During his early days as a musician, Jimmy Dorsey performed with various ensembles and artists, including the Scranton Sirens, The California Ramblers,
Red Nichols,
Jean Goldkette,
Frankie Trumbauer,
Ben Pollack, and
Paul Whiteman. He played the clarinet solo on the iconic 1927 jazz standard "
Singin' the Blues", with the
Frankie Trumbauer Orchestra featuring
Bix Beiderbecke (which would, a half-century later, be inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame). In 1927, the brothers created the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra and signed with Okeh Records. For some of their sessions, Glenn Miller would join them as trombonist, arranger, and composer; composing "
Annie's Cousin Fanny", "
Tomorrow's Another Day", "
Harlem Chapel Chimes", and "
Dese Dem Dose". In 1936, Bing Crosby released the single "
Pennies from Heaven" recorded with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra on Decca Records. The early band was considered more jazz-oriented than his brother's, and in response the band recorded instrumental swing classics: "Dorsey Stomp," "Tap Dancer's Nightmare," "Parade of the Milk Bottle Caps," "John Silver" and "Dusk in Upper Sandusky," and included musicians such as
Bobby Byrne,
Ray McKinley, Donald Matteson and
Skeets Herfurt along with vocalists
Bob Eberly and Kay Weber. and he did well commercially, although he was overshadowed by
Benny Goodman, whose
big band had "grabbed center stage" in the mid-1930s. Dorsey's main vocalist was
Bob Eberly, considered to be the best in the music business, and in 1939,
Helen O'Connell joined the band, and the idea to have them perform duets proved to be highly successful. She and Bob Eberly possessed a "boy and girl next door" charm, and their pairing produced several of the band's biggest hits. Many of the Eberly-O'Connell recordings were arranged in an unusual 3-section "a-b-c" format. This format was reportedly developed at the insistence of a
record producer (then called an A&R executive) who wanted to feature both singers and the full band in a single 3-minute
78 rpm recording. Eberly sang the first minute, usually as a slow romantic ballad, the next minute featured the full band backing Jimmy's
saxophone, and the last minute was sung by O'Connell in a more up-tempo style, sometimes with lyrics in Spanish. They continued singing with his band for future records and motion picture appearances.
Kitty Kallen sang with the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra following Helen O'Connell's departure in 1942.
Jerry Lewis' first wife Patti Palmer (birth name Esther Calonico) was a singer with his orchestra for less than a year, starting about 1944. Despite personnel changes, Jimmy remained one of the top big band leaders after
World War II and into the 1950s, always updating the sound of his band, but the big band business was beginning to decline. Dorsey employed pianist and arranger
Joe Lipman in 1939 (who had just left
Bunny Berigan); he contributed heavily to the repertoire of the band and success of the recordings through the next three years. Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey reunited on March 15, 1945, to record a
V-Disc at Liederkranz Hall in New York City. Released in June 1945, V-Disc 451 featured "More Than You Know" backed with "Brotherly Jump". The songs featured the combined orchestras of Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. In 1947, Jimmy signed with MGM Records and in the same year, the brothers would put aside their tensions to film
The Fabulous Dorseys. The film was a look inside the brothers' lives from practicing as children, to making it big as adults; the brothers played themselves in the film. It also highlighted their struggles leading the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra and showed what their lives were like on the road. Despite the brothers coming together for the movie, Jimmy continued to lead his own band until the early 1950s. In 1950, Jimmy moved to Columbia Records and his brother offered him a seat in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. In 1953, Tommy and Jimmy would rename the band, the "Dorsey Brothers Orchestra." Tommy was the leader of the group, and made Jimmy both the co-leader and featured soloist. On December 26, 1953, the brothers and their orchestra appeared on
Jackie Gleason's CBS television program. The success of that television appearance led Gleason to produce a weekly variety program,
Stage Show, hosted by the brothers on CBS from 1954 to 1956. The show gave other big band leaders hope in a business that was steadily declining for them. In January 1956, the
Stage Show made history with the network television debut of
Elvis Presley. Promoting his early recordings for
RCA Victor, Presley made a total of six guest appearances. Competitive ratings from
NBC's popular
Perry Como Show forced
Stage Show into early cancellation. In 1956, after Tommy Dorsey died from choking in his sleep, Jimmy took over leadership of the orchestra. Around that same time, Jimmy was diagnosed with
throat cancer. He died on June 12, 1957, at age 53 in New York City. Broadcasts of Jimmy Dorsey and The Fabulous Dorsey Orchestra on
NBC Bandstand survive from December 24-28, 1956, and December 31, 1956-January 1, 1957. At least two other extant broadcasts from the month of December 1956 are available. Recordings of the band from their winter 1957 tour have not surfaced. These recordings would provide the last aural evidence of Jimmy Dorsey's work, which otherwise is the
NBC Bandstand broadcast from January 1, 1957. It was once thought that Dorsey's last appearance was in
Joplin, Missouri, on March 12, 1957; but, he did lead the band starting on March 19, 1957, at the Roseland Ballroom, for less than a week before traveling to Florida, as his health was failing rapidly. Jimmy Dorsey is considered one of the most important and influential alto saxophone players of the Big Band and Swing era, and also after that era. Jazz saxophonists
Lester Young and
Charlie Parker both acknowledge him as an important influence on their styles. ==Movie appearances and filmography==