The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed as The Four Mills Brothers, were a U.S… Read Full Bio ↴The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed as The Four Mills Brothers, were a U.S. jazz and pop vocal quartet.
The group was originally composed of four brothers all born in Piqua, Ohio: John Jr (1911-1936) basso and guitarist, Herbert (1912-1989) tenor, Harry (1913-1982) baritone, and Donald (1915-1999) lead tenor. Their father owned a barber's shop, and founded a barbershop quartet called the Four Kings of Harmony. As the boys grew older, they began singing in the choir of the Cyrene African Methodist Episcopal Church and in the Park Avenue Baptist Church in Piqua. After their lessons at the Spring Street Grammar School, they would gather in front of their father's shop on Public Square or at the corner of Greene and Main to sing and play the kazoo to passersby.
They entered an amateur contest at Piqua's Mays Opera House, but while on stage Harry discovered he had lost his kazoo. He cupped his hands to his mouth and imitated a trumpet. The success of his imitation led to all the brothers taking on instruments to imitate and created their early signature sound. John Jr accompanied the four-part harmony first with a ukulele and then a guitar. They practised imitating orchestras they heard on the radio. John, as the bass, would imitate the tuba, Harry, a baritone, imitated the trumpet, Herbert became the second trumpet, and Donald the trombone. They entertained on the Midwest theatre circuit, at house parties, tent shows, music halls, and supper clubs throughout the area, and became well known for their close harmonies, mastery of scat singing, and their ability to imitate musical instruments with their voices.
In 1928, after playing May's Opera House in Piqua between Rin Tin Tin features, the brothers accompanied the Harold Greenameyer Band to Cincinnati for an audition with radio station WLW. The band was not hired, but the Mills brothers were. With the help of Seger Ellis, WLW Cincinnati D.J. and a music legend of the 1920s, they quickly became local radio stars and got their major break when Duke Ellington and his Orchestra played a date in Cincinnati. When the youngsters sang for Duke, he called Tommy Rockwell at Okeh Records, who signed them and took the group to New York.
In September 1930, Ralph Wonders urged broadcasting executive William S. Paley, at CBS Radio in New York, to turn on his office speaker and listen to an audition of four young men. For the audition they were "The Mills Brothers", but they had been known by many other names. They were billed as "The Steamboat Four" when they sang for Sohio, and had been called the "Four Boys and a Guitar" on their Sunday shows. When Paley heard their performance, he immediately went downstairs and put them on the air. The next day, the Mills Brothers signed a three-year contract and became the first black group to have a network show on radio.
Their first recording for Brunswick Records, a cover of the Original Dixieland Jass Band standard "Tiger Rag" became a nationwide best-seller and a number-one hit on the charts in a version with lyrics by Harry DaCosta. Other hits followed: "Goodbye Blues", their theme song, "Nobody's Sweetheart", "Ole Rockin' Chair", "Lazy River", "How'm I Doin'", and others. They remained on Brunswick until late 1934, when they signed with Decca, where they stayed well into the 1950s. On all of their Brunswick records, as well as the early Deccas, the label stated:
"No musical instruments or mechanical devices used on this recording other than one guitar."
They were a hit on CBS in 1930–1931, particularly when they co-starred on the widely popular The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour hosted by Rudy Vallee. They had their own popular radio series in 1932–1933, one of the earliest built around a black act, billed as the "Four Boys and a Guitar". Before their show announcers commonly explained to listeners that the only instrument was a guitar, as the vocal effects made many listeners think they were hearing a muted trumpet, saxophone, and string bass or tuba.
The Mills Brothers were sponsored by some of the largest advertisers in early radio; Standard Oil, Procter & Gamble, Crisco, and Crosley Radio. They began appearing in films. Their first, The Big Broadcast (1932) was an all-star radio revue that included Bing Crosby, Cab Calloway, and the Boswell Sisters. They also made three "bouncing ball" cartoon shorts for the Fleischer Brothers. In 1934, the brothers starred with Crosby for Woodbury Soap, and recorded their classics "Lazy Bones", "Sweet Sue", "Lulu's Back in Town", "Bye-Bye Blackbird", "Sleepy Head", and "Shoe Shine Boy". Their film appearances included Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934) and Broadway Gondolier (1935).
In 1934, The Mills Brothers became the first U.S. black musicians to give a command performance before British royalty. They performed at the Regal Theatre for a special audience: King George V, Queen Mary, and their mother. While performing in England, John Jr became ill. It took him months to recover from battling pneumonia. Before he was completely well, the brothers returned to England. John Jr once again became sick and died at the beginning of 1936.
The remaining brothers considered breaking up, but their mother told them John Jr would have wanted them to continue. They followed her suggestion and their father, John Sr, replaced John Jr as the baritone and tuba. At this time, Norman Brown joined the Brothers as their guitar player.
Through 1939 the group enjoyed remarkable success in Europe. In the period between John Jr's death and their return to the States, they re-recorded "Lazy River". It was followed by "Someday You'll Want Me to Want You", "Swing Is the Thing", "Long about Midnight", "Organ Grinder's Swing", and "The Song is Ended". They honoured Duke Ellington with a swing version of his "Caravan", and then produced a series of classic recordings: "South of the Border", which they performed in a tour of South America, along with "Ain't Misbehavin'", "It Don’t Mean a Thing", "Jeepers Creepers", "Three Little Fishies", and "Basin Street Blues".
During this era, there was also a brief time when the group performed with a non‑family singer. Gene Smith served as a stand-in for one year when Harry was drafted into the Army. Although Smith's solo singing did not particularly resemble the group's usual sound, he was able to harmonise well until the fourth brother's return. Smith is very noticeable in a number of the Mills Brothers' film appearances.
Returning to the States, the Brothers were anxious for a hit and recorded "I'll be Around" in 1943. Donald Mills chose "Paper Doll" as the B-side of the record. "I'll Be Around" became a popular hit, then a disk jockey turned the record over. "Paper Doll", recorded in fifteen minutes, sold six million copies and became the group's biggest hit.
The rise of rock and roll in the early 1950s did little to decrease the Mills Brothers' popularity. "Glow Worm" jumped to number one on the pop charts in 1952. The track also reached number ten in the U.K. singles chart in January 1953. "Opus One", an updated version of the Tommy Dorsey hit, was soon in the charts as well, followed by "You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You", "The Jones Boy", "Yellow Bird", "Standing on the Corner", and "If I Had My Way".
In 1957, John Sr, who was then sixty-eight, stopped touring with the group. As a trio, the Mills Brothers were frequent guests on The Jack Benny Show, The Perry Como Show, The Tonight Show, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, The Dean Martin Show, and The Hollywood Palace. A move from Decca to Dot Records brought a moderate 1958 hit, a cover of the Silhouettes' "Get a Job" that made explicit the considerable influence on doo-wop that the early Mills Brothers records had exerted. The Mills Brothers also charted "Yellow Bird" two years before Arthur Lyman's top-ten hit remake.
"Cab Driver", recorded in 1968, was their last hit. It was written by songwriter C. Carson Parks, who also wrote "Somethin' Stupid", a hit the previous year for Frank Sinatra and his daughter Nancy.
The Mills Brothers' fiftieth anniversary in show business was celebrated in 1976 with a tribute at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, hosted by Bing Crosby. At the time, Harry was now almost blind as a result of diabetes.
As a trio, Herbert, Harry, and Donald continued performing on the oldies circuit until Harry's death in 1982. Herbert and Donald continued until Herbert's death in 1989. Then Donald began performing with the third generation of the family, his son, John III. In 1998 the Recording Academy recognised the Mills family's contributions to popular music when it presented Donald, as the sole surviving member, with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
After Donald's death of pneumonia on the 13th November 1999, John III began touring under the name "The Mills Brothers" with Elmer Hopper, who had previously sung lead with Paul Robi's Platters.
Altogether, the group recorded more than 2,000 recordings, selling more than fifty million copies and gaining them at least three dozen gold records. The Mills Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.
The group was originally composed of four brothers all born in Piqua, Ohio: John Jr (1911-1936) basso and guitarist, Herbert (1912-1989) tenor, Harry (1913-1982) baritone, and Donald (1915-1999) lead tenor. Their father owned a barber's shop, and founded a barbershop quartet called the Four Kings of Harmony. As the boys grew older, they began singing in the choir of the Cyrene African Methodist Episcopal Church and in the Park Avenue Baptist Church in Piqua. After their lessons at the Spring Street Grammar School, they would gather in front of their father's shop on Public Square or at the corner of Greene and Main to sing and play the kazoo to passersby.
They entered an amateur contest at Piqua's Mays Opera House, but while on stage Harry discovered he had lost his kazoo. He cupped his hands to his mouth and imitated a trumpet. The success of his imitation led to all the brothers taking on instruments to imitate and created their early signature sound. John Jr accompanied the four-part harmony first with a ukulele and then a guitar. They practised imitating orchestras they heard on the radio. John, as the bass, would imitate the tuba, Harry, a baritone, imitated the trumpet, Herbert became the second trumpet, and Donald the trombone. They entertained on the Midwest theatre circuit, at house parties, tent shows, music halls, and supper clubs throughout the area, and became well known for their close harmonies, mastery of scat singing, and their ability to imitate musical instruments with their voices.
In 1928, after playing May's Opera House in Piqua between Rin Tin Tin features, the brothers accompanied the Harold Greenameyer Band to Cincinnati for an audition with radio station WLW. The band was not hired, but the Mills brothers were. With the help of Seger Ellis, WLW Cincinnati D.J. and a music legend of the 1920s, they quickly became local radio stars and got their major break when Duke Ellington and his Orchestra played a date in Cincinnati. When the youngsters sang for Duke, he called Tommy Rockwell at Okeh Records, who signed them and took the group to New York.
In September 1930, Ralph Wonders urged broadcasting executive William S. Paley, at CBS Radio in New York, to turn on his office speaker and listen to an audition of four young men. For the audition they were "The Mills Brothers", but they had been known by many other names. They were billed as "The Steamboat Four" when they sang for Sohio, and had been called the "Four Boys and a Guitar" on their Sunday shows. When Paley heard their performance, he immediately went downstairs and put them on the air. The next day, the Mills Brothers signed a three-year contract and became the first black group to have a network show on radio.
Their first recording for Brunswick Records, a cover of the Original Dixieland Jass Band standard "Tiger Rag" became a nationwide best-seller and a number-one hit on the charts in a version with lyrics by Harry DaCosta. Other hits followed: "Goodbye Blues", their theme song, "Nobody's Sweetheart", "Ole Rockin' Chair", "Lazy River", "How'm I Doin'", and others. They remained on Brunswick until late 1934, when they signed with Decca, where they stayed well into the 1950s. On all of their Brunswick records, as well as the early Deccas, the label stated:
"No musical instruments or mechanical devices used on this recording other than one guitar."
They were a hit on CBS in 1930–1931, particularly when they co-starred on the widely popular The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour hosted by Rudy Vallee. They had their own popular radio series in 1932–1933, one of the earliest built around a black act, billed as the "Four Boys and a Guitar". Before their show announcers commonly explained to listeners that the only instrument was a guitar, as the vocal effects made many listeners think they were hearing a muted trumpet, saxophone, and string bass or tuba.
The Mills Brothers were sponsored by some of the largest advertisers in early radio; Standard Oil, Procter & Gamble, Crisco, and Crosley Radio. They began appearing in films. Their first, The Big Broadcast (1932) was an all-star radio revue that included Bing Crosby, Cab Calloway, and the Boswell Sisters. They also made three "bouncing ball" cartoon shorts for the Fleischer Brothers. In 1934, the brothers starred with Crosby for Woodbury Soap, and recorded their classics "Lazy Bones", "Sweet Sue", "Lulu's Back in Town", "Bye-Bye Blackbird", "Sleepy Head", and "Shoe Shine Boy". Their film appearances included Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934) and Broadway Gondolier (1935).
In 1934, The Mills Brothers became the first U.S. black musicians to give a command performance before British royalty. They performed at the Regal Theatre for a special audience: King George V, Queen Mary, and their mother. While performing in England, John Jr became ill. It took him months to recover from battling pneumonia. Before he was completely well, the brothers returned to England. John Jr once again became sick and died at the beginning of 1936.
The remaining brothers considered breaking up, but their mother told them John Jr would have wanted them to continue. They followed her suggestion and their father, John Sr, replaced John Jr as the baritone and tuba. At this time, Norman Brown joined the Brothers as their guitar player.
Through 1939 the group enjoyed remarkable success in Europe. In the period between John Jr's death and their return to the States, they re-recorded "Lazy River". It was followed by "Someday You'll Want Me to Want You", "Swing Is the Thing", "Long about Midnight", "Organ Grinder's Swing", and "The Song is Ended". They honoured Duke Ellington with a swing version of his "Caravan", and then produced a series of classic recordings: "South of the Border", which they performed in a tour of South America, along with "Ain't Misbehavin'", "It Don’t Mean a Thing", "Jeepers Creepers", "Three Little Fishies", and "Basin Street Blues".
During this era, there was also a brief time when the group performed with a non‑family singer. Gene Smith served as a stand-in for one year when Harry was drafted into the Army. Although Smith's solo singing did not particularly resemble the group's usual sound, he was able to harmonise well until the fourth brother's return. Smith is very noticeable in a number of the Mills Brothers' film appearances.
Returning to the States, the Brothers were anxious for a hit and recorded "I'll be Around" in 1943. Donald Mills chose "Paper Doll" as the B-side of the record. "I'll Be Around" became a popular hit, then a disk jockey turned the record over. "Paper Doll", recorded in fifteen minutes, sold six million copies and became the group's biggest hit.
The rise of rock and roll in the early 1950s did little to decrease the Mills Brothers' popularity. "Glow Worm" jumped to number one on the pop charts in 1952. The track also reached number ten in the U.K. singles chart in January 1953. "Opus One", an updated version of the Tommy Dorsey hit, was soon in the charts as well, followed by "You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You", "The Jones Boy", "Yellow Bird", "Standing on the Corner", and "If I Had My Way".
In 1957, John Sr, who was then sixty-eight, stopped touring with the group. As a trio, the Mills Brothers were frequent guests on The Jack Benny Show, The Perry Como Show, The Tonight Show, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, The Dean Martin Show, and The Hollywood Palace. A move from Decca to Dot Records brought a moderate 1958 hit, a cover of the Silhouettes' "Get a Job" that made explicit the considerable influence on doo-wop that the early Mills Brothers records had exerted. The Mills Brothers also charted "Yellow Bird" two years before Arthur Lyman's top-ten hit remake.
"Cab Driver", recorded in 1968, was their last hit. It was written by songwriter C. Carson Parks, who also wrote "Somethin' Stupid", a hit the previous year for Frank Sinatra and his daughter Nancy.
The Mills Brothers' fiftieth anniversary in show business was celebrated in 1976 with a tribute at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, hosted by Bing Crosby. At the time, Harry was now almost blind as a result of diabetes.
As a trio, Herbert, Harry, and Donald continued performing on the oldies circuit until Harry's death in 1982. Herbert and Donald continued until Herbert's death in 1989. Then Donald began performing with the third generation of the family, his son, John III. In 1998 the Recording Academy recognised the Mills family's contributions to popular music when it presented Donald, as the sole surviving member, with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
After Donald's death of pneumonia on the 13th November 1999, John III began touring under the name "The Mills Brothers" with Elmer Hopper, who had previously sung lead with Paul Robi's Platters.
Altogether, the group recorded more than 2,000 recordings, selling more than fifty million copies and gaining them at least three dozen gold records. The Mills Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.
The Jones Boys
The Mills Brothers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The whole town's talking about the Jones Boy
The Jones Boy
The Jones Boy
The whole town's talking about the Jones Boy
He acts mighty peculiar now
The whole town's saying he was a good boy
a nice boy
a swell boy
The whole town's saying he's not a well boy
He just isn't the same somehow
he hops
he jumps
so merrily over the water pumps
he stops and then
he comes to a pump and he'll jump again
the buzz is over the fences
that he's going out of his senses
The whole town's talking about the Jones boy
the poor boy
the Jones boy
But I just happen to be the Jones boy
and I happen to be in love
The Jones Boy
The Jones Boy
The whole town's talking about the Jones Boy
He acts mighty peculiar now
The whole town's saying he was a good boy
a nice boy
The whole town's saying he's not a well boy
He just isn't the same somehow
he hops
he jumps
so merrily over the water pumps
he stops and then
he comes to a pump and he'll jump again
the buzz is over the fences
that he's going out of his senses
The whole town's talking about the Jones boy
the poor boy
the Jones boy
But I just happen to be the Jones boy
and I happen to be in love
with a wonderful, wonderful girl
The Mills Brothers's song The Jones Boy recounts the story of a young man who has become the subject of gossip and speculation throughout his town due to his unusual behavior. The Jones Boy, as he is known, has gained the attention of the town due to his peculiar actions. He jumps and hops over water pumps in a carefree manner. There are rumors that he has gone mad, as it's asserted that he's going out of his senses. Despite the town's speculation, however, the Jones Boy is, in reality, nothing more than a young man in love with a wonderful girl.
The lyrics of the song hint at the way rumors and speculation can easily spread and become embellished through little concrete evidence. The people of the town have become aware of the Jones Boy's behavior, which they do not comprehend, and so create rumors around his behavior. The song suggests that such rumors and judgments can easily go askew and often evolve into something unrecognizable from the truth. It highlights the need to be cautious of rumors, gossip, and speculation, as they frequently have no basis in reality.
Line by Line Meaning
The whole town's talking about the Jones Boy
Everyone in town can't stop talking about the Jones Boy.
The Jones Boy
This person is known only as the Jones Boy.
The Jones Boy
This person is known only as the Jones Boy.
The whole town's talking about the Jones Boy
Everyone in town is gossiping about this person.
He acts mighty peculiar now
He's behaving very oddly these days.
The whole town's saying he was a good boy
Everyone remembers him as a good person.
a nice boy
He was kind to others.
a swell boy
He was well-liked by everyone.
The whole town's saying he's not a well boy
People are noticing that he's not doing well mentally or physically.
He just isn't the same somehow
He's changed in ways that are hard to explain.
he hops
He jumps up and down.
he jumps
He leaps into the air.
so merrily over the water pumps
He jumps over things with a happy attitude.
he stops and then
He pauses for a moment.
he comes to a pump and he'll jump again
Then he'll keep jumping again.
the buzz is over the fences
The rumors are spreading throughout the town.
that he's going out of his senses
People are saying he's losing his mind and lacking good judgement.
The whole town's talking about the Jones boy
The gossip is relentless and all-consuming.
the poor boy
People feel sorry for him and his situation.
the Jones boy
This person is still only known as the Jones Boy.
But I just happen to be the Jones boy
This is the Jones Boy speaking.
and I happen to be in love
And he's fallen in love.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: MANN CURTIS, VIC MIZZY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Mark Blackburn
THE JONES BOY – The Mills Brothers
“The whole town's talkin' about the 'Jones boy' ….” sings my wife Irene a moment ago: She awoke thinking about this song – trying to remember where she first heard it; her favorite singers always included the Mills Brothers -- who had the hit version.
“The whole town's talking about the Jones Boy
He acts mighty peculiar now …. “
Google for Mills Brothers / The Jones Boy and the first offering at YouTube this day is this delightful video, from the early days of black & white TV, introduced by comedian/band leader Spike Jones.
Echoing my own favorite question my Irene said, “I want to know about that song!”
It doesn't have a Wikipedia entry of its own, but there's a brief note about “Mann Curtiss” aka Manny Kurtz: no mention of “The Jones Boy” but as “Manny Kurtz” he wrote the words to a classic Duke Ellington tune, “In a Sentimental Mood.” [Ellington's publisher Irving Mills, as he often did gave himself as publisher co-credit so all three names are listed as that song's composers.] “The Jones Boy” was written to a tune by “Vic Mizzy” – concerning whom Wiki says:
Victor Mizzy (January 9, 1916 – October 17, 2009) was an American composer for television and movies and musician whose best-known works are the themes to the 1960s television sitcoms Green Acres and The Addams Family. Mizzy also wrote top-20 songs from the 1930s to 1940s.
The Jones Boy lyric recalls a time when neighbors shared gossip over backyard fences:
The buzz is over the fences
That he's going out of his senses
The whole town's talking about the Jones boy
The poor boy
The Jones boy
But I just happen to be the Jones boy
And I happen to be in love!
Thanks, PALINDUP for sharing this gem. Celebrated elsewhere [search] " Great Melody, Great Lyric, Great Rendition, Songwriting Workshop, Harmony Central "
Lydia Smith Jones
Love this song. I married a Jones boy 26 years ago ❤. And brought two more wonderful Jones boys into the world. 😍
Brian Zachel
You cannot help smiling and feeling absolutely wonderful watching guys like this. THIS is real entertainment...nothing like today where the "performers" have light shows, smoke, fireworks going off around them to draw attention away from the fact that without all the gimicks they would fall flat on their faces.
CL
Love these gentlemen! Their voices are so smooth and effortless. My parents had many of their records, so i was exposed to them at a very early age. I have seen them on tv through the years and thrilled that Youtube has so many videos of them.
Randall M.
It hit the charts in December 1953 and I remember singing it as a 4 year old at that time.
Leslie Caraher
The Mills Brothers didn't need an orchestra behind them. They were their own orchestra with trumpets, saxophones, trombones, bass fiddle and guitar. All, except the guitar, done without instruments, just their mouths and hands. They pioneered the mouth horn which is a lost art these days. But though they dropped being their own band, their singing never changed. It was great from beginning to end.
Ellen R.
They are such a happy group that their music makes me happy too.
MikeBlitzMag
The Mills Brothers and Spike Jones. Talk about a summit meeting! Magnificent.
Mark Blackburn
THE JONES BOY – The Mills Brothers
“The whole town's talkin' about the 'Jones boy' ….” sings my wife Irene a moment ago: She awoke thinking about this song – trying to remember where she first heard it; her favorite singers always included the Mills Brothers -- who had the hit version.
“The whole town's talking about the Jones Boy
He acts mighty peculiar now …. “
Google for Mills Brothers / The Jones Boy and the first offering at YouTube this day is this delightful video, from the early days of black & white TV, introduced by comedian/band leader Spike Jones.
Echoing my own favorite question my Irene said, “I want to know about that song!”
It doesn't have a Wikipedia entry of its own, but there's a brief note about “Mann Curtiss” aka Manny Kurtz: no mention of “The Jones Boy” but as “Manny Kurtz” he wrote the words to a classic Duke Ellington tune, “In a Sentimental Mood.” [Ellington's publisher Irving Mills, as he often did gave himself as publisher co-credit so all three names are listed as that song's composers.] “The Jones Boy” was written to a tune by “Vic Mizzy” – concerning whom Wiki says:
Victor Mizzy (January 9, 1916 – October 17, 2009) was an American composer for television and movies and musician whose best-known works are the themes to the 1960s television sitcoms Green Acres and The Addams Family. Mizzy also wrote top-20 songs from the 1930s to 1940s.
The Jones Boy lyric recalls a time when neighbors shared gossip over backyard fences:
The buzz is over the fences
That he's going out of his senses
The whole town's talking about the Jones boy
The poor boy
The Jones boy
But I just happen to be the Jones boy
And I happen to be in love!
Thanks, PALINDUP for sharing this gem. Celebrated elsewhere [search] " Great Melody, Great Lyric, Great Rendition, Songwriting Workshop, Harmony Central "
Slatsp Slatsp
Thanks for posting. Another great performance.
louisbj911
legendary track