Skeets Tolbert and His Gentlemen of Swing

Skeets Tolbert played clarinet and saxophone, he was also a vocalist and bandleader. His nickname "Skeets" was short for "Mosquito."  Not sure why. But it stuck with him throughout his life. He composed and arranged a great number of tunes that would become hits for others, including names like Nat King Cole, Count Basie and Louis Jordan.

Skeets joined "Taylor's Dixieland Serenaders" in 1929, where he had his first known recording in 1931, as a vocalist and on alto sax. In 1934, he moved on to play with Charlie Alexander before joining the house band at the New York night club, The Savoy Ballroom.

In 1936 he played alto sax along side the legendary Fats Waller. The time he spent with Waller ended up being highly influential on Tolbert's writing and arranging style.

Something I was surprised to learn was that in 1937, Skeets played in a band with famed Olympic Athlete, Jesse Owens.  I had no idea Jesse Owens was a musician.

In 1939, Skeets formed his own band and recorded under the name "Tolbert's Gentlemen of Swing." Babe Hines and Yack Taylor were featured female vocalists. He rarely used a single male lead vocal in his music. He also used elements of vaudeville in many of his songs along with darker lyrics. None of his songs ever charted or became standards but were intended for dancing in nightclubs and living rooms. He recorded with this band on the Decca Records label.

Tolbert also filmed his share of Soundies. In 1944, the band recorded four Soundies of the tunes "No No Baby", "'Tis You Babe", "Blitzkrieg Bombardier", and "Corn Pone."  Skeets eventually left the music business by the late 40's to pursue a career of teaching and lived to be 91 years old.

Watch: "Blitzkrieg Bombardier" by Skeets Tolbert and His Gentlemen of Swing from 1944

You can hear "Skeets Tolbert and His Gentlemen of Swing" right here on Swing City Radio.

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Elmer's Tune

The song "Elmer's Tune", was hit record for both Glenn Miller and Dick Jurgens in the early 1940's.  It's a bouncy little song that leaves the listener humming the melody hours later. (Well, that's how it works in my case. haha)  I've included audio of the song so you can hear it for yourself, just in case you are unfamiliar with the song.  So let's look at the story behind this song.

Listen to: "Elmer's Tune" by Glenn Miller And His Orchestra

Origins of Elmer's Tune

A gentleman by the name of Elmer Albrecht penned this song in the early 1920's. Elmer was working at a funeral parlor in Chicago as an embalmer. That is where he worked out the original tune and melody. Luckily, for fans of the song, there was a piano located in the back of this parlor.

Over the years, still working as an embalmer, Albrecht would play this song in small night clubs around the Chicago area. He even offered the song to Ted Weems at one point but was turned down.  Then in 1941, he approached Dick Jurgens with the song.  Dick Jurgens' band was in the middle of a stint at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom.  At first, Jurgens also turned down the song, but Albrecht was persistent and Jurgens finally agreed to arrange the song for his orchestra.

After a short time, the band was set to perform the newly arranged song, but still didn't have a name for it.  Band members bickered over what the name should be. Jurgen's finally suggested the generic "Elmer's Tune" and the name stuck.

Recordings of the Song

In April of 1941, Jurgens and his Orchestra recorded an instrumental version of "Elmer's Tune" for the Okeh Label and it reached #8 in the charts.  This got the attention of Glenn Miller, who asked Jurgens if he could record a version of the song with lyrics.  Sammy Gallop was hired to write the lyrics. (The credits for the song from that point forward include Albrecht, Gallop and Jurgens.) Miller recorded his version in August of '41 and by December of that year the song had reached #1 on the Billboard Charts.

Glenn Miller's recording of the song was the most popular.  But many others recorded versions of the tune including Benny Goodman, The Andrews Sisters, Bob Crosby, Lawrence Welk, Blue Barron, Bert Ambrose and many more.  It still amazes me what you can learn when you poke around to learn the origins of a particular song.  I would have never imagined that this bouncy little ditty originated in the back room of a funeral parlor.  😀

You can hear different versions of 'Elmer's Tune" right here on Swing City Radio.

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