Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr., was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the second of four children born to Thomas Francis Dorsey, Sr., and Theresa (née Langton) Dorsey. He and Jimmy, his older brother by slightly less than two years, would become famous as the "Dorsey Brothers". The two younger siblings were Mary and Edward (who died young). Tommy Dorsey initially studied the trumpet with his father, only to later switch to the trombone.
His Father, Thomas F. Dorsey, Sr. died July 13, 1942. Thomas Sr was born in Shenandoah, PA and was a bandleader himself.
At age 15, Jimmy recommended Tommy as the replacement for Russ Morgan in the 1920s territory band "The Scranton Sirens." Tommy and Jimmy worked in several bands, including those of Tal Henry, Rudy Vallee, Vincent Lopez, Nathaniel Shilkret. In 1923, Dorsey followed his brother Jimmy to Detroit to play in Jean Goldkette's band and later returned to New York in 1925 to play with the California Ramblers. In 1927 he joined Paul Whiteman. In 1929, the Dorsey Brothers had their first hit with "Coquette" for OKeh records.
In 1934, the Dorsey Brothers band signed with Decca records, having a hit with "I Believe In Miracles". Future bandleader Glenn Miller was a member of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934 and 1935, composing "Annie's Cousin Fanny", "Tomorrow's Another Day", "Harlem Chapel Chimes", and "Dese Dem Dose", all recorded for Decca, for the band. Ongoing acrimony between the brothers, however, led to Tommy Dorsey's walking out to form his own band in 1935, just as the orchestra was having a hit with "Every Little Moment." Dorsey's orchestra was known primarily for its renderings of ballads at dance tempos, frequently with singers such as Jack Leonard and Frank Sinatra.
Tommy Dorsey's first band was formed out of the remains of the Joe Haymes band, and so began Dorsey's long-running practice of raiding other bands for talent. If he admired a vocalist, musician, or arranger, he would think nothing of taking over their contracts and careers. Dorsey had a reputation for being a perfectionist. He was volatile and also known to hire and fire (and sometimes rehire) musicians based on his mood. The new band was popular from almost the moment it signed with RCA Victor with "On Treasure Island", the first of four hits for the new band in 1935. After his 1935 recording however, Dorsey's manager cut the "hot jazz" that Dorsey had mixed with his own lyrical style and instead had Dorsey play pop and vocal tunes. Dorsey would keep his Clambake Seven as a Dixieland group that played during performances, too. The Dorsey band had a national radio presence in 1936, first from Dallas and then from Los Angeles. Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra took over comedian Jack Pearl's radio show in 1937.
By 1939, Dorsey was aware of criticism that his band lacked a jazz feeling. He hired arranger Sy Oliver away from the Jimmie Lunceford band. Sy Oliver's arrangements include "On The Sunny Side of the Street" and "T.D.'s Boogie Woogie"; Oliver also composed two of the new band's signature instrumentals, "Well, Git It" and "Opus One". In 1940, Dorsey hired singer Frank Sinatra from bandleader Harry James. Frank Sinatra made eighty recordings from 1940 to 1942 with the Dorsey band. Two of those eighty songs are "In The Blue of Evening" and "This Love of Mine". Frank Sinatra achieved his first great success as a vocalist in the Dorsey band and claimed he learned breath control from watching Dorsey play trombone. In turn, Dorsey said his trombone style was heavily influenced by that of Jack Teagarden. Among Dorsey's staff of arrangers was Axel Stordahl who arranged for Frank Sinatra in his Columbia and Capitol records years. Another member of the Dorsey band was trombonist Nelson Riddle, who later had a partnership as one of Sinatra's arrangers and conductors in the 1950s and afterwards. Another noted Dorsey arranger, who in the 1950s, married and was professionally associated with Dorsey veteran Jo Stafford, was Paul Weston. Bill Finegan, an arranger who left Glenn Miller's civilian band, arranged for the Tommy Dorsey band from 1942 to 1950.
The band featured a number of future famous instrumentalists, singers and arrangers in the 1930s and '40s, including trumpeters Zeke Zarchy, Bunny Berigan, Ziggy Elman, Carl "Doc" Severinsen, and Charlie Shavers, pianists Milt Raskin, Jess Stacy, clarinetists Buddy DeFranco, Johnny Mince, and Peanuts Hucko. Others who played with Dorsey were drummers Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Dave Tough saxophonist Tommy Reed, and singers Frank Sinatra, Jack Leonard, Edythe Wright, Jo Stafford with The Pied Pipers, Dick Haymes and Connie Haines. In 1944, Dorsey hired The Sentimentalists who replaced The Pied Pipers. Dorsey also performed with singer Connee Boswell Dorsey hired ex-bandleader and drummer Gene Krupa after Krupa's arrest and scandal for marijuana possession in 1943. In 1942 Artie Shaw broke up his band and Dorsey hired the Shaw string section. As George Simon in Metronome magazine notes at the time, "They're used in the foreground and background (note some of the lovely obbligatos) for vocal effects and for Tommy's trombone."
As Dorsey became successful, he made business decisions in the music industry. He loaned Glenn Miller money to launch Miller's successful band of 1938, but Dorsey saw the loan as an investment, entitling him to a percentage of Miller's income. When Miller balked at this, the angry Dorsey got even by sponsoring a new band led by Bob Chester, and hiring arrangers who deliberately copied Miller's style and sound. Dorsey branched out in the mid-1940s and owned two music publishing companies, Sun and Embassy. After opening at the Los Angeles ballroom, The Hollywood Palladium, on the Palladium's first night, Dorsey's relations with the ballroom soured and he opened a competing ballroom, The Casino Gardens circa 1944. Dorsey also owned for a short time a trade magazine called The Bandstand.
Tommy Dorsey disbanded his own orchestra at the end of 1946. Dorsey might have broken up his own band permanently following World War II, as many big bands did due to the shift in music economics following the war, but Tommy Dorsey's album for RCA, "All Time Hits" placed in the top ten records in February 1947. In addition, "How Are Things In Glocca Morra?", a single recorded by Dorsey, became a top-ten hit in March 1947. Both of these successes made it possible for Dorsey to re-organize a big band in early 1947. The Dorsey brothers were also reconciling. The biographical film of 1947, The Fabulous Dorseys describes sketchy details of how the brothers got their start from-the-bottom-up into the jazz era of one-nighters, the early days of radio in its infancy stages, and the onward march when both brothers ended up with Paul Whiteman before 1935 when The Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra split into two. In the early 1950s, Tommy Dorsey moved from RCA Victor back to the Decca record label.
Jimmy Dorsey broke up his own big band in 1953. Tommy invited him to join up as a feature attraction and a short while later, Tommy renamed the band the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra featuring Jimmy Dorsey. In 1953, the Dorseys focused their attention on television. On December 26, 1953, the brothers appeared with their orchestra on Jackie Gleason's CBS television show, which was preserved on kinescope and later released on home video by Gleason. The brothers took the unit on tour and onto their own television show, Stage Show, from 1955 to 1956. On numerous episodes, they introduced future noted rock musician Elvis Presley to national television audiences, prior to Presley's better known appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Married life
Dorsey's married life was varied and, at times, lurid. His first wife was 16-year-old Mildred Kraft, with whom he eloped in 1922, when he was 17. They had two children, Patricia and Tom (nicknamed "Skipper"). They divorced in 1943 after Dorsey's affair with his former singer Edythe Wright. He then wed movie actress Pat Dane in 1943, and they were divorced in 1947, but not before he gained headlines for striking actor Jon Hall when Hall embraced Dorsey's wife. Finally, Dorsey married Jane Carl New on March 27, 1948, in Atlanta, Georgia. She had been a dancer at the Copacabana nightclub in New York City. Tommy and Jane Dorsey had two children, Catherine Susan and Steve.
On November 26, 1956, Tommy Dorsey died at age 51 in his Greenwich, Connecticut, home. He had eaten a heavy meal and began choking in his sleep. Dorsey began taking sleeping pills regularly at this time; therefore, he was so sedated that he was unable to awaken and died from choking. Jimmy Dorsey led his brother's band until his own death from lung cancer the following year. At that point, trombonist Warren Covington assumed leadership of the band with Jane Dorsey's blessing as she owned the rights to her late husband's band and name. Billed as the "Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Starring Warren Covington", they topped the charts in 1958 with "Tea For Two Cha-Cha". After Covington led the band for a short period, Sam Donahue led it starting in 1961, continuing until the late 1960s. Buddy Morrow conducted the Tommy Dorsey orchestra until his death on September 27, 2010. Jane Dorsey died of natural causes at the age of 79, in Miami, Florida in 2003. Tommy and Jane Dorsey are interred together in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.
Number one hits
Tommy Dorsey had a run of 286 Billboard chart hits. The Dorsey band had seventeen number one hits with his orchestra in the 1930s and 1940s including: "On Treasure Island", "The Music Goes 'Round and Around", "You", "Marie" (written by Irving Berlin), "Satan Takes a Holiday", "The Big Apple", "Once in a While", "The Dipsy Doodle", "Our Love", "All the Things You Are", "Indian Summer", and "Dolores". He had two more number one hits in 1935 when he was a member of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra: "Lullaby of Broadway" (written by Harry Warren), number one for two weeks, and "Chasing Shadows", number one for three weeks. His biggest hit was "I'll Never Smile Again", featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals, which was number one for twelve weeks on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1940. "In the Blue of Evening" was number 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1943.
Songs written by Tommy Dorsey
1929: "You Can't Cheat A Cheater" with Phil Napoleon and Frank Signorelli
1932: "Three Moods"
1937: "The Morning After"
1938: "Chris and His Gang" with Fletcher and Horace Henderson; Tommy Dorsey wrote the song "Peckin' With Penguins" for a 1938 Frank Tashlin-directed Porky Pig cartoon, "Porky's Spring Planting" for the studio Warner Bros.
1939: "To You", "This Is No Dream", "You Taught Me to Love Again", "In The Middle Of A Dream", "Night In Sudan"
1945: "Fluid Jive" and "Fried Chicken"
1946: "Nip and Tuck"
1947: "Trombonology"
Co-wrote "Bunch of Beats", "Mid Riff", and "Candied Yams" with Fred Norman.
Honors and posthumous recognition
In 1982, the 1940 Victor recording "I'll Never Smile Again" was the first of a trio of Tommy Dorsey recordings to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. His theme song, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" was inducted in 1998, along with his recording of "Marie" written by Irving Berlin in 1928.[85] In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey commemorative postage stamp.
Discography
1961: The One And Only Tommy Dorsey (RCA Camden)
1966: Tommy Dorsey's Dance Party (Vocalion)
1976: Tommy Dorsey (1937 - 1941) (AMIGA)
The Essence of Tommy Dorsey (1935-1949 recordings under RCA, reissued under Phantom Sound & Vision)
This is Tommy Dorsey, Volume 1 (1935-1944 recordings under RCA, reissued by Collectibles)
1988: All-Time Greatest Dorsey/Sinatra Hits, Vol. 1-4 (RCA)
1982: The Dorsey/Sinatra Sessions (RCA)
1990: Yes, Indeed! (Bluebird/RCA)
1991: Music Goes Round and Round (Bluebird/RCA)
1994: Stop, Look and Listen (1994) (ASV/Living Era Records)
1999: The V-Disc Recordings (Collectors' Choice Music)
1999: 1937, Vol. 3
2001: This Is Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Vol. 1 (Collectables Records)
2004: 1939, Vol. 3
2004: Tommy Dorsey: The Early Jazz Sides: 1932 - 1937 (Jazz Legends)
2004: It's D'Lovely 1947-1950 (Hep Records)
V-Disc Recordings
Blue Skies, No. 1B, October, 1943, with Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers
Well Get It, No. 86A, December, 1943
April in Paris, No. 134, 1944
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, No. 150B, March, 1944
Hawaiian War Chant and March of the Toys, No. 195B, May, 1944
Paramount on Parade, No. 206, 1944
Minor Goes A'Muggin' and Losers Weepers, No. 220A, 1944
Not So Quiet Please, No. 220B, 1944, with Gene Krupa
Wagon Wheels, No. 222A, 1944
T.D. Chant, No. 222B, with Gene Krupa and Buddy DeFranco
Tess's Torch Song and Milkman Keep Those Bottles Quiet, No. 227A, 1944, with Georgia Gibbs
Irresistible You and I Never Knew, No. 227B, with Bob Allen and The Sentimentalists
Small Fry, No. 269A, 1944, with Bing Crosby
Milenberg Joys, No. 273B, 1944
Sweet and Lovely and The Lamp is Low, No. 320A (Army), November, 1944
Melody in A and Chicago, No. 322A, 1944
Over the Rainbow and I May Be Wrong But I Think You're Wonderful, No. 335A, December, 1944, with Judy Garland
For All We Know and The Lady in Red, No. 347A (Army), January, 1945
Nobody's Baby and Three Little Words, No. 362A, 1945
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, No. 391A, March, 1945
More Than You Know, No. 451A (Army); No. 231A (Navy), June, 1945, with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
Brotherly Jump, No. 451B, June, 1945, with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
I'll Never Smile Again, No. 582A (Army), February, 1946, with Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipe
Boogie Woogie, No. 877A, January, 1949
Marie, No. 890A, Tommy Dorsey and Band, March, 1949
Filmography
Segar Ellis and His Embassy Club Orchestra (1929)needs citation
Alice Bolden and Her Orchestra (1929)
Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra appear in the following films for the studios Paramount, MGM, Samuel Goldwyn, Allied Artists and United Artists:
Las Vegas Nights (1941)
Ship Ahoy (1942)
Presenting Lily Mars(1943)
Girl Crazy (1943)
Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
Thrill of a Romance (1945)
The Great Morgan (1946)
The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)
A Song Is Born (1948)
Disc Jockey (1951)
The Dorsey Brothers appear in the 1953 sixteen-minute Universal-International film called The Dorsey Brothers Encore.
Grammy Hall of Fame
Tommy Dorsey was posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance."
Boogie Woogie
Tommy Dorsey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He had a boogie style that no one else could play.
He was the top man at his craft,
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft.
He's in the army now. he's blowin' reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
They made him blow a bugle for his uncle sam.
It really brought him down because he could not jam.
Because the next day the cap' went out and drafted the band.
And now the company jumps when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
A root, a toot, a toodlie-a-da-toot.
He blows it eight to the bar in boogie rhythm.
He can't blow a note unless a bass and guitar
Is playin' with him.
And the company jumps when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
He was some boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
And when he played his boogie woogie bugle
He was busy as a busy bee.
And when he played he made the company jump eight to the bar.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
Andata toodliata-toodliata toot toot
He blows it eight to the bar.
He can't blow a note if a bass and guitar
Isn't with him.
And the company jumps when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
He puts the boys to sleep with boogie every night,
And wakes 'em up the same way in the early bright.
They clap their hands and stamp their feet,
'cause they know how it goes when someone gives him a beat.
Woah, woah, he wakes 'em up when he plays reveille.
The boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
A root, a toot, a toodli-a-da to toot toot toot
He's blowin' eight to the bar.
Yeah, he can't blow a note if a bass and guitar
Isn't, woah, with him.
And the company jumps when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b
The lyrics of Tommy Dorsey's song "Boogie Woogie" tell the story of a talented trumpet player who was drafted into the army during World War II. The opening lines introduce him as a famous trumpet man from Chicago known for his unique boogie style of playing, which distinguished him from others in his field. He was highly regarded for his musical abilities and craftsmanship, but unfortunately, his number came up, and he had to go to war.
The following lines reveal that the trumpet player is now in the army, blowing reveille as a bugle player in Company B. This new role brought him down because he couldn't fully express himself creatively through his instrument, feeling limited by the bugle's capability. However, the captain seemed to understand his talent and recognized the impact it had on the company's morale. As a result, he drafted a band to play alongside the bugle player.
The lyrics emphasize the trumpet player's boogie woogie style by describing how he blows his instrument with a rhythm reminiscent of the boogie music genre. The presence of a bass and guitar is essential for him to play his best, as they provide the necessary musical accompaniment and support. When he plays reveille, the company jumps in response, illustrating the positive effect his energetic and lively performance has on the soldiers.
The song highlights the bugle player's dedication, as he not only puts the soldiers to sleep with his boogie playing every night but also wakes them up with the same energy in the early morning. The soldiers appreciate his talent and the way he livens up their routine. The final lines reinforce his importance by stating that he wakes them up when he plays reveille, earning the title of the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B.
Line by Line Meaning
He was a famous trumpet man from out chicago way.
He was a renowned musician who played the trumpet and came from Chicago.
He had a boogie style that no one else could play.
He possessed a unique and unmatched style of playing boogie music.
He was the top man at his craft,
He was highly skilled and regarded as the best in his field,
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft.
However, he was drafted into the military and had to leave his career behind.
He's in the army now. he's blowin' reveille.
He is currently serving in the army, playing the reveille on his trumpet.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
He is known as the talented bugle player who adds a boogie woogie twist to the music of Company B.
They made him blow a bugle for his uncle sam.
The military assigned him the duty of playing the bugle for his country, Uncle Sam.
It really brought him down because he could not jam.
This duty disappointed him as he was unable to showcase his improvisation skills or play in an exciting jam session.
The captain seemed to understand,
Fortunately, the captain seemed to comprehend his frustration,
Because the next day the cap' went out and drafted the band.
So, the next day, the captain made a decision to draft the entire band, understanding the importance of their musical talents.
And now the company jumps when he plays reveille.
As a result, the entire company reacts energetically when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
He has become the celebrated bugle player who infuses boogie woogie elements into the music of Company B.
A root, a toot, a toodlie-a-da-toot.
He plays a rhythm consisting of roots, toots, and catchy toodlie-a-da-toots.
He blows it eight to the bar in boogie rhythm.
He plays the trumpet eight times per bar with a boogie woogie rhythm.
He can't blow a note unless a bass and guitar
Is playin' with him.
He relies on the bass and guitar to accompany him before he can play a note.
And the company jumps when he plays reveille.
The entire company enthusiastically reacts whenever he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
He is hailed as the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B.
He was some boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
He truly embodied the essence of a boogie woogie bugle boy in Company B.
And when he played his boogie woogie bugle
Whenever he played his boogie woogie bugle
He was busy as a busy bee.
He was exceptionally busy and actively involved, much like a buzzing bee.
And when he played he made the company jump eight to the bar.
His lively playing compelled the entire company to energetically move and dance to his eight-to-the-bar rhythm.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
He is proudly recognized as the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B.
Andata toodliata-toodliata toot toot
He blows it eight to the bar.
He skillfully plays his trumpet with lively and intricate notes, eight times per bar.
He can't blow a note if a bass and guitar
Isn't with him.
He requires the accompaniment of a bass and guitar to start playing a note.
And the company jumps when he plays reveille.
Just like before, the entire company joyfully reacts when he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
He maintains his reputation as the esteemed boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B.
He puts the boys to sleep with boogie every night,
Every night, he lulls the boys to sleep with soothing boogie music.
And wakes 'em up the same way in the early bright.
In the early morning, he wakes them up using the same energetic and lively music.
They clap their hands and stamp their feet,
The boys express their joy and enthusiasm by clapping their hands and stamping their feet.
'cause they know how it goes when someone gives him a beat.
This is because they are well aware of how the music becomes alive when someone provides him with a rhythm or beat.
Woah, woah, he wakes 'em up when he plays reveille.
He successfully wakes them up with his vibrant playing during reveille.
The boogie woogie bugle boy of company b.
He proudly remains the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B.
A root, a toot, a toodli-a-da to toot toot toot
He skillfully plays a combination of root notes, expressive toots, and catchy toodli-a-da notes, captivating his audience.
He's blowin' eight to the bar.
He continues to blow his trumpet with eight notes per bar.
Yeah, he can't blow a note if a bass and guitar
Isn't, woah, with him.
Without the accompaniment of a bass and guitar, he is unable to play a single note.
And the company jumps when he plays reveille.
As expected, the entire company joyfully responds whenever he plays reveille.
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of company b
His admirable title still persists, as he remains the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B.
Lyrics © MUSIC.INFO FINLAND OY
Written by: Tommy Dorsey
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Emilio Guija Poma
Que música tan maravillosa, jamás me cansaré de escucharla. Es divina.
Trombonology Erstwhile
Anthemic! -- no wonder TD kept this one in the book forever. I love his bluesy solo.
Emily S
This is a really good one!!! Heard it for the first time the other day, and woke up with it playing in my head today. It's now officially on the favorites list! Played it twice while cleaning the living room in my bungalow. Seems a fitting tune for this home. 😊
William Silva
Love the sound you get out of these old 78s!
Susan Eiffert
Loved this! My parents had it on 78s. I played it all the time and worked out a dance routine to it for a class assignment in hs. Jazz hands and all. Thx for posting!
VictrolaJazz
Actually first recorded in the very early 30's, if not 1930, but immortalized by this recording!
Shay’s Shellacs
It was actually recorded first earlier than that, by Pine Top Smith in December 1928
CoralDuchess4
1928
April Jolimay
Perfect for Mary's birthday I celebrated by listening to a boogie beat.i know that was your dad's favorite but it makes me think of them dancing.i couldn't help smileling.i can hear you singing with it.
Kirk Barkley
4 million + seller back in it's day. The public loved it, the purists not so much