42-521: Sleepy Lagoon may refer to: "Sleepy Lagoon" (song) , a 1930 light orchestral music written by Eric Coates and adapted into a song by Jack Lawrence, used as a theme in Desert Island Discs radio series The 1942 Sleepy Lagoon murder , which led to the Zoot Suit riots Sleepy Lagoon (film) , a 1943 American musical comedy film Topics referred to by
84-733: A Horn , dubbing Kirk Douglas . The album from the movie charted at #1, with James backing big band singer and actress Doris Day . James's recording of " I'm Beginning to See the Light " appears in the motion picture My Dog Skip (2000). His music is also featured in the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters . James's recording of " It's Been a Long, Long Time " is featured in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and in Marvel's Avengers: Endgame . With James's childhood spent as
126-400: A broader set of skills than those needed to be a gifted musician playing in someone else's band. The James band ran into financial trouble, and it became increasingly difficult for James to pay salaries and keep the band together. In 1940, James lost his contract with Columbia Records (he returned in 1941), and Frank Sinatra left the band that January. It was not long after this that James made
168-495: A child resulted in an exceptional technical proficiency in the more classical techniques of range, fingering and tonguing. Growing up in the South, James was also exposed to blues music , which had an additional influence on his style. As James explained, "I was brought up in Texas with the blues – when I was eleven or twelve years old down in what they call 'barbecue row' I used to sit in with
210-492: A country club or playing Vegas, in which we have many, many types of people, then I'm sure that 'Sleepy Lagoon' would be more popular at that particular time. But I really get bugged about these people talking about commercial tunes, because to me, if you're gonna be commercial, you're gonna stand on your head and make funny noises and do idiotic things. I don't think we've ever recorded or played one tune that I didn't particularly love to play. Otherwise, I wouldn't play it." James
252-426: A musician in a traveling circus, he picked up a flamboyant style that utilized such techniques as heavy vibrato, half valve and lip glissandi, valve and lip trills, and valve tremolos. These techniques were popular at the time in what was known as "hot" jazz , epitomized by James's idol Louis Armstrong , but somewhat fell out of favor by the 1950s with the advent of "cool" jazz . James's rigorous regime of practice as
294-617: A pebble beach leading steeply down, and the sea at that time is an incredibly deep blue of the Pacific . It was that impression, looking across at Bognor, which looked pink—almost like an enchanted city with the blue of the Downs behind it—that gave him the idea for the Sleepy Lagoon. He didn't write it there; he scribbled it down, as he used to, at extreme speed, and then simply took it back with him to London where he wrote and orchestrated it. The piece
336-451: A piece of light classical music. Later that year, Lawrence attempted to contact Coates in person. Britain was in the middle of World War II , and, contrary to Dreyfus' fears, Coates thought the lyrics fit so well that he retorted he could hardly believe it had been written to a pre-existing melody: "You have set the words to my music so cleverly that one would never suspect that the music had been written first!" The song, "Sleepy Lagoon",
378-433: A pivotal decision: he would adopt a "sweeter" style that added strings to the band, and the band would deliver tunes that were in more of a "pop" vein and less true to its jazz roots. From a commercial standpoint, the decision paid off as James soon enjoyed a string of chart-topping hits that provided commercial success for him and his band. Indeed, a U.S. Treasury report released in 1945 listed Harry James and Betty Grable as
420-615: A son, Michael (b. 1968), before divorcing in 1970. James owned several Thoroughbred racehorses that won races such as the California Breeders' Champion Stakes (1951) and the San Vicente Stakes (1954). He was also a founding investor in the Atlantic City Race Course . His knowledge of horse racing was demonstrated during a 1958 appearance on The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour entitled " Lucy Wins A Racehorse ". James
462-425: A song lyric, then took it to Chappell, the publisher of Coates's original melody. The head of Chappell's New York office, Max Dreyfus , was concerned that this lyric had been added without consulting the composer. Dreyfus warned Lawrence that Coates "may resent your tampering with his melody". Dreyfus also did not think the melody belonged in the popular genre and that it was better suited to its original treatment as
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#1732838306630504-415: A summer replacement program for Danny Kaye 's program on CBS . He also led the orchestra for Call for Music , which was broadcast on CBS February 13, 1948 – April 16, 1948, and on NBC April 20, 1948 – June 29, 1948. James recorded many popular records and appeared in many Hollywood movies. He featured in the 1942 musical short Trumpet Serenade . He played trumpet in the 1950 film Young Man with
546-400: Is a slow waltz for full orchestra that lasts roughly four minutes. Michael Jameson observed that the piece is "elegantly orchestrated" with "a shapely theme for violins presented in the salon-esque genre entirely characteristic of British light music in the 1920s and '30s". In early 1940, American songwriter Jack Lawrence came across the piano solo version of By the Sleepy Lagoon and wrote
588-408: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Sleepy Lagoon (song) By the Sleepy Lagoon is a light-orchestral valse serenade by British composer Eric Coates , written in 1930. In 1940 American songwriter Jack Lawrence added lyrics with Coates' approval; the resulting song, " Sleepy Lagoon ", became a popular-music standard of
630-576: The flugelhorn , but this sound was underrecorded in favor of James' brilliant high register. With financial backing from Goodman, James debuted his own big band in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, in January 1939, but it didn't click until adding a string section in 1941. Subsequently, known as Harry James and His Music Makers, it produced the hit " You Made Me Love You ", which peaked at no. 5 on Billboard's National Best Selling Retail Records chart for
672-416: The 1940s, his playing was often labeled as "schmaltzy" and dismissed by the critics, although radio discs from this period reveal James's continued commitment to jazz. James's jazz releases during this period, while not as numerous, include a variety of modern arrangements from Neal Hefti , Frank Devenport, Johnny Richards and Jimmy Mundy that often inspired his musicians, and as bop surpassed swing by
714-511: The 1940s. British composer Eric Coates was inspired to compose By the Sleepy Lagoon in 1930 while overlooking a beach in West Sussex. His son, Austin Coates , later remembered: It was inspired in a very curious way and not by what you might expect. It was inspired by the view on a warm, still summer evening looking across the "lagoon" from the east beach at Selsey towards Bognor Regis . It's
756-491: The circus at an early age, first as a contortionist at the age of four, then playing the snare drum in the band from about the age of six. It was at this age that James was almost trampled by the circus trick horses after he wandered onto the circus track as they were performing their stunts, but he was protected by his mother's pet horse, who stood over him until the other horses rushed by. James started taking trumpet lessons from his father at age eight, and by age twelve he
798-505: The first fairytales in the Dutch theme park Efteling , called The Magic Clock . In 2012 it also became the main musical theme of the water fountain spectacle Aquanura at the park. The fountain show is the largest of its kind in Europe. As the show is performed nightly on a large lake, the creators used By the Sleepy Lagoon as an introduction and linking melody throughout the show. The musical piece
840-436: The guys that had the broken bottlenecks on their guitars, playing the blues; that's all we knew." After hearing James solo on several numbers at a Benny Goodman one-nighter, Armstrong enthused to his friend and Goodman vibraphonist Lionel Hampton , "That white boy – he plays like a jig!" After James left Benny Goodman's band in 1939 to form his own band, he soon found that leading a commercially viable musical group required
882-657: The height of the Coates-Lawrence song's popularity in 1942, a minor reservoir near Los Angeles was christened the "Sleepy Lagoon" by local youths. After the media's extensive use of the song title when reporting on the Sleepy Lagoon Murder in that same year, the name became permanent—although the reservoir itself has since disappeared. In 1977, "Sleepy Lagoon" made a notable appearance in the famous Oscar-winning motion picture Annie Hall directed by Woody Allen. Coates' musical piece has been used since 1952 for one of
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#1732838306630924-576: The highest-paid couple in the nation. While James remained commercially successful and personally committed to his music, some critics sought to find fault. In Peter Levinson's 1999 biography, Dan Morgenstern , the respected critic and Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies, called the 1941 release of the later Grammy Hall of Fame inducted "You Made Me Love You" "the record that the jazz critics never forgave Harry James for recording." With James continuing to employ his flamboyant style on pop hits through
966-604: The late 1940s, James was surprisingly open to its influence. After coasting through the mid-1950s, James made a complete reevaluation of where he was heading in his musical career. Count Basie provided the impetus by making a significant comeback with his newly formed "16 Men Swinging" band, and James wanted a band with a decided Basie flavor. James signed with Capitol Records in 1955, and two years later, after releasing new studio versions of many of his previously released songs from Columbia Records, James recorded ten new tracks for an album entitled Wild About Harry! . This album
1008-399: The late 1950s and into the 1960s, contemporary opinion of his work has shifted. Recent reissues such as Capitol's 2012 7-disc set The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series: Gene Krupa and Harry James have prompted new, more favorable analyses. In 2014, Marc Myers of JazzWax commented, "[James's] band of the mid-1940s was more modern than most of the majors, and in 1949 he led one of the finest bands of
1050-552: The music he both played and recorded. In 1972 while in London, he did an interview with the English jazz critic Steve Voce , who asked if the biggest audience was for the commercial numbers he had recorded. James visibly bristled, replying "That would depend on for whom you are playing. If you're playing for a jazz audience, I'm pretty sure that some of the jazz things we do would be a lot more popular than 'Sleepy Lagoon,' and if we're playing at
1092-423: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Sleepy Lagoon . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sleepy_Lagoon&oldid=1072484147 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1134-620: The top jazz musician on each instrument. The winners were invited to join an ensemble known as the Metronome All-Stars that was assembled for studio recordings. The studio sessions were held in the years 1939–42, 1946–53, and 1956, and typically resulted in two tracks which allowed each participant a one chorus solo. Harry James was chosen to play trumpet with the Metronome All-Stars in 1939, 1940 and 1941. A similar annual readers' poll conducted by Downbeat magazine selected James as
1176-476: The top ten, and 70 in the top 100 on the U.S. pop charts, as well as seven charting on the U.S. R&B chart. As of 2016, two recordings of Harry James had been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame , a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance." Metronome magazine conducted annual readers' polls ranking
1218-607: The week ending November 18, 1941. During its 18-week chart run, the single spent ten non-consecutive weeks in the Top Ten, from early November 1941 until late January 1942. He and his band appeared in three Hollywood films: Private Buckaroo and Springtime in the Rockies (both 1942), and Two Girls and a Sailor (1944). James toured with the band into the 1980s, and as of July 2018 the Harry James Orchestra, led by Fred Radke,
1260-425: The year." And on James's releases from 1958 to 1961, Myers noted, "The James band during this period has been eclipsed by bands led by Basie , Maynard Ferguson and Stan Kenton . While each served up its own brand of magnificence, James produced more consistently brilliant tracks than the others... virtually everything James recorded during this period was an uncompromising, swinging gem." James felt strongly about
1302-448: Was Helen Forrest , and his later band included drummer Buddy Rich and bassist Thurman Teague . Johnny MacAfee was featured on the sax and vocals, and Corky Corcoran was a youthful sax prodigy. James' orchestra succeeded Glenn Miller 's on a program sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes in 1942, when Miller disbanded his orchestra to enter the Army. In 1945, James and his orchestra had
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1344-718: Was 15 years of age. While still a student at Dick Dowling Junior High School, he participated as a regular member of Beaumont High School 's Royal Purple Band, and in May 1931 he took first place as trumpet soloist at the Texas Band Teacher's Association's Annual Eastern Division contest held in Temple, Texas . James’s first job was playing at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and he played regularly with Herman Waldman's band, and at one performance
1386-797: Was a heavy smoker, drinker, and gambler. In 1983 he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer , but continued to work. He played his last professional job, with the Harry James Orchestra, on June 26, 1983, in Los Angeles, dying just nine days later in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 5, 1983, at age 67. Frank Sinatra gave the eulogy at his funeral, held in Las Vegas. The discography of Harry James includes 30 studio albums, 47 EPs, three soundtrack/stage and screen albums, and numerous live albums and compilation albums, along with contributions as sideman and appearances with other musicians. James released over 200 singles during his career, with nine songs reaching number one, 32 in
1428-596: Was especially known among musicians for his technical proficiency as well as his tone , and was influential on new trumpet players from the late 1930s into the 1940s. He was also an actor in a number of films that usually featured his band. Harry James was born in Albany, Georgia , United States, the son of Everett Robert James, a bandleader in a traveling circus, the Mighty Haag Circus , and Myrtle Maybelle (Stewart), an acrobat and horseback rider. He started performing with
1470-613: Was leading the second band in the Christy Brothers Circus, for which his family was then working. James's father placed him on a strict daily practice schedule. At each session he was given several pages to learn from the Arban's book and was not allowed to pursue any other pastime until he had learned them. In 1924, his family settled in Beaumont, Texas . It was here in the early 1930s that James began playing in local dance bands when he
1512-677: Was made in London on 15 March 1949. It was released by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalogue number B 9768. Peter Kreuder recorded the tune in 1949. The song made the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960, in a version by the Platters , found originally on the flipside of the 1960 top ten "Harbor Lights". By the Sleepy Lagoon has been the theme music to BBC Radio 4 's long-running series Desert Island Discs since its inception in 1942. At
1554-415: Was married three times, first to singer Louise Tobin on May 4, 1935, with whom he had two sons, Harry Jeffrey James (b. 1941) and Timothy Ray James (b. 1942). They divorced in 1943. Later that year he married actress Betty Grable . They had two daughters, Victoria Elizabeth (b. 1944) and Jessica (b. 1947), before divorcing in 1965. In December 1967 James wed Las Vegas showgirl Joan Boyd. The couple had
1596-469: Was noticed by nationally popular Ben Pollack . In 1935 he joined Pollack's band, but left at the start of 1937 to join Benny Goodman 's orchestra, where he stayed through 1938. He was nicknamed "The Hawk" early in his career for his ability to sight-read . A common joke was that if a fly landed on his written music, Harry James would play it. His low range had a warmth associated with the cornet and even
1638-532: Was partly rearranged and rerecorded by the Dutch Brabant Orchestra especially for the show. Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but shortly after he reorganized and was active again with his band from then until his death in 1983. He
1680-549: Was published as a Lawrence-Coates collaboration in 1940. Lawrence showed the song to bandleader Harry James , whose recording of it was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 36549. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on 17 April 1942 and lasted 18 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 1. Other hit versions were recorded by Dinah Shore , David Rose , Fred Waring , Glenn Miller and others. A recording with Tom Jenkins and his Palm Court Orchestra
1722-466: Was still very much in business. James' band was the first high-profile orchestra to feature vocalist Frank Sinatra , who signed a one-year, $ 75 a week contract with it in 1939 ($ 1,589 a week in 2022). James wanted to change Sinatra's name to 'Frankie Satin', but the singer refused. Sinatra only worked seven months before leaving to join Tommy Dorsey 's outfit. The James band's featured female vocalist
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1764-472: Was the first in a series released on Capitol, and continuing later on MGM , representative of the Basie style that James adopted during this period, with some of the arrangements provided by former Basie saxophonist and arranger Ernie Wilkins , whom James hired for his own band. While James never completely regained favor with jazz critics during his lifetime in spite of his return to more jazz-oriented releases in
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