The Big Band Leader with an East Texas Soul—Harry James (Aug 20, 2023)

The Texas Music Series continues with a little different genre.

Most of the figures profiled within the music series this summer have been ones who did their work in the contemporary “popular” genres—country, rock, and a little folk—and while Texas has certainly produced a large number of musicians within that sphere, the state is also the home of other musicians in other categories. Of course, the current classifications of what is popular music were not always extant. For example, in the 1940s probably the most popular form of music in the United States was what is often referred to as “Big Band,” which is a sub-genre of jazz that consists of at least ten musicians but usually more than that, and has four “sections:” saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. The orchestra also had a leader, a man who directed the course of the music, often arranged it, and also called on musicians to play.

I was reminded that East Texas produced one of the most popular of the Big Band bandleaders shortly after I arrived in Nacogdoches. The late Archie McDonald and I had journeyed on one of our many trips together into the winding roads of East Texas (Archie was my “teacher” of most things “East Texas”) and were returning to Nacogdoches. As we drove through the city we passed the offices of local attorney Tim James, and Archie remarked to me that Tim’s father was the famous bandleader Harry James. Well, I did not know that (Archie probably tired of my ignorance, but his politeness always kept him from saying so). I knew of James’ “Texas connection,” but was now pleased to learn that Harry’s son and I shared a residential city. So, a “Texas music” series would not be complete without something on Harry James.

Born in Albany, Georgia in 1916 to a family of circus performers, as the saying goes Harry “got to Texas as fast as he could” when as a young boy the family moved to Beaumont. James was a musical prodigy who could play the drums by the age of four, the trumpet (with which he achieved much of his fame) by eight and led a circus band when he was twelve.

Music would be his career, so he left the family circus tradition and joined Ben Pollack’s orchestra in 1935. Pollack’s band gave him a start, but he moved on in 1937 when he joined the more noteworthy Benny Goodman’s band. Harry, with fellow trumpeters Ziggy Elman and Chris Griffin, was part of the legendary “powerhouse trio,” which was perhaps one of the most celebrated and famous of the big band trumpet sections. If you listen to recordings of the time you will be amazed at the sound and sheer energy the trio could make.

Harry played in a distinctive bold, loud, and brassy tone; jazz historian Gunther Schuller has called James “the most technically assured and prodigiously talented white trumpet player of the late Swing era.” Playing with Goodman’s band allowed James to make a name, and it opened the door to his own career as a bandleader. James debuted his own band in 1939, and by 1941 had become a fixture on the music charts. He also launched the singing career of Frank Sinatra when he hired the crooner as a vocalist in 1939. Sinatra left James’ band after only six months to gain greater fame with Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra, but the James-Sinatra recording of the big band standard “All or Nothing at All” became a huge hit when it was re-released in 1943. The list of James’ hits would be a long one indeed, but notable ones include “You Made Me Love You,” “I Don’t Want to Walk Without You,” and “I’m Beginning to See the Light.” From 1942-1944, only Glenn Miller sold more records than did Harry James.

Harry James’ fame grew even more when he married movie star Betty Grable (his second marriage; his first was to singer Louise Tobin) in 1943. Grable was a huge star in her own right, and the leading “pin-up” girl of the World War II era. His wife led him to begin a movie career and he appeared in the films Two Girls and a Sailor and I’ll Get By. He and Grable’s marriage ended in 1965. James would marry a third time in 1968 to showgirl Joan Boyd; that marriage would also end in divorce in 1970.

Ballads and more commercial arrangements were James’ best-known recordings in the 1940s, but he was a jazz trumpeter at heart. After success allowed him to play what he knew best, he returned to those roots and his music became much more a jazz sound, somewhat like that of Count Basie and his orchestra. In fact, Basie and James shared some of the same arrangers.

Harry James was the consummate performer, and he continued to tour with his band all the way up to near his death. While many other performers of his era became almost novelty acts, Harry James continued to recruit top talent and performed at a high caliber. He became a staple in Las Vegas, playing at many of the top hotels and casinos in the desert city. He was also a noted thoroughbred horse owner, and his horses won a number of top stakes races.

Harry James was diagnosed with cancer in 1983, but even then he continued to work and perform, never one to slow down. The disease finally took him in July 1983 at the age of 67. Frank Sinatra delivered the eulogy at his service, and he is buried in Las Vegas. His son Tim has served Nacogdoches as its district attorney and remains a practicing lawyer. So, find a copy of “Chiribiribin” and listen and toast this musical legend with an East Texas connection.

The East Texas Historical Association provides this column as a public service. Scott Sosebee is a Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University and the Executive Director of the Association. He can be contacted at sosebeem@sfasu.edu; www.easttexashistorical.org.