I met both hammond and miller in my travels and while they certainly shared
some similarities hammond was by far the greater judge of talent and willing
to evolve. Miller remained mired in an antiquated sense of what pop meant
while hammond went on to sign springsteen! Hammond was funny, approachable
and engaging, miller not so much. Same generation but such different
sensibilities.
Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless
-----Original message-----
From: Roger Kulp <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, Aug 4, 2010 02:32:44 GMT+00:00
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Mitch Miller RIP
The article also mentions him conducting symphony orchestras.Any videos or
recordings of this?
Roger
________________________________
From: Cary Ginell <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tue, August 3, 2010 12:47:13 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Mitch Miller RIP
There's a lot on Miller's work for Mercury in Dennis McClellan's article in
the
Los Angeles Times today, which, by the way, was on the front page. They
talked
about him providing the "whip" sound for Frankie Laine's recording of "Mule
Train," the overdubbing on Patti Page's "Money, Marbles and Chalk," and his
role
in the careers of Mercury artists like Vic Damone and Patti Page. He even
mentions Miller playing on the "Charlie Parker with Strings" LPs. Miller did
a
lot for Columbia in the same way Dave Dexter did for Capitol; they were fine
for
middle-of-the-road artists, but refused to change with the times or accept
the
validity of the public's changing styles. Miller turned down Elvis; Dexter
turned down the Beatles at least four times. They made their mark for what
they
themselves liked, but as businessmen, they had their limitations and failed
to
have their fingers on the pulse of where the public's tastes were going.
This is
why someone like George Martin has to be admired: he was a classical guy who
produced the Goons in England and used his ability to adapt to the Beatles'
style. With Miller's musicality and experience, he might have done the same
thing at Columbia, but refused to acknowledge rock 'n' roll as a bonafide
art
form and something that could have made Columbia millions. Instead, they
stagnated in the rock world. Only John Hammond gave Columbia any place in
the
rock world by signing Bob Dylan, then just a folk singer who happened to
develop
into a rock legend. As a partial result of Miller's influence, Columbia
didn't
have any bonafide rock 'n' roll talents until Janis Joplin in the late '60s.
Cary Ginell
> Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 13:58:50 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Mitch Miller RIP
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> In the (few) obits I've read for Mitch Miller, I didn't see any mention of
his
>early role in Mercury
>
> Records, which was important for the young independent company. Miller was
an
>oboe player, Eastman
>
> School trained. He was hired at Mercury by John Hammond and he, Hammond
and
>David Hall comprised the
>
> company's earliest classical-music staff. Miller recorded an album of
>oboe/chamber orchestra music
>
> for Mercury, as well as worked on the "Charlie Parker with Strings"
sessions
>for Norman Granz. At
>
> that time, Granz was affiliated with Mercury.
>
> After Miller went to Columbia and, among many other things, founded the
famous
>30th Street studio,
>
> he continued to moonlight with other projects. One on-going thing for him
in
>the 50's and 60's was
>
> conducting, arranging and producing sessions for Little Golden Book kiddie
>records. He did some of
>
> these sessions at Fine Sound and then Fine Recording.
>
> Some of the obits and tributes struck me as very ironic. Miller was
portrayed
>as this old
>
> fuddy-duddy of suburbia in the age of rock and roll with his sing-along
show.
>The goatee should have
>
> slain that myth. Both Miller and Hammond were cutting-edge dudes in their
time,
>very much on the
>
> forefront of music and intellectual thought, and far left of the
mainstream in
>their social and
>
> political views. They were progressives before there was such a term.
>
> Mitch Miller did much for the music business, and for Mercury and then
Columbia
>Records. May he rest
>
> in peace.
>
> -- Tom Fine
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