Thursday, WBUR here in Boston had an hour on the “On Point” show about Mitch Miller. You can listen to it at this link. I’m not through the podcast yet, but what I’ve heard so far is good.
Thursday, WBUR here in Boston had an hour on the “On Point” show about Mitch Miller. You can listen to it at this link. I’m not through the podcast yet, but what I’ve heard so far is good.
A fascinating segment, with plenty of facts and discussion. It gives a pretty well-rounded view of Mitch, with a mostly positive spin on his career. If only the host didn’t refer to him as “Mitch Williams” a few times. She must be from Philadelphia. One of the interesting points they made was that the “sing-a-longs” were a type of folk music – communal singing of well known tunes. Many of the songs were “turn-of-the century” Pop songs, which at that point could be viewed as having passed into the realm of “folk music”. Songs that could be sung in unison by anybody in a group. They also mention that Irving Berlin and Hoagy Carmichael appeared on the “Sing-a-Long” show, so it would also be a part of “The Great American Songbook”. It’s always interesting to get a new slant on something which many of us hold pre-conceived notions about. As they say towards the end of the segment, schlocky as it would appear, “Come On-a My House” is still a novel and exciting record!
Hi Jan — Using magnetic tape, Mitch Miller created recordings that were unique studio productions that couldn’t be reproduced in a live setting. In this regard, I think he was way ahead of many other producers.
The bouncing ball gimmick that Miller used for his TV sing-a-longs was not new, however. It went back to animator Max Fleischer in the days of the silent movies.
I suspect there is something of a generation effect going on that explains the difference in appreciation you and I have for Mitch Miller and Arthur Godfrey. I understand their appeal intellectually, of course, but for me there’s no gut-level connection, if you know what I mean.
I enjoyed many a Mitch Miller album as a kid. My folks had several. Why can’t we have that kind of nice music be as popular today as it was, then? One could actually hear and understand the lyrics, and anyone in the family could listen to it.
I was recently surprised to learn that Mitch was still with us after all those years, and finally passed away at 99 just last week. He barely missed becoming a centurian!
I know he had tried to make a musical comeback with a “Sing Along With Mitch” concert in the 1970s or 80s, but it didn’t take. I remember reading some negative reviews of that show, and then I heard nothing more about him.