Want Me Now) with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

The Jones Boy with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone with Tommy Dorsey and His Sentimentalists

You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

Smack Dab In The Middle with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

She Was Five And He Was Ten with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

(Why Have A Falling Out) Just When We're Falling In Love with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

Paper Valentine with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

You Know You Belong To Somebody Else with Tommy Dorsey and His Sentimentalists

Yes You Are with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra

The Urge with Sy Oliver and His Orchestra