In this gorgeously atmospheric nighttime shot we’re looking west along Sunset Blvd from El Centro Ave toward the Hollywood Palladium. On the night of November 9, 1949, the headline act was Tex Beneke who was playing with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. It’s ironic (to me at least) that Beneke’s name is in very big letters and yet I’ve never heard of him, but Glenn Miller’s name is almost an afterthought. Turns out Tex Beneke played sax on Miller’s “In the Mood” and sang on “Chattanooga Choo Choo” and when Miller died in 1944, Beneke took over as bandleader. (Source: Pinterest)
Philip M. said: “If you grew up with my father, you heard his name plenty. To many people of that era, Tex being a singer with the Miller band was as big a deal as Sinatra being a singer with the Dorsey band. Funny how some names make it through the test of time and some don’t.”
This is roughly how that view looked in June 2024.
Tex Beneke was a well known name when I was a kid in the forties, but in that I was a child, I didn’t find out until years later that he was the familiar voice on Glenn Miller’s big hits. So he was not only Miller’s lead saxophonist, he was also a singer. He played saxophone solos on hits such as “In the Mood” and singing solos on such hits as “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo”, the latter being the first gold record ever and played a lot in our house as we lived on Chattanooga Street, albeit in San Francisco. Been a long time since I’ve seen it, but I think you can see him in action in the movie “Sun Valley Serenade”.
Thanks, Martin. What a treat. Before my AT & T days on Hollywood and Vine, I worked over at 6565 Sunset Blvd (a beautiful building, now restored), and always passed by the Palladium. If that place could talk! That is historical Hollywood defined. In the early 90s, I was a DJ at a station near Laughlin, NV. One of the hotels was opening a new tower, and my gig was to broadcast there and I met Tex Beneke. He was a guest star and we did a show together. A gentleman. He was amazed at a kid like me who knew Big Band music! That was my job!!!! Laughlin featured lots of old stars back in the day; Phyllis Diller did shows there, .
Boy howdy, Tom, what an interesting and convoluted life you’ve led!
Martin, yes. However, there’s a few good stories in between the lines. Take it from an old DJ. The strangest interview I did in Laughlin was with Rich Little. I asked him what celeb he had trouble doing and he gave me such a look! And it wasn’t a trick question. Getting back to Tex Beneke, looking back today, and being 30 years older!, there were so many questions I would have loved to asked the guy.
Was Rich’s look supposed to mean “What are you talking about? I don’t have trouble doing ANYONE?!”
Martin, it could be! Who knows? I remember I told my boss about it, and he said, no matter how irked celebs get, they should take a lesson from Liberace. No matter who bugged Liberace, he laughed his way to the bank! Money solves lots of problems no matter what anyone says.