The Styrous® Viewfinder: Glenn Miller

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January 25, 2026

45 RPMs 99: Etta James ~ At Last

Today is the birthday of one of my very favorite female vocalists, American singer and songwriter, Etta James.

James sang in various genres: gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll and soul and gained fame with hits such as The Wallflower (1955), At Last (1960), Something's Got a Hold on Me (1962), Tell Mama and I'd Rather Go Blind (both 1967). For me, At Last is at the top of my list! There's never been a song to match her intensity at the realization of having found a love to last a lifetime. It was Tom's and my song of love.

At Last was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film Sun Valley Serenade in 1941. Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded the tune several times, with a 1942 version reaching number two on the US Billboard pop music chart. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

At last
My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song

Oh yeah yeah
At last

The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you

I found a dream, that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known

Oh yeah yeah
You smiled, you smiled
Oh and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine...

At Last

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - At Last, written by Warren*, Gordon* - 3:00

Side 2:

B - I Just Want To Make Love To You, written by W. Dixon* - 3:03

Companies, etc.

Manufactured By – Chess Producing Corp.
Published By – Leo Feist, Inc.
Published By – Arc Music (2)

Notes:

From LP-4003
Side A: U-10498 Leo Feist ASCAP
Side B: U-10165 Arc Music BMI

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Matrix / Runout (Side A): 10498
Matrix / Runout (Side B): 10165
Rights Society: ASCAP
Rights Society: BMI

Etta James – At Last / I Just Want To Make Love To You
Label: Argo (6) – 5380
Format: Vinyl, 7", Single, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1961
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Soul

Viewfinder links:

Mack Gordon

Etta James

Glenn Miller

Styrous®

Tom White
Styrous®

Harry Warren

Net links:

Good Stuff ~ How Etta James Became a Blonde

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ~ Etta James

YouTube links:

Etta James ~.

At Last

I Just Want To Make Love To You

Etta James
photo by Sherry Rayn Barnett/Getty Images

Styrous® ~ Monday, September 7, 2020

45 RPMs Archive
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October 29, 2025

Mina articles/mentions

Salomé vinyl LP

mentions:

Glenn Miller ~ Moonlight Serenade

posacenere da Roma

Elvis Presley ~ All Shook Up & Otis Blackwell

vinyl LP cover graphics

Mina - 1959

photographer unknown

Music People

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February 29, 2024

78 RPMs 11: Dinah Shore ~ Sleepy Lagoon

Dinah Shore ~ Sleepy Lagoon

78 RPM record, side 2

Today is the birthday of "Leap Year Baby" Dinah Shore born in 1916. She was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940's who rose to stardom as a recording artist during the Big Band era.

I love this song, it's one of my favorites; I remember my mom and dad slow dancing to the tune in our living room. It's actually the "B" side of the record. There are other versions I like better but this is the one from my childhood.

The song was recorded by. David Rose, Fred Waring, Glenn Miller and The Platters did an excellent cover of it in the mid-fifties.

It was written by British composer Eric Coates in 1930 with the title, By the Sleepy Lagoon. In 1940 American songwriter Jack Lawrence added lyrics with the approval of Coates; the resulting song, Sleepy Lagoon, became a popular-music standard of the 1940s.

Dinah Shore ~ Sleepy Lagoon

78 RPM record, side 2

Desert Island Discs

Sleepy Lagoon is used as the theme song for the Desert Island Discs radio program broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.

Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the show, is asked to choose eight audio recordings (usually, but not always, music), a book and a luxury item that they would take if they were to be cast away on a desert island, as they discuss their life and the reasons for their choices. It was devised and originally presented by Roy Plomley. Since 2018 the programme has been presented by Lauren Laverne. More than 3,000 episodes have been recorded, with some guests having appeared more than once and some episodes featuring more than one guest.

When Desert Island Discs marked its 75th year in 2017, The Guardian called the show a radio classic. In February 2019, a panel of broadcasting industry experts named it the greatest radio program of all time. I find it interesting to hear what musics famous people like and was the inspiration for my "Desert Island" series (link below).

Sleepy Lagoon murder

Sleepy Lagoon was a reservoir beside the Los Angeles River that was frequented by Mexican-Americans. Its name came from the popular song Sleepy Lagoon. The "Sleepy Lagoon murder" was the name that Los Angeles newspapers used to describe the death of José Gallardo Díaz, who was discovered dying near the reservoir with two stab wounds in Commerce, California, United States, on the morning of August 2, 1942. The cause of Díaz's death remains disputed to this day. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) arrested several Mexican-American youths for the murder.

Sleepy Lagoon murder Defendants - 1942

photo: Los Angeles Daily News

Beginning in the early 1930s and exacerbated by the Great Depression, approximately one million Mexican immigrants and native-born Americans of Mexican descent were forced to leave the United States for Mexico during the Mexican Repatriation as part of a policy by the administration of Herbert Hoover who had scapegoated Mexicans for the Great Depression and instituted stricter immigration policies with the stated intent of freeing up jobs for a narrow demographic of Americans.

The first side of the record has Three Little Sisters; a bouncy forties dance song that is not particularly interesting but fun.

Dinah Shore ~ Three Little Sisters

78 RPM record, side 1

Tracklist:

Side 1:

Three Little Sisters, written by Irving Taylor, Vic Mizzy

Side 2:

Sleepy Lagoon, written by Eric Coates, Jack Lawrence

Companies:

Record Company – RCA Manufacturing Co., Inc.

Credits:

Notes:

For best results use
RCA Victor Needles

With Orchestra

A: Featured in the Universal film "Private Buckaroo"

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Label side A): 27875-A
    Matrix / Runout (Label side B): 27875-B
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, side A, stamped): 1 27875A A2 1 I
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, side B, stamped): 1 27875B 1B 3 1 1

Dinah Shore – Three Little Sisters / Sleepy Lagoon
Label:    Victor – 27875
Format:    Shellac, 10", 78 RPM
Country: US
Released: May 1, 1942
Genre:    Pop, Classical, Stage & Screen
Style:    Vocal

Viewfinder links:

desert island' vinyl LP list

Jimmy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey

Harry James

Glenn Miller

The Platters

David Rose

Dinah Shore

Fred Waring

Net links:

Desert Island Discs

YouTube links:

Tommy Dorsey ~ Sleepy Lagoon

Harry James ~ Sleepy Lagoon

Glenn Miller ~ Sleepy Lagoon

The Platters ~ Sleepy Lagoon

Dinah Shore ~

Sleepy Lagoon

Three Little Sisters

Styrous® ~ Thursday, February 29, 2024

78 RPMs Archive

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles

January 4, 2023

Barry Manilow articles/mentions

mentions:

The Andrews Sisters ~

Boogie Woogie Bugle Girls

Glenn Miller ~ Moonlight Serenade

Barry Manilow

photo by Miles J. Lourie

Music People

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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October 18, 2021

Henry Mancini articles/mentions

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Henry Mancini postage stamp

mentions:

Glenn Miller ~ Moonlight Serenade

Henry Mancini - 1962

photographer unknown

Music People

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October 13, 2021

78 RPMs 10: Frank Sinatra & Harry James On a Little Street In Singapore

Harry James & Frank Sinatra ~ On a Little Street in Singapore

78 RPM record

On October 13, 1939, I can’t believe that was 82 years ago, Harry James and his band, with Frank Sinatra singing, recorded On a Little Street in Singapore. This recording is a reissue as the original issue gave James top billing over Sinatra.

The trumpet of James is beautiful, of course, as it soars through the song and Sinatra is suave and sexy as he always was back then.

I have loved On a Little Street in Singapore with its gentle and slow but bouncy beat and romantic lyrics all my life (link below).

On A Little Street In Singapore

On a little street in Singapore
With me - beside a lotus covered door
A veil of moonlight on her lovely face
How pale the hands that held me in embrace

My sails tonight are filled with perfume of Shalimar
With temple bells that guide me to her shore
And then I hold you in my arms
And love the way I loved before
On a little street in Singapore

On a little street in Singapore
With me - beside a lotus covered door
A veil of moonlight on her lovely face
How pale the hands that held me in embrace

It is a jazz song written by Peter DeRose and Billy Hill. Though it's obscure now, the song was popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Other artists who covered the tune included crooner Kenny Baker, Glenn Miller with tenor Ray Eberle and Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberle (Ray's brother).

Baker's version is slower than the Sinatra/James rendition and it is oriental sounding with minor key modulations not in the original version and when Miller and Eberle covered the song, their tempo was faster and a bit livelier.

Glenn Miller & Ray Eberle
date & photographer unknown

In the fifties it was The Three Suns, slow, smooth and dreamy with xylophone, accordion, slide guitar and electric organ, also with an oriental flavor. Then there was Dave Brubeck with Paul Desmond on sax (jazzy, of course) with no vocal, as was Harold Land with sax and Kenny Dorham on trumpet with their version.

In the seventies Bert Kaempfert pizzscatoed his way through it, the Manhattan Transfer and even Bob Dylan covered it! (link below) Dylan! Can you believe it?

The Manhattan Transfer (Tim Hauser, Laurel Massé, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel) 1978 cover is faster than the Sinatra/James rendition and it is my favorite version of the song; it is up to date, well, in 1978 it was (link below). The harmonizing by the group is flawless and Alan Paul has the type of tenor voice and killer looks that teenage girls swooned over in the forties.

Manhattan Transfer - 1985

(top: Tim Hauser, Alan Paul

bottom: Laurel Massé & Janis Siegel)

photo by Nancy Clendaniel

Harry James was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized and was active again with his band from then until his death in 1983. He was especially known among musicians for his technical proficiency as well as his tone, and was an influence on new trumpet players from the late 1930s into the 1940s. He was also an actor in a number of films that usually featured his band.

Harry James and his band

date & photographer unknown

Harry James was a heavy smoker, drinker and gambler. In 1983 he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, but continued to work. He played his last professional job, with the Harry James Orchestra, on June 26, 1983 in Los Angeles, dying just nine days later in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 5, 1983; he was 67 years old. Frank Sinatra gave the eulogy at his funeral, held in Las Vegas.

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - On A Little Street In Singapore, written by Hill*, De Rose*

Side 2:

B - Every Day Of My Life, written by Hays*, James*, Beck*

Credits:

    Alto Saxophone [Uncredited] – Claude Lakey, Dave Matthews (2)
    Bass [Uncredited] – Thurman Teague
    Directed By – Harry James (2)
    Drums [Uncredited] – Mickey Scrima (tracks: B), Ralph Hawkins (tracks: A)
    Guitar [Uncredited] – Bryan Kent
    Piano [Uncredited] – Jack Gardner
    Tenor Saxophone [Uncredited] – Bill Luther, Drew Page
    Trombone [Uncredited] – Bruce Squires (tracks: B), Dalton Rizzotto (tracks: B), Russell Brown (tracks: A), Truett Jones
    Trumpet [Uncredited] – Claude Bowen, Harry James (2), Jack Palmer, Jack Schaeffer
    Vocals – Frank Sinatra

Notes:

Obviously re-released, giving Frank top billing. He only sings toward the end of each song.
A side originally recorded Chicago, Oct. 13, 1939; B side originally recorded Hollywood, Nov. 8, 1939.

Performance credits from Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942): A-K

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Side A Label): WC 2798
    Matrix / Runout (Side B Label): LA 2047
    Matrix / Runout (A side stamped variant 1): W2798A
    Matrix / Runout (B side stamped variant 1): LA2047A
    Matrix / Runout (A side stamped variant 2): WC2798A B 18 H
    Matrix / Runout (B side stamped variant 2): LA2047A B J

Frank Sinatra With Harry James And His Orchestra – On A Little Street In Singapore / Every Day Of My Life
Label: Columbia – 36700
Format: Shellac, 10", 78 RPM
Country: US
Released: Apr 1944
Genre: Jazz, Pop
Style: Big Band, Vocal

Viewfinder links:

Dave Brubeck

Jimmy Dorsey

Bob Dylan

Bob Eberly

Ray Eberle

Harry James

Bert Kaempfert

Manhattan Transfer

Glenn Miller

Alan Paul

Frank Sinatra