Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr. was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, and started out only 16 years later in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with big band leader Russ Morgan in the famous pick-up band of the 1920s "The Scranton Sirens".
Tommy and his brother Jimmy worked in several bands, including those of Rudy Vallee, Vincent Lopez, and especially Paul Whiteman, before forming the original Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934. 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."
Tommy Dorsey's first band formed out of the remnant of the Joe Haymes band, and his smooth, lyrical trombone style – whether on ballads or on no-holds-barred swingers – became one of the signature sounds of both his band and the Swing Era. The new band hit from almost the moment it signed with RCA Victor with "On Treasure Island", the first of four hits for the new band that year. That led to a run of 137 Billboard chart hits, including his theme song, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" (which showcases his phenomenal range and masterful mute use, reaching up to the high C #), "Marie", "The Big Apple", "Music, Maestro, Please", "I'll Never Smile Again", "This Love of Mine", "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "T.D.'s Boogie Woogie", "Well, Git 'It", "Opus One", "Manhattan Serenade", and "There Are Such Things" – among many others.
The band featured a number of the best instrumentalists in jazz at the time, including trumpeters Bunny Berigan, Ziggy Elman, George Seaberg, Carl "Doc" Severinsen, and Charlie Shavers, pianist Jess Stacy, trumpeter/arranger/composer Sy Oliver (who wrote "Well, Git 'It" and "Opus One"), clarinetists Buddy DeFranco, Johnny Mince and Peanuts Hucko drummers Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, Gene Krupa and Dave Tough and singers Jack Leonard, Edythe Wright, Jo Stafford, Dick Haymes and Frank Sinatra. Sinatra achieved his first great success as a vocalist in the Dorsey band and claimed he learned breath control from watching Dorsey play trombone. Dorsey said his trombone style was heavily influenced by that of Jack Teagarden. Another member of the Dorsey band probably spent considerable time observing and listening to Sy Oliver's striking arrangements: trombonist Nelson Riddle, whose later partnership as Sinatra's major arranger and conductor is considered to have revolutionised post-World War II popular music.
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, and he did disband the orchestra at the end of 1946. But a top-ten selling album (All-Time Hits) made it possible for Dorsey to re-organise a big band in early 1947.
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.
The Dorsey brothers themselves later reconciled – Jimmy Dorsey had had to break up his own highly successful big band in 1953, and brother Tommy invited him to join up as a feature attraction – but before long Tommy renamed the band the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. 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 1954 to 1956, on which they introduced Elvis Presley to national television audiences, among others.
I'll Walk Alone
Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't mind being lonely when my hear tells me you are lonely too.
I'll walk alone, they'll ask me why and Ill tell them I'd rather.
There are dreams I must gather, dreams we fashioned the night you held me tight.
I'll always be near you wherever you are each night in every prayer.
If you call, I'll hear you, no matter how far.
Just close your eyes and I'll be there.
Till you're walking beside me, I'll walk alone.
The lyrics of "I'll Walk Alone" by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra convey a sense of longing and loneliness in the absence of a loved one. The singer of the song acknowledges their loneliness and the fact that they cannot be with their loved one, but they find comfort in the idea that their loved one might also be lonely. The singer states that they would rather walk alone than be with someone else because they are holding onto the dreams they shared with their loved one.
The singer promises to always be near their loved one and to hear them whenever they call out, even if they are far away. They urge their loved one to walk alone and send their love and kisses as a guide, until they can walk together again. The song highlights the theme of distance and separation in a relationship, and the hope that the two lovers will be reunited someday.
Overall, "I'll Walk Alone" is a touching and poignant song that captures the bittersweet feelings that come with separation from a loved one. The lyrics express the depth of the singer's emotions and their unwavering commitment to their loved one, even in times of loneliness and distance.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll walk alone because to tell you the truth I'll be lonely,
I will choose to be alone as I know deep down inside that I will feel lonely without you by my side.
I don't mind being lonely when my hear tells me you are lonely too.
Although being alone can be difficult, I can bear it when I know that you are experiencing the same loneliness as I am.
I'll walk alone, they'll ask me why and Ill tell them I'd rather.
People may question why I am alone, but I will explain that I prefer it this way.
There are dreams I must gather, dreams we fashioned the night you held me tight.
I have dreams that I must pursue, dreams that we talked about and made together when we were close.
I'll always be near you wherever you are each night in every prayer.
Even though we are apart, I will always be close to you through my prayers each night, no matter where you are.
If you call, I'll hear you, no matter how far.
If you call out to me, I will hear you, no matter the distance that separates us.
Just close your eyes and I'll be there.
All you need to do is believe and imagine me by your side, and I will be with you.
Please walk alone and send your love and your kisses to guide me
I ask you to walk alone while sending me your love and kisses to comfort me and guide me through my solitude.
Till you're walking beside me, I'll walk alone.
Until the day when we can walk together, I will continue to walk alone, with the hope of being reunited with you again someday.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind