MILLER, MITCH

MILLER, MITCH (Mitchell William; 1911– ), U.S. oboist, record producer, arranger, and conductor. Miller studied piano and oboe and later attended Rochester's Eastman School of Music (B. Mus., 1932). Miller played oboe with the Rochester Philharmonic (1930–33) and the CBS symphony orchestra (1935–47). In the 1950s he became a major force in the recording industry. Miller was appointed director of artists and repertoire for the classical division of Mercury Records (1947–50) and produced a series of major hits, including Frankie Laine's "That Lucky Old Sun." When he was in charge of the popular division of Columbia Records (1950–61), he recorded Guy Mitchell and Tony Bennett, and signed artists like Mahalia Jackson and Rosemary Clooney. He got Laine to record "High Noon," the title song from the Gary Cooper western, and played an important role in fostering the 1950s folk revival. Miller's own recording career, mostly credited to "Mitch Miller and His Gang," began with his adaptation of the Israeli folk song "Tzena, Tzena," "The Civil War Marching Song," "The Yellow Rose of Texas," and the "Colonel Bogey March" from The Bridge on the River Kwai. His series of "Sing Along With Mitch" albums, in which he led an all-male chorus in spirited versions of mostly older tunes, led to his own television program Sing Along with Mitch (1960–65), which became extremely popular. By 1965 Miller's influence had waned. He appeared as guest conductor of pop concerts and light classical recordings with orchestras in and outside the U.S. Miller and Freedman edited his Mitch Miller Community Song Book: A Collection for Group Singing for All Occasions (1999). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1997); "The Audio Interview – Mitch Miller: A Hidden Classic," in: Audio, 69 (Nov 1985), 40–51, (Dec 1985), 42–53. (Naama Ramot (2nd ed.)