NRR Project: 'In the Mood' (1940)

 

NRR Project: ‘In the Mood’

Composed by Joe Garland and Andy Razaf

Performed by the Glenn Miller and his Orchestra

Recorded Aug. 1, 1939

3:09

I must first point to the extremely learned essay on this piece from Dennis M. Spragg, which you can read here. (He is the senior consultant for the Glenn Miller Archives at the University of Colorado Boulder.) Like any great detective, he searches for the origin of the piece and rings all the changes on it down to the date of its incredible success.

Because the first few bars of the song are instantly identifiable, and in fact evoke an entire period in American history – the span of big-band music, which thrived from the mid-1930s to the end of the Second World War in 1945. This iconic song, in both its instrumental and vocal renditions, bring back memories of grandparents and great-grandparents, all those who survived the Depression and WWII – those dubbed the Greatest Generation.

The story of “In the Mood” is one of the long evolution of a riff, that began in 1925. Jazz is uniquely conducive to the re-formation of music that already exists, so it didn’t take long for different artists and ensembles to adapt, transform, and perfect it. Joe Garland copyrighted his version in 1938. Finally, in 1939 Glenn Miller purchased the tune from Garland. Miller rearranged the number with Eddie Durham, and voila – “In the Mood” crystalized into its eternal form.

It's swinging, instantly memorable, a smoothly orchestrated syncopation that invites the listener to dance. It’s one of those perfect songs, one that deserves it place in the collective consciousness.

Just one caveat -- the National Recording Registry notes that the recording is “seamless and precise.” This is one quality of Miller’s style that can be interpreted in a negative way. All of Miller’s work is based on the flawless and modulated performance of the text as written. He was an auteur, he, like Duke Ellington, could shape exactly the sound he wanted to hear. And his taste was excellent.

This is different approach than that taken by the relatively looser bandleaders Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, not to mention the real swingers such as Count Basie and Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy, Is Miller, then more mechanical, more soulless, more vanilla, more . . . wholesome?

It would mark the high point of the general American public’s love of jazz. It would have been fascinating to hear his development after the war years, but his untimely death in 1944 precludes us from knowing other than what became a string of well-machined popular hits for him and his outfit.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: the John and Ruby Lomax Southern States Recording Trip.