Mitch Miller, Maestro of the Singalong, Dies at 99

[Rhiannon12866]

Source: New York Times

Mitch Miller, an influential record producer who became a hugely popular recording artist and an unlikely television star a half century ago by leading a choral group in familiar old songs and inviting people to sing along, died on Saturday in Manhattan. He was 99.

His daughter Margaret Miller Reuther confirmed the death Monday morning, saying her father had died after a short illness at Lenox Hill Hospital. Mr. Miller lived in Manhattan.

Mr. Miller, a Rochester native who was born on the Fourth of July, had been an accomplished oboist and was still a force in the recording industry when he came up with the idea of recording old standards with a chorus of some two dozen male voices and printing the lyrics on album covers.

The “Sing Along With Mitch” album series, which began in 1958, was an immense success, finding an eager audience among older listeners looking for an alternative to rock ’n’ roll.

<snip>

When the concept was adapted for television in 1961, with the lyrics appearing at the bottom of the screen, Mr. Miller, with his beaming smile and neatly trimmed mustache and goatee, became a national celebrity.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/arts/music/03miller.html?src=me&ref=general

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When I was a kid, my parents had all the albums... My cousin and I used to sing along with them, knew all the words. If you don't remember, you can't imagine how popular he was... He also gave young black singer Leslie Uggams her start when she became a regular on his hugely popular TV show, Sing Along with Mitch (1961–1966).

[Suich]

1. My parents did, too!

I'd forgotten all about Leslie Uggams!

:hi:

[Kurovski]

2. She got a mention on the insanely popular Family Guy.

Ridiculous, funny joke.

http://familyguy.wikia.com/wiki/Leslie_Uggams


When I was a wee lad my Grandfather asked me if I knew why the Miller chorus had no women in it. I was five or six, and said no.

He said it was because women had squeaky voices. Was that sexist?

Yes, I know. I was told he was constantly messing with my head, which I suppose explains something, if not a lot.


Anyway, this is about Mr. Miller not me. Or mostly not me. a little about Family Guy, and a great deal about the talented Ms. Uggams.

Rest in peace, MM.

EDIT. Why have I stopped using spellcheck?

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Both my parents and my aunt and uncle had the albums...

We listened to them all the time, as kids. And we watched the TV show, too. When I was quite young, we lived on the side of a mountain, so we only got one channel! And this is one of the few shows I remember seeing... I remember Leslie Uggams, too, had no idea this was a big deal, just thought she was pretty... :) :hi:

[EmeraldCityGrl]

4. My Grandmother never missed "Sing along with Mitch."

I remember that little ball bouncing over the lyrics.

We had so much fun watching that show together every weekend.
Strange the things that bring back the best memories with Grandparents.

[Ken Burch]

5. A hell of a man and a hell of a beard!

I'm sorry he's gone...but was I the ONLY person who heard the news and thought "he hadn't died already?".

[whathehell]

6. No...You weren't. Ninety Nine is a nice, long life...May we all live at least that long! n/t

[Rhiannon12866]

8. The beard is distinctive, that's for sure, like the man... ;)

And, no, you weren't the only person... I was certainly sorry when I ran across this news in my travels, but, to be honest, I was also a little surprised to learn that he was still with us until now... :hide:

[Ken Burch]

9. Maybe they'll display the beard in the Museum of Broadcasting.

n/t.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. That certainly would bring in the crowds!

;)

[Kurovski]

13. No. I thought the same thing. (nt)

[SemperEadem]

17. ::: raising hand ::::

I said pretty much the same thing.

[drm604]

20. You weren't the only one.

I vaguely remember the show from when I was a young child. It's not like I'd even given it a thought for years but, if someone had asked me, I would have assumed he was gone. 99 years is a good life.

[CBHagman]

21. No, you weren't.

I actually handle the obits thread in the Classic Films Group on DU, and I still had lost track of Mr. M. :blush: I went through the same thing with the actor John Mills, who also lived to a very good age.

As for Mitch Miller, I have very fond childhood memories of his albums and shows, and of course I watched Leslie Uggams when she had her own show. It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned her link to Mitch Miller, and the part he'd played in integrating TV shows.

[Ken Burch]

7. I'd like to know if the Miller choir ever got liquored up(they must have,it WAS the Fifties)

And did really off-color versions of the songs from the shows(but still in perfect harmony and at march tempo)?

There was something about the smirks a lot of them had on their faces as they sang that suggested there were all sorts of lewd "in-jokes" that must have happened.

[MuseRider]

10. Sing along with Mitch!

Awww this is sad but he had a long full life.

One of my brothers and I watched that show all the time as kids and we sang and sang. We both became professional musicians. I think his on going show gave us a look into all the things possible when we were really to young to know much.

[Rhiannon12866]

12. What a lovely tribute...

My Dad was a professional musician, too, and he was the one who bought all the albums. Mitch Miller certainly influenced more than one generation... ;)

[Historic NY]

14. Mitch was Karaoke before we knew what that was...

[SemperEadem]

15. wow... I remember that guy

vaguely, since I was under 5, but I do remember his music.

[Kolesar]

16. I remember when he was on The Flintstones

My mother liked that episode.

[Dennis Donovan]

18. K&R - sing along with Mitch...

Cross gently, Maestro...:(

Related - It never occurred to me how much he looks like Georges Méliès:

[Rhiannon12866]

26. He very well might have been an admirer

Since they certainly could have crossed paths... ;)

I'm surprised I didn't see it, since I watched that documentary every night for two weeks... x(

[Dennis Donovan]

27. Great documentary - I watched it too close to bedtime each time...

;-)

[Rhiannon12866]

29. If you'd only asked...

I would have acted it out for you... :silly:

[KatyaR]

19. Mitch Miller--back in the day, everybody knew who he was.

I remember how stunned I was to find out my first voice teacher was a singer on his show back in the 60s. That was a huge deal to me.

They don't make guys like Mitch any more....

[drm604]

22. Here's a clip from his show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dY9gtYeHhk

[MrsBrady]

23. Johnny Carson was in the chorus…episode 4 of 4…from your clip

Neat.

Yes I'm a geek. I watched the entire show...

[drm604]

25. I didn't even watch much of the first clip.

Now I'm going to have to check out the fourth one.

[TreasonousBastard]

24. I remember him and his bouncing ball, but I had no idea...

he was such an accomplished classical oboeist or was head of Mercury and Columbia Records giving Patti Page, Frankie Laine, Rosemary Clooney, and Tony Bennett their starts. Or that he was responsible for pop/country crossovers.

(But he hated rock&roll, lost the bid for Elvis, and he really, really pissed off Sinatra.)

[drm604]

28. You've made me curious.

How did he piss off Sinatra?

[TreasonousBastard]

32. From the NY Times obit...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/arts/music/03miller.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general

<...>
His touch was not always sure. When he had bagpipes accompany Dinah Shore on a song called “Scottish Samba” the result was, in Mr. Miller’s own words, “a dog.” And probably the nadir of Frank Sinatra’s recording career came after Mr. Miller left Mercury and took over pop production at Columbia in 1950.

Sinatra complained that Mr. Miller forced him to record inferior material like “Bim Bam Baby,” “Tennessee Newsboy” and, perhaps most notoriously, “Mama Will Bark,” a 1951 novelty duet with the television personality Dagmar that included dog imitations. Sinatra even sent a telegram to a Congressional subcommittee complaining that Mr. Miller had denied him “freedom of selection.” (Sinatra did sometimes veto Mr. Miller’s song choices. When he refused to record “The Roving Kind” and “My Heart Cries for You,” Mr. Miller replaced him in the studio with a young singer named Guy Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell’s versions of both those songs became hits and made him a star.)
<...>

[20score]

30. Too late to rec. But, I actually remember, even though I was five or six.

Damn.

[Rhiannon12866]

31. I was pretty young, too, but I remember

Probably because my parents had all of the albums... And, at the time, we lived on the side of a mountain, so were able to get only one television channel! So Sing Along with Mitch was one of the few shows we ever got to see... ;) :hi: